'Somehow, the storm's gotten worse,' Qinglong thought grimly. The group of five were flying as fast as they could but could not yet escape the storm. The shockwaves from the clash of two genuine Chaos Immortals had disrupted natural order.
BOOM!
'Another one,' the azure dragon thought to himself. Whatever was happening was incredibly fierce. His divine sense was being scrambled beyond his control. It was as if millions of birds were shrieking into his ear while fire was being shoved into his eyes.
'Looks like they're experiencing the same thing,' Qinlong thought upon noticing the grimacing expressions on his comrades' faces. He'd felt stronger than ever with their presence but even so, it was difficult to observe that fight. Only Zulong remained calm.
'Wait not, why is big brother looking like that?'
Zulong's expression was one of anxiousness. He appeared incredibly twitching. Suddenly his eyes widened.
"Run!" "Those useless grunts!"
His brother's and the booming voice of a greater deity rumbled the heavens. Qinglong turned his neck to look back. His heart froze in a rare moment of fright.
Gargantuan, inconceivable, invincible. These were the only words he could describe the emperor of the four seas. A Great Principle Chaos Immortal who'd long condensed the Dao fruit. A superior being beyond ordinary understanding.
His arm was raced and he was quickly gaining pace. He'd easily outside all five of them. Besides him, Zhuque looked back in shock and even Bai Jian had a rare frightened expression.
Si Hai's harpoon was raised high in the air. The giant moved unbelievably fast skirting across the surface of the water. His swing was so powerful, it looked as if it could've split the heavens.
Just looking at his movements alone were mesmerising. Qinglong couldn't tear his eyes away. It was both beautiful and frightening at the same time. There were so much packed into it, so much understanding into the Dao. How vicious the ocean was, how violent the storms were. How dangerous water was.
The sky distorted, his vision distorted. Si Hai's appearance was beginning to change. It was as if Qinglong was looking at an ocean storm barreling towards him. A storm formed from the four oceans of the world.
The voices he heard were murderous and zealous. Screaming for blood, screaming for food, screaming for prey. He felt hopeless as if the supreme deity was standing before him. An unstoppable wave that wished for his head.
BOOM!
'GAHGH!' Qinglong, Yinglong, Zhuque, and Bai Jian all cried out in pain.
A massive golden tail slammed into all four of them hard. They were all thrown dozens of kilometres before impacting the water pushing up geysers.
Stretching over ten thousand kilometres. The snarling face of the first dragon Zulong faced the much more powerful emperor Si Hai. His body was bent in a wide arc having moved his tail earlier. He'd managed to force his brothers and friends away in time while narrowly dodging the physical blow.
His size and glow were magnificent. Gleaming golden scales, a radiant imperial aura. His full might as a Great Unity Golden Immortal was on full display. However, the golden scales along his mid section were noticeably dimmer than the rest of his body. In fact, some scales were flaking off his body.
'To think he didn't even make contact,' Zulogn thought. He was incredibly tired. It had taken a lot out of him to resist just the aftershock of the blow. The dragon looked downwards from his floating position. The ocean was split in two for as far as a hundred thousand kilometres at the minimum. It was probably longer by an order of magnitude.
As if fearing for their very existence. None of the water rushed to fill the gap. They were like peasants making way for the king. Cowering in fright, not even daring to meet his eye.
Si Hai's face resembling a cookie cutter shark looked perplexed. He narrowed his eyes and scanned the five Great Unity Golden Immortals and sneered.
"This generation is pathetic," he muttered but clearly intended for his voice to be heard. The insult ignited rage from all those present, sparked by wounded pride. Bai Jian was tempted to pounce with caution thrown to the wind but held himself back, stupidity had no place in this lifetime.
"Just a small slash and you're reduced to this," Si Hai sneered. Zulong had half a mind to yell out that he was an entire realm above him. He shouldn't be able to fight Si Hai.
"Should you really be bullying juniors," Zulong said. Now was not the time to throw his weight around. He needed to be very careful. "We want no part in this, we are merely bystanders with no stake in your dispute. Let us…"
"And yet you are already involved," Si Hai scoffed. He swung his harpoon around and pointed at the woman in red and yellow, Zhuque. She gave out a small gasp before tensing.
'Fuck! Plan B it is,' Zulong thought depressingly. "Out master is a great immortal of the east sea and a veteran of the Shenni war, ancestor Da Hai, I don't think you're willing to incur his wrath," Zulong stated.
The history between both sea gods was no secret in the east. Si Hai publicly got his as kicked by Da Hai and ran away with his tail between his legs. Da Hai's current location was unknown but he should still be in the west. A month wasn't long enough for him to cross the entire continent. Too bad the communication crystal prototype was used up.
"Da Hai? That coward?" Si Hai started chuckling before blowing up into full blown laughter. "You'd threaten me with that small fry? Ha! If not for that pile of rocks, he wouldn't dare fight me. He doesn't even dare come after me," he laughed.
Zulong was suddenly overtaken by an overwhelming feeling of rage. How dare this creature bad mouth his master, his teacher, foster father. He gritted his teeth and tightened his hold over the small bad in his gargantuan palm.
There were several Great Principle level attack talismans within. Zulong surmised that that should at least buy them some time.
"I'll hold off!" He screamed through mental communications. The order was met with a collection of "What", and "are you insane?" But Zulong took no head. He released the talismans within without hesitation.
Qinglong and Yinglong looked bitterly as the first explosion rang off. The startled Si Hai was pushed off of his tentacles and landed on his back. His wings flapped backwards pushing him back up again but Zulong had already unleashed another.
The two dragons felt incredibly conflicted. Their big brother was putting his life on the line and expected them to just run? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!
"You guys go," Qinglong said to Zhuque and Bai Jian and received a look Yinglong flashed him. They were thinking the same thing.
"I…" Zhuque muttered hesitantly. The kindest of others weren't things she took lightly. She too hesitated to leave, her sister would understand, right? Definite not, she'd say something like us, "Us phoenixes are the most precious things in the world". But she really wanted to help Qinglong.
Bai Jian too contemplated. He'd been running for a while now much to his own wounded pride. Yet he was also deeply jealous of the bonds the dragons shared. That sense of family that he'd briefly been a part of just now in their company. That sense that he'd found missing pieces of himself returned.
Qinglong and Yinglong were already flying back. The vermillion bird and rogue swordsman both sighed. "Chances of us realistically getting away from a Great Principle Chaos Immortal no matter how delayed is nonexistent at best," they justified.
"The fuck are you lot doing?" Zulong yelled desperately avoiding an enraged slap from Si Hai. "GAGH!" He cried having received a graze. His cheek had its scales peeled off revealing exposed skin.
The dragon had been in combat for a very short period of time when he noticed his fellow siblings and two extras coming back. While it was deeply worrying and rage inducing, he'd also felt very thankful.
Yinglong and Qinglong both roared, transforming and unleashing incredibly powerful breath attacks resembling lightning at Si Hai. They landed harmlessly against the deity's chest.
"What fools," Si Hai scoffed.
"We came into this world together, we leave it together," Yinglong and Qinglong said.
"You two are just plain stupid," Zulong growled at Bai Jian and Zhuque. The vermillion bird had the decency to look away while Bai Jian muttered something like, "I don't like to be in someone's debt".
"We are all lacking in brain cells today," Zulong sighed. He gazed up at Si Hai. The emperor of the four seas sneered at the display.
"Then you can all die together," Si Hai's harpoon lit up. Navy blue light lit the tip of the blade. "All tremble before me, all be washed before me, all be consumed before me," he chanted.
Extending his arm, Si Hai swung his harpoon up into the sky. "Be swallowed by the fiercest of all waves, Mouth that Swallows the Land," he roared.
The bunch of Great Unity Golden Immortals became weary as the spell was deployed. An oncoming wave rose to a million kilometres tall. The tsunami was navy blue in colour. It resembled the maws of a terrifying beast. A fitting appearance for the spell.
Yinglong sighed and extended his wings, he rose up and spun in the air and outstretched his impressive feathered wings. "I am the clouds, I bring the rain, I am the god of this world that oversees the skies," auspicious clouds gathered along the dragon's wings spraying a myriad of water arrows.
Qinglong, Bai Jian, and Zhuque all smiled at each other. Beneath such pressure, their true forms were forced out. Qinglong, long and serpentine, majestic and wise, an azure dragon. Zhuque, red with a massive wingspan, radiant and beautiful, a vermillion bird. Bai Jian, coated in metallic white fur and black stripes, paws sharp with claws, a predator of the jungle, a white tiger.
At once their stars glowed together. Jupiter, Venus, and Mars appeared in sync, the winds blew, the temperature was hot, time was shortened and an aura of decay was felt. The wind picked up speed, the fire burned, and metallic substances appeared. Supernatural phenomenons formed the vague outline of the universe formed spinning like a wheel unleashing mysterious stellar power.
Immediately, the three knew something was wrong. Something was missing and that held back their full potential.
Zulong flew onto the surface of the sea. His muscles tensed and contracted and his body glowed. Yellow and black, imperial heavenly colours. "The dragon was born in the ocean," he chanted softly. "Rising to the surface," mighty power gathered around him engulfing his serpentine figure. "Lifting his head," the image of a dragon resembling Zulong, but many times bigger appeared. "Soaring above the clouds," the biggest dragon in all history so far flew into the air.
A hail of rain, a diagram of the universe, and a dragon flying into the sky. The three clashed against the wave of Si Hai.
"Hm?" Si Hai suddenly adopted a confused expression. "What?" He uttered when the most unexpected thing happened. With a burst of golden light, his wave to end all waves was broken.
As he felt the droplets of water splashing him, Si Hai looked bewildered. His cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "YOU DARE!" He roared beginning to throw his harpoon full force.
He was so fast that the spontaneous attack barely registered in the dragons' minds. He aimed directly at them, directly at Zulong's head. His defiance will not be tolerated.
As his Harpoon was about to leave his hand. Si Hai suddenly received a frightening feeling. In his heart, the murderous malevolent intent invaded his very being. Shaking his very core. Hurriedly, he diverted the attack just barely missing Zulong.
'What was that?' Si Hai looked around. Not long had passed since the battle began, less then half a minute in fact and no one else had entered the battlefield. Then he spread his divine sense and inferred the secrets of heaven. The truth was then revealed.
Looking at the sky in rage Si Hai seethed and snarled. "See if I care," he roared and prepared another swing. Suddenly, his thin neck was hit by something cold and hard.
"WHO DARES!" He roared twisting around catching a black spinning shell to the face. Stumbling back, he saw the shell fly up to Qinglong and sprout legs and two heads. One was a tortoise while the other was a snake.
"Another pest?" Si Hai growled in annoyance. Time and time again he was disturbed. It was as if the universe was working against him.
"Sorry for being late," Xuanwu hurriedly apologised.
"How did you?" Qinglong began asking.
"My master," Xuanwu stated. The azure dragon nodded in understanding.
"Wait, who is this?" Bai Jian asked gesturing at the massive turtle.
"Oh this is Xuanwu," Qinglong hurriedly said. "And Xuanwu, this is Bai Jia…"
"Baihu," Bai Jian interrupted. "My real name is Baihu, please address me by it," he said.
"This is Baihu and Zhuque," Qinglong completed. Xuanwu nodded. He gazed up at Si Hai who had begun racing up to them. He was nearly onto them when Zulong flew up attempting to meet him.
"Brother, you don't need to shield us," Qinglong said. His Qi connected with Xuanwu, Baihu, and Zhuque. Their powers unified and despite their comparatively low cultivation, a mystical formation was achieved.
The four divine beasts blinked in front of Zulong. Si Hai, harpoon raised struck a barrier unlike any other.
A circular diagram of the stars. Seven constellations on top resembling a turtle with a snake for a tail, seven on the left resembling a coiling dragon, seven on the right resembling a tiger lying in wait, seven on the bottom resembling a dancing bird.
An outflow of power pushed Si Hai back burning his scales off and hurting his skin. His tentacles thrashed wildly as the embarrassed emperor defended himself. His harpoon was dropped in the chaos.
Zulong looked in wonder at the display of power shown. It was beyond anything he'd ever seen.
The diagram of the stars spun larger and large entrapping Si Hai in its halls. Long stellar chains made of starlight chained all four of his arms. The constellations began bombarding the godfiend with monstrous power. Each shot was like a star exploding, and there were untold thousands of them.
Si Hai screamed. He'd never felt so humiliated in his life. This entire fight was nothing but a test of his patience. To think he'd be restricted like this? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous and inconceivable. No one must know, no one was allowed to live.
Si Hai extended his strength. However he could feel himself weakening, these chains were even draining him to suppress him. Si Hai pulled hard and roared.
Stellar sickles game down and sliced into his flesh. Dao essence bled out of him like blood. A hammer smashed his face, he spat out more. Searing heat further eroded away his flesh.
"RAAAAAAGH!"
Up one chain ran razor sharp winds cutting into his skin. Another had a chilling cold gust wearing his hold. Another was like a bunch of swords pricking into his arm draining him of life. The last chain was a torrent of flames searing his flesh away.
The struggle between both forces were fierce. The emperor of the four seas refused to relent despite being trapped within the formation. His pale eyes looked around, scanning and studying the formation around him. "Enough of this," he growled admits the battle.
Si Hai stretched his neck out and turned to one side. He opened his maw and chomped down hard on one of his arms. His razor sharp teeth sank into his flesh tearing the arm off completely.
His stump wasn't useless however. Water quickly generated around the stump, stretching out into a whole new limb of ice. With this arm, Si Hai tore at another chain. His tentacles reached up and gripped on the chains. His harpoon as well flew up, it pierced at the base of the diagram.
"You can't hold me," Si Hai growled and pulled. The tight chains creaked under the pressure. The sheer strength on display was astounding. The light of the Dao fruit within Si Hai's core magnified. The very concept of Si Hai's Dao was pulling along with him.
From within the stars, painful grunting was heard. The chains were beginning to be pulled towards Si Hai. The emperor's pale eyes gleamed in murderous delight.
The chains tied to Qinglong, Xuanwu, Zhuque, and Baihu were pulled along. The four divine beasts pulled back as hard as they could but were quickly losing energy.
"Damn it, we were so close," Baihu cried in frustration.
"The gap in cultivation was simply too big," Zhuque sighed. "The Dao fruit makes so much difference."
"It's been an honour friends," Xuanwu sighed softly. "Sorry, I couldn't do more."
"What are you so sad about Xuanwu?" Qinglong chuckled. "We did so well against a renowned peak Great Principle Chaos Immortal as a couple of Great Unity Golden Immortal small fries. No small feat."
The star diagram cracked. Pieces of starlight began falling off and the formation crumbled apart.
"No!" Cried Zulong rushing up as the four divine beasts fell out of the formation. They looked completely exhausted and drained. They were bleeding from their mouths and looked incredibly weak.
"Heh," Si Hai chuckled in triumph. His tentacle held onto his harpoon and he stretched his neck back.
"You pay for humiliating me like this," Si Hai growled. He looked at his severe injuries in utter disgust. "You must all be so proud to injure me. But guest what, injuries are superfluous at best, I will heal as good as knew while you all will be dust."
The dreadful feeling invaded him again but Si Hai ignored it. He opened his mouth wide much to Zulong and the rest's dismay. "At least I'd get a good meal out of it." Behind the sea god, a spatial tear opened and a visibly pissed off Da Hai stepped out.
"Touch them again," Da Hai said from behind Si Hai. "I dare you."