Jiang Chen, Bai Muchen, and Xiao Dong stood before a massive golden staircase, their breaths still heavy from the trial they had just endured.
Each of them had been tested in a way they had never experienced before—not through brute force, but through something far more insidious.
Purpose.
They had come out stronger, not physically, but mentally.
Yet, even as they steadied themselves, Jiang Chen's golden-amber eyes flickered toward the top of the staircase.
The Second Reward Floor awaited them.
And he had a feeling it would be nothing like the first.
Xiao Dong huffed, stretching his shoulders. "Let's just hope this floor has some damn food. I don't care what mystical treasure is waiting—I need meat."
Bai Muchen snorted. "You think the temple's gonna reward us with food?"
Jiang Chen smirked. "If it did, I'd start worshiping it."
Without another word, they ascended the stairs.
With each step, the air around them grew denser, not in weight, but in intensity.
It was watching them.
The moment they reached the top, the world shifted.
Instead of a vast treasury filled with treasures like the Tenth Floor, they were met with something else entirely.
A great hall stretched endlessly before them, illuminated by floating ethereal torches. The floor beneath them was made of polished obsidian, reflecting their images like a mirror.
But the most striking feature—
The Doorways.
Rows upon rows of grand, shimmering portals lined the chamber. Each one was unique, radiating a different aura, a different power, as if they were alive.
And then—
A voice rippled through the air.
Not the same voice from before. This one was softer, yet it carried a weight that sent a chill down their spines.
"Step forward, challengers. You have endured the trials. Now, the Temple shall grant you what you lack the most."
Jiang Chen, Bai Muchen, and Xiao Dong exchanged glances.
Xiao Dong clicked his tongue. "Wait… what I lack?"
Bai Muchen frowned. "What does that mean?"
Jiang Chen's eyes gleamed. "I think… these portals don't offer random treasures. They give you exactly what you need most."
A moment of silence.
Then, the voice continued.
"The paths before you are different for each challenger. You may only step through the portal meant for you."
BOOOOOOM!
In an instant, the portals responded, reacting to each of them.
A deep blue portal roared to life before Jiang Chen, radiating an aura of boundless energy and refinement.
A silver-gold portal flickered into existence before Bai Muchen, its presence monumental, unshaken, immovable.
A crimson-black portal spiraled into being before Xiao Dong, exuding a formless energy, something incomprehensible, something… different.
Xiao Dong blinked. "Well… shit."
Jiang Chen exhaled, his gaze locked onto the deep blue portal before him.
"This is it."
Without another word, they each stepped forward—
And vanished.
The moment Jiang Chen stepped through the portal, the world collapsed around him.
Then—
He was standing beneath a sky of endless, swirling galaxies.
The ground beneath him was not stone, not earth, not anything he could define—it was existence itself.
Floating before him, suspended in an ethereal glow, was a single fruit.
A deep midnight blue, pulsing with an aura that sent shockwaves through his soul.
It was neither large nor small, but its presence was immeasurable.
It was alive.
And he instinctively knew what it was.
The Chaos Primordial Fruit.
His heart pounded.
This was no ordinary treasure.
This was something beyond what should exist in the mortal realm.
Then, the voice returned.
"Jiang Chen, you have transcended your limits, but your cultivation lags behind. The Temple of Heaven and Earth acknowledges your path and grants you this."
Jiang Chen stepped forward, his breath slow, measured.
This fruit… it was meant for him.
Not for anyone else.
The moment he reached out—
BOOOOOOOM!
The Chaos Seed within him reacted violently.
It pulsed, roared, demanded.
Jiang Chen's vision blurred as ancient symbols etched themselves into his mind.
This fruit… wasn't just nourishment.
It was simply godly medicine.
With a deep breath, he grabbed the fruit—
And devoured it whole.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A tidal wave of pure Chaos Qi erupted inside him.
His Qi veins expanded, his meridians tore and rebuilt themselves, his core shattered and reformed in an instant.
He roared, his body reaching new heights of strength.
His Foundation Establishment Realm surged past its limits, stabilizing into Late Stage Foundation Establishment in mere moments.
BOOM
The energy from the Chaos Primordial Fruit wasn't done yet.
It propelled him straight through to the peak of foundation establishment and was still going.
His meridians, bones, and every part of his body were being baptized by this chaotic energy.
Just as Jiang Chen was a hair's breadth away from touching the Core Formation Realm, he suppressed the remaining energy of the fruit and stored it all within the Chaos Seed.
As much as breaking through immediately sounded alluring, he knew that mastering his current strength at the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm would be more beneficial to his future growth, and he was not in a rush.
Jiang Chen exhaled slowly.
He looked down and clenched his fists, feeling unimaginable amounts of strength coursing throughout his body.
This breakthrough had not only given him an absurd amount of qi at his disposal, it also stabilized and refined it.
He had completely evolved now, and was curious as to what his current strength was, this was the first time he genuinely could not tell how strong he had become.
"Late Core Formation, maybe Peak?" He Thought.
He had just stepped into a new realm of power.
And the Chaos Seed pulsed…
It was only just beginning to awaken.
Xiao Dong stepped through the crimson-black portal—
And was immediately blind.
He couldn't see.
Couldn't hear.
Couldn't move.
Then—
A single droplet of golden liquid fell from the void above.
And the moment it touched his forehead—
His mind exploded.
His thoughts became sharper, his instincts faster, his reactions limitless.
For the first time in his life, he saw everything at once.
His awareness had transcended.
He had gained something akin to Divine Sense.
But… it was different.
It was intuition given form.
A sense that let him predict, react, and understand battle on a level far beyond what he had ever imagined.
As he stood there, panting, the voice whispered—
"Now, fight like a warrior who truly sees."
Xiao Dong grinned.
"Hell. Yes."
Bai Muchen's world was silence.
Then—
He was standing before a monolith of pure, indestructible metal.
A voice echoed.
"You are strong, but strength without stability is weakness."
The monolith moved.
And Bai Muchen was forced to withstand its weight.
It was endless.
It was overwhelming.
But—
He did not fall.
And with that, his Titanblood Physique reached its next stage.
His body had become something unshakable.
Unmovable.
A true warlord's foundation.
And when he finally opened his eyes, his strength was beyond what it had ever been.
Jiang Chen, Bai Muchen, and Xiao Dong reappeared at the entrance of the reward floor.
Their gazes met.
They didn't have to say it.
They had all changed.
And this was only the beginning.