“Interesting,” Qi Xia nodded.

“If I couldn’t let you completely break free from this layer of restraint, you wouldn’t be able to touch the threshold of ‘God,'” Heavenly-Dragon said. “I need an exceptionally powerful ‘Endless Life.’ Even if I know this is your scheme, I will definitely fall into it.”

“Isn’t this contradictory?” Qi Xia asked in return. “I didn’t promise you anything, yet you claim to have unilaterally assisted my plan.”

“Because I must make you touch this threshold,” Heavenly-Dragon said. “After all, what I’m plotting is completely beyond mortal comprehension. Only someone like me who has abandoned all emotions in their heart will calmly accept it.”

Qi Xia nodded thoughtfully. “Let’s hear it.”

“Baiyang, I have ‘Original Object’ and ‘Ingenious Object,’ and you have ‘Endless Life,'” Heavenly-Dragon said. “We go to the next void space. I’ll make mountains and rivers spread out again, make cities lined with tall buildings, then make stars rise into the sky and sun and moon rotate. And you will create a group of subjects belonging to us. As long as you move your thoughts slightly, these people’s minds will be firmly imprisoned by your divine power. They will never have the possibility of resisting us and will never destroy our rule. Isn’t this good? If you’re willing, ‘Endless Life’ can even produce any animal life forms. We will likewise possess an alluring natural world.”

Qi Xia didn’t speak, only lightly tapped the table with his hand.

“Is there any need for us to continue salvaging this place full of devastation?” Heavenly-Dragon asked. “We could clearly go to other spaces and become ‘New Gods,’ yet we still have to live here like ‘Old Ghosts.’ You now already possess ‘Divine Power’ and a heart infinitely close to ‘God.’ You must be able to understand my thinking, right?”

“I…” Qi Xia gave a bitter smile. “What do you think?”

“You must be able to understand,” Heavenly-Dragon said. “You’ve already reached your current height. Why exactly do you want to fight me for the sake of a group of ‘mortals’? You can casually toy with those people’s lives, yet you have to take risks for them. Forgive me, I cannot understand.”

After Heavenly-Dragon finished speaking, he slowly stood up, the muscles on his face constantly twisting.

“You will soon know… ‘mortals’ are the most troublesome creatures in this world,” Heavenly-Dragon said. “They are stupid and greedy, weak and selfish. Do you know why I tolerate all your little schemes?”

Qi Xia shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Because scheming against ‘God’ is the nature of ‘mortals,'” Heavenly-Dragon smiled. “If there truly is a ‘God’ in this world, then ‘mortals’ will pray to ‘God’ day and night, seeking the things they want. If there is no ‘God’ in this world, then ‘mortals’ will fabricate a ‘God’ to pray to.”

“That’s indeed true,” Qi Xia nodded.

“But they offer incense, so it counts as a transaction,” Qi Xia said.

“Three or five yuan worth of incense… begging for riches worth several hundred thousand or millions?” After hearing this, Heavenly-Dragon couldn’t help laughing. “Baiyang, if this truly is a ‘transaction,’ then ‘mortals’ simply cannot afford the price that ‘God’ sets. When both parties have no way to conduct an equal transaction, it has never been a transaction.”

“So…” Qi Xia organized his thoughts. “You know my plan and are still willing to help me accomplish all this because of ‘God’s’ tolerance toward ‘mortals’?”

“It can’t even be called ‘tolerance,'” Heavenly-Dragon shook his head. “Because all these things are completely insignificant to me. No matter what you want to do, you won’t threaten me. Even Qinglong can’t reach this mentality, but I believe the current you can already glimpse it somewhat.”

“Indeed,” Qi Xia said. “If one already possesses the power of ‘God,’ all the actions of ‘mortals’ seem so laughable.”

“You should know, it’s very difficult for me to waste so much time on a ‘mortal.’ To let you walk to this step today, I secretly made many efforts,” Heavenly-Dragon slowly walked to the window and looked at the scenery outside. On the street cast from flesh and blood, countless pedestrians raised their heads to look at him.

“The eight teammates you arranged to become ‘Zodiac’ members—I’ve been protecting them all along, ensuring their steady advancement,” Heavenly-Dragon said. “Do you know an interesting rumor?”

“What rumor?”

“They say those eight people aren’t your trusted aides, but mine,” Heavenly-Dragon laughed “haha” a few times again. “It’s enough to prove how much I favor them, right? But think carefully—these people are no different from ants to me. Why would I spend my own time showing favor?”

After hearing this, Qi Xia slowly lowered his head, looked at the glass of water on the table, then said, “Heavenly-Dragon, but you helping me is merely treating me as a chess piece that can be used. This is difficult to convince me.”

“Think carefully, Baiyang,” Heavenly-Dragon said. “Up until now… when have I ever shown malice toward you?”

Qi Xia recalled his several meetings with Heavenly-Dragon. Although the scenes were stranger each time, where was Heavenly-Dragon’s malice?

“I said that if you want to be ‘Heavenly-Sheep,’ you can come back anytime,” Heavenly-Dragon said. “I said that only you and I in this place can become ‘Gods.’ I said we can take the ‘Train’ and leave together. I also admitted I’ve been helping you all along. Baiyang, if you truly join me, you can freely select ‘Divine Powers’ before leaving. I’ll let you leave here with an extraordinary body.”

“Ha.” After hearing this, Qi Xia also laughed out loud.

“If you fear I’ll kill you, you can choose ‘Brute Force’ or directly possess ‘Heaven’s Vigorous Health.’ This way we’ll be completely equal,” Heavenly-Dragon said again. “Go to a world where no mortals dare resist us. Only you and I are the masters of the entire world. We can spend thousands and tens of thousands of years continuously expanding our world, increasing the number of mortals within it, ultimately becoming ‘Gods’ in the true sense.”

After hearing this, Qi Xia also slowly stood up, came to Heavenly-Dragon’s side, and looked out the window together with him.

“But it’s not right,” Qi Xia said.

“What’s not right?” Heavenly-Dragon asked. “Isn’t this path enticing enough?”

“I just haven’t figured out one thing,” Qi Xia chuckled lightly and looked toward the sun outside the window. “In a world where ‘mortals’ exist, is a ‘God’ like you really needed?”

“What…?” Heavenly-Dragon was stunned.

“You claim to be divine, regard human life as grass, and impose all your will on innocent people,” Qi Xia’s expression gradually became cold. “Is there any need for ‘mortals’ to be ruled by you?”

“There’s no reason,” Heavenly-Dragon said. “I can only say I was born to be ‘God,’ and ‘mortals’ are ultimately ‘mortals.'”

After hearing this, Qi Xia slowly extended his finger and pointed toward the sun in the sky.

“Just because you are ‘God,’ you can do such things?”