What was happening was absolutely shocking. The white flame has always protected Yan Zaizen lifeforce, especially when he was practicing the Immortal Herculean Method. At that time, he should've died several times over, but the white flame kept a tinge of his lifeforce alive and helped it grow. This is what enabled him to develop his Herculean Physique.
"How did you…? How am I…?" He looked at his physical body that was just as perfect as new, and even the ripping force of space didn't affect him much. He looked towards an orb of complete blackness.
Siphoning Shadow of Death?!
It was viciously siphoning the chaotic space in the vicinity, trying to resist the white flames dominance, but the white flame only grew more powerful as a result. One could feel a deep sense of competitive unwillingness coming from it.
"Do...laws have sentience?" This was his first thought after seeing these events. It was like his two concepts were alive, and in truth, laws were not dead. They truly had their own thoughts and intentions, but typically restricted to the concept itself. If they didn't, how could they grow? How could they return back to their beginning? They needed the ability to search, and with the support of cultivators, they have the potential to do so until they become one with their originators or evolve into something independent.
They may not be considered truly alive, but they certainly were not dead.
He gulped at this discovery. He felt like intent could develop something similar to this, especially when he felt his own dao formulating. It was a sort of intent, but one that originated from himself. Perhaps his current developing dao was just a concept trying to become a law. His eyes were filled with the wonders of the world and how great it was.
If his dao became a law, could others comprehend it? Could they develop conceptual laws? This…
There was definitely a difference between a dao and a law, one felt internal while the other felt external.
He decided to put all of these thoughts into the back of his mind. Right now, he needed to figure out a way to escape while he had the chance. "How can I escape?!" He tried using his spiritual sense, but he found an odd discovery.
His soul form was inactive!!
It seemed to have been put into a hibernation state, and albeit he could think, and use a little of his spiritual sense, he couldn't use any of his soul energy. It was odd. The black dot on its forehead was still normal, but he could tell it was likely undergoing some unknown transformation. He wasn't knowledgeable enough to know what was happening, so he decisively decided to try to find another way.
Looking around, all he saw was black darkness. He assumed space was silver, like the light from the formation, but instead, it was completely black with no sign of anything. "Perhaps...this is what chaotic space was? So much chaos that nothing can exist within it, only space itself." He came to this conclusion, but that didn't help him.
Wait.
Shit!
He tried accessing his Meteor Ring, but without soul energy, he couldn't take anything in or out of it. This left him feeling helpless. If he took out an essence crystal or two, he would have more time to think. He regretted not thinking of doing so earlier.
Wait.
Think.
He looked towards the chaotic space. After which, he looked at the white flame and black orb that were competing fiercely. His next idea exploded like a bout of madness. What if he comprehended the laws of space! If he could develop a conceptual law of space then perhaps he could use it to open space and exit. If he couldn't, then it's likely he'll never be able to escape under these circumstances.
"Okay Zai, you have this. You've comprehended two world laws already, what's a third?" He said, trying to comfort himself. He knew that space laws were incredible and to gain comprehension towards it would be as difficult as life or death. Luckily, he had the chaotic space around him to help.
Comprehending the laws and developing a concept required communication and spiritual opening. When he conceptualized his two current laws, he felt his every existence enter the vast world of laws and grab the one most suited for himself at the time. Firstly, it was the white flame. Secondly, it was a black orb.
Normally, a person wouldn't be able to communicate with a law just because they wanted to. They needed a medium, a teacher, or something else to do so. They would also need a concept to actualize the law. Yan Zaizen, however, has both a medium and someone who taught him space. This thing has been trying to rip him apart for the last while. If that's not physical teaching, he didn't know what was.
He just needed to comprehend this ripping force, and perhaps he could rip open a hole through space.
Ideally, it'll work out and all will be well.
If he failed, death would be the only thing that awaited.
Repeating the process of what he felt before, he started to verbalize his conceptual understandings in his mind. "Chaotic space has a ripping force that is omnipresent, omni-consistent and affects all things. It separates into infinite directions, and gathers in…" His eyes lit up. He shook his head, removing the last bit from his mind, concluding it was incorrect, "and it stretches towards the infinite spans of space."
The chaotic space was unique, as it wasn't stable space. If one comprehends stable space, they could comprehend spatial transmission, portal creation, or even isolating space. However, chaotic space has never been conceptualized by anyone, simply because chaotic space was not an area where life can exist. If it wasn't for Yan Zaizen's Herculean Physique, Unyielding Flame of Life, Siphoning Shadow of Death, and his own Dao formulating, he would not be strong enough to live for even a second in this area.
However, the Herculean Physique exceeds the heavens. How could space rip it easily? How could it be burned easily? How could it be defeated so easily by that which it exceeds?! Even though it's only at the Nascent Herculean Physique, it's still a Herculean Physique.
"Chaotic Space focuses on the way of chaos, but what is it? Is it truly chaotic?" He couldn't help but think. He didn't feel like space was in chaos, but more so like it was simply being pulled apart in all directions.
"Wait...what if chaotic space isn't chaotic. What if…" His mind blew up with thoughts, and he looked around and it hit him. The ripping force, the difficulty to formulate a sense of time and the lack of any type of existence. If one thinks about it simply, it is chaotic. To him, however, this isn't chaotic space, but a plane that acts as a glue for all things! The shadow behind the scenes, regulating and keeping all things stable. It was like the myriad workings of the human body, all working together to keep itself alive.
This was the reason why he was sent here after the formation was shattered. He was in a transition, and because of the error, he was sent into the background. It was like the myriad worlds was a tube, and everything outside was chaotic space. If the tube suddenly had a hole in as you were sliding by, when you get sent through it, you'll just enter the outside. The hole would then be immediately fixed.
The ripping of space is just different spaces being stabilized. The peak of stability requires an infinite amount of moving gears, if this space was the gears, then it makes sense why he was being ripped apart from an infinite number of directions.
His eyes blanked. The area seemed to vanish, and before his eyes was a familiar scene. He felt incredibly close to the myriad laws, but also so exceptionally far. However, there was one thing he felt the closest to. As he looked at it, he was surprised.
It was a dark silver humanoid form, but an infinite number of bright silver lines traveled through it like veins. He felt the myriad of space in this humanoid form. Why was it humanoid? It had the gender of neither male nor female, but it had a head, arms, legs, and everything else except a face.
A shadow that's an orb and now chaotic space that's humanoid shape? Was this his concept? Was it the form of his concept? He reached out to grab it, and when he came into contact with it, its face formed revealing a copy of himself. Its eyes opened and revealed a profound gaze of peak stability, like everything within itself was perfectly unified at that moment.
"Spatial Form of Infinite Stability." He silently said to himself. This spatial form held within it the peak stability to space, it was the background that enabled teleportation, portal creation or spatial transmission. It contained the essence of all spatial stability.
This...could it be an Imperial Law?
He felt like it was so, but only one part of it.
"Time?" His eyes lit up, but he shook his head. Now wasn't the time to think about other things. He needed to escape. He didn't know how far he traveled or where he was, or even if he could rip open space. He felt he could, but also that he shouldn't. It was as if the spatial form was telling him that ripping open space would cause issues.
He trusted his instincts. Then he'll simply shift into the tube! Closing his eyes, he recalled the white flame and orb of death into his body. After they had disappeared, he realized the chaotic space was no longer ripping him apart, not because of the siphoning power of death, but it was as if it accepted him.
He waved his hand softly and felt like he was touching a wall. He pushed into the wall. It was like he was a hot knife through butter. He slipped out just like that.