Chapter 1344: The Long Road

I’ve lost count of how many times Qi Xia raised his hand here, testing something.

Nor can I even begin to calculate how many years Qi Xia has drifted in this void.

Maybe a decade, maybe several.

In an attempt to calm himself, Tianlong followed Qi Xia’s lead and began recalling his own life.

But what was even more despairing was that for the past seventy years, he had been doing the same thing over and over.

Namely, “dissociation” and “dreamwalking.”

There was a time when he thought such a life was dull enough—yet compared to the days in this space, it could almost be called vibrant.

So many different people to disassemble, so many bizarre dreams to invade—what reason was there to call it dull?

Just as Tianlong was slipping into a daze, Qi Xia moved again.

This time, Tianlong barely paid attention, accustomed by now. He only saw Qi Xia raise his hand, stroking something in the air.

But the next moment, something in the void responded to Qi Xia, and a faint glow illuminated Tianlong’s face.

Unsure if it was a hallucination from his prolonged stay here, Tianlong watched as a writhing, living thing seemed to squirm in Qi Xia’s palm.

“Ha…” Qi Xia finally smiled, though the grin was clearly abnormal, brimming with madness.

Tianlong strained to focus, forcing his dulled mind to process the unfolding scene.

There was indeed a creature in Qi Xia’s hand.

Its round, fleshy body glowed a bloody red—at first glance, a grotesque meatball. Yet it bore a single eye, a single ear, and half a hand.

A faint light pulsed within its body, like some deep-sea fish.

But Tianlong was certain nothing like this existed in reality.

“Haha…” Qi Xia laughed, staring at the creature with that same deranged smile. “Hahaha…”

The unsettling laughter made Tianlong briefly wonder if Qi Xia had forgotten how to speak.

“White Sheep… you…” Tianlong stared in disbelief. “What kind of lunatic are you…? In this situation, the first thing you do is awaken your own ‘divine technique’…?”

Qi Xia’s lips twitched as he gazed at the flesh sphere. “Listen… there’s no falling here. You’ll float forever.”

Tianlong froze. To his utter shock, Qi Xia was giving psychological suggestions to a monster.

“I’ll do my best to help you grow from now on,” Qi Xia said. “Let’s work together to escape.”

With that, he slowly released his grip, letting the fleshy orb drift away.

True to Qi Xia’s suggestion, the small sphere hovered midair, neither falling nor moving far.

It orbited Qi Xia like a tiny planet.

Qi Xia lowered his head, channeling his “conviction.” The flesh sphere suddenly twisted grotesquely.

New lumps of flesh sprouted from its body, merging and enlarging it slightly. Its glow intensified.

Yet the space clearly suppressed Qi Xia’s power. By the time he exhausted his “conviction,” the sphere had only grown to the size of a tire.

Undeterred, Qi Xia simply closed his eyes again, emptying his mind.

“Don’t—”

Tianlong hadn’t expected Qi Xia to fall back asleep after mere minutes awake. Panic surged.

He felt like an audience member who had waited decades in line, only for the show to end abruptly.

But things were no different from before. Silence reclaimed the void, leaving Tianlon alone once more.

Except now, there was a glowing, rotating flesh sphere with an eye and an ear.

Qi Xia floated in the void while the sphere orbited him—a sight that at least made the emptiness feel less absolute.

As if infused with a shred of “human presence.”

Though that presence would be bizarre anywhere else, in this dark void, it was enough to help Tianlong pass the time.

Whether it was Tianlong growing accustomed to solitude or the sphere making the wait bearable, Qi Xia’s next awakening felt shorter.

Perhaps half a year, perhaps four or five months.

He opened his eyes again and resumed pouring his “conviction” into the sphere, fueling its “unceasing growth.”

Only now, his expression was even more deranged.

A surge of “conviction” flooded the flesh sphere, causing massive tumors to bulge across its surface.

This time, even Tianlong shuddered.

Each tumor bore distinct facial features—countless human faces sprouting from the sphere.

Every face screamed and wailed, suffocating, writhing in agony.

Their emergence transformed the void into a glowing hellscape.

Frowning at the cacophony, Qi Xia stifled the cries by sealing each mouth with new growths.

Madly stitching and reshaping, the sphere swelled to the size of a car.

Its grotesque form unsettled Tianlong, who now hesitated sharing the space with it.

A massive, glowing face… with countless features?

With each awakening, Qi Xia grew more unhinged, and the sphere expanded exponentially.

Only when it reached the size of a small building did Tianlong realize Qi Xia’s plan.

Slowly, Qi Xia shifted his position, stepping onto the fleshy mass.

He crouched, stroking the faintly glowing tissue beneath him.

“If there are no reference points here… we’ll make our own,” Qi Xia murmured. “From now on, you are the world of this space.”

Then he tilted his head toward the void, peering for a long moment before whispering, “Still not enough…?”

Bewildered, Tianlong joined him on the tiny world. For the first time in countless years, they could feel “ground” beneath them.

In this surreal space, so long as they believed the flesh sphere was land, they could stand and move freely upon it.

Qi Xia’s madness had escalated beyond Tianlong’s comprehension. Under his watch, Qi Xia sat down once more, entering deep meditation.

He knew that if no escape route existed, he would have to carve one himself.

No matter how arduous, once begun, the path would lead to an end.

“White Sheep… is there truly no other way?” Tianlong muttered. “What an endless road this is…”

Qi Xia lowered his head, whispering to himself, “If you know the path to victory, never take shortcuts.”