As Jiang Chen, Bai Muchen, and Xiao Dong stepped beyond the colossal stone gates of the Temple of Heaven and Earth, an overwhelming force crashed down upon them.
BOOOOM!
The very air trembled.
Jiang Chen staggered, his body instantly feeling heavier, as though a mountain had collapsed onto his back. His Chaos Qi pulsed erratically, as if the space around him had rejected its presence.
Bai Muchen clenched his fists, his Titanblood Physique trembling, the raw strength within him now suppressed to an unnatural degree.
Xiao Dong let out a curse, his Madstorm Qi flickering unevenly. "What the fuck—?! My energy—!"
The temple had suppressed them.
No—it was reshaping them.
As Jiang Chen, Bai Muchen, and Xiao Dong took their first steps into the vast battlefield of the First Floor, a sudden, foreign force invaded their minds.
BOOOOM!
Their bodies stiffened.
An ethereal presence surged through their souls, vast and incomprehensible, like an ancient consciousness observing them from beyond time itself.
Then, a deep, primordial voice echoed within their minds—not spoken, but imprinted directly into their very existence.
"Welcome, challengers. You have stepped into the Temple of Heaven and Earth."
"This is a realm where the weak are crushed, and only the strong ascend."
"The rules are absolute."
A pressure far beyond mere cultivation weighed upon them. It was not the suppression of a powerful being—it was the authority of the Temple itself.
The voice continued, carrying the weight of absolute law.
"Each floor is a world of its own, a trial tailored to your existence. Passing a floor will transport you directly to the next."
"Only after clearing ten consecutive floors will you be granted the opportunity to leave."
"Upon reaching the 10th, 20th, 30th, and every subsequent tenth floor, you will arrive at a Reward Chamber."
"Inside, you may claim what you have earned… or forfeit all progress."
Jiang Chen's golden-amber eyes flickered. There is no retreat unless you clear ten floors?
Bai Muchen grinned. "Damn. They really don't give you a choice."
Xiao Dong clicked his tongue. "No wonder this place is forbidden. You can't leave unless you prove yourself first."
The voice did not stop. It pressed on, its power searing into their souls.
"Challengers, heed this well."
"The Temple does not reward cowards. It does not spare the unworthy."
"If you are unable to continue forward, you will not leave. If you falter, you will remain here for eternity."
A moment of silence.
Then, the final decree.
"Advance… or become one with the Temple."
BOOOOOOM!
The voice vanished.
The weight upon their souls lifted, but the pressure in the air remained.
Jiang Chen exhaled slowly. His fingers curled into fists.
The rules were clear.
Survive. Advance. Conquer.
Or die trying.
Jiang Chen's golden-amber eyes flashed, scanning the environment before them.
The moment they had stepped inside, reality itself had changed.
Before them lay an endless expanse of ruins—a war-ravaged world frozen in time.
The landscape stretched out infinitely in all directions, littered with the remnants of an ancient war.
Colossal statues of forgotten warlords, their faces eroded by time, loomed over the battlefield like silent guardians.
Shattered weapons impaled the earth, some still thrumming with residual Qi, their owners long since perished.
Skeletal remains the size of mountains rested in the distance—giant, monstrous beings whose deaths had left scars upon this world.
Fires still flickered in the distance, as if the embers of war had never fully faded.
A chilling wind howled through the ruined land.
Jiang Chen's senses sharpened.
Despite the silence, something was watching.
Xiao Dong ran his hands over his arms, shivering. "Why does it feel like we're standing in the middle of a graveyard?"
Bai Muchen's jaw tightened. "Because we are."
Jiang Chen remained silent, his eyes scanning the battlefield turned tomb.
This place... it had witnessed countless battles, countless deaths.
And now, they were standing where the strongest of the past had fallen.
The Temple of Heaven and Earth was alive—and it was judging them.
"Do you feel that?" Bai Muchen muttered.
Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes. "The suppression?"
Bai Muchen nodded. "It's not just suppressing our cultivation. It's... forcing us to adapt."
Jiang Chen clenched his fists, channeling his Qi.
His Starshadow Body flickered faintly—but it was harder to activate.
His Chaos Qi was difficult to control, as if the environment was trying to twist it into something else.
The temple wasn't just restricting them.
It was tempering them.
Xiao Dong let out a breath, rolling his shoulders. "So, what's the plan? We just... wander through this hellscape until we find the exit?"
Jiang Chen smirked. "That's exactly the plan."
As they moved forward, the remnants of the past became clearer.
The ground was uneven, not from natural erosion, but from battles fought long ago.
The very land had been scorched, shattered, and torn apart by warriors long dead.
Occasionally, they passed ancient inscriptions carved into the ruins—warnings left behind by those who had come before.
"The First Floor is but an introduction. Those who do not adapt will never leave."
"The temple does not allow the weak to progress."
"Beware the echoes of the fallen."
Jiang Chen paused at that last inscription. His fingers traced over the ancient carvings, his golden-amber eyes narrowing.
"Echoes of the fallen?"
Bai Muchen frowned. "That doesn't sound good."
Xiao Dong snorted. "Nothing in this damn place sounds good."
Jiang Chen's gaze darkened. They were not alone here.
Something was waiting for them.
And it had been waiting for a long, long time.
As they ventured deeper, a sudden shift in the air made Jiang Chen freeze.
The ruins grew darker. The fires that had once burned in the distance began to fade.
And then—
The ground trembled.
A deep, resonating hum filled the air, vibrating through their very bones.
Jiang Chen's pulse quickened.
Something was awakening.
The very ruins around them came to life.
From the shattered remnants of the battlefield, figures began to rise.
Ghostly warriors, clad in armor of an ancient era, their eyes hollow, their bodies semi-transparent.
Each carried a weapon that still burned with the remnants of their last battle.
Their forms flickered, as if trapped between the past and the present.
Jiang Chen's body tensed.
The Echoes of the Fallen.
These were the warriors who had once fought their way through the temple—but had fallen here, unable to move forward.
And now, they were forced to battle for eternity.
A deep, hollow voice echoed through the ruins.
"Prove your worth, or join us in death."
The ghostly warlords charged.
One of the spectral warriors rushed toward Jiang Chen, moving faster than any normal cultivator.
Its blade shimmered with a forgotten Dao, a technique so ancient that even the energy it radiated felt foreign.
Jiang Chen barely twisted his body in time to avoid a devastating slash. The force of the strike cut through the air, warping space itself.
His heart pounded.
This wasn't just some weak remnant.
This was a warrior from an era far beyond his own.
The ghost attacked again.
Faster.
Sharper.
Jiang Chen's instincts screamed.
His Starshadow Body activated, his figure flickering, shifting through space—but even then, the ghost's attack nearly grazed him.
Jiang Chen grinned. This is it.
He planted his feet, his Chaos Qi surging violently, mixing with the destructive energy of the Heaven Sundering Palm.
"Come, then. Let's see which one of us should remain in this world."
BOOOOOM!
The battlefield erupted.
The First Floor had revealed its true nature.
This wasn't just a trial of strength.
It was a trial of history.
Those who could not surpass the warriors of the past had no right to move forward.
Jiang Chen, Bai Muchen, and Xiao Dong were now locked in battle against the ghosts of the fallen.
Their strength, their skills, their very will to exist—
All of it would be tested.
Would they conquer the past?
Or would they become part of it?