Chapter 619: The Flaw

After hearing that, Qi Xia reached out and pinched his own thigh.

It hurt a lot, but there was no sign of waking up.

"It's useless," Tian Long said. "You've gone too long without proper rest. How do you plan to wake up this time?"

"I won't lose to you here," Qi Xia said.

"Even if you can resurrect every ten days, your brain can't fool your body," Tian Long said, turning his face slightly and looking at Qi Xia with that utterly flat skin. "You don't need rest, but it does."

"Tian Long, are you going to kill me here?"

"No, you've misunderstood. I'm just worried about your health," Tian Long replied calmly. "Bai Yang, let's have a proper chat, shall we?"

Qi Xia furrowed his brow and stared at the monster in front of him for a long time before finally asking, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Let's talk about the 'future'," Tian Long said. "This is a rare opportunity. Here, it's just you and me. Why not imagine the 'future' together?"

"No, I don't want to talk about the 'future' with you," Qi Xia said, slowly walking over to the table, pulling out a chair, and sitting down. "I want to talk about the 'past'."

"The past is already over," Tian Long said, reaching up to wipe his invisible mouth. "Bai Yang, you should know... if we keep fighting, neither of us will end up well. Even if you exhaust your mind and try everything to kill me, what will you do then?"

"I'll go back to the past," Qi Xia replied. "Once all this is over, I'll naturally return to the past."

"And then? Will you go back with your twisted mind, your body covered in scars, your painful memories, the terminal illness in your brain, and a 'false Yu Nian An'?" Tian Long slowly lowered his head. "How long will you live once you return?"

"I..."

Tian Long's questions nearly shattered Qi Xia's psychological defenses. He felt the walls around him quickly crawling with cracks, and dust kept falling from the ceiling.

"To escape 'Tao Yuan', you've turned yourself into this mess... Why bother?" Tian Long shook his head helplessly. "We could have coexisted peacefully. Think about it—why are you fighting me like this?"

Qi Xia furrowed his brow and kept examining Tian Long's eerie face, then slowly narrowed his eyes.

Just a few seconds later, the cracks spreading across the walls seemed to encounter something terrifying and retreated. The dust on the floor began to rise slowly, drifting back toward the ceiling.

The signs of collapse were disappearing, and the room seemed to grow sturdier again.

"Hasn't the logic flipped?" Qi Xia said with a cold laugh. "It should be... if we could really 'coexist peacefully', why would I have turned myself into this mess?"

"I'm disappointed," Tian Long said, shaking his head after hearing that. "You're still on guard against me, Bai Yang. You're the one who deceived me, yet in the end, you're the one guarding against me."

"And you haven't deceived me?" Qi Xia felt he was gradually taking control of the conversation. "You keep calling me 'Bai Yang', but what am I now?"

He realized Tian Long couldn't make a move in this room, making this truly an equal conversation.

It seemed something here was restraining Tian Long.

"Are you saying... I call you 'Bai Yang', but you've become a 'participant'...?" Tian Long's voice grew increasingly hesitant. "What a ridiculous thing..."

He slowly stood up, walked over to Qi Xia, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"If you're willing, come back and be 'Tian Yang' now," Tian Long said. "With your intellect, plus 'Xian Fa' and 'Shen Li', no one here could defeat you."

"What...?"

Qi Xia felt Tian Long's words were beyond his expectations.

"Don't you want to become 'Tian Yang'?" Tian Long slowly leaned down, bringing his mouth close to Qi Xia's ear. "Bai Yang, have you realized? Was it me who turned you into a 'participant', or did you choose this path yourself?"

As soon as Tian Long finished speaking, countless thoughts swirled in Qi Xia's mind—was it really his own choice to become a 'participant'?

What was the reason?

"Bai Yang, stop deluding yourself," Tian Long continued. "Do you know how many chances I've had to kill you completely?"

"I..."

"It's the same even now. If I act recklessly within your mental realm, you'll completely break down," Tian Long said. "Do you really think you've survived this long because you're clever?"

As the cracks on the walls began to widen again, Qi Xia furrowed his brow once more. "Otherwise, what?"

"It's because I 'cherish a hero'," Tian Long said. "I don't want to bury a talent like you in 'Tao Yuan'. I want you to come with me."

"Where to...?"

"The 'Lie Che' is already prepared and ready to depart at any time," Tian Long said, his expression shifting into what looked like a happy shape. "Forget about this mess. Let's go create a new 'Tao Yuan'."

"Forget about this mess...?" Qi Xia turned his head to look at Tian Long. "What do you mean by 'create a new Tao Yuan'?"

"You have 'Sheng Sheng Bu Xi'. We can go to a place with no one and create a batch of subjects who submit to us."

After Tian Long finished speaking, the ceiling began to shake violently, sending dust flying everywhere and landing on their hair.

"Create a batch of subjects...?"

"Yes, Bai Yang, only you and I have the chance to become gods," Tian Long's voice grew deeper, and Qi Xia felt his thoughts becoming more clouded. "Those ordinary people aren't worth mourning, right?"

Qi Xia slowly closed his eyes, knowing his current state was very wrong.

Every time Tian Long spoke, it felt like his mind and spirit were being drawn away, leaving him unable to make judgments or think clearly.

He had to focus more than usual, closing his eyes to block out all external information and desperately redirect his thoughts.

"There are still loopholes..." Qi Xia said.

"What?" Tian Long was slightly startled.

"There are still loopholes..." Qi Xia said, eyes tightly shut and brows slightly furrowed. "The more you say, the easier it is for me to spot your loopholes."

As soon as he finished, the damaged walls around them quickly repaired themselves, even the fallen pieces restoring.

Tian Long couldn't help but ponder at the sight.

"I... have what loopholes?" he asked.

"Your behavior doesn't match someone trying to recruit me," Qi Xia said. "'Tian Ma' even activated 'Tian Ma Shi Ke' to find me, and she wouldn't hesitate to kill me."

The broken ceiling was becoming whole again, and the nearby furniture was even losing its dust.

"But I still don't understand, Tian Long," Qi Xia said, slowly opening his eyes and looking at Tian Long's face with a stern expression. "You know I'm 'Sheng Sheng Bu Xi', so why did you send 'Tian Ji' to find me?"