Tower of Heaven

Booooooom!

A huge eruption swept over the battleground. Feng Jiahui’s sun burned away, leaving only a hellish wasteland in its place.

The light of that attack lasted for so long that it could have blinded any mortals in the audience. The pure heat pulsed through the surroundings, turning the air orange.

The surrounding phoenixes were not affected by the heat or the winds. The actual power of the attack also could not push through the barrier around the stands, so none of them worried about what was happening below.

Rather, they watched with excited eyes to see what would happen next.

From an outside perspective, that attack looked like more than enough to defeat the enemy. However, some of the more keen-eyed geniuses among them were able to see Atlas in that moment before the sun ate him.

His expression was far too confident for someone on the verge of an early loss.

And, the way he maneuvered his qi so confidently…

For some reason, the crowd collectively believed that the battle was not over yet.

Before the wasteland of flames could even clear away, a black shadow shot out of the smoke and charged at Feng Jiahui. In the crowd, Feng Yaohua’s eyes narrowed into points as she tried to make out the details of his body.

He had some minor bruises and burns on his skin. A few pieces of his clothes had been torn off, revealing blackened and burned skin below.

However, even as he moved, those wounds slowly closed himself.

’An unbelievable natural regeneration.’

She noted it in her head. In the next moment, she also had the chance to note his strength.

After all, now that he’d allowed her to show her power, Atlas wasn’t going to give Feng Jiahui any more breaks.

[Hidden Flame Lance]

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

His own body moved like a comet, but the attack he sent forward moved faster. It arrived before the enemy before he could, slamming into the qi barrier she raised.

When it exploded, Feng Jiahui’s surroundings were filled with knives made of flame that charged towards her and exploded. She scoffed, swiping her hand out and using pure flame energy to disperse them.

The smoke cleared just in time for her to see Atlas arriving directly in front of her.

"Firstly, you used such an egregious amount of qi without ever confirming the strength of my defenses. Secondly, you dropped your guard afterward. Now we are here, and you will not be able to attack again."

Atlas didn’t realize it, but this was exactly Alaric’s teaching style that he’d unintentionally mirrored. They would fight, and when Atlas made a mistake, he’d say something like that before–

Bang!

–hitting him so hard that he forgot all of the words he’d heard seconds before.

Atlas’ fist slammed into Feng Jiahui’s body with enough strength to fold her over. The muscles in his arm bulged as he pushed it up and propelled Feng Jiahui into the air.

In the same motion, he opened his palm, summoned his qi, and slammed his arm back down again.

[Pillar of Everburn]

Qi flew out of his hand and formed a huge ring in the sky. Almost as if it was a portal to another dimension, the ring summoned a gargantuan pillar of solid and everburning flames. It slammed down on Feng Jiahui, who had been thrown without a chance to retaliate, and crushed her back into the ground.

BANG!

A huge crash rang out. The sound made many audience members flinch in concern.

The flame pillar stood fifteen feet tall and wide enough to be hugged by four men at once without any overlap. Feng Jiahui’s body was completely smothered inside of its form. For a moment after the initial impact, there was only silence as everyone watched on.

Slowly but surely, the pillar began to tremble. Atlas stood still and allowed it to happen. Those small movements gradually came together until the pillar moved significantly to the side, just enough for a single arm to be visible beneath.

That arm wrapped around the side of the flames, treating them as if their heat was nothing. Those fingers gripped into the pillar and tore away at the flames to find a place to hold, and once they did…

Rumble!

Atlas watched as the scene of a woman rose from the ground carrying a pillar many times her size on her back.

There were large bloody trails running down her face and neck. Her clothes had been torn, revealing the burnt skin below. Despite her flame resistance, she was unable to completely avoid the searing heat of the pillar.

Just like Atlas, she had an unreasonable healing factor that was already turning her wounds back into clear skin, however…

’...she does not have the mental capacity to handle exhaustion and continue fighting after taking a large impact.’

Atlas walked towards her. She glared at him and gritted her teeth, raising her arms above her head and attempting to throw the pillar away.

Unfortunately, her arms did not listen to her call. They trembled as she tried to exert them more than she already had, telling her that any more movement would only result in her dropping the pillar back on top of herself.

That pillar of flame forced her to stay in place, and since Atlas refused to recall his qi, it remained manifested in its full glory.

"Do you think it didn’t hurt when you threw that sun at me? You think my muscles weren’t also screaming at me to give up and fall back? Of course, that is your natural instinct, however, if you continue to retreat, you’ll only back yourself into a corner."

Atlas arrived in front of her before she could take more than a single step back.

In the end, there was a wall only a few meters away, so the metaphor was manifesting itself in reality as well.

"Even if you can escape from that pillar now, what will you do?"

As he spoke, Atlas pulled his qi back into his body. The weight of the pillar left her, and Feng Jiahui immediately lashed out.

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Her arm swept through the air like a blade aimed to claw out at least one of Atlas’ eyes. Only, before it could reach its target, he had already caught it.

And, there was already a sickle blade pressing into Feng Jiahui’s situation.

"Your body won’t listen to you because you have not trained yourself to overcome your instincts. You will not be able to produce the power you want, so when I reach this point in the battle, your life is in my hands regardless of what you do. All I needed to do to gain such an advantage was land a hit on you one time. One. Single. Time."

Feng Jiahui’s expression was still fierce, but he could feel her resistance weakening as he pressed his blade deeper into her neck.

Looking into her eyes, seeing the spirit that still wanted to fight despite the circumstances, he sighed and retracted his blade.

"Very well. If you are still not convinced, then come again. I can do this for as long as I need to."

It was the same declaration he’d made before. Now that they’d reached this point in the battle, her life was in his hands regardless of what she did.

The only way for her to escape this predicament was to change.

If she wanted to show the world a less pathetic performance, then she needed to start growing right here and now.

But…could she really overcome the boundaries in her mind?

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