Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 899: Peeling Back the Layers

"What a place…" Ethan murmured under his breath.

If they could systematically develop this region, Emerald Castle's overall strength would skyrocket. It might even become possible to mass-produce higher-tier Crimson Ultimate units.

He stepped forward, trying to get a better sense of the forest's scale and structural stability.

But then—

As he neared a patch of air that felt just slightly off, space suddenly shifted.

It was subtle, like brushing against an invisible membrane.

In the next instant, a gentle but irresistible force wrapped around him and pulled him in.

His vision blurred for a heartbeat.

When it cleared, he was still standing in the jungle.

Same trees. Same light angles. Same humidity.

But his instincts screamed otherwise—

The space had shifted.

He walked forward again.

A few steps later, he brushed against another invisible boundary.

Again, he was pulled in.

Again, he landed in what looked like the same forest.

Over the next few minutes, it kept happening.

Each time, the spatial displacement was nearly imperceptible—just slight enough to slip past the average person's awareness. A shift in wind direction. A tweak in energy density. A subtle change in how the canopy filtered light.

But Ethan noticed.

And soon, he understood.

This wasn't a single Plane World.

It was a layered maze—multiple small-scale spatial zones stacked and nested within each other, all disguised under the same jungle facade.

He was being pulled, switched, and repositioned between these layers.

Yet he never truly left the forest.

A quiet unease began to settle in his chest.

He slowed his pace.

After several displacements, he started to pick up on patterns—subtle, but consistent.

Each time he entered a new layer, the elemental composition in the air shifted slightly. The soil's moisture changed. The shadows cast by the treetops bent at different angles. Even the wind curled in new patterns.

Individually, these differences were negligible.

But when he stacked them together, a clear picture began to form in his mind.

This wasn't one world.

It was a composite structure—dozens, maybe hundreds of micro Plane Worlds seamlessly stitched together.

Like transparent pages layered atop one another, all masked by the same forest illusion. The transitions between them were so stable, so naturally integrated, that most intruders would never notice the boundaries.

More importantly—

Each micro Plane World contained a small, highly purified energy core. Individually minor, but collectively hidden across the entire structure.

Ethan's breath hitched.

This forest wasn't just a resource zone.

It was a massive, compound energy field—built from countless micro-nodes, each one a hidden reservoir of power.

"No wonder people keep disappearing in here," he muttered. "They're not being killed… they're getting lost. Trapped in the layers, unable to find their way back."

Now that he understood the structure, he didn't hesitate.

Ethan summoned his spatial energy, activating the spatial amplification module in his Powered Combat Armor. His ability to manipulate the surrounding structure surged to its peak.

He raised a hand and tapped a point in the air—one of the invisible weak nodes between layers.

A ripple spread outward.

The borders of several nearby micro Plane Worlds began to resonate in sync. The stable interfaces between them loosened, just slightly.

And then, at the convergence point, a stable spatial vortex began to form.

Ethan stepped into the vortex.

In the blink of an eye, he was back in the spatial crystal hub.

Feylora rushed over the moment she saw him.

"Master, are you alright? What happened in there?"

Ethan gave her a quick rundown of the spatial structure he'd uncovered, then signaled for the team to prepare for entry into the forest.

As the group stepped into the jungle again, many of them immediately felt the strain.

The spatial boundaries here were wildly unstable. A slight misstep could pull someone into a neighboring Plane World. Triggering multiple displacements in a row could wreak havoc on both body and energy structure—there was even a risk of being torn apart by the shifting space.

For most units, this environment was extremely dangerous.

But Ethan remained calm.

To him, these micro Plane Worlds were nothing more than energy cells—isolated and locked in place by spatial force.

Unlock the structure, and the space would naturally reconnect.

"Keep your energy stable. Don't touch the boundaries," he ordered.

Then he pushed his spatial output to the limit, sending out a series of stabilizing pulses to nearby nodes.

One by one, the spatial barriers began to loosen, dissolve, and merge.

The air compressed and rebounded in waves, as if the space itself was breathing. The once-isolated micro realms slowly began to fuse into a single, unified structure.

A deep spatial hum echoed through the forest.

And when the final boundary fell—

The entire structure reformed.

The scattered energy nodes realigned, merging into a larger, more stable Plane World.

Ethan felt the shift immediately. The space had stabilized completely, and a flicker of excitement crossed his face.

He moved fast, using spatial encapsulation techniques to seal and anchor the newly formed realm, integrating it into Emerald Castle's spatial system.

The others followed suit, locking down the remaining controllable zones.

As more of the structure stabilized, the ambient spatial energy began to drop noticeably.

At the same time, the environment itself started to change.

Areas once compressed by spatial folding began to unfold. The terrain stretched out, vegetation spread, and the sky opened wider.

The jungle was transforming—from a twisted spatial labyrinth into a fully independent world.

Once the restructuring was complete, Ethan deployed a stable spatial barrier around the new realm, anchoring the entire forest securely within Emerald Castle's domain.

The barrier wasn't just a wall—it was a buffer system. It prevented spatial disturbances from leaking into the main city, while still allowing internal energy to flow outward in a controlled, absorbable way.

Once he confirmed the system's stability, Ethan led the team back to Emerald Castle.

From that moment on, the jungle officially became part of Emerald Castle.

Anyone needing to train, recharge, or conduct summoning experiments could now enter freely and draw from its energy.

Deeper within the forest, they also discovered several natural nodes resembling Creature Dwellings—ideal for stable summoning and troop expansion.

It meant Emerald Castle was no longer bound to a single resource structure.

Its growth potential had been fully unlocked.

In the days that followed, the city entered a phase of high stability and intense activity. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Teams rotated through the new realm for training, harvesting, and energy compatibility testing. Overall combat strength rose steadily and consistently.

The most dramatic change came from Phoenix Queen Ignara.

She threw herself into recovery and power reconstruction, absorbing energy at levels far beyond the usual safety threshold—almost obsessively chasing her former peak.

"You don't have to push yourself this hard," Ethan finally said, unable to stay silent. "Your body's recovered, but your core structure's still fragile. Overloading it could damage your foundation."

As he spoke, he placed a fully calibrated Powered Combat Armor set beside her, along with a complex energy crystal.

Inside the gem, multiple energy circuits pulsed and intertwined.

"This is a composite energy storage and purification core," Ethan explained. "The corrupted energy we extracted from you has been fully purified and rebuilt. I've added Radiant Elemental to stabilize your flame structure and improve energy affinity."

Ignara's eyes lit up instantly.

Without hesitation, she pressed the crystal to her chest.

The circuits activated on contact, and a surge of warm, pure energy flooded into her body.

The once-muted crimson flames roared back to life. The fire patterns across her skin sharpened, stabilized, and glowed brighter than ever.

The air around her began to heat up—slowly, steadily.