The Fifth Chamber was the end of the line.
After paying Jiang Chen's extortionate toll of 5 million Spirit Stones per head (double for Ancestors), the surviving group walked through the final gate. The mood was a mix of seething rage and breathless anticipation. They had been bled dry of their wealth, but they believed the prize ahead would repay them a thousandfold.
They entered a hall so vast it seemed to contain its own weather system.
Clouds of golden Qi drifted near the vaulted ceiling, which was painted with moving constellations that mimicked the true night sky of the Ancient Era. The floor was paved entirely with Celestial Jade, a material so valuable that a single chip could buy a city in the outside world. Here, it was floor tile.
But no one looked at the floor. All eyes were locked on the center of the hall.
Floating above a nine-tiered altar made of dragon bone was the prize.
The Heart of the World.
It looked like a beating human heart, but carved from translucent, red crystal. It pulsed with a rhythmic, thumping light. With every beat, waves of pure, condensed Laws washed over the room, making the air vibrate.
This was the core of the dimension. Whoever assimilated that Heart would not only control the Small World but would instantly gain the cultivation insights of the Sky Sovereign himself.
The group fanned out, instinctively taking battle positions.
On the left, the Demon Sect: Commander Gui, Commander Sha, and the remnants of their blood guards. Xie Molin stood in the front, his eyes manic.
On the right, the Righteous Alliance: Sword Ancestor Wuji, Grandma Venom, Monk Bujie, and the exhausted Sect Leaders.
Near the door, leaning casually against a pillar, stood Jiang Chen and his three disciples.
"The Heart..." Sword Ancestor Wuji breathed, his voice trembling. The desire in his eyes was naked and ugly. He completely forgot about the humiliation at the bridge. He forgot about his missing sword.
"If I eat that... I can break through the bottleneck of Void Treading? No... I can reach the Dao Sovereign Realm! I can extend my life by another 5,000 years!"
"It belongs to the Holy Sects!" Grandma Venom screeched, her cane tapping violently on the jade floor. "My face... with that power, I can regrow my true face! I will be beautiful again!"
"In your dreams, old hag!" Demon Commander Gui laughed, his shadow expanding to fill the room. "The Emperor needs that fuel! With this Heart, the Blood Soul Sect will conquer the continent!"
The tension, already pulled taut, finally snapped.
"KILL THEM!" Sect Leader Jian roared, drawing his weapon. "SECURE THE LEGACY!"
The Battle of the Chamber erupted instantly.
It wasn't a skirmish. It was a clash of titans.
BOOM.
Sword Ancestor Wuji engaged Demon Commander Gui.
Wuji's wooden sword released a blinding golden aura. "Heavenly Severing Art: Form 9!"
Gui countered with a thousand shadow hands. "Thousand Soul Grip!"
The impact shattered the golden clouds above them.
Grandma Venom fought Demon Commander Sha.
She spat a stream of purple acid that melted the air itself. Sha responded by summoning a tidal wave of boiling blood. The acid and blood mixed, creating a toxic steam that hissed and burned.
The hall shook violently. The sheer pressure of six Void Treading experts fighting in a confined space threatened to collapse the dimension.
The Trap Springs
In the midst of this chaotic apocalypse, Xie Molin (Demon Commander) saw his opening.
He was younger than the Ancestors. He was faster. And he was desperate.
He had been humiliated by Jiang Chen at every turn. He needed this win.
"Burn Blood: Flash Step!"
Xie Molin bit his tongue. He burned 30% of his lifespan in a single second.
ZOOM.
He turned into a streak of red light. He bypassed Sword Ancestor Wuji. He bypassed the acid clouds. He shot straight toward the Altar.
"It's mine!" Xie Molin shouted, his hand reaching for the pulsating crystal.
"Stop him!" Monk Bujie screamed, throwing his golden prayer beads. "Don't let the Demon touch it!"
But Xie Molin was too fast. His hand closed around the Heart of the World.
He felt the cold, smooth crystal against his skin.
"I HAVE IT!" Xie Molin roared, triumph surging through his veins. "I AM THE NEW SOVEREIGN!"
He waited for the surge of god-like power. He waited for the ascension.
Instead, the Heart grew a mouth.
CHOMP.
"ARGHHH!"
Xie Molin's scream wasn't human. It was the sound of a soul being shredded.
The crystal heart bit down on his hand. It didn't just break the skin; it bit into his meridians.
Red, vein-like tendrils shot out from the Heart. They drilled into Xie Molin's arm, burrowing under his skin like worms, spreading instantly to his chest, his neck, and his eyes.
"Get it off! GET IT OFF!" Xie Molin thrashed. He tried to summon his Qi to chop off his own arm, but he couldn't.
His Qi was gone.
The Heart was acting like a high-powered vacuum. It was sucking his cultivation, his blood essence, and his soul out of his body.
Then, a cold, ancient laugh echoed through the hall.
"Finally. Fresh meat."
RUMBLE.
Behind the Altar, the wall rotated. A massive golden throne emerged from the shadows.
Sitting on the throne was a corpse.
It was a dried, mummified husk of a man wearing imperial robes that had rotted with age. His skin was like old parchment, stretched tight over his skull. His lips were pulled back in an eternal, skeletal grin.
But his eyes... his eyes were burning with blue, spectral fire.
The fighting stopped.
The Ancestors and Commanders froze, looking at the creature on the throne.
The Corpse Sovereign lifted a single, bony finger.
"Kneel."
BANG.
It wasn't a request. It was a Law.
An invisible pressure, heavier than the sky itself, slammed down on the room.
Sword Ancestor Wuji fell from the air, smashing face-first into the jade floor.
Grandma Venom vomited blood and was pinned flat like a crushed insect.
Demon Commander Gui's shadow puppets disintegrated instantly.
Monk Bujie's golden aura shattered like glass.
Every single cultivator in the room—Righteous, Demon, Disciple, Elder—was forced to their knees. The gap in power wasn't a gap; it was a canyon. This wasn't Void Treading.
This was the pressure of a Dao Sovereign.
[Entity Identified: Sky Sovereign (Remnant Soul).]
[Cultivation: Dao Sovereign (Half-Step).]
[Goal: Great Emperor Realm.]
The mummified Sovereign stood up. His bones clicked and popped. He looked at the room full of prostrate cultivators with hunger.
"I waited 3,000 years," the Sovereign rasped. His voice sounded like sand grinding on bone. "I spread rumors of a 'Legacy'. I built a flashy tomb. I set up tests to filter out the trash and attract the ambitious."
He looked at Xie Molin, who was now dangling from the Heart like a puppet on a string.
"The Heart isn't a gift, you idiots. It's a straw."
SLURP.
The Heart pulsed violently.
Xie Molin shriveled. His skin turned grey and papery. His hair turned white and fell out. His Void Treading cultivation flowed out of him, into the Heart, and then channeled directly into the Sovereign on the throne.
"NO! MY POWER! MY YOUTH!" Xie Molin wailed, his voice turning into a breathless wheeze.
In three seconds, the arrogant Demon Commander was reduced to a pile of dust and empty robes.
The Sovereign inhaled deeply. The blue fire in his eyes burned brighter. His skin looked slightly less dry.
"Ah... delicious. But not enough."
"I don't want successors," the Sovereign laughed, looking down at the terrified Ancestors. "I want batteries. I want bodies. I want life force to resurrect myself so I can challenge the Great Emperor Realm!"
The Ancestors turned pale. Their greed turned to horror.
"A trap..." Monk Bujie trembled, his face pressed against the floor. "It was all a trap. The trials weren't to find a hero. They were to find the strongest food."
"Correct," the Sovereign smiled, exposing rot-blackened teeth.
He walked down the steps of the altar. He stopped in front of Sword Ancestor Wuji.
He sniffed the old man.
"You old ones... you disgust me."
The Sovereign sneered. "Your blood is dry. Your potential is spent. You reek of decay. Eating you would give me indigestion."
He waved his hand.
BAM.
Sword Ancestor Wuji, Grandma Venom, and Monk Bujie were blasted backward. They slammed into the far wall, coughing blood. They were trash to him.
The Sovereign's blue eyes scanned the younger generation.
"I need a vessel. Young. Strong. Talented. Ruthless."
He looked at Jian Wushuang. "Sword Bone? Decent. But your will is fragile. You would break under my possession."
He looked at Demon Commander Sha. "Too beastly. I am a Sovereign, not a furry."
Then, his eyes stopped.
They landed on the corner of the room.
Standing there, leaning against a pillar, was Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen wasn't kneeling.
The "Kneel" command had slammed into him, but Ye Kai had stepped in front.
[Titan Form: Maximum Output.]
Ye Kai's metallic skin was cracking. His knees were shaking violently. Blood poured from his nose. But he stood there, bearing the weight of a mountain on his shoulders, refusing to let the pressure touch his Master.
Su Ling was on her knees, but her drones were forming a shield.
Wei Wu was struggling to stand, using his sword as a crutch.
"Oh?" The Sovereign's eyes lit up.
He walked toward them.
He looked at Ye Kai. "An Ancient Titan Body? Magnificent durability."
He looked at Su Ling. "A Soul connected to ten thousand machines? Exquisite processing power."
He looked at Wei Wu. "A Void Sword Soul? Extremely rare."
And finally, he looked at Jiang Chen.
He couldn't see Jiang Chen's cultivation. It was hidden behind a veil of mystery.
But he saw the wealth. The silk robes. The glowing rings. The artifacts. The aura of someone who defied the heavens (and gravity) simply because he could afford to.
More importantly, he smelled Destiny.
"You," the Sovereign pointed a bony finger at Jiang Chen.
"Your body... it smells of otherworldliness. It smells of infinite potential."
The Sovereign licked his dry lips.
"You are the Perfect Vessel."
The Negotiation
The Sovereign floated until he was face-to-face with Jiang Chen.
"Rejoice, boy. You have won the tournament. I will take your body. Your soul will be erased, but your flesh will rule the world as ME."
The room was silent. The Ancestors watched in despair. If the Sovereign took a young, rich body, he would be unstoppable.
Jiang Chen looked at the floating mummy.
He didn't look scared.
He didn't look honored.
He looked... annoyed. Like a customer who realized his soup was cold.
"I knew it," Jiang Chen sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his ledger. "I told you guys. 'Ancient Legacy' is always a scam. It's always some old guy trying to steal a body. It's the Nigerian Prince email of the cultivation world."
"Silence!" The Sovereign roared. The pressure intensified. "Accept your fate! To become my vessel is the greatest honor of your life!"
Jiang Chen held up a hand. "Wait. Before you eat me, can I ask a question?"
The Sovereign paused. "Speak your last words."
"This whole setup," Jiang Chen gestured to the grandeur of the hall. "The floating island. The gravity stairs. The Void Lightning bridge. The celestial weather system."
Jiang Chen tapped his calculator.
"You spent a lot of energy keeping this place running for 3,000 years, right? Maintaining a Pocket Dimension isn't cheap."
"I sacrificed millions of souls to maintain this domain!" The Sovereign boasted. "My power is eternal!"
"Right," Jiang Chen nodded slowly. "So... you are currently running on fumes."
Jiang Chen stepped out from behind Ye Kai. He walked right up to the Sovereign.
"You are a Dao Sovereign expert, sure. But you are effectively bankrupt. You are borrowing energy from the Heart just to stay awake. You desperately need a body because your soul is about to dissipate."
The Sovereign narrowed his eyes. "So what? Even at 1% power, I can crush an ant like you."
"Do you?"
Jiang Chen smiled. It was the smile of a predator.
"System. Scan the enemy's Net Worth."
[Target: Sky Sovereign (Remnant Soul).]
[Assets: 0 Spirit Stones.]
[Liquid Assets: None.]
[Debt: Spiritual Bankruptcy Imminent.]
[Weakness: He is broke.]
"You are a Broke Sovereign," Jiang Chen declared loudly, his voice echoing through the hall. "You are destitute. You are a squatter in your own tomb. You don't own this place anymore—the bank of the universe is about to foreclose on you."
The Sovereign was furious. Blue fire erupted from his body. "I AM A GOD!"
"You are a beggar," Jiang Chen corrected.
He reached into his ring.
"And in my world, the rich don't get eaten by the poor."
Jiang Chen snapped his fingers.
"Ye Kai. Su Ling. Wei Wu."
"Formation: The Hostile Takeover."
"We aren't fighting a boss," Jiang Chen grinned, holding up a massive golden token—the [Sect Master's Authority].
"We are evicting a tenant who hasn't paid rent in 3,000 years."