Qinglong seemed not to have heard Zheng Yingxiong’s words, only staring at the sky in a somewhat distracted manner.

Something seemed to have gone wrong somewhere.

For some unknown reason, an extremely bizarre memory had appeared in his mind.

In that memory, he, Qiao Jiajin, and Zhang Shan were standing at the “train head,” the three of them gasping for breath while saying something.

In the next second, Qiao Jiajin seemed to want to pounce toward something. That thing was neither himself nor Heavenly-Dragon, but something else entirely.

But Qinglong couldn’t remember what exactly Qiao Jiajin had pounced toward. He only remembered that he had wanted to stop him.

And not far away, Heavenly-Dragon remained asleep, his hand gently propping up his chin, his expression as usual.

Qinglong quickly reviewed the beginning and end of this memory in his mind, but discovered he could never clearly recall why he had appeared at the “train head” with those two people.

Could this be some kind of illusion…?

Qinglong knew that having someone who could control illusions in the “Land of Finality” wasn’t strange. After all, there were specialized “phantom visions” on the train to continuously transform eyeballs into “Dao.”

But it was rare for someone to directly pour illusions into one’s mind. This was far too suspicious.

Could someone nearby have activated an “Echo”?

Qinglong turned to survey the massive room. Apart from the few people in front of him who couldn’t move, there were also two corpses.

One was Zhang Shan, the other was Earth-Dragon.

The two lay far apart on the ground, both looking completely dead.

“‘Soul Seizing’ has really disappeared!” Zheng Yingxiong shouted loudly again, taking advantage of Qinglong’s moment of distraction.

Only then did Qinglong return to his senses, inwardly thinking this was bad, and then resumed channeling his conviction.

But it was precisely in that instant that Xuanwu immediately reached out and grasped Qinglong’s heart.

Qinglong’s conviction wavered drastically the moment his heart was seized, and then the “Soul Seizing” on everyone’s bodies instantly dissipated.

After Qi Xia regained control of his body, he hurriedly looked at the current state of the venue. All the “doors” had disappeared without a trace, leaving only a few “Collapse and Flee Doors” leading outside the venue.

Right now, they couldn’t engage in direct conflict with Qinglong. They could only temporarily leave him to Xuanwu.

In Qi Xia’s view, it didn’t matter whether Qinglong or Xuanwu suffered heavy damage here—after all, this was only the beginning of the plan.

More attacks targeting these two would continue to be launched next.

Perhaps for all the people in the “Land of Finality,” the signal for the plan’s start was “the giant bell’s destruction.”

But for Qi Xia himself, the signal for the plan’s start was “Earth-Dragon’s death.”

From Earth-Dragon’s death onward, everything officially entered countdown mode. From now on, this giant wheel of resistance was formally starting to crash into the iceberg—either the mountain would be destroyed or the ship would sink. There would be no turning back for anyone.

“Prepare to evacuate,” Qi Xia said, turning back to everyone.

Everyone understood tacitly and began moving toward the “Collapse and Flee” doors.

Before Xuanwu could remove his heart, Qinglong immediately vanished on the spot and instantly appeared behind Xuanwu, seemingly about to attack some weak point.

Xuanwu was greatly alarmed and immediately vanished on the spot and reappeared, turning her body around in just a single breath. She faced Qinglong and reached out to block his attack.

Watching the scene of these two fighting like immortals, everyone could only suppress the anxiety in their hearts and continuously move toward the “door” positions.

But Xuanwu and Qinglong’s speed was simply too fast. Before everyone could get close to the “doors,” Xuanwu had already stepped back, reached out to grasp at empty air, and a heart appeared in her hand—one that seemed to have lacked blood for a long time and had already turned blue-black.

“Cough…”

Qinglong immediately spat a large mouthful of blood onto the ground, his entire body slowly bowing down.

Seeing this scene, everyone couldn’t help but stop in their tracks, feeling that the situation was somewhat unexpected.

Had Qinglong actually been… killed by Xuanwu?

Was this really not a dream?

It wasn’t until Xuanwu crushed the heart in her hand and then dropped it on the ground with a “splat” that everyone realized this truly wasn’t a dream.

Qinglong’s heart had been removed by Xuanwu.

“Old Qi… did you… anticipate this situation…?” Chen Junnan asked.

Qi Xia’s expression remained serious as he hurriedly said to everyone, “Don’t stop! Quick, go!”

“Huh…?”

As soon as the words fell, Qinglong immediately raised his head, his facial expression utterly crazed. Then, like a bullet, he rushed toward Xuanwu at high speed, using all his body’s strength to deliver a devastating strike.

“BOOM.”

Xuanwu used all her strength to block Qinglong’s body. Her entire person flew out like a kite with a broken string, crashing into the massive display screen.

Xuanwu passed through the wall. The display screen immediately shattered, and countless fragments along with the “characters” below the screen scattered everywhere like fireworks.

The “Cangjie Chess” venue, which had originally looked fairly orderly, became as desolate as a battlefield in an instant. Xuanwu flew toward an edge wall and then heavily smashed into it, creating a deep crater in the entire wall.

“Damn…” Chen Junnan said with lingering fear while running toward the “door” direction, “What the hell kind of structure is that old bastard Qinglong… He can still live after his heart’s been taken?”

Qiao Jiajin also kept looking back. It was impossible for anyone in this world to live after losing their heart. What was going on with Qinglong?

While running, Qiao Jiajin’s footing became unsteady. He seemed to have stepped on something, and his entire body instantly slipped, nearly falling to the ground.

He hurriedly steadied himself and looked down. He had actually just stepped on a “character.”

“Shi” (士).

Like a ghost possessing him, he bent down and picked up this “character,” feeling something lingering at his heart.

“Old Qiao! Run!” Chen Junnan said. “If that old bastard comes to his senses in a bit, we’ll be done for.”

“Junnan Boy… this ‘character’…”

“‘Shi’?” Chen Junnan paused, looking at Qiao Jiajin’s hand. “Isn’t that the one from Zhang Shan?”

At this moment, Qiao Jiajin understood what was lingering at his heart.

It was the promise to look at this heaven and earth together with Zhang Shan.

He put the “character” in his pocket and then left this place without looking back.

Several people ran toward the “doors” representing “Collapse and Flee,” discovering that not far away stood one solitary “door.”

That place could lead to the “Land of Finality.”

“You all go first!” Qi Xia said. “I still need to wait a while longer.”

“What…” Chen Junnan was startled. “What are you waiting for, Old Qi? Staying here you can only wait for death!”

“Now is not the time yet,” Qi Xia said. “You all need to find a way to scatter. The entire ‘Land of Finality’ is about to descend into great chaos. Until you return to the ‘train,’ absolutely do not easily trust any ‘Divine Beast’ or ‘Zodiac.’ We’ll meet up at the giant bell.”

“Don’t trust any ‘Divine Beast’ or ‘Zodiac’…?” Chen Junnan clearly hadn’t quite understood. “Old Qi… what do you mean?”

“Because I’ve told a monstrous lie,” Qi Xia said. “They’ve all been deceived by me.”