Tower of Heaven

Guriyatra's Life Seed was an excellent technique. Unless it encountered a qi that was far purer than it, the technique was guaranteed to affect the enemy.

However, in exchange for this high success rate, the technique could only be used when direct contact was made with the enemy's body.

Atlas and Darian had been fighting with their blades and qi the entire time. Not only had Atlas not touched Darian directly yet, but it was also the same in the other direction. Atlas never had the chance to use Guriyatra's Life Seed in this battle.

Not until now, that was.

When Darian suddenly dropped his sword, Atlas' eyes widened in surprise. He braced for the impact knowing how much pain would follow first, but immediately after, he realized that now wasn't the time to concede.

That was when his conscious thinking stopped. It was replaced by pure instinct and qi control that had been established and trained for several millennia. First came a technique from Atlas' past life.

[Burning Heaven Avatar]

His eyes shone with a bright orange light before his body spontaneously combusted into flame. When it happened, it was already too late for Darian to pull his fist away. The flames crawled up his body and started to consume him just as he landed his critical strike.

BANG!

[Guriyatra's Life Seed]

Atlas' body shot away at unreal speeds, slamming into the nearest possible tree several tens of kilometers away. Blood splattered in every direction, painting a picture among the foliage of bloody sparks in the sky.

He coughed out so much blood that he wondered if he had lost a few organs in the process, and he couldn't even break his landing when he fell to the ground.

Collapsing to his knees, Atlas took short and rough breaths while hurriedly moving his energy into the [Regeneration] skill.

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"Haa…haa…haa…"

The pain coursing through his body was unreal. Of course, Atlas' mind had been thoroughly conditioned in this life. He felt that there literally could not be a pain worse than what he felt in the abyss, which allowed him to keep his mind steady even in situations where he felt like he wanted to collapse.

He couldn't easily stand up onto his feet, but the warm energy circulating through his body was helping greatly.

[Nature's Kiss]

He pressed his hand to his own chest and put his other hand on the ground. Subtly, one could see him draining the vitality from the flora and taking it into his body. As the environment subtly shriveled, Atlas directed the new energy into his [Regeneration].

'He was consumed by everburn the last time I was able to see him. With the Life Seed affecting him as well…'

One could visibly see Atlas' charred skin peeling away and revealing a flesh layer of pure skin underneath. At this point, he felt like he had a guarantee and took the chance to heal more than the bare minimum amount.

Only after some seconds passed by did he realize that a sort of silence had dawned upon the world.

He raised his eyes to find his opponent.

The silence existed because Darian was not consumed by flames as Atlas hoped. He was able to put them out much more rapidly than Atlas could have ever expected, but that came with a price.

When Atlas' eyes finally landed on him, the Darian he saw was not in fighting condition whatsoever.

Because the moment he realized that the flames were trying to swallow his entire body…

'...he sacrificed the arm that first touched the flames.'

With the source of the flames cut away and burned to ash, they could no longer spread.

He avoided fatal damage with his quick thinking, but Darian was someone who used a greatsword.

'Losing one arm is essentially the same as being entirely crippled.'

He stood there, glaring at Atlas like a ferocious lion while holding his bloody stump. He gritted his teeth with qi swirling around him, making it clear that he had noticed and was fighting against [Guriyatra's Life Seed].

'This battle is over.'

Atlas knew that he couldn't look weak in this moment.

Despite the cries of his body, he struggled to his feet and pushed himself forward. With every step he took, his gait became stronger. His body healed further, and his qi began to replenish.

It wasn't enough to put him in battle-ready condition again, but it was enough to create a great scene for the spectators.

In their recording crystals, the picture of Atlas standing up and marching forward was mirrored. His powerful steps and the image of his skin returning to its fair color as his wounds healed made him seem like an invincible warlord.

While those spectators hushed their mouths, awaiting the scene that would follow, Atlas arrived in front of Darian.

He stopped in front of the man for a moment and stared down at his kneeling form.

"I win. Choose. Retreat, or death?"

Darian never looked back at him. Without another word, Atlas removed his gaze and walked past the man, arriving once again in front of the hidden alchemy factory he'd come to target.

'Everyone inside is likely gone. That man's team disappeared. They must have evacuated them.'

Then, this didn't mean as much as it would have if he'd succeeded from the start, but Atlas didn't care.

'Darian created more than enough of a stage for me.'n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Now, rather than being the main event, this was nothing more than a farewell.

Atlas raised his arms and gathered all of the qi he had remaining in his body. It was both in order to power his technique and display that he still had fight left in him if Darian was left unconvinced.

Atlas widened his stance, bent his knees slightly, and pulled back his fist.

"Huu…"

With one deep breath, he released it.

[Fist of the Mountain King]

A cone of chaos followed the trajectory drawn by his fist. The impact was bigger than any other from this battle, and from the moment it was released, all of the nearby formations were shattered to bits.

They had been significantly weakened as they cushioned the factory from the impacts of the previous battle. Being directly targeted, they could no longer do their job properly.

And, that created a much better scene for Atlas.

After all, in just a single punch, he blew everything to bits. The formation crashed down, the building was revealed, and in the next moment, the building also crashed down.

A storm of debris and rubble fell to the ground, causing a great commotion. Atlas spread his spiritual sense as he watched destruction reign, confirming his suspicions that the factory was empty.

'Then, there's no point in doing anything more.'

He directed his glance towards the crowd for a moment. Several people flinched when they noticed, but he didn't have any plans to go after them.

He placed his hand on his waist as if he was reaching for something. His qi covered him in a bright blue light that was visible to all.

By the time the light was gone, the only things left at the scene were the rubble of the destroyed alchemy factory, and the sight of Darian being helped to safety by his squad members.

Atlas himself had completely vanished through some mysterious means.

Before anyone knew it, the huge collision that happened so randomly on this floor ended.

And, the Tower Forums went wild.