Chapter 1350: Divine Judgment
At this moment, Tianlong shifted his illusory form and sat down across from Qi Xia.
"Bai Yang, I truly admire you now," Tianlong said with a complex expression. "This time, I'm completely convinced."
The Qi Xia before him did not speak, but his voice came from the void:
*"So, have you realized the method to become a god?"*
"I have," Tianlong replied. "You didn't deceive me, but I cannot do it."
*"Why?"*
"Compared to you, I am neither mad enough nor sane enough," Tianlong answered gloomily. "You have pushed both states to their extremes. To control your subconscious, you could even sit here motionless for decades in meditation."
*"Tianlong, you know you could do it. You simply don't want to,"* Qi Xia said. *"Your divine arts are more numerous and more powerful than mine. If I can create a world, there is no reason you cannot."*
"Don't you fear failure?" Tianlong asked. "Bai Yang, what if you spend centuries building a world in vain? What if the world you create cannot see the 'Door'? What if your 'Door' cannot return to the 'Peach Blossom Spring'?"
*"Then I will try another method and start over from scratch,"* Qi Xia said. *"Tianlong, I have always known that I am not exceptionally brilliant. But when I think of something, I act; when I fail, I set out again. If I harbored the same hesitation as you, I would still be in that void, pondering an escape route."*
"But no one is willing to endure such solitude..." Tianlong said, his expression sorrowful. "I once thought that decades were enough to make me a 'god,' but compared to your sacrifice, mine is but a drop in the ocean."
*"What you call 'sacrifice' is filled with calculation and expediency. If sleeping and dreaming every day could make one a god, it would be unfair to every god in this world."*
Tianlong lowered his head, his eyes now ancient and weary, having witnessed a thousand years pass second by second.
*"Tianlong, I will not only overthrow the rule of what you call 'gods,' but I have also written absurd endings for every so-called 'god' you know."*
"Absurd endings for every 'god'...?"
*"Those lofty 'Heavenly Grade' will be torn apart by the 'Earthly Grade' and the 'ants' they have always despised,"* Qi Xia said matter-of-factly. *"In legend, the Vermilion Bird, whose element is fire, dies by 'explosion'; the Black Tortoise, whose element is water, dies by 'liquefaction.'"*
"What...?" Tianlong's entire body trembled. He had known he lost, but he never imagined that even this defeat could be called art.
*"The Azure Dragon, whose element is wood, is defeated by a tree; even the White Tiger, whose element is metal, has seen the bronze bell he protected turn to smoke and ash."*
Tianlong was silent for a long time, then finally let out a bitter laugh: "What a brilliant stroke. Bai Yang, I have not only realized the method to become a 'god,' but also understood my own ending."
*"Oh?"*
"This 'Eternity' was your punishment for me all along, wasn't it?"
*"Is that so?"* Qi Xia said softly. *"Then tell me... what will become of you?"*
"I am sitting here, in the very place where this flesh-and-blood world harbors the strongest killing intent toward me, daydreaming. When I wake from this 'Eternity,' you will have the entire 'world' swallow me in an instant. You shattered my heart before crushing my body. Between killing me and sparing me, you chose to annihilate me completely."
*"Yes,"* Qi Xia's voice came ethereally. *"Tianlong, I told you: this entire world was built on the premise of 'killing you.' It carries the obsession from my 'Eternity.' As long as you and I appear in this world together, you can never leave. I will not only grant you a defeat, but also instill in you a deep fear of 'Eternity,' so that you can never rise again from the void."*
"Ha..." Tianlong lowered his head in despair, a bitter smile on his face. "'Try to coexist peacefully'... 'I don't want to kill you'... You planned from the very beginning to make me witness this 'Eternity.'"
*"But did I deceive you?"* Qi Xia countered. *"Since you wanted to become a god, I showed you the inner journey of a creator god. Since you wanted to take me to a new world to build a new heaven and earth, I showed you the hardship of creation. Since you wanted to know how to escape, I told you the method. Unfortunately, the first tribulation on your path to godhood was personally crafted by me—a beast of flesh and blood as vast as the world itself."*
"Haha..." Tianlong's eyes lost their light, and he merely kept smiling.
Such a long experience made him feel as if he had lived countless lives. In the face of 'Eternity,' the eighty-plus years of 'Peach Blossom Spring' were nothing more than a brief interlude.
*"Tianlong, to ensure you enjoyed 'Eternity,' I even followed you and relived all of this again,"* Qi Xia said. *"I have proven to you clearly: if I truly wanted to create a new world, this process could have done without you."*
Qi Xia had completely shattered Tianlong. Though he sat at the round table, his eyes were already half-dead.
"But what is the meaning of all this?" Tianlong asked, head bowed. "For those people who might not even remember you... for those selfish, insignificant people, you drove yourself to this point?"
Qi Xia was silent, offering no reply.
"Do you think they will be grateful for everything you've done?" Tianlong pressed. "Do you think they will be glad that someone crossed 'Eternity' for them?"
*"What does that... have to do with me?"*
"What?"
*"Even if they don't remember me, even if they spit on me or curse me forever, it has nothing to do with me,"* Qi Xia said. *"I said I would lead everyone out. Once I achieve that goal, my karmic ties with everyone will end. I don't need anyone's feedback."*
Tianlong frowned and sighed: "But do you think those people you created with 'Endless Vitality' can be considered real people?"
*"Why not?"*
"You not only create them, but you also use a world to contain them. You are both their 'origin' and their 'destination.' In this 'Peach Blossom Spring,' only you can be considered 'alive.' The rest don't know where they came from or where they are going."
*"But the disappearance of the body is not death. Only the cessation of thought is the true farewell,"* Qi Xia denied. *"Their past memories will all converge into one body. That new body carries all the experiences of their lives—how can that not be considered living?"*
"But don't you think you're deceiving yourself...? No matter how many people are in the room, it's actually just one empty house after another. Everything you do will be forgotten in the most obscure corner of the world, never to be mentioned by anyone. Can you really be content with that?"
*"Someone will remember,"* Qi Xia said.
"You..."
Qi Xia chuckled: *"If someone wants to record my story, let it begin with 'Empty House.' What do you think?"*
"You... madman..." Tianlong lowered his head with a bitter smile, his face as dead as a corpse. "How many more people will you deceive?"
Tianlong looked around the empty room.
An old tungsten lamp hung from a black wire in the center of the ceiling, casting a dim, flickering light.
The quiet atmosphere spread like ink dripping into clear water, permeating the room.
In the middle of the room stood a large, worn round table, covered with cracks and marks.
On the table sat a small ornate clock, its intricate patterns ticking away.
It felt as if the story had ended, yet also as if it had just begun.
*"Tianlong, I am ready. And you?"*
"Ready for what?"
*"Ready to accept the defeat I am bestowing upon you."*
Tianlong let out a bitter laugh: "I am ready."