Jiang Ming paused at the threshold of the new staircase, the shards of the Frost Revenant General still settling like snow around him. The Inter-Floor Transit Hub materialized as a glowing portal beside the steps, its surface rippling like liquid mercury. A system prompt appeared:
[Inter-Floor Transit Hub Unlocked: Allows teleportation between cleared floors. Current Access: Floors 1-2.]
"Convenient," he murmured, but his eyes were already fixed on the ascent ahead. The stairs twisted upward into a yawning void, where stars flickered faintly in the distance, as if the tower had punched through reality itself. No more ice; this felt like stepping into the cosmos.
He began climbing, each step echoing into nothingness. The air grew thinner, laced with an electric hum that made his skin tingle. His Eternal Core adapted instantly, filtering out the discomfort, but he knew this floor would test more than endurance.
At the fiftieth step, the void stirred. Shadows coalesced into forms—ethereal wraiths with elongated limbs and eyes like black holes. They drifted silently, their presence draining the light from the runes.
[Void Wraith – Floor 3 Minion] [Abilities: Phase through matter, drain life force on contact.] [Kill Reward: Void Essence (D–A Rank), +150 Tower Points]
Jiang Ming activated Battlefield Transmutation without hesitation. The staircase warped, sections folding into mirrored barriers that reflected the wraiths' own darkness back at them. The first one shrieked as its form destabilized, collapsing into a puddle of inky residue.
He pressed on, Glacierfang slicing through the air with trails of frost that crystallized the shadows. The wraiths multiplied, swarming like moths to a flame, but his 100x multiplier turned every kill into a bounty. Void Essences piled up in his inventory, each one humming with potential for sublimation.
By the three-hundredth step, the assault intensified. A larger entity emerged—a Void Lurker, its body a swirling mass of tentacles and voids.
[Void Lurker – Floor 3 Elite] [Objective: Consume the climber.]
Jiang Ming grinned, transmuting the steps into a gravity well that pulled the creature downward. He leaped, gauntlet-enhanced fist slamming into its core. The impact echoed like thunder, and the Lurker imploded.
[Elite Defeated – Rewards multiplied 100x.]
The path cleared, leading to a vast chamber where the void pressed in like walls. In the center floated a pedestal with a single orb: the Void Core.
Touching it triggered the system:
[Floor 3 Trial: Navigate the Shadow Labyrinth.] [Reward: Void Affinity Skill.]
The chamber twisted into a maze of shifting shadows. Jiang Ming moved methodically, sublimating walls to create paths, his Eternal Core guiding him through illusions. Hours blurred into minutes under his infinite stamina, until he emerged at the exit.
[Floor 3 Cleared.] [New Skill: Void Affinity – Tier 1: Partial resistance to shadow-based attacks, enhanced stealth in low light.]
The staircase to Floor 4 beckoned, and Jiang Ming stepped forward, feeling the tower's pulse quicken.
The transition to Floor 4 was abrupt—a blast of searing heat that would have incinerated a lesser man. Jiang Ming's Eternal Core neutralized it, but sweat still beaded on his brow from the sheer intensity. The staircase gave way to a landscape of molten rivers and volcanic crags, the air shimmering with embers.
"Floor 4: Forge Abyss," he read from the system prompt. "Home of fire elementals and endless forges."
Pedestals dotted the path, each holding raw materials: ingots of starsteel, gems pulsing with inner fire. He sublimated a chunk of obsidian ore twice, watching it evolve into a radiant alloy.
[Upgraded: Obsidian Ore → Celestial Alloy – Tier 5.]
Enemies appeared as glowing golems forged from lava, their fists trailing flames.
[Forge Golem – Floor 4 Minion] [Abilities: Heat aura, regenerate from molten pools.] [Kill Reward: Ember Core (C–S Rank), +400 Tower Points]
Battlefield Transmutation turned the ground into cooling vents, hardening the golems' bodies mid-stride. Glacierfang clashed against fiery limbs, steam exploding on contact. Jiang Ming wove between them, his Void Affinity cloaking him in shadows to strike unseen.
A mid-floor boss loomed: the Inferno Titan, a colossal figure of flame and rock.
[Inferno Titan – Floor 4 Boss] [Recommended Party Size: 15+]
It roared, unleashing waves of fire. Jiang Ming transmuted the air into a vacuum barrier, snuffing the flames, then charged. His gauntlet crushed its knee, Glacierfang piercing its core. The titan crumbled in a cascade of lava.
[Boss Defeated – Rewards multiplied 100x.] [Floor 4 Cleared.] [Upgrade: Resource Multiplier → 1,000x]
Jiang Ming forged a new weapon on the spot—a Celestial Blade from sublimated materials—its edge humming with power. The transit hub expanded, and he ascended, the heat fading behind him.