Drowning

After leaving Mount Buzhou, Da Hai wandered the primitive world aimlessly. He didn't count how much time passed, nor did he consider where he was going. He just kept walking without any thought.

All the information he had found out was suffocating. Looking up at the clouds, he thought of the familiar auspicious five coloured clouds and sighed. He quickly wiped some droplets of tears from his eyes.

After his emotions calmed down, he really didn't know what to do next. Hongjun and Luohu were his enemies, and in a way so was the Heavenly Dao. Pangu had really placed a heavy burden on him. The excitement of meeting the legendary god turned master had already deserted him.

Throughout all his years of existence, Da Hai had never known pain such as this. For over a thousand years he raged and roared, constantly bashing himself against his prison. Eventually, he broke free of his restraint and in his anger, rushed to Mount Buzhou.

Now however, he just felt lost. The rage was still there, the murder of his best friend had left a deep scar in his heart. However, he didn't even know where to even begin with his revenge. The helpless feeling made him feel absolutely worthless.

Despite his newly minted Great Principle Chaos Immortal cultivation base, he was still far inferior to the likes of Hongjun and Luohu. He thought about the Heavenly Dao and thought of going up Mount Buzhou again to inject a part of himself into it.

However, there was an issue. Even if the Heavenly Dao allowed him to do so, his own will was also considered an outside influence, a biased view and one that can never truly be impartial. He doubt the Heavenly Dao would ever let him do it.

The second problem was Hongjun and Luohu. Da Hai's connection to the Dao was far stronger now, and he was already aware of the underpinnings of the universe. Hongjun and Luohu's essences, that were injected into the Heavenly Dao, opened up a direct pathway into the Heavenly Dao. Whatever they do with it cannot be good for him.

While this did not necessarily mean direct access for now, it did allow for them to detect changes in the Heavenly Dao. They can easily sense something has been tampered with and act to remove a potential rival. Da Hai did not want to risk this.

Slowly his mind drifted back to Huoyun. Thinking back, he reminisced on all the years they spent traveling through the vast wilderness. Those early years were a trying time for him. For thousands of years, he was confused, lost, and weak. Without Huoyun he would've long since perished. So much was owed to that man.

Deep down Da Hai knew it was only inevitable that Huoyun would die. Otherwise how could the likes of Hongyun and Kong Xuan appear? However Da Hai mentally berated himself for not doing anything about it.

Just because he knew about the future didn't mean that things had to progress in that exact order. Why did he let Huoyun die? Da Hai felt he could've at least done something, perhaps given a warning.

Unknowingly, he made it back to the East Continent without even noticing. Da Hai's power made it so that all innate creatures never dared come near him. He was on his lonesome for the entirety of his walk.

"Fire Cloud Cave," he muttered softly when he stopped at a cliff face. A large valley was beyond him with an elegant red cave. A sign board out front proclaimed the name of the cave.

Da Hai scanned the valley, it was wide open and teeming with greenery. Long rivers stretched from the northern edges, merging into a single large river that Da Hai saw that eventually led into the southern edges of the east sea.

Da Hai recognised this place now. Unknowingly he had made it back to Huoyun's dojo again. This was the place Huoyun lived and cultivated. His home as well as his base of operations.

Da Hai walked up to the cave, it looked just like the last time he was here. However a feeling of loneliness permeated the area. He wondered in and admired the simple nature of the place. Not overtly showing off wealth like Wangshu, but still rich enough to contain treasures.

In all honesty, the cave was a pretty cozy place. It was permeated with Qi, saturated in the Dao of the Five Elements. So much so, that the beginning of a spirit embryo was beginning to form. Something was gestating here.

Da Hai however didn't pay it much attention. This was his friend's home and he respected that. He was not greedy for any treasure or spare items stored here. It'd have been disrespectful.

Instead he ignored all the low grade xiantian spiritual treasures, spiritual herbs and ores piled on the cave floor. He placed an incense holder before the stone seat Huoyun used to use for cultivation. Lighting a few sticks of incense, he paid his respects.

When he exited the cave he saw it was raining outside. Rather it was more accurate to say it was pouring. Even the river seemed to want to flood the lands.

"How long was I in there?" He wondered. The consequence of not keeping track of time was that Da Hai didn't know how long it's been since he left Mount Buzhou. For godfiends, they can easily take over a thousand years to think.

Da Hai sat near the entrance with his back to the mountainside and one foot stretched out. He didn't do much, simply sat there, thinking. Not long afterwards, he pulled out the Ocean Devouring Water Jug.

The high grade xiantian spiritual treasure floated in his hand, releasing a bit of its spiritual water contents. It wasn't anything high grade like the Pellucid Divine Water nor Three Brilliances Sacred Water. It was just normal spiritual water.

With another hand he brought out the high grade xiantian spiritual cauldron with the Wuji symbol. Seeing the symbol and the design of circular shapes resembling stars, Da Hai decided to name it Chaos Cauldron.

From his pocket dimension he also brought a few spiritual fruits he'd harvested over the years, resembling grapes. He had thought of an idea a little while ago.

He took the grapes and water into the cauldron and got to work. Invoking his power over the laws of nature he began fermenting the mixture. Soon after, he began distilling them.

Soon, he could detect the familiar scent of alcohol. This wine wasn't ordinary wine, but a spiritual creation. Da Hai had created a small cupful of it as a test. He drank it in one gulp.

"Weak," he muttered, annoyed. He took out more ingredients and began making more wine. Unknown to him, this was the first time the primitive world had ever tasted wine.

"Weak…Weak…Weak…Weak…Weak…Too weak," Da Hai threw away the last cup. He increased the concentration of alcohol each time, and again and again tried to create more potent alcohol. From cups, to bowls, to barrels, he drank them all down.

"Fucking hell, cultivation is annoying," he complained. Even with all his defences down, the alcohol was still hardly working. He looked at the cauldron again and began injecting large amounts of Qi. Pellucid Divine Water appeared, replacing the ordinary spiritual water.

"What's this?" A feminine voice asked. Unknowingly Wangshu had arrived in the valley as well.

"What are you doing here fellow daoist?" Da Hai asked with an uninterested tone. He continued to brew without paying the goddess much heed.

"I recovered from my wounds, I wanted to thank fellow daoist Five Elements for giving me the opportunity to escape," she answered. She had brought gifts as well, judging by the small satchel she wore on her waist.

"Too late for that, he's dead," Da Hai replied stiffly.

Wangshu widened her eyes in shock, "How could this be? Fellow daoist's strength was unfathomable, Yang Mei told me of his power."

"Luohu got to him," Da Hai took another barrel out and filled it with fresh wine. The liquid was grey in colour, Da Hai took a sip and flinched away. He then drank it all down and shivered, "That's strong."

"That bastard Luohu," Wangshu muttered in anger, as she turned west. However, before she could impulsively leave to confront Luohu, Da Hai grabbed her.

"Don't bother, Luohu is a great immortal who's attained the Great Principle. His Dao should be at least at the Primal Origin level," he explained, much to Wangshu's shock. Her determination faded into helplessness.

"Oh!" She muttered.

"There's an incense-burner inside, if you want to pay your respects," Da Hai pointed to the cave. The goddess nodded and walked in while the sea god continued brewing.

"What's that you're drinking?" She asked whence she came out again. She had detected the incredibly strong spiritual liquid Da Hai was consecutively gulping down.

"Wine," he said grimly, taking another gulp. Wangshu could smell the alcohol permeating the area, though she did not know what it was yet.

"I have never heard of this wine before," she admitted.

"You wouldn't have, it's not something the chaos godfiends had," Da Hai filled a cup and offered it to her. "Try it," he said. Wangshu took a sip and instantly flinched from the strong taste, dropping the cup.

"Oh, I'm sor…" "How was it?" Da Hai cut her off.

"It's… strong, yes it's very strong. Gives me an odd feeling, I don't quite know how to describe it," she admitted.

"Yeah well it's meant to be like that. It helps with the pain."

Wangshu's phoenix-like eyes widened in realisation. "Fellow daoist Five Element's death has been affecting you," she stated, to Da Hai's nod.

"I did not know him long, nor well at all. I only knew him from fellow daoist Yang Mei's stories," she admitted. "But I think you shouldn't dwell on it for too long. It could lead to a mental demon," she said worriedly.

"I know," Da Hai confirmed for her.

"If you understand then there is not much else I can do," she took the satchel she had off and gave it to Da Hai. "I intended for this to be a gift in good faith, but the intended receiver is, well... Since you were also responsible for my survival, this should go to you."

"Keep it, I have no need for it. Your treasure was depleted because of me, you have more need of them than me," He had heard the tale by Huoyun shortly before his death.

Wangshu dropped the satchel on Da Hai, "I would've detonated them regardless. Besides, I always have more in the lunar palace."

"But not as much as before."

"Just accept the damn treasures," she turned around. "Stay safe fellow daoist, the world is changing." She disappeared in a streak of silver light flying up to the starry skies. Space was far more stable now and she didn't want to extend the effort to tear a hole in reality.

Da Hai stored the satchel away and kept drinking. For an immortal's body as advanced as he, poison of any kind could never affect him. But perhaps it was because of whatever remaining humanity still within him. In this instance, at this moment, he wanted it to. So he forced it to

After a long time, he blacked out.

...

A storm followed the grieving god. A physical manifestation of the unavailable ancestor of the great sea. A trail that stretched vast distances. A journey beheld under the influence.

And beneath this uncaring storm, wallowing in his misery, lightning and rain crashed onto the unsuspecting earth. He flooded villages, valleys, and caves. He toppled mountains and carved out ravines.

Unaware and unbothered, he wandered the infinite lands of the east. Aimlessly following a karmic trail.

Far above, an invisible eye made of unidentifiable colours watched in anticipation.

"I trust you, don't fail me, friend."

...

An unknown amount of time later Da Hai opened his eyes. He was extremely disorientated. However he noticed that he was lying on a field of grass.

He gripped his head in pain trying to remember what came before. "This is not a cliff face," he said looking around him. He got up and walked groggily.

"Grassland, grassland, grassland. Where the hell am I?" He said out loud. He turned around looking at his surroundings. He spotted a figure in the distance. A familiar figure.

Standing there clothed in red robes was the Daoist of the Five Elements. Huoyun stared blankly back at the frozen in shock Da Hai