32: way out

Deep in the starry sky, the boundless darkness was stirred by a heart-palpitating fluctuation.

Xiang Yan hid deep within the planet, like a giant beast lurking in the abyss, quietly observing the changes around him.

He could feel a strange, oppressive force rapidly approaching.

The surrounding starry sky, originally peaceful and deep black, was now like a lake surface into which a giant rock had been thrown, rippling with layers of energy waves.

The stars that had been orbiting regularly were now swaying like leaves blown by a gale, emitting flickering light.

The interstellar energy tides began to grow turbulent; the originally orderly flow became violent and chaotic, as if an invisible giant hand were stirring the entire Universe.

Space also began to turn eerie. The originally empty Void Realm was now seemingly solidified by some invisible force, becoming as viscous as amber.

The surrounding space was shrinking bit by bit, becoming harder, as if it wanted to completely imprison him within.

"Truly powerful," Xiang Yan whispered in admiration. He could feel this strange force affecting everything around it in an irresistible manner.

The mere arrival of this unknown world will was enough to forcibly shake the rules of the surrounding starry sky.

As the unknown world will approached, Xiang Yan found that mobilizing the power within his body had become difficult, like struggling in a quagmire.

He tried to channel his power, but found it suppressed by an invisible force, its circulation becoming sluggish and arduous.

"Tsk! To think it would be like this?" Xiang Yan's eyes narrowed slightly. He had originally thought that as long as he hid carefully, even facing a world will far superior to him wouldn't be much of a problem. After all, wasn't dealing with a simpleton just a matter of intellectual suppression?

But now, he realized his thoughts might have been a little naive.

This simpleton's muscles were a bit too well-developed; if he wasn't careful, he might actually fail.

After all, the opponent could lose countless times, but he only had one chance.

He needed to look through the things in his Legacy memories again to see what the situation was.

Soon, he found the answer.

Wars between worlds were not just confrontations of power, but collisions of rules.

Both sides would attempt to use their own rules to transform the surroundings into a battlefield suitable for themselves. Within a battlefield constructed by the enemy, one's own side would be suppressed in all aspects.

In this situation, to escape his predicament, his side also had to transform the battlefield.

Seeing this information, Xiang Yan found it troublesome. Given his current situation, it was impossible to use this move. Otherwise, what was the point of creating a counterfeit product?

Out of necessity, Xiang Yan could only continue to endure the suppression of this unknown world will.

As time passed, the surrounding rules became increasingly foreign.

The originally familiar energy fluctuations became distorted, and the structure of space changed.

He felt like a fish out of water, every inch of his skin bearing immense pressure.

In the starry sky around the planet, the originally brilliant starlight gradually dimmed, replaced by an eerie grayish-white glow.

The distortion of space grew more intense, forming massive vortices that seemed ready to swallow everything.

Suddenly, a massive rift opened in the space above the planet, and a giant mouth filled with sharp teeth appeared there.

Within the giant mouth, like a nesting doll, there were more giant mouths. The layers of teeth within these mouths were like sharp blades, emitting a chilling, terrifying light.

In the very center of all the giant mouths, a massive eyeball stared fixedly at the entire planet—cold and heartless, like a predator watching prey about to be devoured.

This bizarre giant mouth slowly approached the planet, its massive shadow enveloping the entire world.

The terrifying pressure made it almost impossible for Xiang Yan to breathe. He felt like an insect targeted by a giant spider, unable to move.

At the same time, he used immense willpower to suppress the counterattacking instincts driving him, quietly waiting for the devouring to be completed.

Finally, the giant mouth swallowed the entire planet in one gulp. The world fell into darkness...

"Has time... stopped?"

"No, it hasn't stopped; my perception of time has been distorted."

After being swallowed by the giant mouth, Xiang Yan felt as if he were falling into a bottomless abyss.

Time seemed to lose its meaning; only the endless sensation of falling accompanied him.

Suddenly, the descent stopped.

It was replaced by a strange sense of weightlessness, as if floating in the boundless Void Realm.

Everything around him became blurred, with only a piercing light penetrating the Chaos and shining upon him.

This light was not warm sunlight but a cold, eerie glow that carried the intent to decompose everything, like countless tiny needles piercing his skin, bringing waves of stinging pain.

"Decomposition Field..." Xiang Yan murmured softly, recognizing the essence of this energy.

At the same time, he felt a chaotic energy fluctuation sweeping through everything like a storm.

Various energies collided and tore at each other, producing a sharp, ear-piercing noise that made his eardrums buzz.

"Light of Chaos..." Xiang Yan identified another type of energy.

He instantly understood that he, along with the entire planet, had been swallowed into a place similar to this world's "stomach."

This place was filled with the Decomposition Field and the Light of Chaos, specifically used to digest swallowed objects.

A strong sense of crisis surged in his heart, and Xiang Yan immediately began to recall the information he had found earlier regarding the way out.

In a world war, the loser becomes nourishment for the winner. A victorious world will generally has two ways of dealing with the losing side:

First, completely consume the losing side, turning everything they have into a cornerstone for its own growth.

Second, incorporate the losing side, taking all their assets but sparing their life, staining them with its own color and incorporating (enslaving) them as subordinates to perform management tasks. This is similar to the relationship between the Lower Realm and the Upper Realm; a Major Thousand Worlds having countless Minor Thousand Worlds or Middle Thousand Worlds around it; or a large world containing countless Small Worlds.

Xiang Yan was gambling—gambling that this world will would adopt an incorporation policy toward defeated world wills.

As for why a nascent world will that mostly followed instinct would perform such a high-difficulty operation as incorporation, that was also a gamble. Xiang Yan was gambling that someone had already taken the throne of the World Proxy.

Even if he lost the gamble, it didn't matter. Xiang Yan could forcibly manipulate Nelson to self-destruct, and by paying a certain price, he could absolutely blast a crack leading to the interior of the world for himself.

Once he hid inside the world, as long as he was cautious enough, it would be extremely difficult to find him. He could then play a game of hide-and-seek against this world, waiting it out. Given enough time, he would eventually find an opportunity to escape.

If some special situation occurred, it might not even take that long, and he might even be able to make a profit before running away.