The Second World.

In the sky, countless meteors with long fiery tails plummeted down, igniting the earth with flames, while the surviving creatures kept running and wailing.

The Second World was collapsing everywhere; mountains crumbled, the ground trembled, and tsunamis swept through.

The size of this planet grew smaller and smaller, soon reaching the Bastu Critical Point. By then, the destruction of the Second World would become irreversible, and even if the Demon Clan retreated, the Second World would collapse on its own.

Huang Yi, Dao Feng, and other top-level experts wore grave expressions, using all methods to resist the refining power with all their might, yet they couldn’t withstand the combined forces of the Demon Clan and the Barbarian God Temple.

"It’s no use! We can’t wait for the deities from the Heaven Realm to send down their strength!"

"Just a little more, if we wait two more days, we can turn the tide!"

"What a pity! It’s such a pity!"

Some of the experts sighed in despair; their movements became frantic, unable to maintain composure.

"Don’t panic, everyone, I can buy us time!" At that moment, Huang Yi’s steady voice echoed throughout the world.

He flicked his palm, taking out the Hourglass of Time from the storage ring.

Instantly, the surroundings were enveloped in the orange-yellow glow emanating from the hourglass, and everyone became blurry and distant, with echoing sounds.

Surging divine power burst out of Huang Yi’s hand, pouring entirely into the hourglass.

The glow of the hourglass grew brighter, like a dying bulb surging with increasing current, expanding its luminous reach.

Gradually, the sky turned orange-yellow, and the meteors with their fiery tails slowed down in the orange-yellow light, as if an invisible force was hindering their fall.

The earth was stained with an orange-yellow hue, the people running gradually slowed, the colossal waves in the ocean took longer and longer to fall...

The thunderous sound in the sky, the howling wind, the crashing waves, the wailing and running... all became blurred and indistinct.

The whole world seemed to slow down...

Finally, this orange-yellow light spread across the entire world, forming a rippling light barrier that encased the Second World firmly.

In an instant, the entire world completely stopped operating, everything was frozen.

The meteors falling from the sky were suspended in mid-air, their long fiery tails motionless.

The crowds running and wailing on the ground were all frozen in place, with terror-stricken faces fixed in place.

The towering waves in the ocean, as if crystallized, suspended drops of spray in the air.

Everything, all stood still!

Huang Yi, holding the Hourglass of Time, was also motionless, like a statue suspended in the sky, his eyelids just about to blink.

The only thing still moving in the entire world was the Hourglass of Time in Huang Yi’s hand, within which a fine stream of the Sand of Time was slowly trickling down, unhurried, maintaining an eternal rhythm.

...

Outside the Second World, several Demon Kings and top experts from the Barbarian God Temple stared in astonishment at the massive Time Barrier.

Their refining power vanished without a trace upon touching the Time Barrier, as if all their strength had struck empty air, with no point of resistance.

They faced a planet completely isolated from their time, unable to attack, unable to destroy.

It’s like no matter how strong you are today, you can’t squash an ant from yesterday.

"Interesting." Xuanwu Xiong smiled with interest.

The next moment, he flung his long sleeves, tearing the space, and blinked to the front of the Time Barrier, swinging a massive fist to strike.

Centered on his fist, the space collapsed rapidly, radiant light blooming from the punch, like a singularity during the creation of the universe.

He was an unbeatable force capable of Divine Enthronement, and this simple punch demonstrated the essence of the Martial Way, with a fist imbued with world-destroying strength, enough to shatter the void, crush everything!

Yet, when this punch landed on the Time Barrier, not even a ripple was stirred.

"Don’t waste your energy; it’s a Time Barrier, and there’s a faint flow of the God of Time’s power in it. Brute force can’t shatter it," came a grave voice from beneath the King of Hell’s Black Robe.

"Then what do we do? Just watch it like this?" Sodoros, the Barbarian God Cult Leader, asked with a frown.

"This barrier can’t exist indefinitely; it will eventually dissipate," the King of the Fallen said in a deep voice.

...

At this moment, all the players in the Second World entered a special state. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

They couldn’t control their bodies, only remaining in stillness in time, their view forever a fixed image, with no sound in their ears.

In this state, they could choose to log out, but once offline, their characters wouldn’t disappear, still frozen in time at the spot.

And the countless viewers worldwide watching the live broadcast could only see a still picture, as if the live signal had suddenly been cut off.

Gradually, some players began trying to log in to the Second World, but without exception, they all received the same System Prompt —

The Second World is currently in a special state and cannot be accessed.

However, this was a good thing for the Second World. Many top players online had been battling without rest, and now they finally had a chance to log off and rest.

Huang Yi’s physical form was also in a frozen state. He wanted to move his arms, wanted to run, wanted to speak, but could do none of it.

Time had imprisoned him here!

In a flash, he thought of himself in reality, a vegetative state where he couldn’t move his arms, run, or speak, with only his consciousness remaining clear.

For a moment, he blurred the line between reality and illusion, with reality seeming like an illusion, and illusion like reality.

The essence of a person is not the body, but the inner spirit; only the spirit represents the self. When the body loses freedom, and only the spirit can be relied upon, there’s no difference between reality and illusion, indistinguishable between true and false.

In the world of a vegetative state, without a body, only his spirit wandered, losing everything yet possessing everything at the same time, able to imagine all things, with eternal time.

Huang Yi tried to keep his attention in the present, to feel the passage of time, focusing on what his consciousness was truly concerned with at the moment, and how his thoughts were generated, like a pure observer.

Gradually, he entered a mystic state, feeling as if he wasn’t himself but an onlooker, yet could clearly perceive his existence.

He was outside himself, yet also within, his spirit detached from the body yet fused with it.

It wasn’t he who experienced time, but time that experienced him.

"Log out!" At that critical moment, he made a move he hadn’t undertaken in a long time.

The next moment, his vision went dark as he exited the virtual world.

As if he had waited a long time just for this moment.

He opened his eyes and sat up from the hospital bed.

He awoke from his vegetative state.

——

Thanks to everyone for the rewards, like Anosva Xingge, zdidib, and other friends. I often see your rewards, and familiar names frequently appear on my dashboard. Thank you all!