Chapter 959: The Apple

Qinglong felt that Tianlong before him had once again become still, his breathing even.

The slight furrow in his brow, which had been there until now, finally smoothed out.

"Exactly whose dream are you so angry in?" Qinglong said with a grin. "Could they even hurt you?"

Of course, Tianlong couldn't answer Qinglong's question. He simply sat quietly on the throne, leaning to the side with his cheek resting on his hand, deep in sleep.

Just as he had for the past several decades.

Seeing him like this, Qinglong's expression shifted slightly.

"What about 'Yuanwu', 'Qiaowu', 'Lixie'..." Qinglong said with a bitter smile. "Tianlong, you're the one who's driven yourself to this state... Waking up once every ten days... Then exhausting all your strength before falling asleep again—it's all your own doing. Who else can you blame?"

With that, he stood up and left the side of the throne, walking down the steps to stand before the great tree. He looked up at it.

"I've told you before... What is the most important thing in a world? Is it these three 'Xianfa' you chose?" Qinglong shook his head. "You're truly deserving of the title 'Rumen'—you love dreaming your whole life... Look at the three 'Xianfa' you selected. From the start, you were preparing to build a perfect world, but the result is that you've trapped yourself in endless exhaustion."

Qinglong stared at the red fruit on the great tree and said, "You claim you can create everything in the world... But this fruit grew on its own. It's completely unaffected by your 'Xianfa'. So do you understand now...? the most important thing in this world isn't 'the world' itself, but 'people'. Where there are people... Infinite possibilities can be born."

He turned back, gazing at Tianlong's sleeping face, and continued, "Facts have proven it to you countless times... 'Creating a world' doesn't let you control everything. Only 'Xianfa' like 'Lingwen', 'Jianmo', and 'Duo Xinpo'—which can control 'people'—will work. Only by manipulating hearts in the palm of your hand can you get what you want... It's just that we're both dealing with a 'monster' here."

Tianlong's silence lingered in the room.

Qinglong's face gradually darkened. "Do you remember the last time you used 'Xianfa' to produce that rotten apple with the stench of 'Taoyuan'? You told me to throw it away, but I secretly took it to Tian She and selected a 'Qiu Yi' with 'Huaxing'. Guess what I turned it into...? Just an apple, after all... Guess what happened to it in the end?"

Tianlong's quietness echoed back.

"And guess what someone transformed from an 'apple' should be called?" Qinglong asked with eager anticipation. "What a brilliant idea of mine?!"

All that met him was the room's echo and the piercing silence.

Perhaps in all of "Taoyuan", only Tianlong could engage in a conversation with Qinglong as an equal, but Qinglong never got that chance.

He was left to talk to himself.

"What a great idea this is... But I have no one to share it with..." Qinglong said, trembling as he lowered his head. "Since this place already has the overbearing interference of 'Shengsheng Buxi', we can just casually add a person to it. As long as this person believes they're a 'participant'... They'll join the 'Shengsheng Buxi' forces without any reason. Once this idea can be realized... Why would you even need 'Shengsheng Buxi'? We could turn everything in the world into people..."

"Tianlong... We've both been wrong. If we'd realized from the beginning that 'Xianfa' is tied to our own strength... How great would it have been to choose 'Huaxing'? We could change anything at will, including people. No..."

Qinglong shook his head again. "If we could have known everything in advance... How much better would it be if we had just remained two independent people... Why did we have to end up like this..."

...

A plump, elderly middle-aged Dihou stood in the corridor of the "Lieche", reaching into his pocket to pull out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

But when he patted his pockets, he couldn't find a lighter.

At that moment, an empty hand extended toward him and hovered in front. The fingers moved slightly, and a lighter appeared out of nowhere, igniting a flame.

The one who offered it was a Renhou.

"Damn..." the Dihou cursed. "Just hand over the lighter—why the show? You should use your magic tricks less on the 'Lieche'. If someone mistakes you for a 'Huixiang', you're done for."

After scolding, he leaned forward and used the flame to light the cigarette in his mouth.

"Teacher, you're joking," the Renhou said. "Lots of people here know I'm a magician. How would they give me trouble over a lighter?"

He waved the lighter and handed it to the Dihou.

The Dihou unceremoniously took it and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. Then, he craned his neck, peering down the other end of the corridor.

The Renhou knew that the far end led to the "cart head" area, where Tianlong resided, along with a group of "Tianji".

"Teacher..." the Renhou said, "Why are you staring so far away? What are you looking at?"

"Damn..." The Dihou exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "Don't ask questions you shouldn't. What's it got to do with you?"

"Alright, I won't ask," the Renhou replied sensibly with a nod. "I just wanted to ask if you want to go back and grab something to eat?"

"Fine... Let's go." The Dihou glanced once more into the depths of the corridor, his expression growing hesitant.

He had a bold idea he wanted to discuss with someone, but that person had to be able to sense "Xianfa"—whether it was "Lingwen", "Lingxiu", or "Lingchu"... Unfortunately, people with "Xianfa" were extremely rare on the "Lieche", let alone those with such uncommon ones.

"Renhou..." The Dihou turned his head and called out.

"What is it, Teacher?"

"Out there, have you ever met any 'participants' who can discern other people's 'Xianfa'?"

The Renhou paused for half a second at the question, then smiled naturally. "What kind of ability is that? Sounds amazing. Would someone's 'Xianfa' be used just to identify others' 'Xianfa'?"

"Forget it... You wouldn't understand even if I explained." The Dihou took a drag on his cigarette and scratched his plump face. "This is so strange..."

"What's wrong, Teacher?" the Renhou said. "I might not get it, but if there's something bothering you, you can tell me. Maybe I can help."

Though the Renhou answered casually, caution was written all over his face.

"Ha." The Dihou gave a mocking, insincere smile. "I suspect... These so-called 'Linging Zhe' all lose their abilities on the 'Lieche'. That's really odd."

"What...?"