Although he had no idea what form this challenge would take, he was certain that any trial on the path to ascension would be extraordinary. Yet, he was far from weak—he was confident that he could overcome whatever lay ahead.

….

He sat down in the vast plains, far away from his villa—a property he had purchased years ago from his system shop. Regulating his cultivation technique, he quickly entered a deep state of meditation. Unlike his previous breakthrough, this time, he caused no commotion.

As he absorbed primordial mana at an extreme speed—like a supermassive black hole—his control was impeccable. The energy surged through his body, refined and tamed with precision.

He began to cycle his cultivation technique—once, twice—and on the third cycle, the so-called barrier blocking his advancement to the next rank shattered effortlessly.

Calling it a barrier was laughable. His talent was limitless, rendering obstacles meaningless. The so-called roadblocks in his path existed merely as formalities, unable to hinder his inevitable rise.

Immediately after breaking through, he felt an invigorating surge. His body was enhanced once more; his unique soul—and even his awakened sea of consciousness, a realm in itself—accelerated its growth.

Clenching his fists, he felt more powerful than ever. But there was no time to rejoice, for a notification panel appeared with a resounding ding:

[congratulations, Host, for advancing to Master Rank.]

Moments later, another message flashed:

[The first trial will now begin. Host, be prepared.]

[Trial Goal: Achieve complete victory over the Primal Bear of Grand Master Rank Peak.]

{Note: The power ranks preceding the SSS rank have 9 levels.}

No sooner had the last notification appeared than the dense forest trembled and a deafening, primal roar echoed through the forest near his location in the Universal Plane. Birds scattered in panic—some even exploding into bloody mist as the overwhelming primal aura surged past them.

Countless giant trees seemed to recoil in awe of the Primal Bear. In mere seconds, the colossal creature burst from the forest. Its first act was to fix its blazing gaze on Kallus and let out another earth-shattering roar.

The bear’s fur glowed a fierce red with a tingle of blue flame as if it were ablaze. Each stand pulsed with fire elemental energy. Its eyes burned with an intense, crimson fire, like twin miniature suns, and a vast, raw primal aura enveloped it. Standing nearly 10 meters tall, its claws- each almost a meter long- radiate with pure, searing heat. the Primal Bear was a living embodiment of overwhelming power.

Kallus was surprised—perhaps even slightly shocked—by the overwhelming presence of the Primal Bear. Its sheer aura was suffocating, a force of nature unlike anything he had encountered before.

But that was it. He had faced the aura of a Supreme Being before—even if it had been suppressed to the utmost limits, it was still Supreme. Compared to that, the pressure exuded by this beast was formidable but not enough to shake him.

Snapping out of his daze, Kallus took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes, his expression turning serious.

He activated his Primordial Eye of Authority, and instantly, vast amounts of information about the Primal Bear flooded into his vision.

[ The Primordial Eye was an ability he awakened upon reaching S-rank. This powerful ability allowed him to see through anything—be it spells, their building blocks, or the weaknesses of any entity, whether living or inanimate. However, its effectiveness was limited by Kallus’ power rank. Additionally, it could instantly break any and all kinds of illusions, and this capability was not restricted by level]

What he saw this time, however, sent a wave of shock through him.

Kallus took a deep breath, steadying himself. He had known that the trials set by the Supreme Being would be difficult—brutal even—but this monstrosity was on another level entirely.

I expected a challenge, but this is just absurd…

[Name: Flaming Bear]

[Power rank: Grandmaster rank peak]

[Species: Primal inferno bear]

[Elements Affinity:

Main: Fire

secondary: Earth ]

[Special affinity:

[Primal Force: a Unique ability belonging to the primal race]

[Bloodline: Ancient primal Titan bear]

[Innate Abilities:

– Primal Roar: Unleashes a devastating roar that shakes the very fabric of space.

– Bear’s Inferno: Summons flaming spears that upon impact cause massive destruction and spread flames that burn even in the void of space.

-Earthen Fortitude: Its body is as tough as the oldest mountains, resistant to all physical attacks.

-Flame Rebirth: Can regenerate from injuries using primal fire essence.

[Combat strength: Mid paragon Rank to peak paragon rank]

[Primary Weakness: Extreme Cold – Due to its nature as a being of fire, absolute cold may slow its regeneration.]

And these were just its innate abilities.

The sheer presence of the Primal Flame Bear was overwhelming, its aura radiating primal destruction. It was a beast forged from fire and earth, with regeneration that made it nearly immortal.

Still, Kallus exhaled and tightened his grip on the Bringer of Doom.

“Oh well… I’ll show my best. No point in losing hope now.”

He muttered those words to himself, a small smirk forming on his face. He wasn’t one to back down, and if anything, this fight would be the perfect test of everything he had learned in his years of relentless training.

Kallus’s mind raced. As he looked at he bear which was also staring at him with supreme arrogance in it eyes.

Kallus knew the battle was inevitable; not that he could back off, nor would he.

He gripped his soul ornament and transformed it into a sword. Taking a deep breath, he began channeling his Primordial Mana, chanting the powerful incantation “Land of Ice.”

As he spoke, the temperature around him plummeted, and within moments, a vast frozen landscape with a diameter of ten kilometers materialized around him. The absolute chill sapped the heat from the very air, weakening the fiery aura emanating from the Primal Flame Bear.

The bear let out a furious roar as it felt the temperature drop, its molten fur flickering wildly. In response, it unleashed its blazing roar, its voice shaking the battlefield, triggering a minor earthquake and molten lava began to form at its core, and a surge of the primal force of fire exploded outward countering the encroaching freeze. The elemental battle raged on, with the bear’s flames clashing against the bitter cold until nearly half of the Land of Ice was overtaken by the opposing forces.

For a brief moment, Kallus’s serious expression flickered with concern, but he quickly regained his composure. He had expected this challenge to be formidable.

Meanwhile, without hesitation, the flaming bear lunged with astonishing speed, leaving a blur with each step as it formed a torrent of flames and magma.

Kallus reacted instantly, charging toward the bear with his sword in hand, displaying inhuman precision and speed, ready to test his strength against the monstrous force before him.

He vanished from his place, reappearing mid-air above the beast. Muttering,

[Primordial Destruction Technique: Sword Series: Thousand Slashes,]

he unleashed his swordsmanship technique in a blinding storm of strikes, aiming for the bear’s skull.

CLANG!

A shockwave rippled through the battlefield as the flaming bear raised its blazing claw, enhancing its body with an earth elemental spell Earthen Fortitude, meeting the attack with sheer brute force. However, that didn’t mean it was unaffected—some of the thousand slashes found their mark, forcing the beast back. Meanwhile, Kallus was also sent skidding through the air itself from the clash.

The bear, not missing the opportunity even as it was pushed back, raised its other hand into the air and activated its innate ability—Bear’s Inferno—unleashing a barrage of flaming spears toward Kallus.

Kallus, still skidding through the air from the clash, saw the bear’s attack but did not panic. Twisting his body midair, he teleported directly behind the beast, avoiding the bear attacks.

He then raised his sword, he calmly muttered,

[Primordial Destruction Technique: Sword Series: Flaming Hell.]

Fire elemental energy surged into his sword as he slashed toward the flaming bear’s back, his blade cutting through the scorching air with devastating force.

The bear, seeing its attack being avoided and feeling its instincts scream of danger from behind, activated another innate ability—Primal Roar—unleashing a deafening shockwave.

Simultaneously, it manipulated earth elemental energy, raising a massive stone wall behind itself in an attempt to block the incoming strike.

Kallus’s attack had almost reached the bear’s head when it unleashed Primal Roar, dispersing some of the strike’s power. The earth wall managed to absorb nearly half of the attack before crumbling, buying the bear just enough time to evade the deadly slash.

The flaming bear felt frustrated, having narrowly avoided a grievous injury.

Kallus, whose attack had just missed, was not the least bit frustrated. Instead, he was amused when he saw the frustration flicker in the bear’s eyes.

The Flaming Bear roared once more and activated its special ability—Primal Force. Its body began to transform, turning into a literal avatar of flame and destruction. A raging firestorm erupted around it as it opened its mouth, unleashing a massive pillar of fire toward Kallus.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep