Chapter 1345

Ever since he had the "Da Di," Qi Xia's state seemed to edge closer to madness. After all, the world around him was a pitch-black void, and beneath his feet lay a glowing expanse of flesh and blood. He sat on the pulsating ground, lost in meditation, with no way left to stop his descent into insanity.

Each time Qi Xia awoke, he dramatically expanded the volume of the land beneath him. He grew increasingly unhinged, and the mass of flesh below swelled larger still. No one knew how much time had passed, but when Tian Long came to his senses, the "land" stretched out endlessly in all directions.

Qi Xia would slowly lift his head each time, gazing into the infinite darkness, and murmur in a hoarse voice:

"Why still no qualification..."

"Bai Yang... what exactly are you pursuing with this 'qualification'?" Tian Long asked, puzzled.

Over the past several decades, Tian Long's own thoughts had gradually shifted. Though he remained exceptionally clear-headed, the years had worn away all his hostility. He even found himself hoping that Qi Xia would succeed.

Whatever this "qualification" was that Qi Xia sought, Tian Long wished for him to end this "Yong Heng" as soon as possible. Decades had already gone by... how much longer until the "eternal" he spoke of was truly over? For an ordinary person, these decades of emptiness would surely qualify as "Yong Heng"... right?

But Tian Long had underestimated Qi Xia's determination. He gradually realized that Qi Xia wasn't after just a piece of land—he wanted an entire world.

After an unknowable number of years, Qi Xia seemed to have an epiphany and began constructing buildings on this flesh-and-blood earth. He forged skyscrapers from blood and flesh, laid asphalt roads with bone fragments, and erected trees along the sides using skeletons. Like the true god of this world, he awoke to shape the heavens and the earth, then fell into a long slumber after expending all his energy.

He had endured endless Yong Heng and suffered profound solitude. Tian Long watched as Qi Xia created worlds with a wave of his hand, unable to comprehend why he went to such lengths. Tian Long himself had once done something similar, crafting dream realms for others upon awakening.

But that was all to maintain control—if those people didn't get a couple of days to rest and relax, the chances of rebellion would skyrocket. Yet, what was this man before him doing it for? There was no one else here, only Qi Xia himself. He could do whatever he wanted, and yet he was building a complete world of flesh and blood. This world had buildings of all sizes, vast blood seas, and forests of severed fingers.

Why go to such extremes? Though the world looked utterly terrifying, Tian Long saw a long-forgotten divinity in Qi Xia. Tian Long roughly calculated that, perhaps in a hundred years or two, under Qi Xia's efforts, this world would start to resemble the scenes from his memories. This was the landscape of Bai Yang's dream realm, the only thing missing being people.

After awakening, Qi Xia began to gaze up at the sky. The space was now faintly illuminated by the glowing earth, but the heavens remained an endless void of darkness.

"Exactly how... does something count as a 'world'?" Qi Xia murmured, staring at the sky. "The void space with its billions of doors connects all worlds... why won't it connect to mine?"

Tian Long listened with a neutral expression, thinking it was just another bout of Qi Xia's rambling madness. But a few seconds later, he sensed something was off and froze in place.

"Wait... Bai Yang..." Tian Long turned to him. "What do you mean by that?!"

He could hardly believe it—Qi Xia had spent decades, even centuries, building a world... just to summon a "door"? What kind of bizarre logic was this? It was as if he were making a wish to a true god, hoping his world would be acknowledged. He believed that if what he created qualified as a "world," a door would appear. Was this his idea of "qualification"?

How insane did someone have to be to make such a decision...? Tian Long recalled that from the very beginning of this world's creation, Qi Xia had hinted at it—this strange mass of flesh was "the world." He wasn't just implying that this place was a world; he was treating "world" as the essence of "world."

But soon, Tian Long realized that, aside from the path Qi Xia had chosen, which had a one-in-ten-thousand chance of success, there was no other way to glimpse hope in this empty, dark void. No... Tian Long felt that anyone else would have already lost their mind completely by now. They would only wander lost in this nothingness. So, Qi Xia had long since decided that to reach other worlds, the only way was through the "doors."

"Wait..."

A chill ran down Tian Long's back as he envisioned his own future. The "Lie Che" had three stops... Assuming the best-case scenario, if a "door" really appeared here, would it lead to the next stop? And if that next stop was another void... what would Qi Xia do then?

The thought made Tian Long's hair stand on end. He admitted he was truly panicking. He could scarcely imagine how he had endured this time so far... and if it all had to start over, he would suffer a hundredfold more.

"Bai... Bai Yang... you can hear me, right?" Tian Long said.

The entire space was eerily quiet, filled only with the sound of skyscrapers rising from the flesh world.

"Bai Yang... I understand what 'Yong Heng' is now..." he continued. "Stop messing with me... get me out of this damned place..."

As expected, there was no response.

"I promise to live in peace with you in this flesh world... I promise not to seek revenge anymore..." Tian Long felt this was the first time he had begged so desperately, but he had no other choice. "We can renegotiate..."

When Tian Long realized no one was paying him any attention, no matter what he said, he finally understood his situation. He was trapped in a prison called "Yong Heng."

Since whatever power had put him here could let him in, how could it possibly let him out so easily?

"Yong Heng."

"What a 'Yong Heng'..." Tian Long laughed bitterly. "You're toying with me..."

All he could do now was hope even more fervently in the dream realm that Qi Xia would succeed. As long as Qi Xia pulled through, he could escape this "Yong Heng."

But Qi Xia always looked up at the sky, where not a hint of light appeared. How could something made of blood and flesh so easily become a "world"? Even if he were a "Creator," he would be the most terrifying one in all spaces. Would the entire void accept him?

The world gradually took shape with rivers, lakes, seas, cities, and villages. Qi Xia even created a massive glowing eyeball that orbited the world, simulating day and night.

Yet, throughout it all, not a single living person existed. Tian Long knew where the problem lay. Although Qi Xia had conjured countless "living things" to form the world, his mind was unstable. He couldn't create stable, healthy human-like beings. A creator so deranged would only produce deformed creatures.

So, what could he do? After finishing the entire world, Qi Xia began building his own home. He remade his room from blood and flesh, as if trying to reclaim a shred of humanity, but the madness in his expression told Tian Long he had failed completely.