“Tell me what happened.”

Cai Xuefang had been kneeling for nearly twelve hours already. Repeating the same story again and again. And every time he gave as much detail that he could remember. From the color, to the fog, to the very stars that glowed in the avatar behind the Ancient Being he had met.

Every single minute detail.

“My Son-in-law and I camped three days away from Dong Zhenkang’s bandit town…”

He started without an ounce of hesitation.

There was power. An apocalyptic monster had stood before him not so long ago, and within the power of the Hu Ancestor was the strength to end him in moments. There would be no pain, no suffering. His soul would not be tortured, then defiled into a daemon.

Cai Xuefang would simply no longer exist.

The telltale traits of a righteous cultivator.

But here. In front of Zi Zhen. He dared not twitch lest he be found disrespectful. Cai Xuefang had seen horrors greater than anything young Yang Zexian had committed in their time together. And all of them were in the hands of the patriarch of the Dark Gate Palace.

“...finally he reprimanded–”

“Repeat his words.” Said Zi Zhen.

Cai Xuefang could imagine the man's hollow eyes staring holes into his skull. The gaunt look of a starving elder who had not eaten anything for ages. His exaggeratedly thin form bellied the vast power he commanded in his fingers.

Zi Zhen was a relic of the times before the Great Seclusion. A monster that had stood toe to toe with the likes of Zhong An and his kin, Su Qui and her Flowered Sect, and Peng De the greatest of this generation.

It was a baffling mystery why those mighty Righteous figures disappeared and caused a cataclysm for the lower clans and family that relied on them. A few of the strongest families stayed, tied down by family and the responsibilities.

Like the Hu family. Once one of the pillars of their world, now dust and crumbled stone. Separated and unable to get any aid in time led to their final demise. Or so they had thought, now their ancestor had arrived…

Cai Xuefang cleared his throat. “...’Terrible. Has the world fallen so low?’ is what he said”

“Again.”

“‘Terrible. Has the world fallen so low?’”

“Again.”

“...”

Cai Xuefang ended up repeating that same line for nearly an hour. He sat there confused, but too terrified to voice a single complaint. His realm allowed him to stay in that position for days, much less a little more than half of one.

The only thing that he struggled with was his ego. Other than Zi Zhen, who dared to speak to him like this?

…well, other than the other Patriarchs of the Hegemonies. And their right hand men. And their executioners…

No one he would, in normal situations, would he ever meet, much less speak with them for longer than brief moments.

Zi Zhen made an inquisitive sound.

That gave Cai Xuefang pause. He had never heard anything than a monotone voice from the monster before him. To hear any emotion at all terrified him. He felt a lump in his throat, but dared not to gulp.

He gathered Qi, trying his best to be discreet. Cai Xuefang had already taken precautions to protect his daughter and dunce husband. If necessary, they would be long gone before a real battle occurred.

Only issue would be getting away alive.

Cai Xuefang had no fantasies that he could fight Zi Zhen, much less beat him. A massive blast of Qi to blind the senses and every ounce he could muster afterwards to send him flying at breakneck speeds.

He hoped it would be enough–

The Qi in the room disappeared. Cai Xuefang gasped as his body and core were forcefully drained. It siphoned into a veritable tornado before him. At a single focal point.

Zi Zhen.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Cai Xuefang looked up. Gray billowing robes fluttered in the storm around them, the fabric Zi Zhen wore stretched behind him for many meters. His small form slowly rose from its perched seat. A wide flat disc floating in the darkness of this massive hall far above on a ledge he had to look up to see.

He walked down at a pace, slow and measured. Each step spoke of endless wars, battles, and fights until death. This was a predator. A Tiger hidden under the brush, stalking an unaware prey.

Cai Xuefang was frozen in fear. Images of what he had witnessed in the long, grueling battles against the Major Sects flashed before him. Seeing Zi Zhen skin a man alive, with the same sedated pace.

Not an ounce of pleasure. Anger. Nothing from the supposed golem.

And yet, he sounded intrigued…? Confused…?

“If I desired your death, you would not have had the time to gather you Qi, Xuefang.” He waved his hand and all the Qi in the room rushed back into its place.

Cai felt it fill his meridians and core, more than he had at hand–he had used a great deal to instantly teleport twice from the forest– then closed his eyes. He wanted to escape, but he knew any competent monster would easily interfere with the array. Cai Xuefang would never get away like that.

He let out a turbid breath.

That was also a sign of the Ancient Beings foundation. An evil cultivator of that stature would find it a great insult to use such arrays. But righteous cultivators had no such qualms.

“I find your rendition of the story quite curious. Even baffling. Or maybe…” Zi Zhen landed in front of him. Circling him like a vulture. “Or maybe you are lying out your teeth. A false story to hide something more important.”

“I would never dare, Patriarch.” His voice was calm. Zi Zhen had already said he did not want him dead. That monster was many things–many cruel and evil things–but there was one thing he was not. He wasn’t a liar.

“I know.” He said curtly.

Curtly. Sharply. Harshly.

This was untracked territory. How long had he been an elder? Cai Xuefang couldn’t even remember a time when he wasn't.

“But, I was there when the Hu Ancestor existed, you see.”

Cai Xuefang straightened in shock. Zi Zhen was alive in an age that had an otherworldly power like that Ancient Being? How was he or any Evil cultivator lineage even alive today…?

Zi Zhen held his chin, looking back to the floating disk he called a throne. “And that man was nothing but a weak insect. His twelfth son was the only reason the Hu family survived back then.” He then pointed at the disk. “See my throne?”

Cai Xuefang nodded.

“I cut their mighty tree from its base. Carved me a throne filled with power, then burned the remainder. Only that bastard twelfth son stood in my path while his father had been killed and family nearly destroyed.” The disk began to spin, whirring loudly. “And I made sure he could never be called upon in any era after his death or ascension with a mighty curse.”

“T-then how is…?”

Zi Zhen turned to him with a grim look. “Do you know why the Great Seclusion happened, Elder Cai?”

That was not a good question to hear. Cai Xuefang shook his head, fearing the coming words.

“The Great Seclusion occurred for one reason only. The same reason the Hegemonies are so brazen today, killing and using mortals and cultivators alike as cauldrons to increase their power. Why I’ve allowed so many of you to reach for my lofty position.

The neutral Major Clans are simply nothing more than a tool to sharpen our strength, because there will be a day when the great righteous sects will come out of seclusion and we forget our enmity. The eons of hate between us for uncertain days to come.

For the world and everything living in it hangs in the balance!” He roared, Qi rumbling around them. “From the void arrived seven mythical beings. Six dragons serving a master! A being so powerful even the primordial lizards lowered their heads in sheer terror and subservience.”

Cai Xuefang felt the world spin. He had to catch himself.

Zi Zhen smiled at him for the first time. “You Elder Cai, I suspect, are the first to encounter him. Then mentioned my name!” He guffawed. “You set him a table of this planes sweets and tea!” his laughter boomed. “And he nearly killed us all before we were prepared because they were too many major realms too low to not taste like filth!”

He arched back, struggling to breathe.

Cai Xuefang felt all the strength from his knees disappear. He sat down. The only reason he lived today was not because of the naivety of a righteous cultivator. A common thing he had taken advantage many times more than he could count.

But that was no righteous cultivator. There was no clue what a void being thought or felt. Was he just a curious ant crawling on the floor as that being wondered whether it was worth the effort to crush?

Was his precious Cai Jia so close to death because of his stupidity?

Didn’t he threaten him…? Threaten those Hu girls…?

“But… the Hu Girls? He–”

“Yes. Unusual isn't it.” Zi Zhen had already made it to his throne by the time Cai Xuefang could finally speak. “...then again. I remember the final moments of this generation's Hu Family. Those pesky weeds. They attempted a ritual to summon their ancestor. The ritual itself should not have resulted in anything, but it did.

Unlike what would usually occur, their bodies had been turned into husks. As though every ounce of their souls, Qi, and vitality had been drained away by an immensely powerful being. And yet, nothing had happened. No one arrived to save them. I even got to kill Hu Yimu myself. She struggled and fought until the end, forcing us into a domain to let her daughter escape.

We let those tiny girls go. The opportunity to take out Hu Yimu was just to irresistible.”

“Then why? Why play the fool? Why lead me and my son-in-law in that domain of his?” Cai Xuefang asked. He had been thinking deeply on the fog, and it had all clicked now. He was right. It was a domain. One from a being powerful enough to end everyone with no moral qualms in doing so.

Zi Zhen leaned back. He took a deep breath. “All of this. The whole farce of acting awkward and summoning that avatar. Eating the sweets and drinking the tea knowing full well that it would taste like mortal sewer waters. Letting you teleport in his presence. It could only mean one thing. And it does not bode well for us.

He is saying he could destroy everything at any moment. But has chosen to play with his prey. The Void Being is allowing us to gather our power so he may crush us at our very peak. If we lose, it would ruin us and our cultivation bases irrevocably.

The confidence of such beings is as large as a mountain. Let us hope we are enough. Our destined battle is merely years away. A decade at most. Let us all hope he is simply overconfident and not as powerful as he claims he is.”