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BANG!

The aura around Leonel suddenly shifted. Despite the fact he hadn't aged even a single day, the presence he gave off was old and wizened. Short of a long head of white hair, his every movement exuded a scholarly and ancient air.

It took Leonel an entire three days to complete the Natural Force Art, but the result was far outside his expectations.

He suddenly realized at that moment that visualization wasn't new to him in the slightest. Wasn't this Natural Force Art exactly that?

Just gazing upon it rose his mind to an elevated state. Even if it wasn't permanent, with Leonel's mental fortitude, he could sustain it for much longer than most others would be able to. At the same time, as long as he was in this elevated state, he felt like his mental capacity had risen by more than ten times.

Something clicked for Leonel at that moment.

'The Fifth Dimensional layer… I can't describe all of it, but I suddenly feel like if I tried, I could pass down some portions of it without being stopped by that mysterious force…'

Leonel had grasped that subtle difference between knowing and understanding. The moment he crossed that barrier, it felt like the shackles around his knowledge of [Dimensional Cleanse] had loosened once again.

'So that's how it is… The Fifth Dimensional layer is evoking a Natural Force to raise the state of the mind. It's milder than the Natural Force Art I have, but its effects are also more permanent, especially when used over a long period of time…

'I was having some issues drawing a line between my Soul and Dream Force versus what the Fifth Dimension asked of me. After all, both were related to the mind and yet my Dream Force was already at the Fifth Dimension. I thought I might be able to step into the Sixth Dimension immediately. But, it seems like this isn't the case. In fact, the more powerful my mind is, the longer I'll have to spend in the Fifth Dimension, but this will also simultaneously lead to even better benefits from the Realm as well.'

Leonel had, indeed, believed this. After all, if his Metal Body could prime his body for the Fourth Dimension, why couldn't his Wisdom Branch prime his mind? But, the functions were completely different.

In the Fourth Dimension, there was only so much Fourth Dimensional Force could do. In fact, the fact Leonel had had such a massive spike in his body's potential was more related to just how good Vital Star Force was as opposed to it being in thanks to the Fourth Dimension itself.

That said, elevating one's state of mind depended on the initial foundation one was starting with. In addition, one had to remember that the Fifth Dimension might start with the mind, but it still connected back to the body.

With how powerful Leonel's mind was, it had far more potential to release the shackles that might be found holding his body back. However, it was precisely because it was so powerful that Leonel's body would need so much time to adjust.

This wasn't a bad thing. Even though it would take more time, Leonel would also have more steps forward to take compared to anyone else, allowing his growth to be far greater as well.

Awakening his Wisdom Branch so early on had already been a great help to him in the recent years. But, it was only about to get even more useful.

'Let's finish this.'

Leonel's eyes opened, Auspicious Air still hanging around him in a heavy fog. He only had 50 000 or so minds to split, but with its help, he felt more like he had 500 000.

The weeks he thought it would take to complete this puzzle had suddenly been cut to a few hours.

…

Leonel's speed couldn't be compared to the past. He found himself sweeping through puzzle after puzzle, each more complicated than the last, with an ever increasing pace.

Although he couldn't use his Auspicious Air continuously and endlessly, it was for more than long enough to get solid breaks in between.

At the same time, Leonel was realizing that these puzzles themselves weren't so simple either—and that wasn't just about their complexity.

All of these puzzles seemed to be variations on the map puzzle that allowed him to come here. Leonel didn't believe that the creator wasn't creative enough to think of a different format. The best explanation was that this sequence of puzzles wouldn't likely be useful sometime in the future.

Unfortunately, even after completing the Natural Force Art, Leonel got the sinking feeling that he wouldn't be able to reach the end of this road.

The path toward the fourth round was growing in difficulty with every passing second. In fact, the progression of the difficulty was far faster than it had been on the path to the third round.

By now, the puzzles were already down to clusters of just a few billion atoms while the scope was simultaneously growing larger and larger. Every minute change had an exponential affect on the surroundings that was giving Leonel an increasing headache.

'If things continue like this, I'll be forced to break into the Fifth Dimension before I even reach the fourth round… But if I am, this how could I ever make it to the fifth…?'

The truth was that Leonel didn't even know if there was a fifth round at all. A fifth round would imply that [Dimensional Cleanse] had an Eighth Dimensional layer, while a sixth would guarantee a Ninth Dimensional layer.

Due to the silver tablet, Leonel had already been made aware of legends of a Ninth Dimension, but even the dictionary only mentioned the Eighth. And, when it did so, it spoke of the Eighth Dimension exactly like the silver tablet spoke of the Ninth… An ethereal, mythical state that might not exist at all…

Except for the fact the Morales family's Metal Synergy Lineage Factor also had five rounds.

But the question was, was [Dimensional Cleanse] also so transcendent?

Leonel bit his teeth hard. 'I can't continue. I need to breakthrough…'

…

What Leonel didn't expect, though, was that soon after breaking through and making it to the fourth round, he would find a young man curiously observing him from top to bottom… All before that young man's gaze landed on the Spear Domain Heirloom on his finger.

"Huh… How interesting… How did such a thing end up in your hands…?"

To be continued