Tower of Heaven

The Kitsune stumbled back with blood leaking from its body. Finally, it had taken some true damage that would affect its performance in battle.

Or, that was what Atlas was allowed to think for only a second before the situation changed.

As the Kitsune stumbled from side to side…

WHOOSH!

…its tail suddenly ignited into flames. The red mark around its eyes began to glow with the same crimson light. Every time its paws hit the ground, small licks of flame rose up and turned into energy that flowed into its body.

’We have to stop it.’

Only a few seconds went by before the thought flashed through Atlas’ mind. Because even from those small licks of flame that turned into energy, Atlas felt a massive amount of force. That wasn’t everything. When the energy coalesced to the right degree, it started to flow into the fox’s wounds and heal them.

’We have to stop it.’

The thought flashed by his head again, but no matter how much he wanted to act on it, he couldn’t.

A huge wave of aura spread through the world, locking Atlas and Feng Ziran in place. Their eyes widened in unison as their bodies reacted the same way.

Their hairs went up, their nerves screamed at them to move, and as if their souls were crying out, they felt the touch of death upon them.

Then it came.

ROOOOAAAAAAAR–!

With a domineering roar, the Kitsune released all of the flame energy gathered within its body.

VOOOOOOOOOOM!

With its body at the center, a wave of flame once again spread through Gearven.

But this time it was different. The three-hundred-meter tall wave spread past Atlas and Feng Ziran and several meters past the edge of the city before stopping. When it did stop, it didn’t disperse, but instead stood there, creating an impenetrable cage.

And, everything within that cage was consumed by fire.

A blazing hellstorm appeared, tormenting the only two people unfortunate enough to experience it.

The sight was grand from the outside, but after the wave moved past Atlas and Feng Ziran, they were no longer able to see anything but the orange and red color of fire. Heat slammed against their body in waves of powerful qi, disturbing their internals and slamming their organs against each other. ṙÂＮÖΒÈŝ

"Keheuk…!"

Feng Ziran coughed out a mouthful of blood that immediately evaporated and desperately put up a qi barrier. She was a Phoenix with a high resistance to flames, but the problem was that these were flames originating from the bloodline of another Divine Beast.

She couldn’t resist them the same way she resisted an ordinary flame. Therefore, her natural advantages couldn’t save her.

Atlas was worse off. He erected his barrier before the wave could touch him, allowing him to avoid immediate damage, but he could feel his qi burning away. He wouldn’t be able to protect himself with a barrier for much longer.

"Tch!"

Atlas clicked his tongue and looked around. The Kitsune had completely vanished within the storm.

’This is not an attack.’

That was the most Atlas could observe about the situation before he was forced to act.

"Feng Ziran! How long can you hold back these flames?!"

She had to have some kind of ability, because he could do it too, albeit for what was likely a shorter period.

Feng Ziran gritted her teeth, struggling to hear his words over the roaring storm.

"One minute before I need to recharge!"

"It’s enough! Do it now!"

After one minute, she could put up another barrier, but she needed time to replenish her qi. If Atlas wanted her to protect him, then he would only get one minute.

Nevertheless, he called for that barrier, and Feng Ziran put it up. She had no choice but to listen to him, but there was a strange expression on her face.

Voom!

The barrier went up regardless of her emotional state. Atlas put his trust in her and removed his own protections.

"Hisssss…!"

He took a sharp breath as the heat struck his skin, but it wasn’t enough to damage him. Without another thought, he went down onto a knee and pressed his hands against the ground.

’I have been focused on controlling the concept of weight, so my connection to the earth itself is not as high as it needs to be.’

In terms of controlling the earth, he’d only learned one or two techniques from the manual he earned. However, if he couldn’t pull this off right at this very moment, then the two of them wouldn’t stand a chance.

All of his work comprehending the Dao of Earth came back to him, and the knowledge he learned entered his mind as one comprehensive picture.

The earth responded to its call, rumbling with some severity. As Feng Ziran watched, a small fortress big enough to shelter two people yet sturdy enough to withstand the storm started to appear.

Atlas’ eyes were sharp as he put his whole focus into the act. He didn’t realize that in this very moment, his comprehension of the Dao of Earth was increasing far more than it did during his ordinary practice sessions.

It was due to such improvements that he was able to succeed.

"Ten seconds left!"

Feng Ziran’s warning entered his ears, but there was no need for it. Before those ten seconds could even pass, he had created what he wanted.

"Get in!"

He said only two words of indication, but it was more than enough in these conditions. When Feng Ziran saw the shelter, she immediately rushed in with Atlas following soon after.

Once they were both inside, he put his hands back on the ground and connected to the structure once more. If he didn’t directly control it and keep it standing, it would collapse against the force of the hellstorm.

"Haa…haa…haa…"

Between the roars of the wind and flames outside, only the heavy breaths of those two could be heard. Their individual natural regenerative properties healed their bodies while they circulated their qi to recuperate as much as they could in a small period.

"This is not an attack."

As he became more comfortable, Atlas was able to take some of his attention away from keeping the shelter steady.

"It is injured and exhausted right now. It just had a mental battle with me and lost, and its physical body is still that of a young child that has just been born. The wounds it has accrued are more than enough to ruin its battle state."

"If its battle state was ruined, would we be dealing with this?"

"That’s exactly why we are dealing with this."

Atlas snapped back and immediately silenced Feng Ziran’s sarcasm.

"It can also regenerate. It is forcing us to hide from the storm while it heals. I am confident that if we can reach it right now, we have the best chance of taking it down. If we don’t, then I don’t believe we can win this fight."

BOOM!

A huge impact struck the side of the shelter and blasted away its outer defenses.

"We need to find a way to attack it now. We have to get through this storm."

Atlas was voicing his thoughts only so Feng Ziran would start brainstorming too. In his mind, an array of ideas shot by, none of them proving viable.

The troubled look on his face couldn’t be seen through his mask, but the air around him gave off a feeling like he was going to implode if a solution didn’t find him soon.

’There isn’t another choice, is there?’

Feng Ziran knew the solution in her mind from the moment she saw the egg, but she never wanted to use it.

However, if the situation was like this, then the other option was to die.

With clear hesitation, Feng Ziran pulled an object out of her spatial ring and faced Atlas.

She felt like she wouldn’t be able to reach him over the sound of the impacts filling the space, but she had to speak those words.

"Take this."

If he had this item, then he would be guaranteed to end the battle the moment he made contact with the beast.

It was the very key to victory that Atlas had been searching for.

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