Tower of Heaven

"I should start moving. If I want to accomplish this, I need to start preparing now. Shall we continue our conversation later?"

Atlas and Scarlet Fox spoke for a bit longer before that sentence was spoken. There wasn’t much for them to say. Neither of them were very conversational people when they were outside of formal scenarios. They only exchanged some words as they always did before Atlas announced his intentions to leave.

"How long do you think you’ll be gone this time?" she asked.

"I’m not sure."

Atlas shook his head. Judging by the fact that it had been five years since he left the Underworld, he really couldn’t say how much time would pass before he returned to the world.

"It may be one year, and it may be ten. Regardless, I will return."

He said that, but he couldn’t allow ten years to pass. If he didn’t progress in cultivation for the next ten years while being trapped in the Underworld, then he would lose his rights to the Xuanying Treasure Pagoda.

If he were allowed to grow normally, the fourteen years of ownership he had would have been more than enough, but now…?

’No need to dwell on it.’

He just needed to make sure his cultivation didn’t stall while he was focused on the world around him. That was it.

Nevertheless, Scarlet Fox accepted his words with nothing but a nod.

"I’ll be looking forward to your return."

Atlas turned to her with a grin.

"You should. This time, I can’t offer you much in terms of payment, but I’ll be sure to come prepared next time."

"Oh? You brought payment? I thought you were expecting my services for free, though?"

"Well, I didn’t say that wasn’t true."

The smile that spread to his eyes was more than visible enough through his mask as he put the Cyclopes jade slip away and pulled a new one out of his spatial ring.

"I gathered this along the way. It’s all the information I possess that you likely don’t know. I believe it will be useful to you."

When they first met, he used gold as payment. The current Scarlet Fox didn’t need gold at all. She was more than able to support herself through the business she built. Treasures and artifacts were no different.

Then, what about information?

Seeing the scale of Gaia’s Compass, Atlas doubted she needed any help with that either, but it was really all he could give her.

The information was mainly about experiences and encounters he had, along with some facts about the Tower Floors that he knew due to living in the Mortal Realm in his past life.

There were locations he knew of that others didn’t know about. There were hidden treasures and vaults he knew in the past that he could almost guarantee hadn’t been found.

"As long as an Immortal hasn’t entered the lower floors, at least half of this information will be true."

He trusted in the strengths and security measures of those who existed in his era, the people he once called his peers.

Scarlet Fox looked at the jade slip with a raised eyebrow before taking it and thanking him.

"If you’re so confident, then I really will be looking forward to your next visit."

The two young geniuses said their farewells not long after. Scarlet Fox offered Atlas a place to stay, but he declined. He didn’t plan to stay in Minora for much longer.

The only thing he took from her was the new token he needed to enter and exit Gaia’s Compass.

Atlas left the building and left the city itself. He traveled relatively far away until he found a secluded area of forest. When he arrived, he found a place for himself and pulled out a communication talisman.

Even the paper had a different feel than the talisman paper used on the lower floors. The qi that resonated with his own and formed a connection through the talisman was nothing short of unfathomable.

’She really is someone I can’t reach.’

To create such an intangible sense of oppression with nothing more than some qi imbued in talisman paper was preposterous, wasn’t it?

But, of the people Atlas knew with such strength, she was the one who evoked the least fear from him.

That was why he felt so secure contacting her to ask for a favor even after not seeing her for so long.

Communication talismans worked by holding an individual’s qi and connecting it back to them when foreign qi came in contact with it. The connection was weak and weakened further with distance, but it was still strong enough to transmit words and voices.

There was a visceral feeling that came with the connection of a communication talisman. When it was a matter of people with similar cultivation, that feeling was just a slight jolt. When the communication talisman established a connection this time, however, Atlas felt a current running through his entire body.

Of course, the only other person who’d caused such a scenario was Alaric.

"Atlas. I didn’t expect to be hearing from you."

A smooth voice came from the other side. She didn’t voice much joy, but he could feel the slight emotion in her words. Her voice wasn’t as carefree or jovial as it was when they were together, but she didn’t sound weary.

"I wish I could contact you more frequently, but life has been a bit absurd, you see."

The person on the other side of the line was a woman so beautiful that she made Immortals bow. She was a woman that nobody dared to approach even as she stood and used a communication talisman in the midst of an ongoing battle.

"Quit your flattery," she said with a smile, swiping her hand out.

BOOOOOOM!

Space shattered into a million pieces. A gash in its fabric spread through the world, swallowing all enemies it came across.

"I told you I would be busy for some time, and I expect no different from you if you wish to conquer this Tower. If you’re contacting me now… it must be because you need something, no?"

Atlas smiled wryly.

"That was indeed my original intention, but I have no desire for that to be the only purpose of this exchange."

Essentially, he wanted to approach the subject slowly so it didn’t seem like he only wanted to talk to her because he needed something.

That kind of thoughtfulness was naive in a way that Aeon appreciated. It made her smile even in this field of blood, so she didn’t mind. The thought was enough.

"Don’t talk randomly and just spill it. You also know that I don’t like to beat around the bush."

Did she expect him to call her for ordinary conversations?

Of course not!

She had goodwill towards him, but they lived in entirely different worlds. There wasn’t space for them to communicate so casually.

Rather, she preferred if it was this way, because it meant that he thought of her as someone trustworthy. Plus, if she could help him, it would be a good opportunity to start paying off her debt.

Atlas didn’t know about her thoughts, but he could at least guess a part of them. As such, he didn’t hold back.

"I need to find a way to Svartal."

BANG!

Aeon slammed her leg into the ground and ruptured the earth. Waves of pitch-black qi rose from below and slashed the surroundings and those within them into dust. As she went to continue her attack, she suddenly froze, registering the words that entered her ears.

"Can you say that one more time?"

She asked for confirmation, but Atlas had unfortunate news for her.

"I need to find a way to Svartal."

She had not heard him wrong.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The sounds of explosions and the yelling of a man who seemed more than just slightly enraged at Aeon resounded around her, but she only isolated space and forced that man to rot in a cloud of his own chaotic qi.

He wasn’t important right now, nor was anyone else in the army she faced alone.

No, what was important was the preposterous sentence that had just been uttered by a being so small that even these enemies she slaughtered mindlessly could crush him into dust with a breath.

This was really only the second time they’d spoken.

However, Aeon already had the impression that Atlas was a man who liked to say and do the most mind-boggling things imaginable.

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