After meditating for several hours at the deepest point of the sixth layer, Max slowly opened his eyes. The sea of flames still raged around him with the same ferocity as before, yet something inside him had changed.
The golden radiance within the flame branch of the Chaos Tree had stabilized. The leaves no longer absorbed the surrounding energy with the same hunger.
"Chaos Tree has stopped absorbing the energy here," Max muttered quietly, sensing the shift with clarity.
He extended his perception inward once more to confirm his observation. The golden strands of flame energy that had previously poured endlessly into the glowing leaves were now thinning. The tree was no longer drawing them in actively. It was not rejection, but rather a sign that the energy density at this depth had reached its limit in terms of nourishment.
"The energy here is no longer strong enough to sustain further growth," he concluded calmly.
