Tower of Heaven

There were nine Neutral Zones in the Tower. Of them, only eight had ever been seen.

Attacking the Neutral Zones was something that people did when the Tower first appeared. Obviously, when it was so boldly claimed that conflict was disallowed in those realms, people were driven to test the boundaries.

However, those who pushed the boundaries were all aptly punished. They realized that the Tower System was an entity that, within its domain, had power equal to the Heavens.

After only ten years, the attempts at the Neutral Zones halted. The next 5000 years were spent under the universal understanding that those rules could not be broken, only circumvented.

Naturally, ways around the rules were found. Using those methods, it was easy to kill any one person if one tried hard enough.

Still, causing large-scale damage was considered absolutely impossible.

That is, until the events of the Blood Moon Phenomenon.

Back then, Warden proved that the rules of the Neutral Zones could be broken. He proved that as long as one used the rules against themselves, one could absolutely destroy neutrality.

Atlas had been climbing the Tower without paying attention to its news for too long. After he started checking the forums, all of the conflict had ended and new conflict had yet to appear, so he didn’t see it.

Many people were inspired by that event. There was no small number of those who attempted to replicate that scene to destroy Neutral Zones for a variety of reasons.

Obviously, none had succeeded at creating events of such a massive scale. Before they could do so, they were always found and stopped by the inhabitants of those zones.

Always. Every single time.

Until this moment.

A huge explosion took place in Alfros. It happened far, far away from Genvera. That could be understood by the fact that the city itself did not feel the force of that explosion in the slightest.

Only, Alfros was a relatively flat land. There were some mountains and volcanoes here and there, but the majority were volcanic plains filled with earthen spires. The "force" did not travel so far, but the "light" and "sound" were uninhibited.

It sounded like a great wave of thunder had spread in the distance. Many people wondered if a wandering cultivator had summoned a storm in some distant city.

And then, they looked into the distance, and they saw the light.

A huge ball of light that was taller than any mountain. Only a portion of the dome was visible, but it was enough to tell anyone just what kind of scene had taken place there.

To be seen so brightly some maybe one thousand kilometers away, just how much land had to be destroyed?

How many people had to be affected?

The response from the Feng Clan was immediate. Streaks of red light shot out of the Phoenix Palace and made their way to the location to investigate.

At this point, the combat circuit hadn’t yet been interrupted. Atlas and Feng Yaohua continued to fight, unaware of what had happened.

Ten minutes later, the coliseum started to shake tremendously as well.

It was a magnitude of earthquake that could not be equated to natural phenomena. Atlas and Feng Yaohua immediately retreated from each other with expressions of understanding. Their eyes went up to the Elder. ṛἁΝɵβĚś

She, who had been looking at the sky above and receiving mental transmissions about the situation outside, faced them as well.

"All members of the Feng Clan, report to the palace. You will be split into groups and sent into the world for real combat. Prepare for the worst."

She only addressed Atlas after looking at him for a moment.

"Remain here. The combat circuit will continue after we have taken care of the problem."

"And this fight?" Atlas asked.

"We can continue when I come back."

Feng Yaohua answered for him. He responded with a nod and accepted his circumstances. While the phoenixes evacuated the coliseum and gathered inside the main palace, Atlas went back to his room.

’This is a nice place to wait

He spread his spiritual sense into the hallway.

’...for the next few minutes, at least.’

Was he going to wait here until everything was over to leave? Of course not!

Who would expect him to listen to the Elder? He only felt a concerning earthquake, but she said that the Feng Clan was mobilizing its geniuses for "real combat."

Something interesting was happening in the outside world, and he wasn’t going to miss it just because their rules said he wasn’t allowed to leave the coliseum.

Atlas only waited long enough for there to be nobody left in his vicinity. The moment he saw a chance to escape, he did exactly that. He left the room, left the coliseum, and took the routes he familiarized himself with during the tours to take himself back to the palace.

He didn’t enter the palace. He could have done so to observe the meeting the phoenixes were holding, but he preferred to collect his own information. Besides, the risk of getting caught was a little too high with so many Immortals in the vicinity.

’The risk is still high, but I think it will be fine. The perimeter is not being guarded in the slightest.’

He jumped up onto an exterior wall that was about ten feet high and used it to propel himself onto the nearest part of the palace roof. Nimbly and swiftly, he scaled the various parts of the roof and went higher and higher until he reached the absolute highest point of the palace.

’Now this is a good vantage point.’

He could see far out into the distance past Genvera. Alfros already looked hellish due to its climate and ecosystem, however, it had become a different kind of hell.

The sky was filled with smoke. All in the distance, Atlas could see massive impact craters and signs of huge destruction.

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It was too quiet for anything significant to be happening. Genvera itself was currently covered by a massive iron dome. In front of that dome, guarding its borders, was a group of fifteen members of the Feng Clan.

Their qi was already readied as if they were mid-battle, and the ground around it made it seem like they had been fighting against enemies, however…

’What are they waiting for?’

They were standing there acting vigilant for nothing. Or, that was how it seemed until a few seconds passed.

RUMBLE!

Atlas’ eyes shot to the sky. In the next moment, they trailed to the ground below.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

In that single moment, massive chunks of rock had fallen from the Heavens and slammed into the iron dome below. The phoenixes immediately acted to destroy as many of them as they could before they landed, but three were still able to make contact.

The entire dome shook. Huge dents were made on its surface. It was clearly made to withstand large amounts of force, but if these meteors were allowed to strike it uninhibited, it would eventually break.

’Is this a natural phenomenon?’

As the thought flashed through his mind, he saw several streaks of red leaving the Phoenix Palace. In just a few minutes, the entire clan had been briefed about the situation and mobilized.

’But she said there will be real combat.’

In that case, it could not be a natural phenomenon. These meteors were being created due to the machinations of others.

It was only a matter of "why" people were creating disasters on Alfros.

Atlas jumped down from the roof above.

Since he had an idea about the immediate threat, it was time for him to do some deeper investigation.

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