Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100 Chapter 2046 Battle Space!

"Did you understand everything?"

Anna's voice came from behind just as Max finished looking through the Bloodstone City Rankings.

Max turned around and saw her walking toward him with Daniel, Damian, and Revona nearby. He nodded calmly. "Almost."

Anna grinned, like she'd already expected that answer. "So do you get now why I said entering the inner layer is so hard?"

Max glanced back at the information screen for a moment before nodding. "I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I honestly didn't expect the difficulty to run this high. Guess I underestimated the outer layer."

"You're not the first newcomer to think that way," Anna said. "Most people assume the outer layer's just a starting region, but after they stick around for a while, they realize this place alone is enough to trap countless geniuses."

"You two talking about Ascension Seals?" Damian asked as he walked over.

Anna nodded. "Yeah."

Damian's expression turned solemn. "I read about them too." He looked at Max and continued in a heavier tone. "From the looks of it, we might end up stuck in the outer layer for a couple of years."

Max nodded lightly, though his thoughts ran differently. He had no intention of settling down here like most people. The Godslayer's Pilgrimage was dangerous, and the outer layer clearly held plenty of opportunities, but wasting years here wasn't something he could accept.

They only had five hundred years before the final war with the devils, and next to a threat that size, even five hundred years didn't stretch far. If he wanted the Eternal Body, if he wanted to uncover the deeper secrets of the Godslayer's Pilgrimage, and if he wanted to grow strong enough to shape the coming battlefield, he needed to reach the inner layer as fast as possible.

After that, he needed to get into the core layer too.

Staying in the outer layer for years just because everyone else considered it normal would be foolish.

A moment later, Revona came back too. Unlike Damian, she wore a bright smile, a faint excitement showing in her eyes. Before anyone could ask where she'd gone, she raised her wrist toward Max and Damian.

"Look what I got."

The bronze mark on her wrist glowed faintly. Inside the glow, a number showed clearly.

Three hundred and twenty-five.

Damian's eyes shifted slightly. "Did you get those from the Battle Space?"

Revona nodded, clearly satisfied. "Yeah. Didn't expect the Battle Space to allow mark betting, but it does. Fought a few matches, and the other side underestimated me badly."

Anna smiled hearing that. "The Battle Space is one of the most popular spots in every outer layer city. It's also the only area inside the cities where people can fight freely without breaking city rules."

Max looked at her.

Anna explained patiently, "The Battle Space gets built through extremely powerful virtual runes and spatial formations. When someone enters, their real body stays safe, while their consciousness and battle projection show up inside the arena. Because of that, even if you kill your opponent inside the Battle Space, or your opponent kills you, neither side actually dies."

Damian's interest sharpened. "So it lets people fight without holding back."

"Exactly," Anna said. "That's why so many geniuses use it to test their strength, drill their techniques, and challenge opponents from other races. Outside the city, one mistake can cost you your life. Inside the Battle Space, a mistake only costs you the marks you wagered."

Revona smiled. "That's what makes it useful."

Anna nodded. "There's another important point too. The Battle Spaces across all the outer layer cities are connected. If you enter the Battle Space in Bloodstone City, you might run into someone from a completely different city. You're not limited to opponents in this city alone."

Max's eyes moved slightly. "So the Battle Space connects the whole outer layer?"

"Only the outer layer," Anna corrected. "The inner layer runs its own system, and the outer layer Battle Space can't connect to it. But among outer layer cities, yeah, the Battle Spaces link up. That's part of why rankings and reputations spread so fast. If someone performs too well inside the Battle Space, people from a bunch of cities might hear about it."

Max nodded slowly. He'd already read a brief description of the Battle Space in the information package, but he hadn't paid it much attention at first. He'd seen plenty of illusion worlds, virtual arenas, and projection spaces before, so the concept itself didn't surprise him. What genuinely interested him was the mark betting.

In the Battle Space, people couldn't fight casually with nothing on the line. They had to bet marks. That single rule made every battle mean something. Win, and you gained marks without risking your life.

Lose, and you paid the price. For ordinary participants, that made the Battle Space a place of both opportunity and danger. For Max, it might turn out even more useful than he'd first thought.

His cultivation realm sat only at the 1st level of the Law Manifestation Realm. To almost everyone in the outer layer, that realm made him look weak. Honestly, it made him look like the easiest prey in the city.

Max could already picture what would happen if he walked into the Battle Space openly. Devils, dragons, angels, spirits, and maybe even some Primordials would come forward to challenge him.

To them, Max would look like free marks. But to Max, they'd be the same thing.

'It's a good way to earn marks,' Max thought calmly. A faint light passed through his eyes.

The Battle Space could turn into a perfect hunting ground for him. His true strength couldn't be measured by his cultivation realm alone, and that made him extremely dangerous in a place where opponents judged people purely by numbers.

If others wanted to underestimate him, he'd let them. If they wanted to challenge him, he'd accept. If they wanted to hand him marks with their own hands, he had no reason to say no.

Anna noticed the look in his eyes and immediately narrowed her own. "Max, why do I suddenly get the feeling you're thinking of something troublesome?"