Chapter 619: The Flaw
After hearing this, Qi Xia reached out and pinched his own thigh.
It hurt, but there was no sign of waking up.
“It’s useless,” Tianlong said. “You haven’t rested properly for far too long. How are you supposed to wake up this time?”
“There’s no way I’m losing to you here,” Qi Xia said.
“Even if you can be reborn every ten days, your brain can’t deceive your body.” Tianlong slightly turned his face, looking at Qi Xia with that utterly flat expanse of skin. “You don’t need rest, but it does.”
“Tianlong, are you going to kill me here?”
“No, you misunderstand. I’m just worried about your body,” Tianlong replied calmly. “Bai Yang, let’s have a proper talk, shall we?”
Qi Xia frowned and stared at the monster before him for a long time before finally speaking. “What do you want to talk about?”
“About the ‘future’,” Tianlong said. “This is a rare opportunity. There’s no one else here, just you and me. Why don’t we envision the ‘future’?”
“No, I don’t want to talk about the ‘future’ with you.” Qi Xia slowly walked to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. “I want to talk about the ‘past’.”
“The past is already in the past.” Tianlong reached out and wiped his mouth—which wasn’t actually visible. “Bai Yang, you should know… if the two of us keep fighting, neither of us will end well. Even if you exhaust every scheme and pull out all the stops, and eventually manage to kill me, what will you do with yourself?”
“I’ll go back to the past,” Qi Xia answered. “When all of this is over, I’ll naturally return to the past.”
“And then? You’ll go back with your twisted mind, your scarred body, your painful memories, the terminal disease in your head, and a ‘fake Yu Nian’an’?” Tianlong slowly lowered his head. “Once you go back, how long can you live?”
“I…”
Several of Tianlong’s questions nearly shattered Qi Xia’s psychological defenses. Qi Xia felt the walls around him quickly crawling with cracks, and dust continuously falling from the ceiling.
“You’ve turned yourself into this wretched state just to escape ‘Taoyuan’… why bother?” Tianlong shook his head helplessly. “We could have coexisted peacefully. Think about it carefully—what are you really fighting me for?”
Qi Xia frowned, studying Tianlong’s eerie face for a long time, then slowly narrowed his eyes.
Just a few seconds later, the cracks spreading across the walls seemed to encounter something terrifying, retreating in a hurry. The dust on the floor began to rise again, floating back toward the ceiling.
The signs of collapse were disappearing; the room seemed to grow a bit more solid.
“Your logic is reversed, isn’t it?” Qi Xia sneered. “You should be saying… if we could really ‘coexist peacefully,’ then why would I have turned myself into this miserable state?”
“I’m disappointed,” Tianlong said, shaking his head. “Even now, you’re still on guard against me. Bai Yang, you were the one who deceived me, and yet in the end, you’re the one guarding against me.”
“And you didn’t deceive me?” Qi Xia felt himself gradually regaining control of the conversation. “You keep calling me ‘Bai Yang,’ but what am I now?”
He realized that Tianlong seemed unable to act within this room. This was indeed an equal conversation.
There seemed to be something else here restraining Tianlong.
“Are you saying… I call you ‘Bai Yang,’ but you’ve become a ‘participant’…?” Tianlong’s voice grew hesitant. “How absurd is that…”
He slowly stood up, walked to Qi Xia’s side, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“If you’re willing, come back now and be the ‘Tian Yang’,” Tianlong said. “With your mind, plus ‘Immortal Techniques’ and ‘Divine Power,’ no one here can beat you.”
“What…?”
Qi Xia felt that Tianlong’s words had exceeded his expectations.
“What’s the matter? Unwilling to become the ‘Tian Yang’?” Tianlong slowly leaned down, bringing his mouth close to Qi Xia’s ear. “Bai Yang, have you noticed? Did I make you a ‘participant,’ or did you choose this path yourself?”
As soon as Tianlong’s words fell, countless thoughts swirled in Qi Xia’s mind—Had he chosen to become a ‘participant’ himself?
And the reason?
“Bai Yang, stop numbing yourself,” Tianlong continued. “Do you know how many chances I’ve had to kill you outright?”
“I…”
“Even now, it’s the same. If I were to go all out within your state of mind, you would completely collapse,” Tianlong said. “Do you think you’ve survived until now just because you’re clever enough?”
As Qi Xia watched the cracks on the walls widen, he frowned again. “Then why?”
“Because I ‘cherish a hero’,” Tianlong said. “I don’t want to bury a talent like you in this ‘Taoyuan.’ I want you to come with me.”
“Go where…?”
“The ‘Train’ is ready. We can leave anytime,” Tianlong said, his expression writhing into a shape that looked rather pleased. “Forget this mess. Let’s go create a new ‘Taoyuan’.”
“Forget this mess…?” Qi Xia turned his head to look at Tianlong. “What do you mean by ‘create a new Taoyuan’?”
“You have ‘Endless Life.’ We can go to a place with no people and create a population of subjects who will submit to us.”
As Tianlong finished speaking, the ceiling began to shake violently, sending countless particles of dust scattering down onto both their hair.
“Create a population of subjects…?”
“Yes, Bai Yang. You and I—only we have a chance to become gods.” Tianlong’s voice grew deeper, and Qi Xia felt his own thoughts becoming more and more clogged. “Those mortals aren’t worth regretting if they die, are they?”
After hearing this, Qi Xia slowly closed his eyes. He knew his current state was extremely wrong.
Every time Tianlong spoke, his mind and consciousness seemed to be swept away. He couldn’t make any judgments, couldn’t even think.
He had to concentrate harder than usual, shut his eyes to block out all external information, and force his thinking to turn.
“There’s still a flaw…” Qi Xia said.
“What?” Tianlong was slightly taken aback.
“There’s still a flaw…” Qi Xia’s eyes were tightly shut, his brow furrowed. “The more you talk to me, the easier it is for me to spot your flaws.”
As soon as he said that, the mottled walls around them began to rapidly restore themselves—even the peeling paint was repairing.
Seeing this, Tianlong couldn’t help but fall silent.
“I… what flaw?”
“Your behavior doesn’t look like you’re trying to recruit me,” Qi Xia said. “Tian Ma even activated ‘Tianma Moment’ to find me. She wouldn’t hesitate to kill me.”
By now, the damaged ceiling was also becoming whole, and even the dust on the nearby furniture was retreating.
“But I still don’t understand, Tianlong…” Qi Xia slowly opened his eyes, staring coldly at Tianlong’s face. “You knew that I am ‘Endless Life.’ Why did you still send the ‘Tian-level’ to look for me?”