Chapter 953: Flesh and Blood

Qi Xia nodded. "Oh... so what do you want to do?"

"You should know that injuries from 'Ru Meng' directly affect the physical body," Tian Long replied. "Even though you've gained 'Sheng Sheng Bu Xi,' your body is still that of an ordinary human. For me, killing you would take just a moment."

"Would you really kill me?" Qi Xia didn't believe Tian Long at all. "If you did, the 'Xin Shi Jie' you want to reach would just become an empty city. Even if it's full of towering buildings, vast jungles, and all the mountains, rivers, and seas of the real world, you'd never see a single living person. That's why you've been tempting me all along."

"It doesn't matter, Bai Yang," Tian Long said. "There will always be a way. I can wait decades for another 'Sheng Sheng Bu Xi,' and I can wait just as long for a 'Wan Wu Sheng Ling.' But I don't need unstable elements. You have a strong intent to kill me, and since you've always refused to cooperate, I'll have no choice but to put you to sleep forever."

"Ha..." Qi Xia slowly smirked and walked over to the table in the room.

By now, the table had turned into a massive square block of flesh, but a glass of water still stood quietly on top of it.

"Tian Long... why don't you drink the water?" Qi Xia asked.

Tian Long silently turned his flat face toward Qi Xia, as if about to speak but holding back.

"The water in my dream is hard for you to touch... isn't it?" Qi Xia laughed. "Even with your divine power, you'd have to exert some effort to drink this glass of water."

"So what?"

"But once you take a sip, the water will create immense gravity inside your body. If an ordinary person entered my dream, even a single drop of that unmovable water would pierce right through them. Your body has been strengthened, so it would only cause you unbearable pain without killing you directly."

"You know all this," Tian Long said. "Yet you still pretend to pour a glass of water for me. Why bother with something so unnecessary?"

"It's not unnecessary," Qi Xia replied. "Tian Long, I placed this glass of water here to make you think twice and back off."

"Oh?"

"The water in my dream is something you can't drink, and my life is something you can't take," Qi Xia said. "So go ahead and leave. Don't waste any more time."

After hearing this, Tian Long slowly stepped forward, and a mouth suddenly appeared on his flat face.

"Bai Yang..." the mouth opened slightly, "you might have me confused with an ordinary person."

In the next second, Tian Long waved his hand lightly, and the glass on the table shattered instantly, its water spilling across the flesh.

"Thud!"

On the screen in the plaza below, the word "Li Xi" was now clearly visible.

"Normally, when you can wound someone with a knife, they can wound you too," Tian Long continued. "Now, your inner world is completely devoid of any pure land. It's infinitely close to the 'Huan Luan Zhi Di,' meaning I can cause damage here without much effort. The cracks on the glass earlier required three-tenths of my strength, but what about now?"

"But I haven't turned into flesh," Qi Xia said. "You might be able to destroy objects at will, but how can you harm me?"

"A human body is still just a human body."

Tian Long snorted coldly, reached out, and clenched his fist. A massive stone spike immediately appeared on the ceiling above Qi Xia's head.

In the next instant, the spike plummeted down from close range.

Tian Long assumed Qi Xia was doomed, but Qi Xia merely focused his mind, and the flesh on the ceiling rapidly grew into countless arms that wrapped tightly around the spike. Then, they contracted swiftly, crushing the entire spike into fragments.

"Thud!!!"

"Sheng Sheng Bu Xi" fully manifested.

Countless fragments of stone fell from above Qi Xia's head, and he burst into frenzied laughter.

"Tian Long... haven't you realized yet... only in this space are our strengths truly equal," Qi Xia said. "You can't easily harm my dream body, and I can't destroy your immortal form. That's how it should be."

"You..." Tian Long's voice grew steadily colder; he realized Qi Xia was right.

In this space, neither could easily damage the other's body, as if both had gained immortal forms.

What's more, both could create things at will—Tian Long's creations were solid objects, while Qi Xia's were all made of flesh.

From this perspective, Tian Long felt like he was just an ordinary person with "Xian Fa," coming to challenge the "true god" of this space.

"What ridiculous tactics... Bai Yang."

Tian Long snorted lightly, then floated up into the air by stepping on nothing. He charged at Qi Xia with speed too fast to see.

Qi Xia quickly retreated several steps, and jagged bone needles burst through the flesh on the ground, growing wildly toward Tian Long.

Tian Long didn't dare underestimate these "native" things in the space, so he dodged left and right as the needles thrust at him, while Qi Xia cautiously backed away with sharp eyes.

Although their strengths were equal in this space, Tian Long was still Tian Long—his experience in using his abilities was extremely refined. In this kind of battle, any slight misstep in thought or wavering in resolve could leave him trapped in the dream forever.

Tian Long's form flew rapidly through the air. He dodged a bone needle, planted his feet on the wall, twisted his body like a hawk, and then shot straight toward Qi Xia.

In a flash, Tian Long raised his empty right hand, forming a fist, and swung it down hard.

Qi Xia's expression turned serious in an instant. He quickly raised his right hand, grabbed at the air, and blocked upward with all his strength.

"Thud!"

A sound like blades clashing with flesh exploded, sending ripples through the air around them.

Once it settled, Tian Long held a rough iron sword made of metal in his hand, while Qi Xia gripped a sword of bone and flesh.

Though the bone and flesh sword was sword-shaped, it had twisted features: a pair of eyes on the hilt and teeth lining the blade. It was clearly a bizarre living thing, with its features moving in agony as fresh blood splattered everywhere from where its spine collided with Tian Long's sword.

"What a terrifying way to fight, Bai Yang..." Tian Long's mouth on his face slowly curled into a smile. "Look at you now. Why do you think you'd be more upright than me if you became a 'god'?"

Qi Xia knew this was just Tian Long's ploy to shake his resolve, so he said nothing. With a wave of his hand, the nearby flesh began surging again, wrapping toward Tian Long.

Tian Long instantly unleashed a powerful gust of wind from his palm, forcing both of them back several meters, and the surging flesh missed its target in the room.

"I'm genuinely curious," Tian Long said, letting go of the iron sword in his hand, which turned into fragments. "The situation now is a bit too strange."

"How so?" Qi Xia asked.