Chapter 1342: A Moment of Eternity
Celestial Dragon said no more, merely standing as a bystander, observing the entire plan from a detached perspective.
Even someone as shrewd as Celestial Dragon, after reviewing the whole operation, could only sigh in admiration at its brilliance.
From the very beginning of the "Cangjie Chess," the plan had been set into full motion.
As the first link in the entire scheme, Earth Dragon was to take the initiative to die within the "Cangjie Chess." After her death, the Immortal Art known as "Severance" would vanish, and those who were close to madness would gradually begin to recover their memories.
At the same moment, a team outside the "Cangjie Chess" arena began dismantling the giant bell and the display screen. This fragmented team was called "Ultimate Way."
This step not only strengthened everyone's Immortal Arts but also added many more maddened individuals, and the number of those recovering their memories steadily grew.
To successfully breach Azure Dragon, it was necessary to dispatch a trustworthy team to eliminate the "Divine Beast." This team, prepared to sacrifice everything, was called "Cat."
Minor flaws emerged in the plans of both teams, and these gaps were filled by a mobile squad. This squad, charging into certain death like moths to a flame, was called "Heaven's Gate."
Following that, everyone awakened the "Natives," occupied the corridor, liberated the "Ants," killed the "Heavenly-Class," and infiltrated the "Train Head." In a remarkable display of unity, countless seemingly impossible tasks were accomplished almost in one smooth flow.
Next came the assault on "Azure Dragon."
During this plan, Qi Xia had the audacity to send a "Scourge" straight across the entire corridor to the "Train Head," into Azure Dragon's room. Through prolonged subliminal suggestion, he made the "Scourge" pledge unwavering loyalty to Azure Dragon.
Thus, even before entering the final phase, Azure Dragon began to waver in his conviction, his Immortal Arts grew unstable, discord arose among his followers, and his fortunes turned sour.
Legend has it that the Divine Beast Azure Dragon guards the East, and by guiding the scourge eastward, Qi Xia paved a path of failure for him.
At this moment, Celestial Dragon couldn't help but wonder: if he were caught in such a situation… how could he ensure his own victory?
The only solution, perhaps, would be to know the plan in advance and then kill everyone involved.
After all, each link in this plan was relatively independent. No matter who died, the remaining parts would continue to operate in an orderly fashion. In this seemingly airtight plan, many people didn't even recognize their own teammates.
This meant that while the deaths of certain individuals would slow the progress of the mission to some extent, no matter how dire the situation, these people always had hope of victory.
Think about it carefully: whether it was killing the leader of "Ultimate Way," the leader of "Cat," the leader of "Heaven's Gate," or even killing Qi Xia alone, someone would always step up to fill the gap in the plan.
Therefore, to stop this full-scale uprising, one had to kill as many people as possible.
But even if the logic was sound… this plan had managed to elude even Heavenly Serpent's "Mind Reading" and Heavenly Hound's "Spiritual Hearing"—how could it ever be easily discovered?
As the dream progressed and the plan neared its end, Celestial Dragon began to sense that something was off.
This rebellion seemed different from the one he had just experienced.
Since Celestial Dragon had been asleep for most of the time, he wasn't entirely clear on the differences. The only obvious feeling was that this operation had no part concerning the "Tree."
In the dream, the two "Heaven's Movement" practitioners unleashed their ultimate killing moves. One attacked Azure Dragon, while the other charged toward Celestial Dragon on the throne.
Although Azure Dragon wanted Celestial Dragon dead, he had no way to untie the "Twin Blossoms" at that moment. Forced to protect Celestial Dragon, he fought back, but under the flawless coordination of the two opponents, Azure Dragon, burdened by a fatal weakness, was forced back step by step until he was cornered.
From that point on, the situation began to spiral beyond the expectations of the bystander, Celestial Dragon.
In a stroke of luck, the two managed to strike and damage the "Heart-Snatcher" located at Azure Dragon's heart.
Then the situation deteriorated rapidly. Unable to control his opponents, Azure Dragon had all the eyeballs in his internal organs shattered within just a few exchanges. Faced with the devastating power of "Heaven's Movement," his self-healing speed was far too slow to save his life.
Just as Azure Dragon was about to die, Celestial Dragon, seated on the throne, began to bleed from the corners of his mouth. Their "Twin Blossoms" sensed that one of them was on the verge of death and began to take full effect.
The two "Heaven's Movement" practitioners knew there was no time to waste. They had to seize this opportunity to eliminate both dragons at once. They intensified their assault on Azure Dragon, consuming all their life force, channeling every ounce of power into the attack.
When Azure Dragon was on the brink of death, Celestial Dragon finally opened his eyes—but his own life had also reached its end.
After a quick assessment of the situation, Celestial Dragon realized there was no turning back. Using the last of his "Conviction," he unleashed the most powerful "Dispersion" in history. In the name of "God," he commanded everyone in the entire "Peach Blossom Land" to be buried with him.
He didn't just "Disperse" the entire "Train" corridor; he also "Dispersed" every character active in the "Train" and "Peach Blossom Land." He knew that once he died, the only thing he could do was prevent anyone from escaping. Since he hadn't truly become "God," he could never allow this "Peach Blossom Land Project" to be exposed.
Thus, the seven identities—"Participants," "Divine Beasts," "Heavenly-Class," "Earth-Class," "Human-Class," "Madmen," and "Ants"—all turned to dust in this catastrophe. Even Celestial Dragon and Azure Dragon perished in the rebellion.
He had assumed that this large-scale "Dispersion" would leave no survivors in the entire "Peach Blossom Land," including the "Train." Even Xu Liunian, who had temporarily become a "Participant," had died. But at that time, Celestial Dragon didn't realize that such a widespread "Dispersion" would overlook two people.
These two, by a twist of fate, happened not to fall under the seven identities mentioned above.
One was a lonely young man expelled from the ranks of the "Divine Beasts," who roamed near the giant bell in "Peach Blossom Land"—White Tiger.
The other was Qi Xia, who had broken free from the category of "Participants" and hovered between half-human and half-god.
But at this moment, the bystander Celestial Dragon's attention was not at all on these two survivors. Instead, he was pondering another doubt.
"What… is this?" Celestial Dragon murmured. "White Goat… did you kill me?"
"Be patient," Qi Xia's voice came from a void. "Eternity… has only just begun."
Celestial Dragon said no more, simply following the memories of Qi Xia within the dream.
Since the "Qi Xia" of that time was inside the "Train," when Celestial Dragon "Dispersed" the entire "Train," he immediately fell into the boundless darkness beneath his feet.
This boundless darkness was vastly different from before, with no light anywhere.
At that time, Qi Xia didn't know that he was the only survivor in "Peach Blossom Land" besides White Tiger.
He struggled and fell through the pitch black.
He didn't know where he had fallen; he only knew that he kept plunging into the endless dark.
After an unknown period of falling, Qi Xia began to try to control his mind. He told himself that he didn't have to fall here, that he could float.
But this step was indeed difficult. After all, Qi Xia had fallen downward without any preparation the moment the "Train" collapsed. Convincing his subconscious, under such initial conditions, that there was no need to fall—this was no easy task for anyone.
After countless failures, after gradually becoming accustomed to the sensation of falling, Qi Xia finally managed to control his subconscious and gradually stabilized himself.
But aside from stabilizing his body, he could do nothing else.
He had never imagined that after defeating Celestial Dragon, this was what awaited him.
No direction, no sound, no light, not even time or space.
So… had he won or lost? What had happened to the others?
Had anyone escaped the "Train"? Had someone taken over the "Peach Blossom Land" again?
From this moment on, his own unique "Eternity" officially began.