Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100

Chapter 1071  Victorʼs Challenge

With the Black Lotus Guildʼs geniuses at his back, Max felt that leading the team into the Heavenly Lord Secret Domain would be manageable. He understood why they wanted him to act as their leader, and he trusted the Black Lotus Guildʼs strength enough to steady his confidence, yet a thin thread of worry remained in his chest because the true unknowns would come from the geniuses of other worlds who would arrive inside the domain.

”Are you Max?” Just as that thought passed through his mind, a voice called his name. Max turned and found Victor of the Azure Dragon God Nation standing before him, the dragon bloodline humming faintly around the man like distant thunder. Victorʼs smile was calm, but his eyes were sharp and assessing.

”I am Max,” Max answered, keeping his tone even. ”What do you want?”

Victor inclined his head slightly. ”That is good to hear,” he said with a short laugh that held no malice. ”I have spent the past fifty years in seclusion and I know little of the world, but my elders told me you are the strongest human below the Divine Rank and that you will lead us into the Heavenly Lord Secret Domain.”

He paused, his gaze steady on Max. ”I wish to test that claim now. I want to fight you so I can judge for myself whether your strength matches what my elders have said, because from here you appear to be only at the sixth level of the Legend Rank.”

His voice remained polite, yet every word was deliberate. ”I do not seek to insult you or to look down on you. I only want the certainty that the one who leads us will be able to protect us. Our lives will depend on that certainty.”

Almost every genius in the square turned their attention toward Victor and Max, curiosity flashing in their eyes. Many of them had lived in long seclusion, their cultivation focused entirely on accumulating mana and preparing for the threshold of the Divine Rank. Because of that, they knew little of the world outside and had never even heard Maxʼs name.

When word spread that the one chosen to lead them was someone at the sixth level of the Legend Rank, they had questioned their elders and the leaders of their respective factions. Yet no matter how directly they asked, they were given no explanations.

Some of the young prodigies had even nursed the desire to challenge Max themselves, if only to see whether he truly deserved the position that had been thrust upon him. But the warnings from their elders had been firm. They were told not to question Max, not to provoke him, and certainly not to test his qualifications as leader.

Left with no answers, they had no choice but to swallow their doubts. Now, with Victor stepping forward openly, they finally had a chance to see how the mystery would unfold.

”I understand,” Max said calmly, showing no surprise at all. ”How do you intend to test my strength?” His voice carried neither irritation nor hesitation, as though he had expected this very moment to come.

Aliceʼs words from earlier still lingered in his mind. She had explained that nearly all of these prodigies had hidden themselves away, cultivating in silence while storing as much mana as possible for the coming breakthrough into the Divine Rank. They were isolated, cut off from the affairs of the world, and that ignorance showed in their reactions.

To them, the notion that a leader of their expedition into the Heavenly Lord Secret Domain stood at only the sixth level of the Legend Rank would sound like a cruel joke. Yet despite their disbelief, they had been clearly instructed not to raise a voice of protest.

However, Victor was not the type of genius who would remain silent and simply observe. Among the prodigies of the Four God Nation, he had long been recognized as the most suitable candidate to lead their expedition into the Heavenly Lord Secret Domain.

His strength was acknowledged as one of the highest, his bloodline was pure, and his leadership qualities were unmatched. For years, it had been assumed that he would be the one to carry the banner of the Four God Nation.

Now that the position of leadership had been handed to Max, a cultivator standing only at the sixth level of the Legend Rank, Victorʼs curiosity burned hotter than ever. He knew well that the elders of the Four God Nation were not reckless enough to entrust the fate of their geniuses to someone unqualified. If they had chosen Max, there had to be a reason, and Victor wanted to see it with his own eyes.

”Take one of my fists,” Victor said with a smile that carried both confidence and challenge. ”If you can withstand a single strike from me without injury, I will have no objections to you leading us.”

”Very well,” Max replied with a calm nod. His expression did not shift, his voice steady and composed, as though the challenge meant little to him.

Victorʼs eyes narrowed slightly as he studied Maxʼs demeanor. Instead of arrogance, he saw only unshakable calm, and that intrigued him even more. What kind of strength did someone at the sixth level of the Legend Rank possess to face a peak Mythic Rank genius without the slightest hint of unease?

He slowly drew in a breath and clenched his right fist. Azure scales shimmered across his knuckles and crept steadily up his arm, layer by layer, until the entire limb gleamed with the power of the Azure Dragon bloodline. As the transformation spread, the very air around his fist began to quiver. The energy radiating from his arm distorted the atmosphere, creating ripples like waves upon water.

”Azure Dragon Fist!” Victor roared, his voice reverberating through the square. With that cry, he launched his fist forward, the strike carrying the majesty of his bloodline.

The air howled as the fist surged ahead. The oppressive pressure that accompanied it spread outward like a storm, heavy and suffocating, as though the weight of a mountain range had been hurled directly at Max.

The strike was not only an attack of flesh and bone but also the manifestation of dragon might itself, and to the onlookers it seemed as though Victorʼs fist could crush anything in its path.

ʼA dragon-based fist technique?ʼ Max mused silently, his expression calm as the storm of energy rushed toward him. He considered his options carefully. If he were to summon the full force of his Draconic Essences, the sheer pressure alone would overwhelm Victorʼs Azure Dragon Fist.

That would reduce the strike to little more than a normal punch, humiliating Victor in front of the gathered prodigies. Max had no desire to crush his opponentʼs pride so bluntly. Instead, he resolved to use another power, one that would meet Victorʼs fist without belittling his effort.