[CH598+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

Chapter 691

This is when I start to slow down, taking each step one by one while pulling in as much of the ambient green energy around me as I can.

I feel more and more green threads pouring into my True Core, pushing the dense yellow energy in its center down into an increasingly compact ball of bright yellow-white light.

At first, it was still semi-painful to process all of this green energy through my constantly regenerating flesh. But the more compact my True Core gets, the more natural it feels for the green energy to combine with my blood, flesh, and bones.

It all melds together, turning my entire being a shade of green.

My Soul Sword remains dormant—jet-black—floating slowly around me in circles. The ratio of yellow to green threads inside it shifts in perfect sync with my core, as they are linked.

In addition to this, the purple ring around my finger pulses more and more, drawing in large amounts of the green threads now that the air is denser. The barrier around me seems to strengthen, but for some reason, it remains made of purple threads. I can't tell where the excess green energy is going—it's as if it's disappearing inside the ring, like it's being devoured.

I raise the question to Ember in my confusion.

"Celia—I mean, my ring—it's pulling in green threads, but somehow the purple energy it uses is getting slightly stronger. How exactly does that work?"

Ember chuckles.

"That is something you'll learn in the Upper Realm. Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue—even purple—they're all the same. It's just Divine Energy."

I raise an eyebrow as he continues, and at the same time, I feel the green divine threads in my core crushing my True Core into an even denser form, forcing the brightly glowing yellow ball to shrink to the size of a marble.

"In this Lower Realm, that ring of yours was a tool made for a third-class world like this. The creator framed it as a pocket dimension for free trade of mana, demonic energy, and resources, right?"

I nod, and Ember continues.

"Some of those resources just happened to be Divine Fragments—conveniently compact and digestible in small sizes. It allows lower lifeforms to begin the process of wielding divine power. All of this energy is siphoned from the Upper Realm. If not for the push of that helpful artifact, I doubt there would be enough ambient Divine Energy on this entire planet for even one red core to form."

My eyes widen, and at the same time, I feel the tiny ball of compact yellow energy in my chest begin to shift, showing a pale greenish tint.

Everything clicks.

"That's why you called it such a rudimentary form when you first saw it... Divine threads can be compacted into denser and denser forms. They just appear as different shades of color when they stabilize into a new usable density..."

Ember nods slowly.

"Yes, exactly. While it may look like your ring is making the threads in the air disappear, it is merely recharging its fading existence that has withered away in this Lower Realm. It would be the same as if you absorbed a red fragment right now. The energy would disappear into your core, empowering you a tiny fractional amount—seemingly vanishing—but in reality, it's just Divine Energy making its home in your core."

I turn back around, satisfied with his answer, as I walk up the steps even further, another twenty kilometers into the sky.

The center of my True Core compacts more and more, shifting to an extremely light green with traces of yellow still holding on.

Then, I turn around as another odd question hits me.

"Then, if you were to release divine threads into the atmosphere and spread them out over a massive open area, wouldn't they all revert back to red?"

Ember shakes his head.

"Good assumption, but once a new stable density is reached, it takes immense power to separate Divine Energy from its settled form. I can only assume this purple core you hold is in its current state not only from its age but from the energy exerted in separating parts of its core into digestible smaller fragments. Once you break through to higher stages, it becomes far easier to convert lower energy into the already cycling core within you."

It makes sense. Just as when absorbing fragments, one doesn't remain at the same core color until fully breaking through. However, there are still many unanswered questions.

As I walk deeper and deeper into the green fog of divine energy above, I push these thoughts to the back of my mind.

Once I reach this Upper Realm, I'm sure much more will become clear.

The pressure and gravity up here are intense. Now that I've climbed another thirty kilometers, my body begins to be attacked mercilessly by the threads again. It has to re-adapt as my bones rattle, and my skin feels as though it's peeling from burns and thousands of knife slashes.

Even my eyes, brain, and organs are torn to shreds and rebuilt over and over until I store enough green threads in my core to withstand it naturally.

My body morphs and adapts.

I'm absorbing the same amount of energy I did from that green orb every minute, and the feeling of absolute power surging through me is incredible.

The last remnants of the yellow threads in my chest compress until they are no longer visible.

The entire core in my chest turns bright green, and a pulse of overwhelming gravity ripples out from my eyes, mouth, and green core, setting my new energy standard in stone.

I take deep breaths. Even now, with a dense green Divine Core cycling threads in my chest, my body doesn't want to stay.

Every part of my being becomes super-saturated with green threads, but it still feels unnatural. Half of me is holding on, and my Divine Core continuously adapts, pushing to new limits.

Now that I have a green core, the threads surrounding me are far easier to pull in and process. However, in such a chaotic environment, it's difficult to conceptualize how much stronger I've really become.

The gravity, heat, and pressure rises the higher I climb, but I stay focused and continue upward another fifty kilometers. My core absorbs far more green threads, and the top of this tower begins to feel like it's really within reach. The stairs only stretch another hundred kilometers at most.

However, even now with my upgraded perception, the extremely concentrated well of strange gravity at the top of these stairs feels exactly the same as it did when I was looking at it from the bottom.

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Author's Note:

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