Chapter 1344: The Long Road
He had lost count of how many times Qi Xia had raised his hand here to test something.
He had also completely lost track of how many years he had drifted in this void space.
Perhaps ten years, perhaps several decades.
Tianlong, in an attempt to calm himself, also began to recall his own life, imitating Qi Xia's behavior.
But what was even more despairing was that for these seventy years, he had been doing almost the same thing.
That was "Disjunction" and "Dream Entry."
Once upon a time, he thought such days were already boring enough, but compared to the days in this space... they were actually rich and colorful.
So many diverse people could be disassembled, so many bizarre dreams could be invaded—what reason was there to find it boring?
Just as Tianlong was gradually falling into a daze, Qi Xia moved again.
This time, Tianlong was used to it and didn't pay much attention. He saw Qi Xia raise his hand and feel something in midair.
But the next second, something in the void responded to Qi Xia, and a faint light illuminated Tianlong's face at that moment.
Tianlong wasn't sure if he had been here so long that he was hallucinating, but he saw that on the palm of the hand, something that seemed alive was writhing.
"Ha..." Qi Xia finally showed a smile at this moment, but that smile was clearly abnormal, filled with endless madness.
Tianlong quickly focused his gaze, trying to keep his now sluggish thoughts up to date with the situation.
There was indeed a creature in Qi Xia's hand.
The creature's round body was flesh-red. At first glance, it looked like a strange meatball, but on it grew one eye, one ear, and half a hand.
A faint light flickered inside the creature's body, like some kind of deep-sea fish.
But Tianlong was absolutely certain that such a thing did not exist in reality.
"Haha..." Qi Xia smiled and stared at the creature in front of him, simply showing his teeth. "Hahaha..."
This eerie smile made Tianlong momentarily think that Qi Xia had forgotten how to speak.
"Baiyang... you..." Tianlong stared incredulously at the thing before him. "What kind of lunatic are you...? In this situation, the first thing you do is awaken your 'Celestial Method'?"
Qi Xia's lips moved slightly, and he said to the meatball, "Listen to me... It's impossible to fall here... You will float here forever."
After hearing this, Tianlong paused. What he never expected was that Qi Xia had started giving psychological suggestions to a monster.
"I will spend the next while trying to make you grow," Qi Xia said. "Let us work together to escape this place."
After saying this, he slowly released his hand, letting the meatball float away.
As Qi Xia had suggested, the little meatball stared with wide eyes and began to stop in midair, neither falling nor drifting away.
It was like a tiny planet orbiting Qi Xia.
Qi Xia lowered his head and began to use his "Conviction." At that moment, the meatball in front of him suddenly became deformed.
Some other chunks of flesh grew on it, then gradually merged into it, making it slightly larger. The light on its body also intensified a little.
But this space clearly suppressed Qi Xia's ability. By the time Qi Xia had used up all his "Conviction," the meatball had only grown to the size of a tire.
Qi Xia was not discouraged. He simply lowered his head again and emptied his thoughts.
"Don't..."
Tianlong had never expected that Qi Xia would fall asleep again just over ten minutes after waking up. At that moment, he was flustered.
He felt like a spectator who had been waiting in line for decades, only to watch the performer put on a show.
But this show ended far too early.
The situation was no different from before. The space returned to silence, and no one paid any attention to Tianlong anymore.
But things seemed a bit better than before, after all, a glowing meatball with eyes and ears was now spinning alone.
Qi Xia floated in midair, and the meatball rotated around him. This sight at least made Tianlong feel less empty.
It felt as if there was a trace of "human presence."
Although this human presence was extremely strange by any standard, in this pitch-black void space, it was enough to help Tianlong pass the time.
Perhaps Tianlong was gradually getting used to loneliness, or perhaps the meatball in front of him made the ordeal less unbearable. Tianlong felt that Qi Xia's next awakening came much sooner.
Maybe half a year, maybe four or five months.
He opened his eyes again, began to exert his "Conviction," and continuously applied "Endless Regeneration" to the meatball.
But his expression looked even more insane than before.
A huge amount of "Conviction" began to pour into the entire meatball, and large tumors kept appearing on it.
Even Tianlong shuddered at the sight this time.
Each huge tumor had independent facial features, as if countless human faces had grown on the meatball.
Every one of those faces was now screaming, wailing—they couldn't breathe, they were in agony.
Their appearance transformed this place from a void into a glowing hell.
Qi Xia listened to the sobs of those faces, frowned slightly, and then grew new tumors on each face's mouth to block their sounds.
He patched and mended with a crazy look on his face, and the huge meatball gradually grew to the size of a car.
But it looked too bizarre. Tianlong began to fear sharing the same space with this thing.
A huge glowing face with countless features?
In the days that followed, every time Qi Xia woke up, he was more insane than before, and the meatball began to grow explosively.
Until it grew to the size of a small building, Tianlong realized what Qi Xia was trying to do.
Qi Xia slowly moved his body and stood on top of the huge meatball.
He crouched down and stroked the faintly glowing flesh under his feet.
"Since there are no reference points here... we will create our own," Qi Xia murmured. "From this moment on, you are the world of this space."
After saying that, Qi Xia looked up at the void. He stared for a long time, then said softly, "Still not qualified enough..."
Tianlong was somewhat dazed. He followed Qi Xia onto this small world. At that moment, Qi Xia slowly sat down. After who knows how many years, the two were finally able to feel the existence of "land."
In this strange space, as long as you believed that the meatball under your feet was solid ground, you could step onto it and move freely on its surface.
Qi Xia's insane state had now gradually reached a level that Tianlong could not understand. Under Tianlong's gaze, he sat down on the spot and entered a meditative state again.
He knew that since there was no escape path, he would have to dig one out himself.
No matter how difficult the road, once started, it would reach its end.
"Baiyang... is there really no other way?" Tianlong murmured. "What an incredibly long road this is..."
Qi Xia lowered his head and said to himself, "If you know the road to victory, never cut corners."