Floating.

Drifting.

Existing.

Thinking.

Aimless.

‘I don’t know how long I drifted. All remembered was. Huh, I remember alot of things actually. Tall blocky towers with clear square holes in them, four wheeled metal boxes, devices. Wait but I’m sure I’ve always been underwater.’

It’s odd, it feels as if I am living in an illusion. An mirage world that allowed me to experience another world full of events. Like that Heartfelt Dream World technique Shangxia liked to pull. Shangxia? Where have I heard. No I definitely know the guy.’

Yes, yes, I was in the Chaos Sea before being reborn here. I was…I was…was. Hm, its a bit hard to remember clearly. I think I was fighting. Yes I loved combat, the improvements to my Dao it brought me and the victories I reveled in.’

Hm, those were good times. Me drifting in the sea letting my mind go to rest. This way I can cultivate in peace and be unbothered by everyone else. I’m sure when I emerge at a sufficient realm, I’d be able to safely wrestle away powerful treasures from the competition.’

Hm? Oh yes, yes this is great. Actually this is fantastic even. I have reincarnated into the Primitive World of Chinese mythology. How do I know this? Well its cause I sensed it all around me that’s how. Well actually its cause I briefly saw Pangu as I was being reborn. Oh the opportunities are endless. I’m practically salivating.’

Huh? What was that? Oh yes treasures, gods, immortals, demons, devils. Crap it sounds really terrifying. This place is a brutal universe where the strong eat the weak. So all the more reason for me to hunker down with some strong treasures so I can defend myself.’

But actually, most of these immortals would just be new born cavemen. As a person of the twenty first century, my compulsory education would realistically mean he was more intelligent then anyone he would run across.’

Then I can assert my superiority by defeating them in combat, eating their hearts in front of their faces before letting them go in shame. I’ll finally prove my Dao once and for all as the infinite oncoming ocean that tramples all beneath my wake. I can see the potential, I’ll rip out by Dao fruit from the thief’s Chaos World and finally cultivate the Wuji principle!’

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!’

Nothing can stand in my way when I finally dominate the godfiends. I’ll be the one to dethrone old man Destiny Demon God and find out what happened to Ancestor Taichu. And in the end I’ll be the sole winner, not the Three Pure Ones, not the Jade Emperor, and most certainly not Hongjun. Most importantly, I need to hide and not go out for as long a possible.’

Because the Primitive World is extremely dangerous. I should just discretely loot battlegrounds and wait for others to come to me. When the dragons arrive, I should loot them after their whole sinful war tribulation business. That way I can stay safe and untouched.’

An unidentifiable amount of time past. The celestial being dreaming up these thoughts lay floating beneath the waves for a very long time. The result of a cataclysmic collision, the infant god representative of the East Sea unconsciously yet continuously stockpiled power for his emergence.

He was one with the sea but to come into existence, he must leave his place of origin behind and become his own person. Yet was he even that to begin with? Nothing he was dreaming of belonged to him, not even his thoughts. Mere injections of experiences of his origins.

His thoughts were rapid and transitioned from one extreme to another. His mind was a place of chaos and ultimately, a very weak one. Susceptible to influences of stronger wills. Because the reality was that this new consciousness was at the very bottom of the ocean, far in a way cut off from the forefront. A simple byproduct of greater senses of selves that collided, irrelevant and out of mind.

A collision that resulted in a number of anomalies. A being that should not have existed, a being who pushed into emergence despite not being ready. A snake who was so torn inside that it couldn’t even recognize what is what. Two fundamentally opposing consciousness who wished to reincarnate.

The end product? They/he pushed through in a desperate attempt to get out. To detach from the sea and become his own being. To become the innate god he were meant to be. The surges of these minds only hurried along this desire. To defeat the other and finally secure his place in the real world. The same creature identified himself as his own enemy and thus began a grudge match that perfectly reflected the inner turmoil of the multi headed serpent.

Biting.

Tearing.

Stabbing.

The snake heads who emerged to do battle could not truly be considered alive. Just the first step into the world of reality from the womb of conception. Immortal and unkillable, they were simply a extension of the ocean in which the innate god was attached to. A projection.

A war of the mind became a war in the physical world. The arrogance of man and godfiend personified into a struggle for control and dominance that had the consequential affect of an all encompassing storm. A result of a mindless beast easily mistaken for primordial beasts were it not for its energy signature and lack of karmic sin.

An number of years later, two godfiends arrived to a scene of struggling violence. A short scuffle ensued in which the snakes were stopped and captured. While one left soon afterwards, the other remained behind out of a desperate hope born from recognition.

Because the godfiend who fell from heaven to become the innate god was Tian Hai. However, it would seem fate had other plans.

Lu Ya’s attempt to burn out the other mind had not worked. Tian Hai and the other guy had become bonded on a fundamental level. They were less so two beings but more so a singular being with two distinct sense of selves. Attacking one meant attacking both, weakening both.

But from a Golden Immortal’s senses, all this conflict registered as weird unintelligible garbles. Yang Mei could not tell for sure what was going on after Lu Ya left. The snake had fallen into unconsciousness finally sinking into the sea.

Miraculously, its emergence had not halted. Instead, it accelerated. The heads and upper body were present but everything below was just flowing water. But as time goes on, water condensed alongside the natural elements from heaven and earth.

The Wuxing Five Elements emerged as streams of invisible primordial energies that brought matter to form a colossal beast. Bones, arteries, tissue, muscle, organs formed one after the other. As time went on, a creature fully manifested into completion.

Eight heads connected to a single body. Six limbs around its torso with the front claws superficially having an elongated sickle like claw. The tail was long and possessed a fin at the end, it swished in the water dragging the long mass of the appendage behind it.

The memories of the worlds that was blazed through his mind like a dream. Chaos Sea and Earth, two radically different settings inhabited by radically different values. Yet the only solid thought that passed through the innate god’s mind were despairing voices.

Voices that decried him, raged and languished in despair. Regretful messages and entitled demands also came to mind. Yet all were pushed down, diminished until they became naught but echoes of distant memories within the mind.

Yet the snake did not open his eyes. He made no announcements as to his identity, no cry of attention, no anything expect peaceful slumber. Drifting about far away from where worldly events took place, he was like a distant object far out of someone’s reach even if they could tangibly see it.

To Yang Mei who was eyeing the snake from the surface, this became irritating. The eight headed innate god seemed content to be sleeping. Or perhaps he was gathering his thoughts and waiting for an appropriate time. After all, he could just be meditating.

“No he’s definitely sleeping,” Yang Mei said after a single second of observation. After all, who can miss the peaceful snoring?

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“Tian Hai! Wake up,” Yang Mei demanded. “It has been too long since you were struck down. We have much to catch up on.”

Though his message appeared sensible and familiar, his tone had a sense of unease to it. Yang Mei was not truly sure of himself at this moment. But he held on to hope that Tian Hai was still alive and well.

Them three, Yang Mei, Huoyun, and Tian Hai had all known each other for a very long time. They had each aided the other in the pursuit of the Dao as companions. They were brothers in all but blood and Tian Hai’s wellbeing was very important to Yang Mei.

Yet Tian Hai was always the weakest of the group despite being the most prone to being triggered. He was volatile and violent, a true tyrannical storm god who was willing to even fight Chaos Demon Ape.

But the fact of the matter remained. Yang Mei will not leave until he had confirmation.

Growing annoyed that the serpent had seemingly not heard him. He raised his hand and closed it into a fist. Water currents reversed with his actions and a pulling force caught onto the snake.

Yang Mei was not large, he was only one point eight meters tall. Practically a spec of dust before the gargantuan eight headed sea snake. Yet of the two, Yang Mei felt like the larger figure and not by a small margin either.

In moments, the surface parted and a sleeping snake was ripped out of the sea with gusto. Now that he had a clear look at the innate god, Yang Mei frowned displeased.

Reincarnated godfiends all resembled their previous lives. Tian Hai despite possessing aquatic features, for certain did not look like a snake. But the energy he felt from the snake was so familiar that it was a one to one compared to Tian Hai. It can’t be a coincidence right?

“Tian Hai, can you hear me? Wake up it is Yang Mei,” the immortal announced. This time his voice injected itself into the snake’s eardrums. It was impossible for him to have not heard Yang Mei.

Yang Mei represented a titan of strength. Diminished as he may be, but he was once a Chaos Immortal at the Primal Zenith stage. Even now as a Golden Immortal, his presence can only be described as great.

His aura bore down upon the the ocean and the eight headed snake like a monsoon. His qi felt like the swirling collision of spatial anomalies. If Yang Mei was not forcibly suppressing it, he too would generate a storm of cosmic phenomena simply by walking.

Yet Yang Mei’s voice towards the snake had shaken the creature. Functionally, they were beings of the same realm as Golden Immortals. Yet Yang Mei was far more powerful. Ultimately, simple words were enough to force the serpent awake.

His first sight into the Primitive World’s Great Wilderness was the sight of a clear blue sky meeting reflective seawater. His second sight saw from eight directions the presence of Yang Mei. His first reaction was panic.

Like an animal cornered, the snake innate god reacted upon instinct. He breathed out a geyser of water by reflex and attempted to wrestle his way free. His mind was a bit scattered from the sudden force, but he knew enough that he wanted to get away.

‘Run.’

‘Flee.’

‘I am no match’

‘Kill this fucker.’

‘My life is most important.’

‘I must seek out a defensive treasure to survive.’

‘I must teach him a lesson for daring to obscure me.’

‘Huh?’

The snake’s eight sets of pupils all contracted as his awareness returned to him. Sleep had dulled his senses previously but in moments, he had begun to regain clarity. Yet almost as soon as that happened, Yang Mei was already upon him.

A spherical cage resembling a bubble subtly manifested around the two of them. Space was locked down and from the snake’s point of view, distance seemed to stretch on indefinitely between the barrier despite appearing to share the same geological location.

He didn’t know what was going on in this strange new magical world. He was greatly terrified of the meaning behind this actions and what it means for his personal safety. Yet at the same time he identified this as special locking and the formation of a new dimension imposed upon the Great Wilderness. A means to trap others.

“Tian Hai I want to know,” Yang Mei said steadily yet his face was devoid of any visible reaction. He was like a stone statue in how expressive he was. “Tian Hai is it really you? Are you my brother?”

“Senior,” the snake said. “I don’t really. Ah…GRRh!” The snake heads swished through the sky in pain. His claws were brought up to hold his own heads which bent down in a position not dissimilar to a person holding their heads after experiencing a headache.

“You’re…Yang Mei?” The snake narrowed his eyes in recognition. “Yes I know you?” He almost questioned. Wether this was aimed at Yang Mei or at himself was unclear. Not even he knew for certain.

Because Yang Mei was a person very familiar to him. Some spots were blurry but the vast majority of his friendship and brotherhood with the godfiend was easily recognizable.

“Brother…Yang…Mei,” the eight heads echoed slowly tasting each word upon their lips. His voice did not sound like hissing at all, nor was it booming. In fact, it sounded rather young.

Yang Mei starred into the snake’s eyes for a time. He could see the recognition in their eyes. But he could also identify the feeling that this was their first time meeting. It stirred a bunch of complex emotions from the aged godfiend. So much so that he was unsure how to proceed.

“Yang Mei…Yang Mei…Yang Mei,” the serpent muttered over and over again as more and more clarity emerged from deep within his psyche. He lifted multiple heads up to stare at Yang Mei each with gazes of recognition and questions.

“Th…that’s right. My brother Yang Mei who joined Huoyun and I during the broken cauldron scramble incident. You aided us and became family for so many yuanhui,” the snake said in realization. “Yes! That’s right I do know you!”

“Thank you for waking me up! Truly thank you big brother. I was trapped in darkness for so long and…” he continued rambling words of gratitude and thanks. However Yang Mei was only half listening.

Yang Mei starred questioningly at the snake in silence. ‘Wrong. This is so wrong,’ he concluded in his mind. Tian Hai would never react like this. He should know, he’d been with the man through thick and thin for countless years.

Tian Hai was more likely to puff his chest out and proclaim, “I was fine before.” Then he’d deck Yang Mei for strangling him with the ropes. Finally he would embrace him for their reunion before proclaiming they should retrieve Huoyun and adventure again.

In addition to the strange anomalies leading up to this point. Yang Mei could only come to a single conclusion.

‘Tian Hai. Yes my name is Tian Hai? Yes that’s definitely right?’ The snake’s own thoughts coincided with Yang Mei’s movements. Yet contrary to expectations, Yang Mei appeared anything but friendly. In fact the air around him was rather hostile, something the snake picked up on with surprising speed.

This was when the serpent showed his true colours. Feelings of fear and panic erupted from within his heart. His pupils constricted and his heads jerked backwards. This only alienated Yang Mei more and his face darkened.

His look frightened the innate god and all eight heads flinched as Yang Mei approached. This only induced a sigh from Yang Mei who shook his head in disappointment.

“Such skittishness is unbecoming of an innate god much less you Tian Hai…no,” Yang Mei paused mentally kicking himself for his slip of the tongue. “No, you are just remnant.”

“Huh?” The serpent was startled. “What does big brother mean. I am Tian Hai, I remember my name and bi…birth. I remember you and Huoyun!” His voice was higher pitched and contained plenty of uncertainty. More factors that alienated him from Yang Mei.

The mention of his own name being Tian Hai in fact served to enrage the godfiend. Yang Mei’s power erupted in a crushing motion but for an instant. But that instant was enough to pressure the snake in a thick veil of force. The snake felt crushed and plummeted into the ocean struggling to move.

He felt despair and abject fear at Yang Mei’s sheer power. Logically speaking, he knew he was in a cultivation realm on par with Yang Mei. He should have the raw power to resist. Yet he find himself frozen unable to retaliate.

Even after Yang Me calmed down suppressed his power, the serpentine innate god was still paralyzed. A look of utter scorn flashed through Yang Mei. He felt personally humiliated on his brother’s behalf.

“Do not call yourself Tian Hai. You are just stranger. You and I have nothing to do with each other,” Yang Mei spat descending to meet the snake at eye level. “You sully Tian Hai’s legacy with your existence. Do not ever dare claim relation to him!”

Feeling Yang Mei’s presence up close, the snake felt betrayed. Yet that was overwhelmed largely by his fear towards Yang Mei. It was comical how much smaller Yang Mei was in comparison to the planet sized eight headed snake. Yet reality could not be denied, the innate god cowered before Yang Mei.

“I…I understand,” he stammered out.

Yang Mei sighed again and turned around. He couldn’t even spare one look at the snake and walked away. In his march, he wasn’t shy about shedding a few tears of his own. It only made the snake feel terrible yet he could not find it in himself to speak out.

‘But that name is the only one I know. I…he does not have the right to decide my name. I am the destined one! I reincarnated into this world and I swear to reign supreme above all gods! Huh?’ The snake swerved from side to side feeling a bit strange.

In his absentmindedness, Yang Mei had already long disappeared.

“What was that? What came over me?” He muttered.

Left alone in an isolated ocean, the snake felt extremely lost. The East Sea was empty, largely devoid of life. The snake didn’t know how he knew but the world was still very young in its creation phase.

The Earlier Heavens phase of the Primitive World had yet to be completed and living beings were scarce in the first place. But connate spawned xiantian spiritual treasures should already be abundant. Suddenly, greedy thoughts crossed into his mind as soon as he thought about it.

Greed and use for wealth filled the serpent at breakneck pace. For some reason he knew he must hurry and gather up as much as he can. Yet he had no idea where he would even start which caused his confusion to return. This caused him to look westwards towards the direction of mainland.

Wordlessly, he decided to follow in that direction. After all, what else could he do?