“Speaking of which, Brother Sheep…” Earth-Dog asked again, seeing that Qi Xia hadn’t spoken for quite some time. “What exactly is the ending for the ‘Earth Level’?”

“Hm?”

“This question has been weighing on my heart for a long time.”

“Why ask me?” Qi Xia countered. “You’re the ‘Zodiac’ now. You should understand the rules of the ‘Zodiac’ better than I do.”

“But you’re the living legend of this entire ‘Land of the End’.” Earth-Dog said with slight anxiety. “Back then, we all saw you disappear from the ‘train’ and learned that you had become ‘Heavenly-Sheep’, yet now you’re a ‘Participant’… What on earth is going on?”

Qi Xia slowly narrowed his eyes. He finally understood Earth-Dog’s purpose.

“So you’ve been wanting to see me all along…” Qi Xia said, “just to figure out what happened to me?”

“Yes.” Earth-Dog nodded. “Brother Sheep, I admit you’re my idol. You’re far more powerful than me, but I’m also working hard toward my own goals. Right now I just need one answer. If all the ‘rules’ in this place are lies…”

After hearing this, Qi Xia pondered for a few seconds, then said to him: “There are two answers to this question. Do you want to know whether this place can actually produce a ‘Heaven’, or whether one can actually escape from this place?”

Earth-Dog thought for a while, then said: “I… I want to get out.”

This answer clearly came with hesitation. Qi Xia detected a hint of deception in it.

“It can’t be done.” Qi Xia replied. “It’s impossible for anyone to get out of this place, even if you become a ‘Heaven’.”

Qi Xia’s brief words were like a spear carrying thunder—after piercing through Earth-Dog completely, they made his entire body tremble slightly.

“So that means… we’ve been deceived all along?” Earth-Dog murmured in a low voice. “All these years… the goal we’ve been striving for doesn’t even exist?”

“You could say that.” Qi Xia nodded.

Qi Xia stared at Earth-Dog’s expression and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Strange. The current situation was extremely strange.

No matter how he looked at it, the Earth-Dog before him was just an ordinary ‘Zodiac’. Rather than saying he stood on ‘Heavenly-Dragon’s’ side, it was more accurate to say he stood with all the ‘Earth Level Zodiacs’.

He had no idea about the truth of this world and was still striving to advance to become a ‘Heaven Level’.

He was no different from any other ‘Zodiac’. Qi Xia’s words would have the same effect regardless of which ‘Zodiac’ heard them.

The only difference was that the other party might not believe what he said.

But what was this bizarre situation now? Several paths had simultaneously pointed to this ‘Earth-Dog’, yet his performance left Qi Xia quite disappointed—

What was the point of meeting him?

“Then… Brother Sheep…” After being silent for a while, Earth-Dog asked again, “In this place, can one become a ‘Heaven’?”

Qi Xia looked at Earth-Dog coldly for a long time before slowly speaking:

“Yes.”

“What…?”

“As long as you’re lucky enough, you can still become a ‘Heaven’.”

This answer seemed to contradict Earth-Dog’s expectations, leaving him stunned for a moment.

“Brother Sheep… are you saying that although there’s no way to escape from here, one can still become a ‘Heaven’?”

“That’s what I mean.” Qi Xia said.

“Then… what does ‘lucky enough’ mean?” Earth-Dog asked again.

“You should understand this.” Qi Xia replied. “Not everyone who meets the requirements can become a ‘Heaven’… Or rather, the requirement to become a ‘Heaven’ isn’t actually killing three thousand six hundred people.”

“I see…” After hearing this, Earth-Dog nodded with vacant eyes. “Many of the current ‘Heavens’ don’t seem like they reached their current heights through ‘killing’…”

“To put it bluntly, it’s just a matter of ‘Heavenly-Dragon’s’ and ‘Qinglong’s’ whim.” Qi Xia said. “If they say you can become a ‘Heaven’, then you’re a ‘Heaven’. ‘Killing’ is merely the means by which all current ‘Zodiacs’ demonstrate their ‘loyalty’ to them.”

Earth-Dog slowly raised his eyes and asked again: “In other words… not only must I outwardly become a ‘dog’, but I must also consider myself their ‘dog’ from the depths of my heart.”

“Of course.” Qi Xia said. “If you’re a ‘dog’ who obeys their commands, grovels for favor, and is utterly loyal, then your chances of becoming a ‘Heaven’ will increase dramatically.”

“This is truly news that’s both expected… yet completely crushes my hopes.” Earth-Dog said.

“You might gain supreme power here, but the price is never being able to leave. Are you willing?”

“I… am not willing.”

“Now this is getting interesting.” Qi Xia knew that Earth-Dog’s mental state was wavering—this was a good opportunity to break through his defenses. He decisively spoke up: “But from my perspective, you want to know more whether this place can produce ‘Heavens’, rather than whether one can ‘escape’ from this place.”

“What…?”

“Before asking me whether one can become a ‘Heaven’, you first asked about escaping. This only shows that you’re still guarded against me. You have no way to confirm whether I’ll tell you the truth, so you threw out bait—asking a question you want to know but whose answer isn’t that critical to you.”

After hearing this, Earth-Dog pondered for a few seconds, then nodded: “Yes, Brother Sheep… it’s a long story…”

“Are both of these your goals?” Qi Xia asked.

“Yes.” Earth-Dog nodded. “To be honest, it’s quite embarrassing… I once promised someone that I would definitely become a ‘Heaven’, but I’m secretly plotting how to escape from here. Thinking about it this way, perhaps I’m also a ‘Sheep’…”

Earth-Dog’s words instantly cleared up some of Qi Xia’s confusion. So this ‘Zodiac’ was connected to another person.

“Wait a moment…” Qi Xia raised his hand to interrupt him. “You promised someone you’d become a ‘Heaven’?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“My teacher.” Earth-Dog answered. “The person who has been guiding me since I became a ‘Man-Dog’.”

Qi Xia nodded: “Where are they now?”

“Brother Sheep… she broke the rules.” Earth-Dog said.

Upon hearing the four words “she broke the rules”, Qi Xia felt his forehead—which hadn’t hurt in a long time—suddenly get stabbed by a needle.

“Did she become an ‘Ant’…?” Qi Xia asked.

“I’m not sure…” Earth-Dog shook his head. “She might have been directly eliminated, or she might have become an ‘Ant’… Perhaps as you said, the fate of ‘Zodiacs’ here all depends on ‘Heavenly-Dragon’s’ and ‘Qinglong’s’ preferences.”

Qi Xia slowly raised his hand to cover his forehead and asked again:

“What ‘Zodiac’ was that person…?”

“Same as me. When I met her, she was an ‘Earth-Dog’.”