Chapter 274: The Primal Chaos Fruit!

Chapter 274: The Primal Chaos Fruit!

If Laozi's punishment forced everyone to cool down, as no one expected a ranking reward to reduce one's power, then the prize given to Tongtian Jiaozhu made everyone green with envy.

Fusing four Innate Supreme Treasures into a single Chaos Spirit Treasure was simply too good a deal. Since the rewards for those ranked lower couldn't grant a Chaos Spirit Treasure directly, acquiring one seemed impossible for those below the top five.

However, it didn't mean that the subsequent rewards would be inferior. The best reward is always the one that suits you. For instance, the fusion token worked perfectly for Tongtian Jiaozhu because he had the Four Swords of Immortal Execution. In the hands of an ordinary Quasi-Saint, the fusion token wouldn't produce treasures of such a high level.

The power dynamics among the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing) had also shifted. Originally, Tongtian Jiaozhu wasn't the strongest among them. While his Immortal Execution Sword Formation was formidable in defense, making him nearly invincible once set up, in direct combat, he couldn't always match Laozi or the Primeval Lord of Heaven (Yuanshi Tianzun). But now, due to Laozi's punishment, reducing his power by one-tenth—a massive decrease—his recovery would take a long time, if he could even regain that strength.

Moreover, Tongtian Jiaozhu now wielded a Chaos Spirit Treasure, enhancing his attack power significantly. With Laozi weakened and his own strength greatly enhanced, Tongtian Jiaozhu was confident he could defeat Laozi. This thought brought him immense satisfaction. Ever since the Investiture of the Gods, when his Immortal Execution Sword Formation was broken by Laozi and Yuanshi, his status had taken a nosedive.

Even though Laozi had returned the swords afterward, the shame remained. Now, thanks to this reward, he could finally surpass Laozi. Among all the Saints, only Hongjun had a Chaos Spirit Treasure, and now, Tongtian Jiaozhu had one too.

Although the crowd wasn't the one receiving the treasure, they were still exhilarated. Tongtian Jiaozhu was overjoyed beyond words. Among all present, only two remained composed: Hongjun and Ye Tian. Hongjun had experience with Chaos Spirit Treasures, so he wasn't surprised. Ye Tian, on the other hand, viewed a Chaos Spirit Treasure as a mere trinket, no longer enough to pique his interest.

There was a time when Ye Tian never imagined his strength would grow so quickly. But now, he stood at the pinnacle of chaos, the strongest being in the universe. To see Saints gloating over a single Chaos Spirit Treasure was almost laughable to him.

Finally, the ranking rewards moved on from the sixth place, and the seventh place was revealed on the Golden List.

A few lines of text slowly emerged:

[Seventh Place Reward: Primal Chaos Fruit]

[Effect: Increases a Saint's divine power!]

This type of reward was becoming quite common. Many items on the list were designed to increase divine power. Some treasures could even enhance the power of Heavenly Path Saints, while others could only boost the power of Great Golden Immortals.

But being the seventh-place reward, this Primal Chaos Fruit was undoubtedly exceptional. Even for someone as strong as Hongjun, it would still grant a substantial boost in strength.

For most spectators, though, such a prize had become somewhat mundane.

[Sun Wukong: Another one of those power-boosting fruits? These things must be everywhere in the universe by now.]

Seeing this reward, Sun Wukong couldn't help but grumble. Though he wasn't a fan of such treasures, deep down he craved it, knowing his current rank wouldn't get him anything so valuable.

[Erlang Shen: If only you could get one of these, Monkey. But too bad for you—you're ranked dead last!]

[Sun Wukong: At least I'm on the list, unlike you, Three-Eyes!]

Although Sun Wukong longed for such treasures, he knew he wouldn't be able to obtain them. If he did, his power would instantly rise to the level of a Golden Immortal. Combined with his formidable body, his strength would skyrocket, possibly giving him a chance to break free from Five Elements Mountain once more.

But it was all wishful thinking. He knew the Primal Chaos Fruit was designed for Saints, and giving it to him would be a complete waste. Erlang Shen wasn't wrong; ranked 100th, Sun Wukong's reward would never be this great.

[Laozi: Such a treasure would be ideal for me. Alas, it's beyond my reach!]

No one needed the Primal Chaos Fruit more than Laozi. Having just lost one-tenth of his power, he was desperate to regain his strength. If he could get his hands on the fruit, he could recover much faster and possibly even surpass his former power, since the fruit might offer more than what he had lost.

However, now that the fruit had appeared, it was unlikely that anything of similar value would show up again in the rankings. Even if a similar item did appear, it might not have the same potency as the Primal Chaos Fruit. After all, treasures that could boost a Saint's power were exceedingly rare in the universe, incredibly difficult to find.

Everyone knew how hard it was for Saints to increase their divine power. If treasures like this were easy to find, the Saints would have already scoured the universe for them. The scarcity of such items made their effects even more potent.

The question now was whether Hongjun would choose the Primal Chaos Fruit. As a Heavenly Path Saint, his power was already immense. How much would the fruit actually increase his strength? That was the real uncertainty. Even the slightest difference could affect Hongjun's decision, potentially leading him to choose something else.

Laozi, on the other hand, was already toying with a thought: If Hongjun chose the fruit, perhaps he could negotiate with him, trading something of equal value to acquire it. This way, Laozi could restore his full strength once again.