Tower of Heaven

"You should have made more preparations if you were going to challenge me."

Atlas spoke arrogant words as he charged in. Once he realized that the bone armor in the rest of Cain's body was so weak, he didn't need to worry about losing any more.

He charged and whipped the chains in his hands. They slammed into the dirt and kicked up a storm of debris.

[Flame Enchantment]

It was a concept of the concept of emberforging in order to wield fire more skillfully in precise scenarios, but when it was used as part of the concept of everburn, it became a destructive technique that allowed one to imbue weapons with the concepts of fire.

'If I follow the path of my past life as well…'

Atlas' qi acted so naturally that he almost didn't have to control it. The chains began to steam before turning a bright orange-red color.

They were essentially made of liquid metal and only held together by qi. As Atlas swung the chains once more, all of that heat and power was sent directly into Cain's body.

Bang!

He was thrown back and forced to do a full flip in the air to stabilize himself.

"Tch."

He clicked his tongue. Atlas thought he'd found a weakness in his body, but he was wrong. In fact, this body was created to regenerate at a rate faster than it could be broken, so the fragility of his limbs didn't need to be considered.

However, in response to what he thought was a weakness, Atlas took an extreme approach. He used a great degree of heat as his main offensive power.

No matter how many times the bone armor shattered, it would always regenerate.

But if it was melted into nothingness instead…

Cain observed Atlas' next approach.

[Twin Serpents' Dance]

The glowing chains twisted around each other in a beautiful yet deadly dance that trapped Cain in inevitability.

Astral Energy was weak against Spiritual Energy in the Mortal Realms specifically because it couldn't be released outside of the body properly. It was impossible to fight someone at range, which became an obvious weakness of all body cultivators.

But Astral Energy had its benefits as well. Atlas hadn't learned to wield it properly yet, but Cain was someone who specialized in its study.

He saw those chains approaching in such a way that he couldn't completely predict their movement, but he didn't need to.

He closed his eyes and grinned.

Whoosh!

The wind brushed past his face. The chains arrived in front of him and surrounded him as they attacked.

In that moment, the heat on his face and the wind were enough to guide the instincts he'd trained so well. Astral Energy flowed through his blood and guided his every movement with extreme precision.

It all happened in an instant.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The chains whipped in a frenzy and attacked multiple times before they lost their momentum. The storm of slashes and whips should have been unavoidable, but Cain's body morphed impossibly and found a path.

His waist contorted into a strange curve as he avoided an attack. His head snapped back entirely into a position it should have never been able to reach. His arms and legs seemed to grow and shrink in size.

Cain almost stood entirely still within the flurry. The rapid and unusual contortions of his body made him look like he was being possessed by an evil spirit, but in the process, it also miraculously left him unharmed.

Astral Energy bolstered his every move. His calves bulged as he launched himself forward.

With his attack failing, Atlas had practically delivered himself to him.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Had Atlas ever seen something move so fast in this life?

His eyes widened in surprise. This kind of speed was uncharacteristic of a mortal cultivator even at the higher realms.

A frenzy of blades approached his face at an incredible rate. With every slash, they tore the ground and surrounding foliage to shreds. And, with every slash, another drop of blood was sent flying into the air.

[Intrinsic Foresight]

Atlas had no choice but to slow down the world. He repeatedly backed up, keeping his injuries to only minor wounds that [Regeneration] could heal in seconds, but he was truly trapped.

If he stopped retreating to counter, his body would be sliced into ten pieces evenly. If he retreated too fast, he gave Cain the chance to launch a bigger attack.

'Because throughout this encounter, he hasn't used any martial techniques. He is using only the pure gifts of his body.'

That was the kind of game Cain was playing.

It was a game Atlas could learn a lot from.

He withdrew the chain sickles as they were merely weighing him down when they were fighting in such close proximity.

In the slowed time, in the black and grey world where Atlas could clearly see the wide and wild smile on Cain's face, he focused all of his perceptive abilities on those two blades.

'A horizontal cut from the right, followed by another forward slash from the same blade. At the same time, the left blade is mirroring the pattern and creating infinite variations.'

He could see them properly. His own speed matched their movement just barely in this world. When they stood eye to eye, Atlas was able to develop a movement.

A flowing river would always keep flowing. Even if a boulder was placed to block its flow, through the tests of time, that boulder would eventually be worn down to nothing so the river could flow once more.

This was the kind of appearance Atlas' body had in this moment. Very subtly, his qi changed into that of water. His movements became less bold and brazen and held a new reserved sort of calculation.

He found the flow. As if he were a boy with his master looking at a mountain river and learning the concepts of water for the first time, he felt like he truly grasped its flow.

He became one with it.

His everything became like water, and the scene of battle changed. There was no more blood being spilled, as the blades lost their ability to strike their target.

Cain's eyes narrowed slightly as he changed his attack patterns and made them even more indiscernible.

He achieved the results he desired at first, but they were not consistent. The shallow cuts he drove into Atlas' skin remained shallow until they stopped appearing altogether.

Once again, he'd adapted. Like water, he had become impossible to cut.

The entire time, he was watching and waiting. Like a cheetah, he was crouched and awaiting the moment his prey let down its guard.

He watched and waited until that moment came. It was a single moment as Cain changed his attack pattern when he left himself open. He assumed that Atlas was too busy dodging the incoming blades to notice it, but he was wrong.

The moment he saw the opportunity, his body pushed forward. He didn't launch any sort of proper attack.

No, using his shoulder, he slammed straight into Cain's chest and sent him stumbling back in confusion.

His qi went through that subtle change a second time. His aura became hot and hostile, and as it appeared in reality, it became a force of death.

[Flame Emperor's Judgement]

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