White particles splattered into clouds of dust like particles. They appeared beautiful in their dancing patterns. Yet few would realize how powerful the creatures they once were had been.

Da Hai did not feel particularly mournful of the angels he'd slain. But thinking about the glorious light they outputted moments before their forms were smashed, he couldn't help but think.

Had that been what was powering the angel? It had no Dao after all. Without a Dao, or at least a slim idea of one, an existence was doomed to stay at the lowest point of third tier celestial lifeforms.

"What did you just say?" Da Hai asked after nursing his stinging jaw. He hadn't intended on unleashing chaotic sword qi.

The consequences without a proper conduit were clear however. Though he knew it was unwise to use it, even he had never thought the damage to his body would be so bad.

"That was Pangu's chaotic sword qi," Yurlunggur said with complete certainty. "I've seen many destruction based abilities. But none had been as mesmerising as chaotic sword qi."

The rainbow serpent slithered around Da Hai studying him. "Who are you exactly? How did you come by Pangu's teaching?"

"You owe me some answers after attacking me so suddenly, don't you think?" He added as Da Hai was about to speak.

Pondering on it, Da Hai supposed he was right. He had jumped to assumptions after seeing Zulong's discarded flesh. But he couldn't make excuses for attacking an innocent either.

"He taught me," he replied.

"Hm? He never seemed to type to teach anybody, much less his greatest technique. I'd have thought he'd be still roaming the land. At the very least, he'd have ascended past this limit.

"He was never like me. I don't see why he'd care about things other then cultivating, even after learning that… granted, I have not seen him in a while. But…"

"Hold on, are you under the impression he's still alive?" Da Hai asked. The rainbow serpent paused his musing as a result.

"None of us can be considered alive nor dead. We've long transcended that concept," he scoffed. Da Hai notice how he was dodging the implications.

"He no longer exists," Da Hai clarified with the appropriate terminology. "Pangu's existence has been totally extinguished. What I am, and the Chaos World I originate from are his remains."

Reality struck Yurlunggur, and he recoiled as a result. Truth was hard to accept, especially from what he knew of Pangu's strength.

"I see."

Da Hai felt empathetic. He surmised that they were probably close, at least from the rainbow serpent's perspective.

Turning his attention back to the disintegrated angels, he ran his palm through the crumpled particles that had been the Power and the Dominion.

"What was so different about them and the big wheel that startled you?" He asked.

"Light," Yurlunggur said. "It was…different. I can't quite put it to words."

'From his appearance along, what were they called again? Ophanim? Wheel? Can't be a seraphim.' Da Hai contemplated the trio of angels and their bizarre nature.

"I suggest you don't think too hard on them," Yurlunggur chastised. "Their nature is confusing at best, and none of them would give a clear answer. Blasphemy this, heresy that, even soul searches can't distinguish much. They don't function mentally like we do."

The rainbow serpent blew apart the particles with a hint of disdain. "He encountered them before. This time was no different.

"I will admit, there's alot of them prowling the Chaos Sea these days. Sorta reminds me of the ticks back in the Dreamtime."

This mention of 'Dreamtime' was just another way of describing 'One World' as according to Shiva. Different cultures from that era had different methods of describing it, just like how they had different names for cultivation and Dao.

"Can you at least try? Please?"

Yurlunggur considered the request. "You know I have lived a long long time, and as such very few things can surprise me. But that light in the ball looking one. It's…more concentrated shall I say.

"More active? No that's not quite right. More alive perhaps. Imagine a lake that flows into rivers. There was something inside it that startled me is all."

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"Another cultivator?"

The rainbow serpent went silent. He looked back at where Da Hai had disintegrated the Throne.

Chaotic sword qi had made it that no trace remained. Yurlunggur was immense thankful for that. He was embarrassed to say he was genuinely terrified when he connected his dream with its light. Not even the angels he'd slain before had anything similar.

But the Throne had also been the most powerful he'd encountered. Unlike the rest, it had surpassed the realm of an actualized Dao. What Da Hai considered to be a Chaos Immortal.

…

There ended up being nothing else to learn about the angels after that. Yurlunggur was seemingly keeping quiet about what he'd glimpsed.

Da Hai descended down towards the ruined city afterwards. The mystery of the angels came secondary to the flesh. Yurlunggur followed a small distance after.

"A friend of mine perished here. You can see him over there."

"Would that be a problem? Given that my disciple and he clearly fought, and he didn't come out of it well," Da Hai asked with a raised brow.

"How could that be a problem," Yurlunggur sounded genuinely confused. "He picked a fight and he lost."

'Truly a different culture. Not even a mention of resolving karma.' Da Hai couldn't help but chuckle.

"A city built along a tree. How unique," Da Hai mused. "What could you have wanted here Zulong?"

"This place used to be beautiful. Say what you want about Odin but he had an eye for aesthetics. Especially after recruiting the Vanir."

"Excuse me?" Da Hai flinched at the mention. Now that he mentioned it, the ruined city did look familiar. He recalled a similar appearance in fantastical Scandinavian architecture from his inherited memories.

"Your disciple fought my friend here, who could possibly guess why. Based on what I tasted, the nutrients in Yggdrasil's roots was likely what he was after. Maybe even its sap.

"Asgard was always too insular. Unwilling to share their riches. And if you asked me, it was only a matter of time before the asgardians and my friend's relationship turned cold. Your disciple must've caught them in a three way battle."

Yurlunggur poked a piece of rubble. "Otherwise, no way the aesir would fight alongside Surt. Well, I can only speak from my last experience. Who knows if they made peace."

Da Hai stood frozen. Zulong's flesh was in his hands, yet the coincidence of running into a famous pantheon of another culture was unexpected.

He scanned the dragon flesh with an uneasy feeling. Norse mythology was full of powerful creatures. It seemed in the Chaos Sea, they had not been simple either.

"Then where are the aesir now?" Da Hai asked.

"That's what I'll figure out next. This was unexpected."

"By the way, does the term ragnarok mean anything to you?"

"What's that?"

Da Hai wordlessly floated up and stretched his divine sense. Whatever formation remained was too weak to hold him back. Hence he quickly located a corpse and headed towards it.

Collapsed over the ruins of a building, he found a wolf that had toppled over. It's black jaw snapped in two directions.

The fact that even in death, it had not disintegrated meant that the wolf cultivated an inmate's powerful body. Perhaps he was the equivalent to a physical cultivator in Yggdrasil's world.

While a standard cultivators merged everything into one in equal, physical cultivators were the one who merged everything into flesh. They typically used all their cultivation in the form of martial arts rather then Daoist magic.

"Fenrir," Da Hai said. He immediately retrieved the corpse into his private universe. Glancing back, he checked if Yurlunggur cared.

"Nothing to say?"

"Why would I care for your food?" Yurlunggur asked with equal confusion. "Though I thought a being of your calibre would not eat."

Contrary to Da Hai's expectations, he found no spear nor hammer. Weapons of value had all been looted.

The two investigated further, eventually reaching the edge of Asgard. They peered over the pieces of Yggdrasil, towards the Chaos Worlds still attached.

"They feel so quiet," Da Hai said.

"Their entire society has changed," Yurlunggur told him. "The concept of reaching higher then basic mortality isn't even on their minds."

"Promised salvation huh." Da Hai shrugged. If mortals wished to believe, more power to them.

Fundamentally, even cultivation was about reaching a form of salvation.

"Are you not going to educate them?" He asked the rainbow serpent.

"They're not exactly creatures devoid of consciousness now are they?" Yurlunggur scoffed. He instead changed the subject.

"You said earlier Pangu perished. How?"

"His own hands. I was only born years after the fact. He created my home with his dying breath. Every part of his body transformed into something else. It's called the Three Realms now."

"I cannot imagine a cultivation fanatic to off himself. Much less something on the way of transcending the third order."

"It wasn't exactly as simple as suicide. He more or less attempted to overtake the Chaos Sea. Cleaves the ultimate reality apart and suffered the backlash as a result. I guess the Grand Dao wasn't appreciative of it."

Unexpectedly, Yurlunggur started laughing. It wasn't a disdainful laugh however. Instead, he laughed as if he found true comedy in Da Hai's words.

Frowning, Da Hai assumed he was mocking Pangu. "He had a valid reason…"

"Not Pangu snake. The fact that…nevermind." Yurlunggur composed himself. "Valid reason you were saying?"

"He was scared of reaching the end. Said a legacy would be more desirable then sitting idle. Even though he had already manifested Daobirth, and obtained the throne of a Dao ancestor, he held back from sitting it. His Dao remains, but his existence has been extinguished."

As he spoke, Da Hai suddenly had a thought. 'Wait…if I came back from retained memories. Could…'

"Well the two brothers already proved him wrong there," Yurlunggur sighed. "He should've waited to see their breakthrough."

'Does he mean…Shiva and Vishnu transcended Dao? I assumed it was just a fantasy.' Da Hai looked towards the Chaos Sea with interest once more.

"I answered a question you asked, so answer mine. What was so valuable about Yggdrasil's nutrients that my disciple would come here?"

"The tree would've had the sum total of the Dreamtime's Empty Void sect's knowledge etched in. For anyone working to evolve their dream to encompass all things, it'll be valuable. It's what drew Ymir, Surt, and even Odin to it in the first place," Yurlunggur explained.

"And you too?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I had reached that realm before the Dreamtime ended."

"WHAT? You're that old?"

It was inconceivable. Even Da Hai was vaguely aware of the One World. Even Vishnu and Shiva considered it more myth then reality. Even Pangu was born after its destruction.

All the Dao realm beings he knew of were juniors. For the rainbow serpent to be at the Wuji stage back then meant he was old even back then.

Yet that also begs an interesting question. If everyone who's lived what is essentially the total lifespan of the Chaos Sea had reached the Dao realm, why hadn't he? In fact, it sounded like he'd stayed stagnant from then till now.

"Every youngster gives me that look," Yurlunggur chuckled. "Don't go thinking the Dreamtime something that special. Cultivation in the Chaos Sea is far more expansive than back then.

"The only difference is the geographical size. Though it wasn't exactly cramped, more of a different way of experiencing life. Oh and the realisation as to what we can actually do with our dreams.

"Who knew a third order being would unmake a Chaos World when in the Dreamtime, they could barely squash a hill. Hahaha."

"If you are so old, how have you not reached the Dao realm," Da Hai shot at him accusatorily. "If what you say is true, you are impossibly ancient even by ancient standards."

Inwardly, he was already speculating as to the difficulty of obtaining that realm. Was it true that it was only meant for the few immensely talented individuals?

He was already wavering. This quest was more about finding Zulong than chasing the Dao realm. The latter could even be read as a convenient marketing ploy to save face.

Yurlunggur turned away, suddenly growing upset. But it was also not the embarrassed anger one would expect.

"Dao realm, after Grand Dao huh." He stared Da Hai in the eye and said. "Breaking through is easy. People like us have already fulfilled the basic requirements."

"Lies!" Da Hai gritted his teeth. "My Dao has yet to achieve Daobirth like Pangu's had, like Shiva's had. How can one touch the omnipotent realm with our measly understanding?"

"Oh it's extremely easy. You just need to accept the so called, 'truth behind existence,' or so they call it," Yurlunggur said sarcastically. "What a load of shit."

"You wanna know kid? I can tell you right now," he said at the startled Da Hai. "The so called, 'meaning of life', the 'Grand Dao'. I know it, you wanna know too?"

"I…"

Yurlunggur turned to disgust as he said his next words. "It's as simple as understanding…"

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