The week following was a quiet one. The feeling of dread had not left Nan Dao Chen. During this intervening period, the dragons assumed the former mayor's role. Zulong took this as an opportunity to train his siblings in administrative duties.

Nearly two weeks of waiting went by before a watery splash occurred in the mayor's mansion. Formed from the mass of water was the middle aged spongey blond haired form of Da Hai and besides him the snow white moth fairy who assumed her duties as the head maid of Yingzhou.

The dragons were the only ones who detected him and immediately abandoned everything to pay their respects.

"Master," the dragons greeted Da Hai with a bow. The ancient godfiend smiled softly with satisfaction. He couldn't stop the warmth in his chest.

"Stand disciples," Da Hai instructed. "I have received your message Zulong. What do you need help with?"

The eldest dragon embarrassingly scratched his cheek. Truth be told he had to swallow his pride to call for aid. The previous week had caught him in a pickle.

Zulong explained the situation to Da Hai in great detail. Although he surmised that the greater immortal likely already knew simply based on deduction through passive divination. Either that or he was following them the entire time.

Great Principle Chaos Immortals were fast but they weren't quite that fast. Crossing the entire wilderness from east to west will still take years. In Zulong's mind, the most likely event was that his master was following him from the beginning.

"Tying yourself to karma greatly limits one's aspirations," Da Hai said with a sigh. "You were reckless in your proclamation. As a follower of the Dao, your path cannot be halted partway through."

"I will never back down from responsibility master, I made that choice knowingly," Zulong retorted. "I am a ruler by choice. It was bound to happen sooner than later."

"Choice huh?" Da Hai mused quietly.

"It still does not mitigate the danger. You are right where no less than five Chaos Immortals can reach you. Some of them are probably already at the Primal Origin stage, perhaps even Primal Zenith," Da Hai said angrily.

"Master, it was my fault," Qinglong called out. "Do not think harshly on big brother. It was my reckless actions that put us in danger in the first place."

"Qinglong," Da Hai began. "While I admire your sense of justice, understand that actions have consequences. I'm sure you understand that this isn't the East Sea?"

"I do master. But to see so much senseless slaughter did not sit well with me," Qinglong said with Zulong nodding slightly as well.

"Just be careful next time," Da Hai said finally. "The west is full of enemies. Zulong, remember this well. Even I your master do not wish to linger here long."

The group walked into a conference hall where they sat down again. This time Da Hai took the main seat whereas Zulong sat at the side. Not long after, the moth fairy came back with drinks acquired from somewhere.

Da Hai glanced out at the city through a nearby window taking in the sights. Nan Dao Chen was a dead man walking. News hadn't gotten out yet but it will in time.

The most Da Hai did was delay the inevitable for a few more years. Taowu was simple to deal with, even Qiong Qi wasn't too hard. Go higher however and things get complicated.

The prospects of recruiting others to help had crossed his mind many times. However, many of the modern godfiends are missing or dead. Shen Feng was out of the question, Qiankun preferred to be isolated, Si Hai was hostile, the others were missing.

"Zulong, Qinglong, Yinglong, this is what I can do," Da Hai began. "With my power, I can transport Nan Dao Chen to the east. I shall settle them in your territory. The sudden relocation may be tough on them though so that will be your problem to deal with."

"Understood master," Zulong acknowledged. "But I am still in the midst of my journey. I cannot break away from it now."

"Not to worry disciple. Nan Dao Chen's inhabitants have low cultivations," Da Hai assured. "I shall freeze them in spacetime until you return. Is that acceptable with you all?"

"Yes," the group of immortals agreed. The casual suggestion of such a feat had surprised them. Internally, they asked themselves, 'Was the gap between Great Unity Golden Immortals and Great Principle Chaos Immortals truly so large? Or was Da Hai perhaps even above Great Principle Chaos Immortals?'

"Definitely not a small fry," Bai Jian muttered. Freezing spacetime with the current stability of the primitive world required a lot of power. Power most immortals simply did not have.

Da Hai nodded. He raised a palm and squeezed it into a fist. Before anyone noticed what was happening. The dragons and swordsmen were floating midair. The room they were in was simply gone.

Looking around, they realised that what surrounded them was merely a crater. The entire city was missing, Nan Dao Chen had vanished in an instant.

Da Hai coughed grabbing their attention. They noticed that within the sea god's palm was a miniature dome shaped island with a city occupying most of the land. It was the former hub of Nan Dao Chen, frozen still and miniaturised.

"If nothing else, I will take my leave," Da Hai said. He stored the city in another dimension and turned around. "Make haste on your decisions and don't stay for too long. I will distract the major forces for as long as I can."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

With a second motion, Da Hai tore the fabric of reality and entered the spatial crack created. He disappeared from the wilderness as if he never existed in the first place with the moth fairy trailing behind him. The woman gave them a soft smile and waved goodbye as she went.

"Strong," Bai Jian was the first to break the silence. The dragons agreed. Rarely does Da Hai ever showcase his power. Rarely does he come off as anything other than a normal person. Of course, those with high cultivation can see latent power within, but it was different between noticing and seeing firsthand.

"I would love to see a battle on his calibre," Bai Jian said slowly.

"In all my years, I have only seen one such battle," Zulong said. "And even then I was barely conscious, barely able to perceive my surroundings." The group took a few moments to grasp their surroundings.

"Well, since further inwards is a no go. Let's head into the open ocean," Qinglong said energetically. "There's still that treasure we need to see."

"Agreed brother," Yinglong nodded. "There is little for us here now. Master also warned us just now, departing quickly is a sound plan."

Zulong nodded and turned to Bai Jian. "Are you coming?" He offered.

"Might as well," Bai Jian said. "I was going that way to begin with. The signals I'm picking up tells me this is at least high grade xiantian. Expect some tough competition."

"As is all cases of xiantian treasures, especially high grade," Zulong agreed. The group flew further westwards in anticipation. The fact of who gets the treasure was left unsaid. It was good to break down friendships so quickly with such a topic.

…

Da Hai stood in a colourless void between worlds completely invisible. He stared uneasily at the West Continent and the pale eye projection looking around in confusion.

The self proclaimed demon king Mara was actively scanning the West Continent for signs of Da Hai. Well, to be specific it wasn't Da Hai he was looking for.

Mara was trying to see which Chaos Immortal had acted in the west. A distraction to take their eyes off of the dragons until they crossed deep enough into the west sea.

The trail left by and activated by Da Hai just now crosses around the West Continent, zigzagging towards the South and Central Continents. Mara was still following the windy paths as Zulong's group travelled.

"The young lord will be fine," the moth fairy assured. "He and the others are already transcendent among Great Unity Golden Immortals. Nothing short of a true Great Principle expert can stop them."

"Beings at the Great Principle Chaos Immortal realm are strong," Da Hai replied. "But even they are still insects to higher powers. By no means are they the peak of the world. Primal Origin, Primal Zenith, and the mythical Limitless Supreme. They may be classified as substages of Chaos Immortal, but they might as well be complete realms in and of themselves."

"This servant was ignorant, I thank the great lord for sharing his wisdom," the moth fairy bowed.

"Take heed of it and don't be arrogant," Da Hai said. "Continue practising. Only when one reaches the higher realms can they truly make a difference."

Moth fairy raised an eyebrow. She felt that Da Hai wasn't really speaking to her. In fact, he seemed to be paying less and less attention to her.

…

"MHMM!" A blacked haired woman with messy hair and tattered red and yellow dress screeched through her bindings. She glared bloody murder at her kidnappers. Her gaze was so venomous that if she were free, these men would be paste.

"Dishonourable cur, I'll tear you to pieces," she said, though her voice came out in muffled sounds.

"You sure we can't just kill her?" An angry man who'd been viciously damaged said. He still bore bloody burning scars. Bits of his skin was blackened with burns.

"No, her life binding talisman will activate and that bitch will know," the leader, a man in better condition replied. He looked very uneasy at the moment. His entire army had been slaughtered until the merger dozens before him. However, the trap was successfully deployed.

Formations were powerful things in this world. A mighty enough formation allowed even an army of Heavenly Immortals, Profound Immortals, and True Immortals to take down a Great Unity Golden Immortal.

Their leader was merely a Golden Immortal. Yet he wielded a legendary artefact salvaged during the Shenni war. The Kunwu sword.

A clever formation allowed for the deployment of the visage of the Kunwu god in his heyday. An insurmountable figure able to match their target in combat. This followed by the usage of the cosmic rope allowed for the capture of the sister of the supreme king of birds.

"Prime Minister Sha said to bring her alive," the leader replied.

"But general Chi, she killed…"

"I know who she killed soldier. But orders are orders," general Chi said. "For the betterment of the four seas empire, we need her alive."

To the side, Zhuque seethed in both embarrassment and rage. A stroll, followed by a rumour of a new treasure in the west, followed by an ambush by a bunch of lesser beings. 'What ridiculous day,' she thought.