Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100 Chapter 1449 A Bud!

"A bud?" Max muttered, his tone laced with disbelief.

Concentrating intently, he spotted something far more shocking without delay. That bud was gulping down the golden energy way quicker than the Chaos Tree had managed earlier. The thick flows of flame energy surging into his frame got yanked right toward the bud, almost like it created its own magnetic draw.

The five leaves kept shining brightly, yet the bud feasted with even fiercer appetite.

Beyond that, the energy radiating from the bud felt utterly unique. It wasn't just rooted in flames. Instead, it held an eternal quiet, an endless expanse that stretched without limits. As Max tuned into it sharper, an odd sense of recognition swept through him.

That energy reminded him of lingering at the gates to his dimensions.

Calm.

Ancient.

Immovable.

It didn't scorch like fire. It didn't storm like chaos. It just persisted, as if it had lingered forever, simply biding its time.

Max's face turned grave.

This wasn't some basic upgrade for the flame branch.

The bud seemed like the early stage of something vastly superior to any simple idea.

And for the first time, Max felt the Chaos Tree pushing into a domain that outstripped his grasp.

"The speed this bud is swallowing the ninth layer's energy... it won't be long until it's all gone," Max whispered as the truth hit him.

The golden flows rushing into his body weren't just feeding the flame leaves anymore. They got lured to the fresh bud with insatiable greed. It was like the bud had unleashed a hidden whirlpool, hauling in the nearby energy without mercy.

The golden glow's thickness around him faded noticeably, the chaotic flame rules starting to lose their grip as their core got steadily drained.

Max wasted no time.

With the surrounding force thrown off by the prior blast and the bud's nonstop feeding, he surged ahead boldly and plunged further into the ninth layer.

The chaotic flame barriers that once stood like solid walls now lay broken and frail. Lacking their firm shape, they failed to crush him with that same choking might.

He picked up his pace.

Flames howled all around, but they no longer seemed impossible to overcome. The bud in the Chaos Tree kept sucking energy at a jaw-dropping speed, easing the drag that should have pinned him down.

Eight thousand two hundred miles.

Eight thousand three hundred miles.

Eight thousand four hundred miles.

He kept pushing without pause.

Every stride bridged gaps that would've cost others hours in this layer. The farther he went, the more energy flooded his body, and the more the chaotic flame rules around him unraveled.

The route that had felt like a crushing seabed before now split open like wild waves shoved away by a mighty flow.

Beyond the Path to Eternal Flames dome, the shift caught plenty of eyes.

The display showing Max's form abruptly grabbed almost everyone's focus there.

"How's his speed so incredible in the ninth layer?" one elder burst out, barely hiding his amazement.

"I'm just as stunned," another chimed in fast. "Even Zain didn't move this quick crossing the ninth layer."

A few disciples bent closer on instinct, eyes bulging as they tracked Max's form racing at a pace beyond what they'd imagined.

"Going like this, he'll hit the tenth layer any minute," somebody whispered. "If so, his feat would match the training Saintess, Isabella Lumin."

A wave of hushed talk rippled across the crowd.

"But the big puzzle is why?" another elder pressed, his forehead creased deep. "He crawled through the early layers, taking hours to meditate at each spot. Yet in the ninth layer, with way heavier pressure, he dashes ahead like the chaotic flame rules can't hold him back. What's going on with him?"

The Thirty Six Halls elders traded puzzled looks. They couldn't figure out why Max seemed barely touched by the chaotic flame rules that had stopped countless others. On the screen, fire churned wildly near him, but it appeared to yield slightly as he passed.

No burst of energy showed from him. No flashy show of power.

He just pressed on.

To those watching, it made no sense.

For Max, though, the reason played out in his inner realm.

The bud on the Chaos Tree pulsed with timeless calm, feasting on the core that shaped the ninth layer.

And with every move he made, the trial's equilibrium tipped silently.

"How can he move so swiftly?"

The question escaped Isabella Lumin's mouth before she could catch it. She felt the deepest jolt and disturbance from the ninth layer events.

Her gaze locked on the overhead projection, following Max's form speeding through the ninth layer. Flames boiled fiercely around him, but he advanced like the smothering force and thick chaotic laws meant nothing.

Her thoughts raced to make sense of the sight.

When she'd crossed the ninth layer, each footfall had dragged like hauling a peak on her back. The weight had dug into her frame, the chaotic flame laws building walls that made her halt over and over to grasp and hone her insights before proceeding.

She'd thrown all her resolve, bloodline power, and insight into shattering that wall. Only after draining herself dry had she broken into the tenth layer.

But right now, right in front of her, Max was charging ahead.

He wasn't stepping warily. He wasn't pausing to meditate. He strode with firm, nearly casual rhythm, spanning distances that had eaten her hours in just instants.

Her hands clenched tight without thought.

This kind of gap was tough for her to swallow.

It went beyond raw talent. It wasn't just layer differences. It was his style of pushing on that rattled her. His start had been sluggish, downright average. He'd hung back in the early layers, meditating for long stretches. Lots had figured he was faltering.

She'd thought the same.

But now, in the ninth layer where real challenges emerged, he showed a velocity even Zain hadn't hit crossing that zone.

Her mind swirled in turmoil.

How could a guy so deliberate in the early layers explode forward like this in a tougher one? How could he brush off the chaotic flame laws that had almost stopped her like they were mere static?

The projection captured him hitting another marker, flames easing apart as he delved deeper.

Isabella sensed a keen ache in her core.

She'd beamed with pride at making the tenth layer. She'd seen that success as a firm line separating her from peers in her level. But seeing Max blaze through the ninth layer shook that line loose.

She hated admitting it, even inwardly.

Yet she couldn't shake the rising doubt.

If he held that speed, he'd reach the tenth layer's brink soon too.

And picturing him hitting that peak without the grueling fight she'd faced was hard for her to face.