On the southern edge of the East Sea, on one of the many islands near the dimensional border. The Sky Beat daoist of the Azure Scale Crane clan was celebrating her recent breakthrough to the Golden Immortal realm. She was joined by many of her clanmates and comrades, some refugees from the period of Shenni's war and some fellow natives of the East Sea.
"Congratulations to lady Sky Beat, you are the first among this group of cultivators" a toad man happily toasted. He was soon joined by many other daoists at the Heavenly Immortal level.
They each sipped on spiritual tea from their cups. In this era wine was still a complete unknown. Da Hai had yet to spill the secrets of its production, though so many years had passed since its inception. Currently, the most popular drink in the Primitive World was either spiritual tea, or whatever spiritual fruit juice the various beings could get their hands on.
Sky Beat daoist blushed in embarrassment as more and more people at the celebration party toasted her. "It's nothing much, I still have a long way to go before I catch up to my seniors," she insisted.
"Don't sell yourself short, sister Sky Beat, you've even surpassed your clan's ancestor. That's a major accomplishment. Those Innate gods of the past are nothing to you now," a hawk woman said.
"Ah! Don't say that, what if the Great Sage of Yingzhou heard you?" A lemur frantically reminded her. Everyone laughed, having a good time.
"Hm?" The noise from the waves caught Sky Beat's attention. The waves of the water were becoming more and more violent. Sky Beat pinched her fingers and calculated before frowning in dismay.
"Fellow daoists, something's coming through the dimensional border," she announced.
"What? Who's come all the way out here?" The same lemur asked in alarm.
Suddenly, the dimension wall separating the South and East seas was torn apart. Much to the shock of everyone at the celebration, an army of sea creatures marched out,dressed in coral armour. They were led by a proud Bull Shark cultivator at the peak Heavenly Immortal realm carrying a harpoon.
Upon seeing the beautiful Sky Beat he smiled and called out, "Greetings fellow daoists of the East."
"Greetings," Sky Beat and her friends cupped their hands and saluted this unknown individual. She looked uneasily at the army that had come with the shark general. These creatures looked to be ready for a fight.
"Are fellow daoists residents of the East Sea?" the shark general asked rather pompously. The immortals on Sky Beat's side frowned, this shark was very rude. Didn't he know he stood before a Golden Immortal?
"Yes, this one is indeed a resident of the East Sea," Sky Beat confirmed.
"Very well, then. Submit yourselves to his majesty Emperor Si Hai, rightful ruler of the Four Seas." he announced.
"What? Preposterous!" The immortals of the east sea were furious. Even the normally calm Sky Beat glared at the shark. This arrogance was simply too much.
"Also, by orders of his majesty, hand over the fool who calls himself Master of the Seas," the shark general said disdainfully. 'Doesn't these fools know there is only one ruler of the Four Seas?' He thought.
"For your own good, I suggest you follow my commands," he said self-righteously.
"Our own good?" Sky Beat raised her eyes, "It seems you are the one who doesn't know what's good for you." The shark gritted his teeth in anger on hearing this. Who was this woman to tell him what was good or not.
"Then you leave me no choice," he signalled for his army to arrest these fools. Sky Beat scoffed, 'Where did these fools get their confidence from?'.
"You leave me no choice," Sky Beat leapt into action. She had been itching to test her Golden Immortal cultivation base for a while now.
"Careful, this lady is a Golden Immortal," a shrimp commander called out to his troops. The bull shark general my seem way over his head and arrogant, but he wasn't stupid. They had countermeasures ready against an opponent of a higher realm.
"Rally the formation," he commanded. The sea soldiers gathered into battle positions and interweaved their power. They formed together into a spiritual giant resembling a Kraken.
Suppressing The Waves Formation!
The kraken was made of sea green light and emitted monstrous might. It clashed head on against Sky Beat without losing an inch.
"What?" Sky Beat was shocked and quickly deployed her primordial spiritual treasure. A seal appeared to block the kraken's tentacles.
"You should give up, his majesty is already on his way," the kraken roared in many voices speaking in unison. It opened its vertical mouth and shot out a blast of energy. Sky Beat crossed her arms with the seal and barely managed to block the attack.
"Okay, let's get serious then," Sky Beat's eyes glowed in white. Spreading her arms she unleashed her true form, a pure white crane with azure scaled legs and razor sharp talons several hundreds of meters tall. Sky Beat slashed across the spiritual skin of the kraken, peeling off the transparent texture.
"The might of a Golden Immortal is incredible," the shark general mused. "But you are incomparable to the gods of the past, don't think you're all that." The formation's tentacles transformed into rippling swords and cut at Sky Beat. The crane defended with her seal and stabbed through one of the swords with her beak.
"Fellow daoists, let's show these invaders what we've got," the other East Sea creatures also joined the fray. Soon the kraken was besieged by many Heavenly Immortals.
"Damn it we need reinforcements," the shark general crushed a stone in his grasp sending the signal. The dimension wall rippled, before being torn once more.
To the horror of Sky Beat, more armies made of hundreds of thousands of immortals came through. They formed more and more formations around them, much to their dismay.
"We must retreat," Sky Beat said. She unleashed a blinding flash of light with her seal before turning around to run.
"Small thing," a majestic voice called out. All of a sudden, it was as if time stopped, reality froze, and Sky Beat's brain could no longer function properly. She didn't even know what was happening, just that one second she was flying and in the next, her wings were missing.
Blood sputtered in the air, making the nearby waters red. Sky Beat's maimed form was held by the throat by a gargantuan tanned man standing upon a whirlpool. He donned plated armour made of turtle shells and fish scales and wore a crown of corals on his head. He was clean shaven with shaggy hair and held a long harpoon in hand.
"Small thing, you put up quite a resistance," the giant Si Hai said smiling. He looked in amusement as if the Golden Immortal was little more than a toy.
"Who… Who are you?" She stuttered, all the while spilling mouthfuls of blood. Si Hai laughed heartily at her question.
"I am your emperor, the Supreme Ruler of the Four Seas," he proclaimed. "I've come seeking the one you call Master of the Seas. Just who has such arrogance to call themselves such."
Sky Beat widened her eyes. She had vaguely recalled this name from an acquaintance from the south. Apparently Si Hai was busy pacifying the north sea a few millennia back. Why would Si Hai come to the unassuming East?
"You… You're looking for the Saint of Yingzhou?" She stuttered. Si Hai smirked, "So that's his name." He raised the crane's head to his face and bit down.
"Not bad, Golden Immortal creatures are quite tasty," he said, licking his lips. The bull shark general and his fellow generals of the south looked petrified. They did not dare step out of line one bit.
"Streaking Blue," he said. The bull shark general nervously stepped forward, "Yes, your majesty?"
"You did good out there, not everyone can hold a Golden Immortal back for so long," he commended. The shark nervously cupped his hands and bowed, "Many thanks to your majesty for such praise, this slave is undeserving."
"Hm, good," Si Hai swallowed the entire crane in one gulp taking pleasure in the flavour of digesting Dao essence. He took out a fish hook and threw it to the bull shark. "This is a low grade xiantian spiritual treasure, it's your reward," he said.
"Many thanks, many thanks, this undeserving slave will work his hardest to fulfill your orders." the shark knelt very submissively. Si Hai nodded satisfied. It was good, these creatures knew their place.
"Good, continue the march, it's time the East Sea also joins the fold," he commanded. He wanted to reach Yingzhou soon and see just who this so-called Saint was. He swiped his left arm out, distantly, and all the fleeing Heavenly Immortals exploded into red mist.
Sometime later, across the sea, the Azure Scale Crane ancestor was deeply troubled. His sister, Sky Beat, had not returned for quite some time. He had heard similar stories from his allied clans that their members did not return after traveling south with her. They had been demanding an explanation from him, an explanation that he didn't know how to give.
Si Hai marched across the southern parts of the East Sea, easily conquering many tribes along the way. As a mighty Great Principle Golden Immortal, very few things could even touch him in the vast wilderness.
In Yingzhou, serpentine eyes opened in dismay. Da Hai had felt a disturbance and it deeply bothered him. He had been receiving a lot of incense merit recently, a constant stream from worship of his likeness by the various sea creatures in the Yingzhou who had benefited from his lecture. However he'd also heard pleas for help, which had increased dramatically recently.
The eight-headed snake untangled himself from the Fusang tree and slithered back onto the ground. He calculated the recent events and felt even more troubled.
"Si Hai moved so fast?" He sighed in annoyance. After his last lecture, Da Hai became an exalted existence that was worshipped in the East Sea. He was intrinsically tied to the East Sea innate creature clans. Si Hai's invasion had already caused them harm.
Da Hai flicked his claw and took out a wheel. This was a high-grade xiantian spiritual treasure, the Cycling Waves Wheel. It was extremely good at detecting the flow of karma. Previously a treasure like this was useless, but with the advent of the Heavenly Dao, it became a treasure of great importance.
Da Hai aimed South and the Wheel began spinning. Da Hai's serpentine eyes could see lines of karma in the shape of spindles running across the wheel. It did not take long to find Si Hai, following that golden line Da Hai could see a figure in the distance wrapped in black lines.
Above the East Sea, the celestial mountain Yingzhou seemed to fade from reality before completely disappearing. Across the vast ocean, Si Hai who was marching with his troops suddenly sensed something.
Currently he was observing a prelude to battle between his forces and an alliance made by the East Sea clans. For the first time since forever, the three titans of Colossal Shark, Mosasaur, and Plesiosaur tribes had allied. All three ancestors stood at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm and had already caught Si Hai's interest.
Si Hai was contemplating whether they were worth more as dinner or as generals. On one hand, it would strengthen his forces greatly, but on the other hand, Golden Immortal innate creatures tasted really good.
Before he could decide, however, a massive celestial mountain manifested near him. The ancestors of Colossal Sharks, Mosasaur, and Plesiosaur all bowed in reverence. Si Hai saw this and realised that this must be Yingzhou.
He saw a pathway open up towards the mountain and smiled. He raised his hands, "Men, wait here. I have an audience to attend to." Without another word he departed for Yingzhou.
At the same time, the innate creatures of the East Sea alliance received a voice transmission from Da Hai. "I'll sort this out, do not attack but be on the lookout. Retaliate if you must," he commanded. Because of this both sides halted any plans of battle for now.
Si Hai strolled up Yingzhou until he saw Da Hai's palace. He had a greedy look the whole time, this mountain was a truly valuable place. He pushed open the doors into the main hall.
Unlike the previous time Da Hai hosted visitors, his stage went unused. Instead he set up a table with tea in the middle of the hall. Da Hai waited for Si Hai, sitting patiently in his human form.
"Fellow daoist, please," he gestured at the tea.