Dimensional Descent

1923 States

Leonel exhaled as he finished restructuring his approach. His Dream World shifted and became more complex, his simulations becoming more perfect as his comprehension of the Dimensions deepened.

At that moment, a surge of Star Force rotated around Leonel, although it seemed like he was still talking to Adrin, with every moment, he seemed to improve by leaps and bounds. Although this didn't cause huge fundamental changes to his overall strength, the bottlenecks that lay ahead of him seem to unlock one after another, loosening as though a zipper being separated.

A sense of enlightenment hovered above Leonel's head and his comprehension of the Sixth Dimensional layer of [Dimensional Cleanse] accelerated until suddenly he grasped it all. He had yet to even practice the Sixth Dimensional Layer, and yet it was suddenly all so clear to him.

At the same time, he caught a faint look at the Seventh Dimensional layer, deducing its earlier portions vaguely despite having never laid eyes on it before.

Leonel's hair fluttered. Despite sitting in place and never moving, Adrin suddenly found it difficult to focus on his figure. Leonel seemed both there and not there at all, as though he had entirely fused into the world. The cognitive dissonance between what his eyes were seeing and what his senses could track made him dizzy. He was forced to blink several times, but even then he couldn't seem to get rid of that feeling.

Leonel didn't notice Adrin's oddity at all, or rather he was simply not paying attention to it as he continued to deduce.

'Vital Star Force... Should be in the Unfurled State...'

Leonel felt that he was close to taking a half step out of the Unfurled State with his Vital Star Force, but he wasn't quite there yet.

This somewhat surprised him. He thought he had made great progress with it, especially after scanning the Mantra and rebuilding his Divine Armor. But it seemed that he had made an incorrect assumption. He still had a small way to go.

If he had to pin it down, if the Unfurled State was separated into Lower, Middle, Perfect and finally Half-Step, he was currently at Perfect.

His Fire Force, in general, was at a Half-Step Layered State, a step above his Vital Star Force. However, his Scarlet Star Force was, once again, at the Perfect Unfurled State. This had little to do with his own advancement and was entirely related to his Innate Nodes. With them, he had practically always been at this level. Of course, that was if he circulated his Scarlet Star Force through his Innate Nodes first.

This went to show just how difficult it was to Dimensional Fold Ninth Dimensional Forces. But now that his approach had changed, Leonel felt that the path forward was much clearer.

What surprised him even further was that his Void Star Force was also in a Perfect Unfurled State. He had formed two Stars with them, so this made sense according to the information that Adrin had given him. But, something felt off.

'The Scarlet Star Force I use from my Innate Nodes is far more powerful than the Void Star Force I use from my Stars... So how are they at the same level?'

Leonel's gaze narrowed as he looked toward his Emulation Spatial Force Innate Node and he noticed the same thing.

First Layered State.

'I see...'

Leonel suddenly understood. The abilities of an Innate Node were more than he had known previously, but this made sense. Not only did Innate Nodes give him high affinity, but they also gave a boost to Force Manipulation.

Without his Innate Node, his Emulation Spatial Force was at Half-Step Layered State, but with it, it crossed the barrier.

As for his Scarlet Star Force, it was at the Perfect Unfurled State, and it inched toward Half-Step Layered State thanks to his Innate Nodes.

'And if I...'

Leonel circulated the Force from his much larger Innate Node and he felt like he was almost burned up.

'As expected... Not just First Layered State, but Second Layered State. It's actually so much more powerful... If only it didn't also want to kill me...'

The gap between Unfurled and Layered was so large that his smaller Innate Node couldn't help his Scarlet Star Force cross even a half step. However, his larger Innate Node was such an anomaly that it crossed not just a half step, but two complete steps!

As for his Emulation Spatial Force, the reason it was at the First Layered State was because Leonel could naturally enter the Half-Step Layered State on his own, and the reason for that was because...

'My Dream Force... First Layered State, already approaching the Second Layered State of Four...'

Dream Force was a Ninth Dimensional Force, and Leonel's comprehension of it had greatly deepened in recent days. If it wasn't for the fact that Dream Force was only a small portion of Emulation Spatial Force, with the help of his Innate Node, he wouldn't just be at the First Layered State, he might already be able to use it at the Second Layered State, and unlike his Scarlet Star Force, it wouldn't be trying to kill him.

It seemed that the Runes on his Innate Nodes weren't useless, they served a real purpose, but in the end he would stil have to ultimately rely on himself.

Even so, Innate Nodes were a huge advantage.

Now that Leonel understood Dimensional Folding and how the process worked and wasn't moving around blindly, he could use his Innate Nodes like a guiding light in the dark. Every step forward he took, his Innate Nodes would show him where to place his foot down next.

If he approached things like this, his improvement would be impossibly fast!

In fact, he could already feel it.

Leonel's gaze flickered and the heat around him suddenly skyrocketed.

Adrin inched back in his cell, trying to distance himself, but he still felt as though layers of his skin were being peeled off.

Suddenly, the heat vanished entirely and Runes began to dance in Leonel's irises.

He could now use his Scarlet Star Force at a Half-Step Layered State level relying on his smaller Innate Node.