Knowing that trying to escape back towards the surface would end u putting him at a disadvantage when it came to defending or avoiding a possible attack, Xuan Hao decided to remain motionless in the sand as he waited for the sandworm to make the first move.
It's here…
Feeling the sand around him moving, Xuan Hao narrowed both of his eyes before focusing his full attention on his divine sense. The moment the sandworm approached him to attack, he would be able to react and get out of the way before making his way back up to the surface of the desert where it would be far safer for him to fight the sandworm.
Rumble~
"Huh?"
However, instead of trying to swallow him like he had expected it to do, the sand beside him started rapidly hardening. Making it far more difficult to move around compared to before. Even if it was still possible to move, it would be close to impossible for him to dodge an attack from the sandworm.
For this reason, Xuan Hao could not help showing a somewhat ugly expression on his face upon seeing the sandworm appearing directly beneath him.
Opening its large mouth, the moment it entered the range of his divine sense, the sandworm began rapidly ascending towards Xuan Hao, who was completely surrounded by the hardened sand that had turned into some kind of sandstone at this point in time. Not intending to give him any chance to escape like he had done before.
Bang!
Swish-!
Knowing just how bad his current situation was, Xuan Hao could only use all of his energy to forcefully break through the sandstone all around him before rushing towards the surface.
Unfortunately, the process of breaking through the sandstone caused his speed to slow down as the sandworm caught up to him-
RUMBLE-!
And through his divine sense, he could see the razor-sharp rows of teeth surrounding him on all sides slowly closing in on him. Essentially, he had just entered the mouth of the sandworm and it was currently in the process of closing its mouth in an attempt to use the countless rows of teeth to rip him apart.
Different from the Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beast that had ended up swallowing him back in the forest of the mist covered mountain range, the sandworm did not have any weakness he could take advantage of and attack, as all parts of its mouth was covered in rows upon rows of sharp teeth.
Entering its body to cause damage was also out of the question, as it was similarly guarded by even more teeth that would be impossible for him to break through!
As for where the sand it swallowed ended up going… From what he could see through his divine sense, it seemed like it had countless small openings inside its mouth that allowed the sand to filter out without entering its stomach.
From the looks of things, if he didn't figure out a way to escape his current situation, he would really end up getting skewered by the sharp rows of teeth rapidly closing in on him!
Maybe I can take advantage of the small openings in the mouth of the sandworm and try to see if I can cut open a hole big enough to fit through…
Feeling like he was growing desperate as the large teeth started getting closer along with the hole representing the way out of the mouth getting smaller, Xuan Hao decided to try and take advantage of the small openings in the mouth of the sandworm to possibly create a path out of the mouth.
Even if he had been unable to break through the scales of the sandworm so far, it could be said that the small openings presented a way for him to attack the scales of the sandworm from beneath and possibly cut them off the sandworm entirely this way.
Swish-!
Not wasting a second after having come up with this plan, Xuan Hao gave up on trying to outrun the sandworm and instead allowed himself to fall deeper into the mouth before moving towards one of the places in the mouth where the sand filtered through before being expelled from the mouth.
Swoosh-!
Using his silver sword enhanced by his sword intent and further strengthened by the power of his dao domain, Xuan Hao began slashing at the place where the sandworm was filtering the sand out of its mouth.
Ptsh!
The blade soon cut into the tough, leathery flesh covering the inner part of the sandworm's mouth, causing a large amount of blood to spray out, dying the surrounding sand bright red in the process-
ROOOOOOOOAR!
And at the same time causing a deep howl filled with pain to erupt from beneath him as the sandworm howled in pain at the sudden attack inside of its mouth. Although it was only superficial damage so far and hadn't really done much damage to the sandworm itself, it was still a painful experience for the sandworm.
However, more importantly than all of this, the sudden pain caused the sandworm to momentarily come to a stop as its body twisted in response to the pain.
"Hm!?"
Not having expected this when he was trying to desperately dig his way out of the sandworm's mouth, Xuan Hao's eyes shone with excitement at the brief window of opportunity that had presented itself-
Swish-!
Not one to let go of this chance, Xuan Hao abandoned his plan of digging a hole through the mouth of the sandworm and instead seized the moment to muster all of his strength before escaping from the jaws of the sandworm.
Bang!
Crossing the last few dozen meters to the surface, Xuan Hao leaped into the air before stepping to the side-
BANG!
Narrowly avoiding the sandworm, that had already managed to recover from the pain, as it burst up through the sand beneath him in a rather majestic display of its massive body that was now fully out of the sand for the first time.