Chapter 1329: Awakening
That single glance nearly drained every drop of blood from Chu Tianqiu's body, leaving him feeling utterly frozen.
The Heavenly Dragon... had awoken?
When did this happen?
Chu Tianqiu's expression froze, but he felt a strange sensation on his fingers. Looking down, he saw his right hand turning into crimson powder, drifting helplessly into the air.
The chillingly cold "Disintegration" began to exert its tyrannical effect, rendering Chu Tianqiu's mind completely blank. The "Heavenly Movement" within him couldn't keep pace with the destructive speed of "Disintegration."
The situation was exactly as he had anticipated.
To bring down these two men with nothing but flesh and blood—to grant freedom to all the "Participants"—how could it possibly be this simple?
They had given their all and still failed to fell the Azure Dragon. Now the Heavenly Dragon had also awakened.
With these two standing together in this room, how could three "Participants" possibly escape with their lives?
The Heavenly Dragon seemed unable to see clearly who stood before him. He squinted, then gently waved his hand. Chu Tianqiu's body began to dissolve into powder—first the arms, then the shoulders, followed by the legs.
"Heavenly Dragon..." Before Chu Tianqiu could even feel pain, most of his body had already vanished. "You..."
The Heavenly Dragon remained silent throughout, his eyes only slightly confused as he mercilessly unleashed "Disintegration."
Chu Tianqiu felt that everything had gone wrong.
He had been wrong to trust Qi Xia.
He shouldn't have believed that Qi Xia was more capable than himself of leading everyone to escape.
He shouldn't have staked all his chips on Qi Xia.
He shouldn't have taken over the "Stronghold."
He should have waited alone in this sorrowful city, never giving his heart to anyone.
"Chu Tianqiu..." Qiao Jiajin lay on the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Run..."
"Chu..." Zhang Shan gritted his teeth and charged toward the direction of the Heavenly Dragon.
But the Heavenly Dragon merely waved his hand, and Zhang Shan, mid-air, turned into powder, scattering aimlessly through the air.
By the time Zhang Shan's massive body reached the Heavenly Dragon, only tiny specks of blood fell onto the Heavenly Dragon's face, as if he had never existed in this world.
"Heavenly Dragon!" Qiao Jiajin yelled. "You are not allowed to—"
Seeing this, the Azure Dragon quickly stepped forward and covered Qiao Jiajin's mouth. Before the words could finish, Qiao Jiajin struggled in agony, his body gradually dissolving into powder starting from the top of his head. A few seconds later, he fell silent.
The room fell eerily quiet, leaving only Chu Tianqiu's shattered upper torso suspended in the air.
"Heavenly Dragon..." Chu Tianqiu gritted his teeth, but he had no idea what to do now.
Should he beg for mercy, or provoke him?
Whatever he did, the outcome seemed unchangeable.
So many people had fought with their lives until the very last moment, only to end up with nothing but self-righteous delusion—a bucket drawn from a well with a leaky basket.
They had all been deceived.
"So noisy..." the Heavenly Dragon said hoarsely. "Who... is making all that noise..."
His voice, half male and half female, was exactly like the Azure Dragon's, sending tremors through the soul of anyone who heard it.
Chu Tianqiu paused, then laughed bitterly. "I... am one with a clear conscience..."
Before he could finish, the last remnants of his body turned to powder in the air and vanished without a trace, as if the Heavenly Dragon had never cared to hear his answer.
The three people in the room had completely disappeared under such tyrannical and pure "Immortal Arts," leaving only faint traces of red powder scattered around.
The Heavenly Dragon still seemed somewhat confused. A long slumber always left him disoriented for a while upon waking.
What's more, this time he seemed to have been forcibly awakened... his thoughts were even more chaotic than usual. What exactly was happening now?
The Azure Dragon dragged his injured body slowly forward, cautiously speaking in a low voice. "Heavenly Dragon... I am the Azure Dragon..."
The Heavenly Dragon didn't look at him, merely surveying the chaotic room.
Blood was splattered everywhere, trees were felled, the door was shattered, and even the floor was cracked.
Where... was this, again?
Was the place where he had been sleeping always this chaotic?
"Heavenly Dragon... do you remember me?" the Azure Dragon asked carefully. "I am the Azure Dragon..."
He kept a safe distance from the Heavenly Dragon, never daring to approach, only constantly checking on the Heavenly Dragon's state.
Only then did the Heavenly Dragon finally notice there was someone else in the room. He turned to look, and the blurry image before him gradually became clear.
"You are..."
"I am the Azure Dragon. Do you remember me?"
The Azure Dragon's figure finally sharpened before the Heavenly Dragon, who now recognized him.
"It's you, Azure Dragon." The Heavenly Dragon mused for a moment, then asked, "What's happened?"
"Someone has rebelled..." the Azure Dragon said with a troubled expression. "I had no choice but to wake you up a few minutes early..."
"Rebellion, huh..." the Heavenly Dragon sighed. "It's fine. This isn't our first time dealing with this."
As the Heavenly Dragon walked forward, the cracks on the ground quickly healed themselves.
His "Object Manipulation" worked like eerie needle and thread, seamlessly mending the fissures in the floor.
"Good thing you're awake..." the Azure Dragon relaxed as well. "The situation was truly strange... I suspect we've both been set up..."
"Don't rush. Speak slowly." The Heavenly Dragon waved his hand, and the battle scars within the room rapidly faded away. "Now that I'm awake, nothing will go wrong."
Hearing this, the Azure Dragon pointed at the fallen tree beside him. "Heavenly Dragon... you don't know... just now..."
Before he could finish, the Azure Dragon froze mid-sentence, his words abruptly cut off.
"What about just now?" The Heavenly Dragon looked at him with confusion, only to find the Azure Dragon staring fixedly at the tree at his feet.
It was a very ordinary tree, but it had been chopped in half.
The Azure Dragon stared at the cross-section of the tree for a long time, unable to utter a single word.
The Heavenly Dragon walked over and looked down. The cross-section bore only a few dozen rings, nothing unusual.
"I know you treasure this tree," the Heavenly Dragon said after a moment of silence. "But a tree is still a tree. Even if it weren't cut down, it would eventually fall one day."
It was as if the Azure Dragon hadn't heard him. He just kept staring at the tree, his face filled with disbelief.
After a long while, the Azure Dragon's voice trembled slightly as he pointed at the tree. "Heavenly Dragon, look at the rings on this tree now... how many rings are there?"
"What do you think?" the Heavenly Dragon asked in a deep voice.
"There should be... about seventy rings... right?" the Azure Dragon asked uncertainly.
Hearing that, the Heavenly Dragon stared at the Azure Dragon for a few seconds before speaking. "I see. You believe this tree grew from the seed you dropped back then, so its rings should be at most seventy-odd. Am I right?"
"Is it not...?" As soon as he said it, the Azure Dragon felt as if he had really overlooked something—but even if he had, the margin of error couldn't be this large.
"You've been mingling with the 'Participants' for too long. You've even forgotten the passage of time." The Heavenly Dragon shook his head. "Seventy years is just a story to deceive the 'Participants.' The total is about two thousand five hundred and fifty cycles. Calculate it yourself—how could it only be seventy years?"
"You mean eighty-four years..." The Azure Dragon paused. "But... but that's still wrong... Just now, I clearly saw..."
He looked down at the few dozen rings on the tree, but still couldn't find the words.
Whether it was seventy rings or eighty, the texture of this tree was still within understandable limits.
But what about the hundreds of rings he had seen for a split second just now...?
At that moment, a sense of foreboding welled up in his heart again, and his expression gradually grew complicated.
He felt he had been fooled once more.
There was no such thing as hundreds of rings... just now, it must have been some "Immortal Art" affecting his vision, throwing his own Dao heart into chaos.
Fortunately, the Heavenly Dragon was awake now. Everything would soon be over.