Chapter 282: Pressure of the Void

To be frank, Zhang Lie wasn't aware of the current limits to his own strength. After all, it was the first time in either of his lives that he had managed to obtain disaster gene fragments, and he had underestimated their potency.

Following the usual rules of the dimensional world, one superior gene fragment was stronger than ten mutated gene fragments, so ten disaster gene fragments would be superior to a hundred peak gene fragments.

In other words, Zhang Lie was strong enough to completely overwhelm the natural law of the first realm of the dimensional world. Breaking apart the extradimensional space in which he was trapped, Zhang Lie found himself back in the Blacksteel settlement, a familiar location that nevertheless felt strange.

None of the buildings or infrastructure had changed; however, all the greenery within the settlement seemed to have wilted over the course of a single night.

Furthermore, Zhang Lie couldn't sense a single lifeform in the entirety of the settlement. Just what was going on? Shouldn't the Blacksteel settlement be in the midst of the rebuilding process? Why wasn't there a single hunter—no, a single living creature!—around?

.

What could have happened? Had another disaster struck after he vanished? This was the only plausible explanation Zhang Lie could think of, but that didn't seem right, either.

As far as he knew, after the appearance of the disaster-grade lifeform, the first realm of the dimensional world would welcome a long stretch of peace and prosperity, without even the barest sign of a beast stampede.

Mired in his thoughts, Zhang Lie heard the will of the world.

[Your continued presence in this realm is warping natural law. Please ascend to the second realm immediately!]

[Your continued presence in this realm is warping natural law. Please ascend to the second realm immediately!]

[Your continued presence...]

Zhang Lie ignored the warning. It was far more important that he figure out just what had happened to the Blacksteel settlement, to his sister, to his apprentices, and to the members of Team Zenith.

[Warning! Your continued presence in this realm will cause irreparable damage! Expulsion procedure commencing!]

[Warning! Your continued presence in this realm will cause irreparable damage!

[Warning! Your continued presence...]

Zhang Lie felt an immense force, much like a formless hand, reaching down toward him.

"I've told you, I don't intend on advancing for the moment!"

Of course he wasn't going to leave before figuring out what had gone wrong within the Blacksteel settlement!

He shot a beam of black genetic energy into the air, fending off the formless hand that sought to capture him. A huge shock rumbled through the ground. The devastating force of the attack caused the skies above the first realm to warp, and cracks began to propagate all across the realm.

The will of the world, like a persistent routine, continued to enforce natural law; Zhang Lie, stubborn as he was, refused to be compelled to another's will. Neither party relented.

Energy roiled through the cracked and leaking skies, as though an apocalypse was nigh. Zhang Lie found, to his shock, that all his surroundings were quickly vanishing, as though some god or deity had wiped the world clean.

As he glanced into the distance, he saw that the greenery from afar was quickly wilting and decomposing to fuel the will of the world's strength. Furthermore, in places too far away for him to see, countless superior-grade lifeforms had perished because of the clash between him and the will of the world.

The will of the world was, in essence, a godlike being, one that would support and nurture all the lifeforms in the realm, except for outsiders like Zhang Lie. In order to deal with Zhang Lie, it had had to start consuming the lifeforce of the lifeforms within the first realm.

Back when the will of the world forcefully initiated the transferral procedure for Zhang Lie, it had done so as well, but Zhang Lie was far easier to control back then. It was sufficient for the will of the world to consume the greenery around the Blacksteel settlement, along with the low-grade lifeforms nearby.

Now, on the other hand, Zhang Lie's strength had been augmented after the transferral procedure, and he could easily distort natural law with his attacks. In order to suppress him, the will of the world would need a far stronger source of energy.

Zhang Lie didn't know why the will of the world was forcing him out of the first realm; after all, even if he was recognized as a peak-grade lifeform, hadn't the peak-grade moonlight wyrm managed to make a home for itself in the first realm? Why hadn't it been expelled?

That said, Zhang Lie was aware of the consequences of his continued resistance. Within just ten seconds, all that he could see had turned into a wasteland, and the Blacksteel settlement itself had been reduced to nothing.

As he glanced all around him and recalled the will of the world's urgent messages, the truth crept unbidden to his mind: could the calamity that had befallen the Blacksteel settlement, that had eliminated all life within, be... him?

If that were the case, the more he resisted his expulsion, the more destruction he would wreak on the realm, but if he didn't resist, he would no longer be able to return.

What was he to do?