"Perhaps you should try a different approach," Wangshu said before taking a sip of her own wine. It was the time of year where the lunar cycle came to completion and the moon goddess descended for a visit to her longtime friend and companion.
The two chatted and ate privately while the dragons practiced outside. They were uninterested in the occasion and simply paid their respects to their aunt-master.
As Wangshu was of the same generation as Da Hai and was even born before Da Hai, she technically held the status of his senior sister though he never acknowledged her as such.
For if we were to go into the semantics, Wangshu was half a disciple to Yang Mei who was brothers with the original Da Hai. Da Hai himself was like a spawn of the original, which made him of the same generation as a disciple would be, making them martial siblings.
The fact that Wangshu was technically Pangu's daughter cemented this fact. As a result, the dragons respectfully referred to her as aunt-master.
"And what approach will that be?" Da Hai asked while handing out poker cards.
"Well you want to teach him proper rulership right?" She said looking at her hand.
"I want him to learn a lot of things, patience, caution, rulership, statesmanship, and to temper his reckless mind," he complained.
"So many things you have no clue about," she said, taking some pleasure at Da Hai's embarrassed frown. She had remained unchanged over the years, looking every bit as beautiful as she did years ago. Da Hai on the other hand had grown many decades older in appearance, resembling a man just past his prime years though still very much powerful.
The physical appearance of cultivators played no role in their power, insight, nor age. All children are taught this from the moment they begin cultivating. It was an important fact to remember for all living beings.
"You are right," Da Hai finally said after several moments of silence. "The best I could ever do was force him to read books," he rubbed his temples and sighed.
"I'm surprised the boy isn't full on resenting you by this point," Wangshu said casually. "If you wanted an effective tool you'd need his full trust, I see you have that with Qinglong and Yinglong but not with Zulong. What happened, Da Hai?"
"I…He is a most difficult challenge," he leaned back looking very tired and stressed. "I don't know what to do for him, more books? More meditation?"
"Why not take him to the sea clans?" She suggested it as if it was the simplest thing in the world. As a matter of fact it was and Da Hai looked like he wanted to throw himself out the window or better yet grab the nearest blunt object and bash himself.
This was how master and disciple found themselves traveling out into the sea. The first time in thousands of years that Zulong had seen the East Sea.
The many intervening years had done little to diminish Zulong's fearsome reputation in the past. Though many of the newer generations had never met him, they at least knew of the big bad dragon who had terrorized their elders.
"Why are we out here master?" Zulong asked, irritated. His frustrations were clearly understood by Da Hai, which was why he did not grow angry.
"For you to learn how to be a proper ruler," he said, driving the auspicious cloud they rode on into the water.
"I know how to be a ruler, I've led my brothers for many years," Zulong retorted.
"You know how to be a leader, not a ruler," Da Hai said firmly. "I too know little of the subject but I do know those who do." Da Hai travelled many kilometres into a large underwater city bustling with activity.
"Turtles?" Zulong looked at his master. "Is this some sort of joke?" When he saw no look of humour on Da Hai he was outraged. "Master, these are the most cowardly lot of sea creatures in the world, all they do is hide in their shells and cower in front of others. What could I possibly learn here?"
"The Primordial Sea Turtle clan is the clan with the most successful nation beneath the waves. They can teach you much if you are to become the Sea's emperor," Da Hai explained to Zulong's disbelieving face.
"I will trust you on this master," he begrudgingly said. Zulong followed Da Hai and descended into the turtle's palace where the turtle king waited.
"Greetings Great One," the turtle king did not dare sit on his throne. He humbly abdicated for Da Hai to take the main seat. Zulong meanwhile looked longingly at the ocean throne, picturing what could be, what will be.
"Zulong, for the next thousand years you will work under the turtle king as one of his ministers," he said. Zulong looked furious at those words. He didn't hesitate to release his overbearing aura, scaring the turtle ministers, kings and princes.
"Master, why on earth do I have to serve these, these," his enraged gurgling was ignored by Da Hai who wore a cold expression.
"Ignorant fool, I'm doing this for your own good," Da Hai lifted his hand and Zulong felt terrified. He was captured in a ring of azure energy restricting his movements. With one stroke Da Hai forcibly sealed Zulong's mighty cultivation.
"You will work with them and learn all you can. Trust master on this Zulong, you will learn much here," Da Hai said desperately.
"What have I done to deserve this punishment master?" Zulong lifted his head once he was dropped onto the marble floor. He looked up in a mix of fury and betrayal. "Hasn't this disciple been loyal and filial? I have tried all you have asked for so many years, why would you subject me to this place?"
Da Hai sighed, "Zulong, this is for your own good. I hope you will understand, this place is the best for you to learn all you can. To teach what I have failed to teach."
Da Hai ordered the turtles to treat Zulong as just another minister. He informed them that they did not have to be afraid of the dragon, now or in the future. With that said he left the dragon under the care of the turtles.
"Did I make the right choice?" he questioned himself.
And so the years went by. Da Hai traveled back to Yingzhou to check on Qinglong and Yinglong before leaving to roam the primitive world. He felt relieved of a burden for the first time ever.
He traveled across the East Continent discreetly wandering from clan to clan. The world had indeed evolved in the years he'd been living as a hermit on Yingzhou.
Many Golden Immortals had popped up over the years. Many more immortals had risen up in the world. In this day and age, Golden Immortals were something most clans had on hand. The strongest clans had at least several Golden Immortals amongst their numbers.
Da Hai nodded, this was indeed within his expectations. According to legends, although the Primitive World's power ceiling might have been lower than the Three Realms, their concentration of experts was an order of magnitudes higher.
Da Hai expected Great Unity Golden Immortals to start popping up soon enough.
Across the lands, various surviving innate gods were engaged deeply in cultivation. All of those remaining had regained the Great Principle and entered the Chaos Immortal realm. None of them were pushovers, every single one of them being ancestral existences of the highest order. The greatest beings in the world.
Da Hai stood atop the mountains of the South Continent wondering where the Ancestral Phoenix was. The mystical firebird of legends had not been seen at all since her inception. In fact neither had he heard any news of the Ancestral Qilin aside from that one sighting many years ago.
He wondered for a bit then noticed something. A colony of silkworms were biting into a mulberry tree's leaves. This reminded Da Hai of the thought he had for caretakers.
He reached forward and grabbed a handful of silkworms and smiled. "You'll do," he said and soon left the scene. He briefly looked at a distant location many hundreds of thousands of kilometres away and smiled, "So that's where you were."
A while after he left two women wandered into the same place. Heading the two was an extraordinarily beautiful woman in an enchanting red dress and an elegant crown. Trailing behind her was a younger woman in a dress of red and yellow and a slightly less elaborate crown.
"Sister, are we sure we should come here so soon?" The younger woman said. This was Zhuque, the vermillion bird and younger sister to Zufeng, the ancestral phoenix.
"Don't worry little sister, the old immortal has already left. He came here for a reason and I want to know what," Zufeng commanded with a regal air.
On her command, various avians appeared and thoroughly searched the land. Unknown to them Da Hai watched from the sidelines in curiosity.
"But big sister, shouldn't we be worried about offending that old senior just now?" Zhuque asked.
"Of course not, he didn't even notice us which proves that he isn't very capable. Besides, give your big sister enough time and I'll stomp him and all others beneath my feet," she said with triumph. The avians around her knelt and clapped in reverence.
Da Hai who observed from the side could only think of her as very similar to Zulong. "The balls on this woman," he muttered. "Arrogant to the point of mental retardation," he was about to approach when he felt a familiar aura around her.
He detected faint tracking signals on her person and immediately recognized it. "So Hongjun got to her first, huh," he sighed in disappointment. It would've been good to recruit Zufeng as the other major player of this era.
Though truth be told he was already driven crazy by Zulong alone. He didn't want to deal with the other two ancestors as well. Da Hai decided to leave her be for now. He could sense that her cultivation was still below that of Zulong.
"Perhaps we should ask the old senior about the identity of that immortal?" Zhuque said to Zufeng. Da Hai paused, he considered silencing the sisters. In fact his arm charged up an energy blade.
But then he felt someone observing him. Looking up, he could faintly detect the Heavenly Dao. 'Of course,' he thought. 'They were born of Pangu's Yin Qi, they deserve to live,' he laughed bitterly.
However much to his luck, Zufeng shook her head. "No need to ask the old man, we do not need anything from him," she dismissed arrogantly. Da Hai silently thanked the Heavenly Dao for bestowing such arrogance on the woman.
With this small heart attack over Da Hai retreated back to Yingzhou. Upon his return, he deposited the silkworms on the Fusang tree and left them to grow. Once they matured, he would instruct them.
Turtle Palace
The turtles didn't really force Zulong to work nor watch, they left him alone for the most part. After Da Hai left Zulong spent much of his time initially raging and cursing his master's name. After he calmed down he began meditating to cool off his anger.
As the weeks passed he stayed in meditation, never speaking to anyone. Eventually, he had suppressed much of his wrath, enough so as to not damage the furniture anymore. In these moments he tried to understand why Da Hai would punish him so.
Why was Zulong banished from Yingzhou? Had he proven himself unacceptable after being surpassed by his brothers? He could understand that sentiment, at least.
Zulong was the eldest, but thus far he was the weakest. He had learned many powerful daoist magic under Da Hai but the more nuanced aspects of the Dao was something he struggled with. He sat in his room, left alone to his own devices, to his own thoughts for several years.
Around nine years after Da Hai's departure, the turtle king knocked on Zulong's door.
"Enter," Zulong said. The turtle king breathed a sigh of relief. It would seem the dragon wasn't all rage after all. He pushed the door open to see a trashed room. The damages had evidently been there for years.
"Master Zulong, you cannot stay here forever," the turtle king nervously said. Zulong glared at the turtle, terrifying him enough for him to release cold sweat.
"The hells wrong with you, you're a Golden Immortal. I'm at your mercy, grow a pair will you," the younger man scolded the turtle. Zulong couldn't help but feel angered at the turtle's lack of proper courage. "What is it you want?" He asked.
"Well, the Great One, his most majestic Saint of Yingzhou had ordered you to study here," the turtle began. He had waited years hoping for the dragon to cool off so that he could begin his task. On one hand the dragon was fearsome but on the other hand, Da Hai had personally ordered his education into the workings of the state.
Turtle king felt like he was being put in a very terrible position. But he sucked it up and decided to do his job.
"Master made a mistake forcing me here," Zulong said in disgust as he confronted the cowardly turtle. He did not truly want to speak ill of Da Hai, but he felt justified in doing so. He walked up to the turtle towering over the old man, "I'm not interested in whatever useless thing you think you can teach." He slammed the door in the turtle's face.
"No luck?" The turtle ministers said when the turtle king returned to the throne room. The turtle king shook his head.
"I hope he'll come around soon, otherwise I don't even want to think about the consequences," the turtle king said. He immediately made a mad dash for the temple and knelt in front of a statue of an eight headed Da Hai curling along a mulberry tree.
"Oh great Ancestor of the Seas please forgive this small one's mistake, please forgive," he pleaded with incense offerings. Below Da Hai's statue, three statues of dragons could also be seen.
The ministers performed the same actions. When they saw the statue acknowledging their gifts, they bowed and left. They all knew that they were in for a hard time fulfilling the instructions of Da Hai.
On Yingzhou, Da Hai who was contemplating what to do while playing with his piece of silk sighed. "It seems this will be even harder than I thought."