Tower of Heaven

[Phoenix’s Descent]

At the very least, Atlas was happy that she hadn’t flown into the air only for theatrics.

Once the domain was established, she gathered the qi around her and concentrated it into the form of two massive blazing wings on her back. She wrapped them around herself and shot forward like a blazing comet sent from the Heavens to annihilate his existence.

Boom!

Atlas slid backward as she reached him and extended her body. She reached her leg forward with the aim of crushing his chest, but her knife-like heel only found itself impacting dirt.

"Your first mistake was rushing in before understanding anything about my power."

[Intrinsic Foresight]

Atlas’ eyes were swirling as he watched the world move in slow motion.

Feng Jiahui was wide open. She landed with her feet in the dirt and her arms behind her as the wings she manifested disappeared. Her entire front side was unprotected.

If Atlas only used the techniques of the Grand Arsenal that he had learned in the last few months, he knew that he could crush her ribs and end this fight in an instant.

’However, this is meant to be a lesson, and for a lesson to make any impact, it needs to be learned properly over time.’

If he defeated her too fast, she would just find excuses to convince herself that he won through luck and circumstance.

And, in a bid of arrogance himself, he wanted to defeat her using only fire.

It was her main Dao and the main Dao he practiced in the past. He had too much respect for it to watch her sully it with her presence.

’I am not a person who necessarily has hope that bad people will change, but she is young, and judging by the words of everyone else, she is being led astray by an irresponsible Elder. I believe that if she sees the potential that she can achieve and eats a hard defeat that humbles her, she can become someone with a good future.’

He was able to think this far before Feng Jiahui had even righted herself.

In the next moment, he had extended his arm and slammed his palm against her stomach.

[Flame Bursting Sky Palm]

Boom!

A circular ring of pressure slammed into the arena barriers on both sides, but the majority of the impact was absorbed by none other than Feng Jiahui’s body. A flaming hot energy invaded her systems and tried to incinerate her. They refused to leave regardless of her will.

The force of the attack itself sent her flying back with blood coming out of her mouth. She closed her eyes in pain before opening them wide again. Now, they were glowing with fury. ṝâɴƟβĚṣ

Voom!

Phoenix flames once again encompassed her body. She saw Atlas slam his foot on the ground and give chase to her figure, but she wasn’t going to allow it.

The inherent properties of a phoenix flame included cleansing and healing among many others. The flames of everburn were naturally less effective against these beings that purely represented fire.

There was some slight damage done to Feng Jiahui’s internal systems, but that was the end of the damage Atlas had done with a single attack.

He followed her because he knew this. Instead of doing big damage with every single move, he was going to slowly whittle her down with smaller strikes.

He had this plan in his mind, but she didn’t know it. Feng Jiahui only recognized that he had been able to draw blood.

Nobody had ever dared to draw blood from her body before.

[Phoenix Dominion: Flame Cyclone]

Whoosh!

A huge wind picked up in the domain. Atlas’ eyes widened as he slammed his foot into the ground, forcing his momentum to a halt.

All of a sudden, the air in front of him was filled with circling flames that touched down to the ground and wreaked havoc. They twisted around themselves chaotically, creating a vacuum of heat that pressed against Atlas’ body.

’Even if she’s weak comparatively, the Feng Clan has never raised a truly weak genius.’

Thinking so, Atlas raised his hands. He placed his own qi into the air inside of the domain and felt the flames for himself. He felt the concepts within and tried to understand them.

If Feng Jiahui was a human, he could have even considered taking control of her qi. He believed it was possible as long as he was skilled enough. However, since she was a phoenix, he had to be much less ambitious.

’These are the base concepts a phoenix flame must contain. It has a huge aura of vitality that becomes deadly to its foes and those slight energies of samsara that come from the phoenix’s connection with rebirth. She has the foundation memorized. Her problem is that she hasn’t internalized any of that knowledge.’

Because she hadn’t internalized it and used her qi in such a textbook manner, Atlas was able to diagnose the nature of her qi and formulate his own qi to stand perfectly against her.

In other words, if she gave him enough time to gather his thoughts and face her attacks without injury or interruption…

[Flame Cyclone]

Atlas released his own tornadoes of fire. They slammed into Feng Jiahui’s creations with opposing flow and energy. There weren’t any large explosions when the two groups of twisters met. They combined into a mass of fire and then poofed out of existence as if they never existed in the first place.

’Phoenixes are Divine Beasts. Their techniques are meant to control nature and natural forces, so even when they create manifestations of their own, they mimic the appearance of nature.’

The flame cyclones disappeared, revealing Feng Jiahui’s face once more.

"You’ve been able to last this long, so at least you aren’t complete trash," she said with an expression of confidence on her face.

"In case you forgot, you are the only one who has bled thus far," Atlas responded casually.

Feng Jiahui glared at him with gritted teeth.

"That changes now."

She had raised the domain around them to give her more control over the ambient qi around them, but it clearly wasn’t as effective as she hoped it would be.

As such, she decided it was better to stop wasting qi by maintaining it. When her words fell, all of the flames that had been raging around them were sucked back into her body. At the same time, a ball of fire grew above her head.

It already looked like a second sun by the time the domain was fully consumed. Feng Jiahui held it above her head, feeling the waves of power emanating from its surface.

"It’s enough that you could even make me bleed. Now, you should just die."

With arrogant words, she let the sun fly. She let it strike the ground and consume Atlas with her wrath.

Yet, even now, Atlas had a calm expression on his face.

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It was about time she showcased the entirety of her strength.

Because now that she’d created a scene like this, it wouldn’t be too much for him to respond in kind.

The Feng Clan had already shown him their spirit.

He was more than happy to show them his in return.

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