The vast Chaos Sea remained an uncompromising environment for the dragons who followed Zulong out of the Three Realms, once known as the Primitive World. Just another uncomfortable fact of life they now realised they had to deal with.
Unlike the he four seas where they once dwelled, the Chaos Sea was not only knew, but a deeply uncomfortable place to live. Once they had exited the Three Realms proper, it became abundantly clear why Chaos Worlds were more hospitable for living beings.
No one could doubt why second order celestial beings or first order mortals could not survive in this place. They'd be torn apart on the spot.
Despite being third order celestial lifeforms, people designed to thrive in the Chaos Sea, that didn't change the fact that no one liked it. The wind blew in an ever changing extreme form. The ground formed and broke as often as waves rose in seas. Even one's senses became muddled no matter how hard one tried to get used to it.
It would not be a rare sight to see a dragon musing how much they missed the four seas.
Gui Daiyu nor Leize begrudged them for this. They too shared much of the same thought, but as respected leaders did not air them out so as to not contribute to the negativity. The fact of the matter is, all dragons here suffered from varying degrees of depression.
Currently, this little sanctuary was built and maintained by the combined powers of all the Chaos Immortal dragons. It was not a Chaos World, though it was far better structurally speaking. Even a single dragon of their magnitude would crush a Chaos World accidentally.
Even though entering one is more comfortable then not. With how tired all of them were, reigning in their presences to make sure this didn't happen was already too much of a hassle. This was their next best thing.
"Grand elder!"
"Grand elder!"
"It's good grand elder is back!"
Dragon after dragon rose from their coiled resting positions to greet them. Old or young, dragon after dragon bowed their heads respectfully. A path was opened up where a pedestal was positioned above the rest. There lay a heavily injured golden dragon, Zulong.
An aura of death permeated his physique. It hurt Gui Daiyu tremendously seeing him like this even though he had reassured her. When he remained behind for longer, and subsequently when his presence almost vanished, she'd been terrified Hongjun changed his mind about his fate.
But luck was on their side. Zulong hung on, bravely resisting the that last attack and floated to safety where his subordinates received him. His great, once gloriously beautiful golden body however became a husk of is former self. None of his injuries obtained during the tribulation could compare.
If those within the Three Realms saw him now, no one would've recognized him as the mighty Dragon Sovereign.
"Husband/Your majesty!"
Respecting their ruler, all the Chaos Immortals present shrunk their size and payed great respect to him. For all his faults, he was their creator and leader, as well as their greatest warrior.
Zulong opened his eyes slowly. Every one of his movements spoke of how titanic of an effort it costed him. His body appeared frail, trembling at every step of the way. The environment of the Chaos Sea, despite being somewhat filtered out by the sanctuary still affected him.
"Wife…Leize." Zulong spoke with effort. His body made to lift his head while his front claws strained to lift his upper body.
"Rest husband, you need not strain yourself to listen," Gui Daiyu tenderly said.
But her words had no effect on Zulong as he stubbornly rose. Even now in this dilapidated state, he still wanted to project an authoritative image. This was just how he is, prideful, arrogant, unwilling to yield unless absolutely forced to. The limits of his condition did not qualify for those special conditions.
"I can listen fine."
His eye shot to Leize, indicating for him to speak. No other movements were made, most likely due to the strain present.
"I…I didn't dare get too close." The dragon of lightning began his tale. "But I suspected that no matter what, Hongjun and the Heavenly Dao were aware I was there. I tried to peer into them as much as I could but my sight is not perfect."
From his eye, an image similar to how a projector worked, shot into a hologram. A three dimension rendering of the current Three Realms viewed from the outside appeared.
"It's no longer spacious," someone commented.
"Quite. The empty void between realms is now filled with those little worlds. Pieces of the Great Wilderness, it's a sea of stars larger then the Starry Skies," Leize confirmed. "Hongjun hosted a grand gathering as well. I counted tens of thousands of figures, but only three thousand went in. Those who emerged though changed a lot."
"Three thousand guests, three realms, six disciples, treasure sealing cliff," Zulong muttered along as Leize spoke. "Leize, describe how they emerged changed."
"It was hard given how far I was. I couldn't hear what was inside. There was also a shell of sorts growing as I watched that started blurring my vision."
"Blurring a Primal Zenith's vision, unreal." The dragon elders also payed close attention. All of them couldn't help the pit in their stomachs.
"Whatever the case, their auras somehow resembles…heaven? Distinctly like how it smelled when the Heavenly Dao appeared. Perhaps if I stayed longer, gotten in touch with his highness then I would've learned more."
Zulong stopped for a moment to consider sending more dragons back. It was extremely risky and the dragons involved may not appreciate it. But remaining uninformed of the Three Realms would also be a detriment. What's more, the fact that Leize was still alive proved that the bigwigs in charge didn't care about them anymore.
There was no way Leize could've hidden from Hongjun's or the Heavenly Dao's sights.
"The Sea Eye, is it still stable?" Zulong made sure to ask. The dragon's sacred duty had not left his mind. The concern that his race's charge exploding and incurring negative karma. The power of destiny, karmic luck was a crucial resource for a steady faction.
"I didn't see any monsoons and the needle was visible even as far as I was. So I assume nothing bad happened," Leize said. "But I must add, most of our people are not in the seas anymore. I spotted their movements here."
His claw pointed at the watery world that now served as the new ancestral grounds of the Primordial Celestial Dragon clan. This little fact actually incurred wrath in many old dragons. It was infuriating to know their clansmen had seemingly abandoned their holdings.
"I'm sure my brother made the move under wise judgement," Zulong said instead. "Anything else of note?"
"Aside from lots of land grabbing moves? Nothing much of note. The demons seems to have stuck together still despite that crow's death, the divinities haven't actually moved in the years since so I'm not sure on their situation. Mt Buzhou's rubble wasn't something I could see through."
"Good, then it's time for us to progress with our next step."
"Next step your majesty?"
Seeing Zulong suddenly move to stand up, all the dragons grew concerned. Zulong turned away from them and his legs unsteadily raised his long body. But when his muscles clearly strained from doing so, and when just one foot slid. Gui Daiyu rushed forward.
Before the dragon could collapse, an enormous sea turtle lifted the dragon onto her back. Gui Daiyu's true form was enlarged until it dwarfed even Zulong's true form. From the outside, she was like those old legends of a turtle carrying the universe on their back.
"Stupid," she chastized. "Where do you want to go?"
"I want all of us to keep moving that way." Zulong pointed at the direction exactly opposite from where Leize came. "I want us far far far far far. As far away as we can from the Primitive World. We keep moving until I say we stop."
"Understood."
And then they moved. The entire sanctuary broke down as the dragons left this land behind and began traveling for eons. They would keep doing so until Zulong thought they were too far from where Hongjun or the Heavenly Dao could sense. Then they would travel even further.
No dragons questioned him at the time, even though they were confused why he wanted them to go this far. At this rate, they may never find their homeland ever again. This one thought terrified even the most devoted of dragons.
None of them required food nor any kind of sustenance anymore. But it was still mentally draining for them. But Zulong insisted and hence they obeyed. In this meantime, Zulong healed atop his wife's back. Little by little, knitting his flesh back together and nourishing his scales under the light of the Chaos Sea.
After two yuanhui's worth of time, lasting anywhere from three hundred thousand to three hundred trillion years. The party of dragons finally stopped. Zulong leapt off his wife's back and assumed a flying form. His health and vigour had been restored to an adequate degree. But without profound pills nor the resource to make them, he was still far from his peak condition. After all, natural healing can only progress so quick.
"Husband?"
"I'm sick of moving. This should be far enough right? My master traveled for half a yuanhui and met two Dao realm beings who could not sense the Primitive World. This should be enough." Zulong glanced back at the direction they came. They had traveled in a straight line, never diverting.
As such, he ordered them to memoize the straight line they traveled so even if the sights changed, they would still know the direction they came from.
"Your majesty, what do you wish from us now?"
Zulong's form shrunk until a pale horned man appeared. In his Dao body, he took a deep breath before retrieving a broken hilt.
"Are we to repair the venerable one's weapon?"
"No, we're gonna bring my master back," Zulong declared.
"What? But the Heavenly Lord was annihilated, there's nothing left!"
A third order celestial being were already in full ownership of themselves. Their true souls ripped from their native Chaos World's river of time. There was no place to reincarnate. Da Hai could not reincarnate.
But Zulong lifted the remnant of the Heavenly Cloud Gathering Sword and roared. "You've been following us all this time, what must I do?"
At first the dragons were confused. But then a shining butterfly manifested in the Chaos Sea, right on the hilt of the broken treasure. They recognized it as the treasure spirit who seldom, if ever appeared.
The butterfly tilted its head, then tapped the handle. It did so almost in a, 'you should know', manner. Then it disappeared from sight.
"Hmph." Zulong held out the handle in one hand, then with the other hand, he hovered over it. Then a mystical light appeared. It was completely unexpected to the dragons present. The question they all wanted to ask was written on their faces.
"I don't know if he was that arrogant, or just callous. Do you know my master's Dao? It is tied to a principle of what is closer and obtainable but far and out of reach. I don't know why a venerable Dao ancestor allowed this to happen but…"
The light attached to the handle suddenly made a hissing sound followed by the crashing of waves. A last spark of Da Hai held within the sword, a part of himself that was originally used to refine the sword into his own weapon. It had not dissipated despite Da Hai's destruction.
"Perhaps it is because of my master's other self. That piece of him left alive in the Primitive World," Zulong said holding the handle to his eye. "We have a chance to grow my master back. Perhaps it may take ten yuanhui, a hundred, or even a thousand, but if I am right, he can be grown back."
"Inconceivable!" The dragons were mesmerised by what they were seeing. Gui Daiyu gasped at how miraculous it was.
Zulong looked around, then spotted a shimmering spark in the distance. It was a Chaos World about to be born. In its current state, it was simply that which would transition into a big bang of sorts.
For his master's recovery, he'd need a base of operations. Chaos Worlds typically don't last more then a single yuanhui. But with enough reinforcement, it could survive past several. In fact, with regular injections of rich vitality perhaps even a dozen yuanhui wasn't out of the question.
"Let's go."
This group hurried into that Chaos World, then they waited for sixteen years before it exploded into existence. There a primordial world emerged, a Chaos World completely ordinary among its relatives. But the presence of these dragons would undoubtedly turn it extraordinary.
In this vast universe that had just been born, an endless ocean separated from the sky. The dragons took the form of men and descended into that ocean. There, Zulong retrieved the other object he had taken from the Three Realms, Yingzhou.
"My master's home and where I and my brothers grew up. How could I stomach it being in their control," Zulong sighed. It was once a rock from the Chaos Sea and overtime accumulated tremendous vital essence. We can use it to accelerate my master's recovery."
"Your majesty, even if that is the case. It will still take a long time," a younger blue dragon said to him.
"I know, that is why I'll have to leave some of you to watch over him."
"You're saying you won't be staying?"
Zulong shoo his head. "I've learned my lesson. Among the dangers back home, I was too weak. I cannot protect my family, my people, my nation. That cannot be allowed."
On Zulong's back, a Dao fruit manifested. But Zulong did not look upon it with fondness. Instead, he carried a complicated feeling towards the Dao he had cultivated.
It's true name was 'Destined Ruler'. By definition, It's inception involved Zulong's desire to become the sole ruler of all of Pangu's creation. He walked the path of the imperial and the Dao he cultivated reflected that. Unlike Da Hai's which was forged from his past experiences, Zulong's was formed from his youthful desire.
But as he aged, he grew comfortable at his place in the world. His desire for died as each of his sons were born one after another, and his nation thrived. He didn't feel any strong inclination anymore, and thus his Dao heart wavered. Following that, his belief in his Dao also weakened.
If he had not reached the Primal Zenith realm early, his Dao would've degraded on the spot. Just as well, in order for him to break to the limitless stage, he'd also need dominate all his contemporaries. But he didn't feel a true need to anymore. His Dao went from something perfect for him to something he no longer desired. He could no longer get stronger with it.
"Your majesty," Leize said. "If you abandon your Dao, your cultivation will return to a stage before cultivating one. The risk is too great. With your majesty's talent, I'm sure you can breakthrough somehow."
From the existence's inception, to abandon one Dao to forge another was always an insanely risky move. Forging one was hard enough, but the chances of making another was nearly unfeasible. One's mindset even if they abandoned their old Dao should fundamentally still carry that old Dao's. But Zulong didn't care.
"I want to reach Dao," he declared. "I will forever be trapped as a Chaos Immortal with this fruit. But if I can find another path, I can. No I will reach Dao."
"Bury my master here, bury Yingzhou here. Watch over them my children while I am gone. But this journey is one I must take on my own."
Gui Daiyu watched Zulong with mixed feelings. But ultimately she sighed, "I could never convince you stubborn old thing after you reach a decision. Give me your Dao fruit." She reached out her hand.
Zulong's fruit floated into his hand, then he handed it to her. It was such a fragile thing now that it was out of it's creator's reach. Once it reached His wife's hand, he let go with slight hesitation. After all, it was his greatest partner for the longest time.
"In this war, you lost the Twenty Four Sea Calming Pearls, you lost our empire, you lost our status in the cosmos, you lost our sons to our enemy's backyard. You lead us here in exile far away from our home and expects us to wait for plans with no guarantee. Zulong, I do and always will love you."
She stepped away from him with a face full of tears. "And because I love you, don't you ever show your face to me unless you've reached the Dao."
"Wife." Zulong stepped forward and sealed her lips in a kiss. Then he parted from her with a knowing look. Entrusting Yingzhou and the last remnants of Da Hai to those he trusted most, he rose.
From the sky, he watched his wife and others dig a whole on the ocean floor and planting Yingzhou down. Beneath the waves, it looked like just another underwater mountain. At its heart, the hilt of the Heavenly Cloud Gathering Sword and his master slumbered.
He rose even further, breaking the void and out of the dimension barrier of this little Chaos World. It was so small from the outside.
Wordlessly, he placed two fingers on his chest and pushed down. Deep within him, the last connections to his old Dao was severed. His aura plummeted from a being of pure Dao essence.
Where once a mighty Primal Zenith Chaos Immortal stood, a Golden Immortal floated. The most basic form of lifeform within the Chaos Sea.
He watched them still for a time. Even in this weak state he could see his wife and creations. Occasionally, dragons would look up from their resting place at their sovereign. But Gui Daiyu never looked back at him.
One day, this Chaos World would be where Da Hai rises again. A land where a new dawn rose every day to bathe all life in its golden rays. A land of a rising sun.
He turned around and left.