Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100 Chapter 1450 Isabella's Anxiousness!

While all gazes stayed locked on the screens overhead, Max's form rushed ahead into the core of the ninth level. The fires encircling him writhed in fury, but they failed to impede his progress.

Those turbulent flame laws, which had previously built thick obstacles, now seemed shaky in the areas he traversed, their framework growing frail as if an invisible power was dismantling their base.

Eight thousand nine hundred miles.

The figure flickered softly on the display screen.

From there, just over a hundred miles stood between him and the edge of the tenth level.

A thick quiet fell across the observation area.

"He'll reach my level any moment now," Isabella whispered to herself, her face locked in shock.

Her stare never wavered as she followed his unyielding charge. The recollection of her past wager with Max hit her sharply. Back then, she'd boasted with full assurance, convinced he couldn't outdo her in this test. Should he manage it, she'd act as his servant for a decade.

Back then, it had come across as a mere degrading term for him, a show of her dominance.

But everything felt reversed now.

The idea of forfeiting that gamble chilled her to the bone. As a budding Saintess, she bore the Imperial Bloodline. Her sense of superiority had been shaped from her earliest days. Picturing herself trailing after another, attending to them for ten years, was an indignity too heavy to even contemplate.

Her hands balled into fists at her sides.

A wave of deep remorse started flooding her thoughts.

Why had she placed such a hasty bet?

Why had she declared it with such bold certainty?

Her eyes stayed glued to Max's dashing silhouette as he neared the end of the ninth level. The inferno swirled about him like a tempest, but he showed no doubt. He refused to stop. He skipped any rest.

He just pushed onward.

Within her chest, a frantic plea echoed.

No.

No.

No.

Stop.

Please stop.

She kept the words silent, but every part of her yearned for him to pause, to stumble, to ease up just a bit short of the limit.

Yet Max kept his pace.

His shape covered the last hundred miles in what seemed like an instant.

The tenth level's border gleamed softly ahead, a slender but mighty divide that signaled the domain she'd fought so hard to claim.

And then, with no delay, he crossed over.

Max stepped into the tenth level.

A shared intake of breath swept the audience.

Isabella's air hitched in her chest as she gaped at the screen in mute astonishment.

"Max has stepped into the tenth level. Incredible."

An elder's tone boomed with raw surprise as he eyed the projection. His outburst sparked a flurry of whispers racing through the viewing area. Shock etched across almost every expression. Nobody had foreseen Max venturing this deep into the Path to Eternal Flames, much less breaching the tenth level.

The whole Black Dragon Palace hung in brief stupor.

Plenty had figured he'd falter in the early stages and fade out unnoticed. Even fans of his skill hadn't guessed he'd match Isabella's feat in this challenge. Still, the image on screen laid bare the fact. Max had passed the line.

A surge of wonder rippled among the disciples near the dome. Murmurs swelled into loud outbursts as they grappled with the scene unfolding before them.

"Curse this boy," Seraphina Vale grumbled quietly, her gaze sharpening on Max's outline in the tenth level.

Her prior assurance started to fracture.

The chance of dropping the stake she'd placed with Lady Virelia stung her ego. That mere notion grated on her intensely. She'd been dead sure Isabella would stay out front of Max. She'd proclaimed it with force. Now, events slipped beyond her grasp.

"It's all on account of this boy," she whispered once more, a subtle glint of bitterness flashing in her eyes as she tracked the projection.

Close by, an elder drew near Lady Virelia with a soft laugh.

"Hehe, well done, Virelia," he remarked with a grin. "The pupil you picked keeps pulling off marvels."

Another elder dipped his head in accord.

"Indeed. He first seized the Sword of the Sword Sovereign, against all odds. Next, he bested the prodigies from the Dark Phoenix Clan and the Heavenly Kirin Clan. And today, he's hit the tenth level in the Path to Eternal Flames. Every time we peg his boundary, he shatters it."

A third elder clasped his arms behind him while musing, "Whatever test comes his way, wonders trail in his steps. This isn't luck. He's clearly a genuine prodigy."

"Virelia, you pulled off a fine feat bringing Max to the Black Dragon Palace."

Matthew Grimes advanced with a slight grin as he commented, his voice laced with evident praise. His sight lingered on the overhead projection, though his remark aimed at Lady Virelia. "On that petition you filed months back, I'll greenlight it."

A quiet grin touched Lady Virelia's lips at his statement. She nodded her head a touch in thanks.

"Thank you," she answered steadily.

Though her tone held steady, the endorsement held real importance. Matthew Grimes rarely offered such favors. His readiness to back her bid marked a straight nod to Max's worth for the Black Dragon Clan.

Overhead, the projection showed Max poised at the tenth level's gateway. The blazes there raged hot, deeper and more crushing than the ones beneath. But Max remained steady, his stance at ease, like he was just taking in a serene vista.

"Hmm. The true puzzle now is how deep Max will delve in the tenth level," Victor Veron pondered aloud, pulling all eyes back to the display.

The clan leaders and elders trailed his look.

They knew his style well enough. He never barreled blindly into unknown ground. He'd pause first, gauge the forces and principles around him, and only after that act. His poise at the tenth level's start wasn't doubt. It hinted at strategy.