Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100 Chapter 1643 Into the Painting World!

"Very well," Elder Cael declared, his voice echoing with authority over the hushed assembly from his vantage point above the square. "I shall now guide your souls into the Soul Sealing Painting."

As soon as his declaration ended, his hands began to move with incredible speed, weaving intricate hand seals one after another. Streams of divine energy coalesced around him, causing the very air to vibrate subtly.

Then—

A cascade of golden light poured down from the heavens.

This luminous curtain spread across the entire square, encompassing every disciple assembled before the Soul Sealing Painting. Initially, the light felt warm and gentle, but within moments, a peculiar tugging sensation emanated from deep within each person.

It was not their physical bodies being pulled.

It was their very souls.

Instantly, Max felt an unseen force grasp his consciousness. Before he could fully comprehend it, his surroundings dissolved into a violent blur. The square, the disciples, the elders, and even the colossal painting suspended in the sky contorted and swirled into ribbons of light.

A brief moment of darkness ensued.

Upon reopening his eyes, Max found himself standing amidst a dense forest.

Towering, ancient trees stretched limitlessly in every direction. Their massive trunks were cloaked in dark moss, and their sprawling branches formed a canopy that obscured most of the light from above. The atmosphere was thick with the scent of damp earth, and wisps of mist drifted lazily between the trees, lending the forest an eerily lifelike quality.

Max surveyed his surroundings slowly, his gaze sharpening.

"Are we truly inside a painted world?" he mused aloud.

He instinctively crouched, his hand brushing against the ground. The soil felt solid and real. The coarse bark of a nearby tree offered tangible texture. Even the cool moisture clinging to the leaves that grazed his hand felt indistinguishable from reality.

There was absolutely no hint of illusion.

For a fleeting moment, Max couldn't help but marvel at the preposterous nature of such a profound treasure. A mere painting, capable of trapping souls and fabricating a reality so convincing it could fool all five senses, defied ordinary comprehension.

As this thought surfaced, another profound realization followed swiftly.

If this Soul Sealing Painting could construct such an expansive environment for merely hundreds of participants, then what methods did the true Cosmic Ascension Conference employ to accommodate the sheer scale of trillions of geniuses simultaneously?

The immensity of it was staggering to contemplate.

"I wonder how the Conference itself manages something on that colossal scale," Max pondered quietly as he rose to his feet. "A battlefield for trillions of participants… something like a painting surely wouldn't suffice."

The more he considered it, the more he grasped the terrifying foundations upon which the Cosmic Ascension Conference was built.

Nevertheless, Max did not linger. With the trial officially underway, remaining stationary was pointless.

He began to navigate the forest with measured steps, his senses extending outwards while his Dimensional Sovereign Body diligently scanned the environment.

The forest remained unnervingly silent.

Uncomfortably silent.

Abruptly—

Max came to a halt.

The ambiance around him shifted perceptibly.

Rustling sounds erupted from all sides as large silhouettes emerged from the dense woods, one after another. The heavy tread of their movements sent faint tremors through the ground, and guttural growls permeated the air.

Within mere breaths, Max found himself completely encircled.

However, his assailants were not fellow disciples.

They were monsters.

Max's gaze calmly swept over them, his Dimensional Sovereign Body swiftly analyzing each creature in sight.

"There are twenty-seven of them," he registered internally.

The beings surrounding him exuded a savage and grotesque appearance. Some resembled colossal black wolves, their eyes burning crimson and their razor-sharp fangs slick with venomous saliva.

Others were bipedal monstrosities clad in dark scales, possessing elongated, clawed limbs capable of rending steel. Among them, immense spider-like abominations clung to the overhead branches, their myriad eyes gleaming malevolently from the shadows.

What truly astonished Max, however, was not their terrifying forms.

It was their formidable strength.

Each and every one of these creatures possessed a cultivation level at the zenith of the Law Refinement Realm.

An ordinary disciple at the same stage would undoubtedly succumb to panic upon being surrounded by twenty-seven peak Law Refinement monsters simultaneously.

Yet, Max remained composed, standing unfazed.

The monsters snarled, gradually tightening their encirclement, their palpable killing intent saturating the forest.

Then—

One of the wolf-like brutes suddenly sprang towards him.

The instant it launched its attack, the others followed suit.

The forest exploded into a maelstrom of activity as the twenty-seven monsters charged Max from every conceivable direction with terrifying velocity. Some leaped from the ground, while others descended from above, effectively eliminating any avenue of escape.

However, Max did not falter or retreat.

His expression remained serene as he deliberately drew his sword.

A subtle sword resonance permeated the dense woods.

In the blink of an eye, Max initiated his movement.

There was no sudden eruption of power.

No grand display of force.

He simply advanced with a singular, decisive sword swing.

It was the Saint Origin Sword Art.

For a fleeting moment, it seemed as though nothing had occurred.

The approaching monstrosities continued their charge, as if Max's attack had utterly failed to connect.

And then—

Suddenly, delicate, silver fissures materialized across the forms of every creature encircling him.

A profound silence descended upon the surroundings.

A heartbeat later, a deluge of blood painted the air.

The colossal wolf-like beasts were bisected with impossible precision. The bipedal, scaled beings were cleaved so cleanly that their upper halves detached from their waists, tumbling to the earth. Even the monstrous spiders suspended in the canopy were cut in two before they could utter a single cry.

A total of twenty-seven beasts.

All vanquished.

And Max had accomplished this with but a single, solitary strike.

What was truly chilling was the relative untouched state of the surrounding forest. The ancient trees remained standing, and the ground bore minimal evidence of the fierce encounter. It was as if the sword's swift passage had selectively annihilated only the very essence of the monsters.

Max deliberately lowered his blade, his expression serene as he surveyed the fallen creatures scattered across the forest floor.

Even now, the Saint Origin Sword Art continued to inspire awe within him.

The technique was executed with such unparalleled refinement and focused power that the monsters had no inkling of their impending demise. Only when the sword's intent had fully traversed their beings did the catastrophic outcome manifest.

A subtle smile graced Max's lips.

"This sword art..." he whispered. "The more I wield it, the more formidable it proves to be."