Jiang Chen, Bai Muchen, and Xiao Dong stepped through the shimmering gateway, entering the Tenth Floor of the Temple of Heaven and Earth. The moment they crossed the threshold, the world around them vanished.
No ruins.
No battlefield.
No enemies.
Just silence.
An endless expanse of white stretched infinitely in all directions. The sky, the ground—if there even was a ground—everything was made of the same limitless void, neither light nor dark.
Jiang Chen's golden-amber eyes narrowed as he instinctively reached for his Chaos Qi.
Nothing.
Xiao Dong let out a curse. "What the hell is this? Where are we?"
Bai Muchen's expression darkened. "This place… It's not normal."
Then—
BOOOOM!
A force unlike anything they had ever felt before crashed down upon them.
Jiang Chen staggered, his very soul feeling like it was being dragged apart. It wasn't pressure like on the Gravity Floor—it was something else.
It was stripping them down.
Their cultivation, their techniques, their divine constitutions—all of it was being suppressed.
They were left with only themselves.
Then, a voice.
Not loud. Not soft.
Not kind. Not cruel.
It simply was.
"Who are you?"
The words weren't spoken. They were etched into their very souls.
Jiang Chen's heart pounded. This wasn't just another trial.
It was something far more dangerous.
It was a trial of purpose, and the heart.
Before Jiang Chen could react, the world around him shifted.
Bai Muchen and Xiao Dong were gone.
He was alone.
And then—
His past unfolded before him.
He stood in the midst of a ruined battlefield.
Ironhollow City lay in ruins around him. Corpses of Crimson Blade Sect disciples, mercenaries, and innocents littered the ground.
At the center of it all—
A younger version of himself, drenched in blood, standing atop a mountain of corpses.
His golden-amber eyes were empty. His spear dripped crimson.
Jiang Chen's breath hitched.
This… this never happened.
But it could have.
A voice echoed in his mind.
"Strength is power. Power is control. Control is survival."
"Is this not what you wanted?"
Jiang Chen gritted his teeth. "No."
The voice continued, smooth as silk.
"You could have it all. No one could stand against you. No one could defy you."
Jiang Chen staggered as an unseen force pressed into his soul.
For a moment, he felt it—the intoxicating feeling of absolute power. The ability to erase those who stood in his way.
The Chaos Seed within him pulsed.
Was this his path?
To dominate?
To crush?
He clenched his fists.
"No." His voice was steel.
Power wasn't meant to be a leash. He wasn't some conqueror, some tyrant.
His goal was never control.
His Chaos Qi surged. The battlefield trembled.
He would carve his own path.
The illusion shattered.
Jiang Chen gasped as he returned to the endless white void.
The voice whispered.
"You remain true to yourself."
He exhaled, his heart still racing.
The trial was far from over.
Bai Muchen stood at the base of a massive mountain.
At the peak, the shadow of a titan loomed, golden energy radiating from its colossal form.
It was himself, but stronger. Larger. Greater.
Bai Muchen clenched his fists.
A voice echoed in his bones.
"If strength is everything, then why do you hesitate?"
The titan above him raised a fist.
BOOOOOOOM!
The mountain crumbled, the sky shattered, reality itself bent beneath its power.
Bai Muchen's heart pounded. This was what he sought, wasn't it?
To be the strongest. To surpass everyone.
But—
His mind flashed back to the Grand Tournament, to Jiang Chen. To Xiao Dong.
They weren't obstacles.
They were his brothers in arms.
Strength wasn't about standing above all.
It was about standing with those who mattered.
His Titanblood Physique flared. His feet dug into the earth.
"Strength isn't just about power!" Bai Muchen roared.
His aura exploded.
The titan above vanished.
The mountain crumbled.
He was back in the void.
The voice whispered.
"You remain true to yourself."
Xiao Dong found himself standing alone.
In front of him—
Hundreds of corpses.
All of them people he had fought.
Some of them were sect disciples. Some were rogue cultivators. Some were innocents caught in the crossfire.
The wind howled.
A voice murmured.
"Is this what you wanted?"
Xiao Dong froze.
He lived for battle. He lived for the thrill.
But—
Was this what it meant to be strong?
To be alone?
His fists shook.
"Bullshit," he muttered.
The voice pressed on.
"You seek the strongest battles. That is your path."
Xiao Dong gritted his teeth. "No. That's not it at all."
The corpses vanished.
The void returned.
The voice whispered.
"You remain true to yourself."
Jiang Chen, Bai Muchen, and Xiao Dong reappeared at the same time.
Their bodies trembled.
Their souls burned.
The three divine judges on their thrones stared at them.
Then—
They nodded.
The golden warlord spoke.
"You have withstood the trial."
The silver-robed woman's voice was like wind.
"You have remained unshaken."
The black-robed figure whispered.
"You are worthy."
BOOOOOOM!
The void collapsed.
A golden staircase materialized before them, leading into a vast chamber.
Jiang Chen exhaled slowly.
They had passed.
Bai Muchen rolled his shoulders. "That was… different."
Xiao Dong smirked. "Yeah. No blood this time."
Jiang Chen stared at the staircase.
The Reward Floor awaited.
And beyond that?
Even greater trials.
They stepped forward.
The Temple of Heaven and Earth had judged them.
And they had endured.