Chapter 408: The Great Zhou Empress (1/3)

"Your Majesty, you have come to the frontier in person; I have failed to welcome you properly!"

A burly man, clad in armor with a monstrous aura, standing like a demon god upon the earth, knelt halfway before the owner of this gaze and apologized with great respect.

"Rise. It was merely a whim of mine."

"But why has this Black Fog become like this?"

The Empress, wearing a golden crown and phoenix robes, looming over the Nine Heavens like a god or demon, slightly raised her jade hand to signal the burly man to stand, while still looking at the Black Fog with confusion.

"This subject does not know either."

The burly man shook his head.

"However, Your Majesty, rest assured. No matter how Weird this Black Fog is, I swear to guard the frontier. If the Black Fog wishes to invade the Great Zhou, it must step over my corpse!"

"Initially, this Weird Black Fog came with great momentum, as if to erode our dynasty's territory, but it stopped outside the frontier. Now, it has even gone from dense to thin; it is truly strange."

The Empress ignored the burly man's words, muttering to herself with a slight frown, golden light radiating from her eyes as she tried to pierce through this Weird Black Fog.

Previously, the Black Fog was dense; once a living being entered, they would be lost forever and turn into a monster, making it impossible to glimpse even a fraction of what was inside. But now that it had thinned, perhaps it was a good opportunity.

The golden light shot into the Black Fog, forcing the thin Black Fog to retreat.

The Empress's field of vision widened accordingly, extending continuously into the depths of the Black Fog, until her pupils shrank suddenly, and an expression of incomparable astonishment appeared on her beautiful, jade-like face.

She saw a figure, a human-shaped figure.

This human-shaped figure was fighting against the many monsters and shadows within the Black Fog, and seemed to have the upper hand, continuously slaughtering these monsters.

Could this be the truth behind the Black Fog becoming thin?

The Empress found it hard to believe.

Could this be an illusion?

One must know that this Black Fog is incomparably Weird.

When the Black Fog first struck, her Great Zhou had sent several Creation Realm experts into the Black Fog to investigate, but in the end, not one of these Creation Realm powerhouses returned.

The only thing that could come out was a single message.

"Do not enter!"

Clearly, this Black Fog could swallow even the Creation Realm; even those in the Creation Realm would be lost within it, eventually falling and turning into monsters, making it a place of extreme danger.

Among the various Calamities encountered by their Great Zhou.

This Black Fog was also extremely powerful!

Yet, could there actually be a living being capable of shaking such a terrifying Black Fog? And now, even causing it to become thin?

The burly man beside the Empress was also incomparably shocked.

He had tried to enter the Black Fog at the time.

But before his entire body had even entered the Black Fog, he could feel Inauspiciousness and danger, feeling his mind and body being lost and eroded, so he hurriedly retreated.

He was terrified that if he retreated a moment too late, he would be completely lost.

Yet now, there is actually a living being capable of fighting within the Black Fog?

What kind of terrifying power is this!

"Minister Zhou, let us join forces to assist that person and help him open a path out of the Black Fog!"

The Empress gave a decisive order.

She was delighted in her heart; no wonder she had a whim—to encounter a powerhouse of this level was truly her great fortune, and the fortune of the Great Zhou. Perhaps the predicament of the Great Zhou could be solved.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

This burly man surnamed Zhou immediately erupted with a monstrous aura, and the terrifying Military School baleful energy radiated out, actually condensing into a huge Demon God Dharma Image, causing Heaven and Earth to shake with every movement.

Behind the Empress, the Nine Heavens Divine Phoenix appeared, suppressing Heaven and Earth, shining with five-colored flowing light, the energy of the five virtues circulating, faintly evolving into five great worlds.

The Demon God and the Divine Phoenix joined forces and struck at the Black Fog.

Deep in the Black Fog.

Li Heng casually punched a monster covered in tentacles to pieces, his Great Sun Dharma Image purified a twisted worm, and his Earth Dharma Image buried a cyan-black zombie with a mouth full of fangs...

For some time now, his Source Power had been skyrocketing.

It had now reached one hundred thousand trillion Source Power.

Unfortunately, although this Black Fog had a large volume, it possessed few Creation Realm monsters. After killing for so long, his Golden Source Points had only just reached thirty.

And now, the Black Fog was starting to run out of steam.

Li Heng was somewhat impatient. While casually punching the endless stream of monsters to pieces, he spoke, "Does this Black Fog Calamity even deserve to be called a Calamity? It is truly not even a ten-thousandth of the Unknown Calamity and the Gospel Calamity."

Then, the next moment, the Black Fog froze and stopped changing.

Li Heng immediately felt something was wrong and frowned. Could it be that the words "Unknown Calamity" and "Gospel Calamity" had stimulated this Black Fog?

Sure enough, the next moment.

The endless stream of monsters attacking him disappeared.

Even the Black Fog that had been suppressing him, preventing him from developing his full strength and eroding his body and soul, began to change direction, trying its best to repel him.

This reaction was truly too extreme.

Did it really not want him to stay in the Black Fog?

Li Heng exerted his power, making himself as immovable as a mountain.

At the same time, he spoke earnestly.

"Black Fog, you have to think about your own development."

"If you erode me, you would gain a very strong henchman. How can you repel me? If things go on like this, how will you be able to beat other Calamities in the future?"

However, Li Heng underestimated the determination of this Black Fog Calamity.

The repulsive force became even more terrifying and powerful.

Li Heng frowned tightly. This repulsive force belonged to the Black Fog risking its old life and origin; with his own strength, he could not resist it for long, unless he used his Source Power.

However, he calculated that staying in the Black Fog while bearing this level of repulsive force was a loss, and a massive loss at that.

To put it metaphorically, he could earn one hundred points of Source Power per second staying in the Black Fog, but to withstand the Black Fog's repulsive force, he had to consume one thousand points per second.

He suddenly felt some regret.

If he had known, he wouldn't have mentioned other Calamities to provoke the Black Fog.

But this was also because the Black Fog Calamity was too fragile.

How long had he been shearing the wool before it couldn't take it anymore?

Of course, perhaps it was also because the Black Fog Calamity sensed that Li Heng had become involved with the Unknown Calamity and the Gospel Calamity, and it simply didn't dare to keep Li Heng here.

Li Heng couldn't help but shake his head, intending to give up resistance.

Forget it, forget it; one cannot hang oneself from a single tree. The World is so big, it's impossible that there is only this one type of Calamity, the Black Fog Calamity; at worst, I'll just go shear wool from other Calamities.

After I am strong enough, I will wipe out this Black Fog Calamity in one go.

He looked up toward the outside of the Black Fog and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

This path...

Is someone guiding him from outside the Black Fog?

He saw a golden path of light break through the surrounding black mist, extending in from outside the Black Fog, all the way into the depths of the Black Fog where he was located.

Li Heng's eyes emitted divine light, and he immediately saw two figures outside the Black Fog; one was filled with the baleful aura of the Military School, while the other radiated the aura of a sovereign.

It seemed to be an emperor and a general?

He had originally thought that everyone in the True Realm was dead.

But now it seemed that there were actually people still alive?

It's just that he didn't know if they were truly alive...

This was interesting, Li Heng smiled lightly.

He stepped onto the path of light, no longer resisting the Black Fog's repulsive force, and followed the guidance of the path of light, slowly walking out of the Black Fog.

At this moment, the Black Fog froze, then surged violently, as if a human had first been stunned, then ecstatic. If the Black Fog had human intelligence, it would probably heave a sigh of relief, then curse and swear, saying that this ** brat had finally left.

Outside the Black Fog.

This Great Zhou Empress looked at Li Heng's figure getting closer and closer, her expression joyful.

The Terror creature that had been fighting other monsters inside the Black Fog had responded to their guidance and was walking on the path of light, and its aura was extremely friendly; it was a friend, not a foe.

The General Zhou beside her saw the Empress's expression and sighed; he let his Demon God Dharma Image continue to maintain the path of light, then bowed halfway to the Empress and spoke his piece.

"Your Majesty, we still need to be especially careful and not get too happy. After all, this Black Fog can erode the physique and corrupt the soul; no matter how strong that creature is, staying in the Black Fog for too long will lead to problems."

The Empress nodded faintly, but her words were dismissive.

"General Zhou is right, but do not worry too much."

"Moreover, within the territory of Great Zhou, I am invincible."

General Zhou's face stiffened, "Yes, Your Majesty."

But he felt somewhat emotional in his heart.

It seemed that the predicament Great Zhou faced was becoming increasingly difficult to deal with; even someone as wise as the Empress had begun to grasp at straws, actually pinning her hopes on this mysterious and inexplicable creature.

Forget it, forget it, don't think about it.

Presumably, the Empress would have her own judgment, and as a subject, he shouldn't overstep his bounds; after all, his duty was merely to Guard the western frontier of Great Zhou.

While the Empress was happy, she was also somewhat puzzled.

She found that this act of guidance was a bit too easy, wasn't it?

It actually hadn't received any interference or resistance from the Black Fog's power?

One had to know that when those few Creation Realm experts entered the Black Fog and could not be contacted for a long time, Great Zhou had also thought about guiding them and saving them back.

But in the end, no matter how they guided them, even using the strength of the entire nation, they would be interfered with by the Black Fog's power, and the guiding paths of light would all be blocked, resulting in failure.

But now? The Black Fog's power didn't have the slightest reaction.

It couldn't help but make her feel a sense of absurdity.

She felt that it wasn't them guiding this creature, but rather this creature being repelled by the Black Fog, and the Black Fog wished for this creature to get out quickly, which was why it hadn't blocked them much.

However, this thought was denied by her as soon as it was born.

This was somewhat unbelievable, or even impossible.

As a type of Calamity, how could the Black Fog be afraid of an individual creature? And how could the Black Fog, which could cause creatures to fall and devour them, repel a creature out?

Unless this creature had already reached the Creation Realm Above.

But that was even more impossible.

The Empress smiled slightly, feeling that she had worried too much; it was possible that the creature was also exerting its own strength, and while responding to their guidance, it was also helping them eliminate the Black Fog's resistance.

On Li Heng's side.

As he was repelled by the Black Fog and guided by the path of light, his speed became faster and faster. In less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, he had crossed the distance he had spent half a month unable to cross before.

This couldn't help but make him sigh with emotion.

The Black Fog really couldn't wait to send him away.

Soon, he arrived at the edge of the Black Fog, and then he was somewhat surprised.

Because the Heaven and Earth outside this Black Fog looked very normal, and could even be described as having beautiful mountains and clear waters, rich in spiritual energy, and incomparably clear. But one had to know that this was the True Realm; the fallen True Realm.

This kind of normality was perhaps the greatest abnormality.

Li Heng pondered in his heart, having already arrived outside the Black Fog.

The Great Zhou Empress and that General Zhou also saw Li Heng's appearance at this time, and they couldn't help but be stunned, feeling incomparably surprised in their hearts.

It was actually a man with an incomparably handsome appearance?

And observing his aura, he was still an incomparably pure human.

How is this possible?

However, regardless of anything else, with Li Heng present as a guest, the Great Zhou Empress could only suppress the astonishment in her heart, and with a solemn expression, she performed a welcoming ritual for Li Heng and spoke.

"Great Zhou, Wu Wushuang, greets fellow Daoist."

That General Zhou also came back to his senses and spoke.

"Great Zhou, Zhou Mingyi, greets fellow Daoist."

Li Heng raised an eyebrow; Great Zhou? It is actually a nation?

A normal Heaven and Earth, a normal nation, a normal civilization.

Does such a thing really exist in the current True Realm?

One must know that even the Immortal Gods who once occupied the True Realm have already died or fled; it cannot be said that the Calamity only targets the strong and ignores these weaklings, right?

"I am Li Heng, I have met both fellow Daoists."

He returned the greeting calmly.

"I wonder why fellow Daoist Li is trapped deep within the Black Fog? You must know that the Black Fog erodes the body and corrupts the soul; it is a Calamity of the most yin and most evil nature."

Zhou Mingyi said with a solemn expression.

Since his Majesty was interested in this Li Heng, he had an obligation to help his Majesty probe the origins of this Li Heng to prevent any trouble from arising in the future.

Looking at it now, although this person is normal and, even more incredibly, an incomparably pure human, who knows if this is a disguise of those most yin and most evil things from the depths of the Black Fog?

"Oh, you mean this? I went in myself."

"After all, those monsters inside are quite handy to kill, and I just got addicted to killing them as I went."

Li Heng said calmly.

---Author's Note---

PS: I am attempting to write ten thousand words today, so there might be three chapters today.