Da Hai opened his eyes to a sea in turmoil. Many hundreds of years had passed and he had managed to not only stabilize his cultivation but also made many advancements. His speed in improvement was extraordinary.
The young godfiend breathed in and out, blowing bubbles of water around him. He was fully submerged in saltwater sitting in the centre of a gigantic white lotus. But he could tell the currents around him were not smooth.
Turning his gaze around, he identified local sea creatures that had settled in the shadows of the 12 Petals White Lotus. No doubt these were recently spawned innate creatures seeking protection. Da Hai's eyes softened when he watched them go about their daily lives.
Standing up, he visibly grimaced as the world's spiritual energies vibrated around him. The deathly aura of massacre was permeating the Great Wilderness. It was as if it was in encouraging him to make cruel decisions.
"The world has entered tribulation."
"I…I must find brother Huoyun first."
In an instant, the gigantic flower disappeared into his pocket dimension. Da Hai prepared to take off before stopping and looking down at the sea floor. The innate creatures of the East Sea were looking around confused and fearful.
Feeling pangs of sympathy for their vulnerability, Da Hai cast his hand down once more. The earth coiled upwards forming underwater mountains around their settlement. The shrimps and crab men could only stare in amazement. No True, Profound, or even Heavenly Immortal could manipulate the world like this.
Da Hai clicked his fingers to cast an illusion around them. An act which saw these lessor beings kneel down in worship.
"Thank you great one! Thank you!" They said. "May we please know your name!"
"I am called Da Hai. I too am a native of these waters," he said gently. But then he thought for a bit and added, "Do not leave the East Sea for at least ten thousand years. The Primitive World has entered tribulation and a great battle is imminent. You're all too weak to concern yourself with this so just stay here in my protection."
With that said he left without looking back.
…
An injured Huoyun sat holding his sides within the fire cloud cave. A noticeable chunck of flesh was missing but slowly growing back with the help of five element lights. Chaotic sword Qi was truly terrifying, even the Dao of five elements struggle to heal the injury it caused. A last gift by Hongjun of all people.
"Who would've guessed," he laughed bitterly.
Hongjun's call to war had arrived when he'd still been resting. It only served to make him even more depressed. If only Hongjun weren't there, then he'd be able to avoid all of this.
Looking at himself, Huoyun believed that he needs to return to at least the Zenith Heaven Chaos Immortal to confidently recover from such an injury. He groaned frustratingly, he was too reckless. His recovery had been halted for the foreseeable future.
He looked west in the direction of Mt Buzou. Knowing the imminent battle he knew he'd have to help. Should the universe collapse he may be able to survive the backlash. Huoyun did not care much about innate creatures but he did respect their right to live so he agreed that what Shenni was doing was needlessly cruel. His Dao was also still trapped. So if only Hongjun wasn't trying to head this operation, he'd feel a lot less shitty.
"Damned either way" he muttered regretfully. Knowing he escaped Hongjun was unlikely to let him go. With Shenni closing in on Mt Buzhou things were going from bad to worse. During his depressed musing, Huoyun's divine sense picked up a familiar signal heading his way. The familiar aura was enough to rouse his excitement.
"What is he doing here?" He got up with support from the cave wall. Walking outside he was greeted with the sight of a flying torrent of water. It descended before him revealing someone he recognized as the new Tian Hai only older looking. Huoyun immediately noticed something different about him spiritually as well.
He immediately took care to hide away his dire state pulling up a picture of relative normality. At his level, if one were not a highly skilled expert they would not even notice anything wrong with him.
"Tian Hai!" He greeted warmly. In such a dire situation, seeing a familiar friendly face lifted his mood. He stood up with surprise but was halted when the godfiend shook his head.
"Please don't refer to me as such. I am not Tian Hai and never had been. Unfortunately senior Tian Hai has long passed. I am someone who descends from an aspect of him. My name is Da Hai," he said with clear nervousness.
Huoyun was silent for a few moments. A dark look crossed his tired eyes for a few moments as he sighed. But ultimately a peaceful expression seemed to cross his face next. "I guess I should've expected as such."
"I'm sorry."
"No don't be," Huoyun said. "My brother is really gone from this world."
"Not so, I am still your friend your brother. Or at least if you would have me. You do not need to be so unfamiliar with me" Da Hai replied anxiously. "I came here to apologise for all the trouble I caused you all those years ago. Please fellow daoist accept my sincerest apology" he bowed before the Great Principle Chaos Immortal.
Huoyun shook his head, "You do not need to apologise, you couldn't have known. But I must ask, for you to have improved so much. Did you perchance encounter an opportunity?"
"You are correct. Because of a fortuitous encounter, I was able to find my path. I can already see my Dao path"
"You are talented brother, far better than me, it hasn't even been a yuanhui and yet you're already half a step into Chaos Immortal," he laughed joyfully. He straighten his back and walked out fully meeting Da Hai mid air.
"Nothing much, you on the other hand were a mighty figure that even the destiny demon god feared."
It didn't take long for the distant unfamiliarity to dissipate. It was as if time had reversed tens of thousands of years. The two friends began chatting like old times. For Huoyun, it may not be as familiar was the person he knew before the Primitive World came into existence. For him a feeling of strangeness still existed albeit squashed down.
But for Da Hai? He had realised the goodwill towards Huoyun did not originate from the original Tian Hai. He was just someone who clicked with him. He enjoyed hanging out and traveling with Huoyun. It warmed his person to know Huoyun did not hold much against him and accepted him willingly.
"Shenni is imminent, what are you going to do brother?" Da Hai asked. "Will you join in our world's defence
"I…" there was a moment of hesitation in Huoyun. In brief seconds he seemed to fall into a contemplative mood. The altercation with Hongjun crossed his mind. But ultimately he responded.
"Heh, do you even need to ask? In case you haven't noticed my house is in the primitive world" the two laughed together. It was settled, just like many tens of thousands of years ago, two deities took off for Mt Buzhou.
"I have to warn you though brother, I have learned some things you need to know," Huoyun informed Da Hai as they took flight. "I was at Mt Buzhou not too long ago as well."
The time these two took to arrive at Mt Buzhou would not be long due to their incredible speed. But during this time, Huoyun opened up to Da Hai about what happened atop Mt Buzhou's peak. However, he left out the detail about stealing his own Dao back.
In the outskirts of the Chaos Sea, Yang Mei sat quietly allowing spatial currents to drift him along the vast emptiness. He would do so while he still knew Huoyun was alive, a paper effigy clutched in his hands.
…
As time passed many mighty figures arrived at the base of Mt Buzhou. Dark storm clouds gathered above the central continent as if the world itself recognized a terrible event will take place soon.
Great gods Kunwu, and Shangxia, had defected from SHenni and led dozens of innate gods to the central continent. Others such as Shen Feng fled hoping to not get caught up in the conflict. Shenni had done nothing to refute Hongjun's words and ignored them. This only cemented their decisions.
Da Hai stepped onto the grounds of Mt Buzhou. He had grown infinitely more powerful since the last time he was here yet the mountains stood just as tall, just as insurmountable. He realized the mountain had grown as well, its powerful aura was leagues ahead of what it once was.
"The primitive world is such a unique place. It's like a living organism of its own," he commented. Huoyun agreed, although the chaos sea will always hold a special place within him, the primitive world did indeed offered much more.
"Hey um, Huoyun are you sure about coming here?" Da Hai asked Huoyun. "You know you'll have to fight alongside Hongjun as well right?"
"I know but what choice do I have? Besides it wouldn't be the first time enemies worked together for a greater cause. Us godfiends did it all the time," the five element daoist responded. There was a trust there that Hongjun as a fellow godfiend would uphold tradition.
"But let's focus on the topic at hand," Huoyun said observing the gathered godfiends. All of them now innate gods of Pangu's Chaos World. They'd each started mingling, catching up with one another. Some were moving towards their location.
"Listen Ti…sorry Da Hai. Shenni if my calculations are right is not an opponent you should concern yourself with. Work with the other godfiends and fight his lieutenants. Stay safe and follow the other's lead. Trust me when I say no one here wants the Primitive World gone and would fight tooth and nail to preserve it."
"Shenni is so powerful on his own. I dread to think what his master was like," Da Hai shuddered at the faint memory of Demon Ape.
"Demon Ape? Yeah he was extraordinarily powerful. Even now this Shenni would be an insect to him."
Those around them who heard the conversation nodded as well. Demon Ape despite all his strength was much like the original Tian Hai. He fought till the very end and could not survive and reincarnate. It's a pity for such a shining star to die so young, he was the youngest of the four great chaos demon godfiends.
Huoyun scanned around looking for someone. In the end, he looked disappointed when he found nothing.
"What's wrong?" Da Hai asked.
"So few left," he whispered. "Not even Sichen or Destiny Demon God is here. I don't know if they're dead or not but their presence would be appreciated."
"But that would be pure wish fulfillment, if they were around Shenni would not be much trouble," he paused for a bit revealing a hint of sadness.
A host of Great Unity Golden Immortals had arrived, all familiar faces. A small percentage of the Chaos Godfiends had reincarnated and fewer were still around. Old rivals killed off others and Shenni killed the rest. Around 120 were present including Da Hai.
Before long a lunar beam descended from the heavens bringing with it Wangshu. She was a completely new figure, no recognized her. Hence she stood out amongst the crowd of gods and goddesses.
She exchanged greetings with Da Hai who introduced her to Huoyun. Their first contact was a very warm one. Wangshu had managed to recover her left arm to an acceptable degree. Her cultivation was similar to Da Hai, half step Chaos Immortal.
"I am so sad," a rumbling voiced called out north of them all. This drew the attention of all of Buzhou's defenders. Thunderous clouds rolled out of the sky carrying some individuals. Emperor Shenni flanked by the 4 evils had appeared.
"Give up now Shenni, you are massively outnumbered," an arrogant voice answered. A shirtless strong fisherman stood wielding a harpoon. This was a Great Principle Chaos Immortal who had defected, an innate god born from the south seas whose name means four oceans, Si Hai.
"Filthy traitor," Qiong Qi answered with a growl. A majestic aura of a Chaos Immortal descended from the winged tiger suppressing many Great Unity Golden Immortals before him.
Shenni merely grunted and waved with his hand. "Release my pets. They'll serve as fodder."
Taotie nodded and quickly opened his wide disgusting mouth releasing millions upon millions of Primordial beasts. The Taiyi Golden Immortals frowned, did they seriously think mere beasts will be a challenge? That's just looking down on them.
Si Hai waved his arm and many portals opened. Shrimp soldiers, crab warriors, manatee brutes, shark warriors, and countless cultivators of the south seas appeared. Their cultivations were much lower at Heavenly Immortal with the strongest and True Immortal at the weakest. An army of fodder for the primordial beasts.
"What is he doing? Those men and women would be slaughtered. They have no use here in this battle," Da Hai gasped at Si Hai's wasteful actions. His army was clearly new and had no chance to train nor grow in strength. They might as well be redundant given how easily godfiends can kill primordial beasts.
Some innate gods such as the fabled Demon Eyes, Red Wings, Upper Skies, Earthly Sage, and countless others also brought about their own massive armies. The exited soldiers roared with unparalleled bloodlust and advanced forward clashing with the primordial beasts.
"Warriors of the south sea, fight!" Si Hai roared emanating high charisma. The soldiers roared and battled with all their might. They were more than willing to die for their homes.
Da Hai frowned, any one of them could wave their hands and kill off hundreds of thousands of primordial beasts. A small orb of water was released from Da Hai's right palm expanding into a gargantuan sphere of water.
"Sending so many weaklings out is such a wasteful thing. I'll wash the filth away first," he released his spell inciting a massive flood that bathed the central continent in seawater. It washed across the battlefield crushing millions of lesser primordial beasts.
The sea creatures were feeling right at home quickly took advantage of the water to battle the stronger beasts. This unfamiliar with the new environment was still unaffected and battled bravely.
One of the 4 creatures Taowu, a scholarly looking man took off his robes and transformed. A massive green feline like creature with a human face covered in red war paint wearing a frown appeared mid air. It opened its mouth and breathed a stream of deadly fire down.
Hundreds of thousands died from the heat and the surface of the water evaporated. Unwilling to wait further dozens Taiyi Golden Immortals flew up to face the Great Principle Chaos Immortal Taowu.
"Fellow deists group up. Chaos heaven formation activate," they interlocked their energy to activate various battle formations. With this union, several chaos giants stood with 3 arms and no face. Taowu gleefully met them in battle.
Qiong Qi leaped to battle the arrogant Si Hai. "Betrayer" he roared. The two Great Principle Chaos Immortals began clashing fiercely.
Da Hai looked at Wangshu and both nodded. Leaping up they met the monstrous Taotie who looked at the two stunned. "Heh, just two Taiyi small fried" he opened his mouth to bite them.
Da Hai clapped his palms creating a crescent blade of seawater cutting into Taotie's fleshy tongue. "Agh!" He roared as blood was spilled.
Wangshu transformed into her three face six armed form and attacked with dozens of xiantian treasures. The two had experience dealing with Taotie before and knew what to expect. Their cultivations had reached the gate of the Great Principle, their Dao fruits were already semi-visible. Taotie could not defeat them quickly.
"Hundun, take the five element daoist. I have a score to settle" Shenni flew in a blaze of purple flame revealing his monstrous beast form. He charged at Mt Buzhou with full intent to destroy it.
"No!" Huoyun transformed into a mass of multi coloured clouds emanating divine light everywhere blocking Shenni's path. Hundun took off his clean revealing a faceless man with silver hair, 4 wings, and 6 arms. He had no legs.
"Fellow daisy Huoyun, allow us to exchange pointers" he charged at the mass of clouds pushing it back.
"Hundun, you were always praised as a wise man. Why would you help a madman like Shenni?" Huoyun roared fighting his hardest to combat Hundun. His injuries were severely hindering him.
Huoyun pushed Hundun back several leagues and sent a blast of light at Shenni.
"You dare?" Shenni slapped at the light but it curved around him wrapping around the beast emperor like chains.
"Stay there for a while, I'll deal with you later" the chains formed a pentagonal shaped prison trapping the beast emperor.
"Hmph," he snorted. With a burst of his power, he attacked the prison head on. His Dao fruit was revealed in all its mutated glory leaving many shocked and afraid. Shenni had recovered the level of Primal Origin Chaos Immortal.
"Haiyah, it seems this old man will have to stop you!"
Huoyun looked up as Hongjun made his presence known. The latter didn't even pay attention to the former and only focused on the Beast Emperor.
Shenni looked up also in contempt, "You bastard, come and die!" Hongjun had appeared to personally fight Shenni.