Chapter 1329: Awakening

This single glance almost drained all the blood from Chu Tianqiu’s body, leaving him feeling utterly frozen.

**Tianlong… is awake?**

**When did this happen?**

Chu Tianqiu’s expression stiffened, but the sensation in his fingers felt strange. He looked down and saw his right hand beginning to disintegrate into crimson powder, drifting powerlessly into the air.

The chilling touch of **”Dissolution”** began to assert its dominance, leaving Chu Tianqiu’s mind blank. The regenerative power of his **”Celestial Vigor”** couldn’t keep up with the destructive speed of **”Dissolution.”**

The situation unfolded exactly as he had anticipated.

Did he really think he could overthrow these two with mere flesh and blood… to grant freedom to all the “Participants”? How could it possibly be that simple?

They had fought with everything they had, yet they couldn’t even bring Qinglong down. And now, Tianlong had awakened as well.

With both of them standing in this room, how could three “Participants” possibly escape alive?

Tianlong seemed unable to clearly see who stood before him. He narrowed his eyes slightly, then casually waved his hand. Chu Tianqiu’s body immediately began to dissolve—first his arms, then his shoulders, and finally his legs.

**”Tianlong…”** Before Chu Tianqiu could even register pain, most of his body had already vanished. **”You…”**

Tianlong remained silent from start to finish, only staring with slightly bewildered eyes as he mercilessly unleashed **”Dissolution.”**

Chu Tianqiu realized that everything had gone wrong.

He had misplaced his trust in Qi Xia.

He shouldn’t have believed Qi Xia was the one more capable of leading everyone to freedom.

He shouldn’t have staked all his hopes on Qi Xia.

He shouldn’t have taken over the **”Hall.”**

He should have waited alone in this sorrowful city—never should have entrusted his heart to anyone.

**”Chu Tianqiu…”** Qiao Jiajin lay on the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. **”Run…!”**

**”Chu—!”** Zhang Shan gritted his teeth and charged toward Tianlong.

But with just a flick of his hand, Tianlong reduced Zhang Shan to dust mid-air, scattering him like nothing more than crimson mist.

By the time Zhang Shan’s massive frame reached Tianlong, only tiny specks of blood landed on his face—as if Zhang Shan had never existed.

**”Tianlong!”** Qiao Jiajin roared. **”You can’t—!”**

Seeing this, Qinglong swiftly moved to cover Qiao Jiajin’s mouth. Before the words could fully leave his lips, Qiao Jiajin writhed in agony, his body disintegrating from the top down. Within seconds, he was gone.

An eerie silence filled the room, leaving only the shattered remnants of Chu Tianqiu’s upper half suspended in the air.

**”Tianlong…”** Chu Tianqiu clenched his teeth, unsure what to do now.

Should he beg for mercy? Or provoke him?

No matter what he did, the outcome seemed inevitable.

So many had fought to their last breath, only for it all to be a futile, self-consoling delusion.

They had all been deceived.

**”Too noisy…”** Tianlong murmured hoarsely. **”Who… is making noise…?”**

His voice, neither fully male nor female, echoed with the same eerie resonance as Qinglong’s—chilling enough to make one’s soul tremble.

Chu Tianqiu paused, then let out a bitter laugh. **”I… am someone with a clear conscience…”**

Before he could finish, his remaining form dissolved into nothingness. Tianlong had never intended to hear his answer.

Under the overwhelming and pure force of this **”Celestial Art,”** all three in the room vanished without a trace—only faint red particles drifting in the air.

Tianlong still seemed disoriented. Prolonged slumber always left him in a state of confusion upon waking.

And this time, he had been forcibly roused… making his thoughts even more chaotic. What exactly had happened?

Qinglong, dragging his injured body forward, took a cautious step and whispered, **”Tianlong… it’s me, Qinglong…”**

Tianlong didn’t look at him, his gaze instead sweeping over the wrecked room.

Blood coated the floor. The tree had fallen. The door was shattered. Even the ground had cracked.

Where… was this again?

Had the place he slept always been this chaotic?

**”Tianlong… do you remember me?”** Qinglong pressed carefully. **”I’m Qinglong…”**

He maintained a safe distance, too wary to approach, only observing Tianlong’s state.

Finally, Tianlong noticed the lone figure in the room. His blurred vision gradually sharpened.

**”You are…?”**

**”I’m Qinglong. Do you remember me?”**

Qinglong’s figure fully materialized before Tianlong’s eyes.

**”Ah, Qinglong.”** Tianlong exhaled softly. **”What happened?”**

**”There was a rebellion…”** Qinglong said hesitantly. **”I had no choice but to wake you a few minutes early…”**

**”A rebellion…”** Tianlong sighed. **”It’s fine. We’ve been through worse.”**

As Tianlong stepped forward, the cracks in the ground rapidly repaired themselves.

His **”Art of Mending”** worked like invisible stitches, seamlessly weaving the fractures back together.

**”Thank goodness you’re awake…”** Qinglong relaxed slightly. **”The situation was truly bizarre… I suspect we were all tricked…”**

**”Calm down. Speak slowly.”** Tianlong waved his hand, and the remnants of battle swiftly vanished. **”Now that I’m awake, nothing will go wrong.”**

Qinglong pointed at the fallen tree nearby. **”Tianlong… you don’t understand… just now—”**

His words cut off abruptly as he froze, staring at the tree.

**”Just now what?”** Tianlong frowned, following Qinglong’s gaze to the tree.

It was an ordinary tree—except it had been cleaved in half.

Qinglong stared at the cross-section for a long time, unable to speak.

Tianlong walked over and examined it. The rings were sparse, nothing unusual.

**”I know you cherished this tree.”** Tianlong said after a pause. **”But trees are just trees. Even if it hadn’t been cut, it would’ve fallen someday.”**

Qinglong didn’t seem to hear. His eyes remained fixed on the tree, his face a mask of disbelief.

Finally, his voice trembling, he pointed at the tree. **”Tianlong… how many rings do you see in this tree?”**

**”What do you think?”** Tianlong asked gravely.

**”There should be… seventy… right?”** Qinglong sounded uncertain.

Tianlong studied him for a moment before speaking. **”I see. You thought this tree grew from the seed you planted, so it should have no more than seventy rings. Correct?”**

**”Isn’t that… true?”** Qinglong suddenly felt he had overlooked something—but even if he had, the discrepancy couldn’t be this vast.

**”You’ve spent too much time among the ‘Participants.’ You’ve even forgotten time itself.”** Tianlong shook his head. **”Seventy years is just a tale we tell them. In truth, it’s been two thousand five hundred cycles. Do the math. How could it be just seventy years?”**

**”You mean eighty-four years…”** Qinglong hesitated. **”But… that still doesn’t make sense. Earlier, I clearly saw…”**

He looked down at the rings again, unable to articulate his thoughts.

Whether seventy or eighty, the number of rings should still be within reason.

But what about the hundreds of rings he had glimpsed earlier?

An ominous feeling crept back into his heart, his expression growing more troubled.

He had been fooled again.

There were no hundreds of rings—it must have been some **”Celestial Art”** distorting his vision, shaking his very resolve.

But at least now, with Tianlong awake, it was all over.