Tower of Heaven

Three hours passed in a flash.

There was a lot to see in the Phoenix Palace, and Feng Yaohua was a great guide. After their interaction with Feng Jiahui, Feng Qingru also started to open up.

It looked like she was trying to show him that Feng Jiahui didn't represent the entire Feng Clan. He appreciated the sentiment, so he was more than happy to engage in conversation with her.

The two phoenixes led him everywhere, and when their tour came to its true end, they stood in front of that place three hours later.

"I guess this is a 'best for last' moment," Feng Yaohua said with a smile.

"Here is our Flame Chalice Arena. It is another sacred place of the ancestors, only, those who built this place were phoenixes who craved war."

He could tell by its exterior construction alone. The massive coliseum was built with sharp edges and orderly symmetry that made it reminiscent of a place where army men would go to train.

And, as Feng Yaohua explained its history, he learned that it was exactly that kind of place.

During the very first years of the Tower, when the Feng Clan was forced to completely shift into a warmongering clan in order to survive, this was where they held the death battles that allowed them to establish themselves as a force to be reckoned with.

It was through these same battles that they established friendships with the other Divine Beast Clans. The Gods watched on from above and supported them in the creation of Divine Sanctuary, and ever since then, this arena had been used to hold friendly exchanges with a multitude of forces.

Really, the Tatsuyas were the only ones who hadn't seen this arena in a century.

When they walked into the main entrance, they quickly moved through the public areas meant for guests amidst the gazes of many phoenixes. The news of the combat circuit had spread rapidly through the palace, so the number of people who had come to watch was not small.

Nevertheless, eventually, Atlas' group entered a tunnel and found their way to the fighter areas.

"There are rooms here that are nicer than most inns. You'll be provided any food or amenities you need while you stay here, but you will have to rest and recuperate here for the length of the challenge. People used to run away a lot, so it was decided that this is more convenient."

Feng Yaohua opened the door to one of said rooms, proving that her words were not lies. It really did look like a suite made for a king. If it weren't underground and surrounded by dimly lit corridors, one would really believe that one was in a high-value establishment.

"We'll be doing the same, of course, in a different hallway. So, you don't need to feel like you're being unfairly treated. As long as we're called 'challengers,' then regardless of which side we are on, we will be contained to this arena until we are defeated."

Atlas nodded.

'It will be troublesome to meet with the envoy from Alkatiya if I am trapped here… Well, if they are truly sincere about cooperation, they will understand.'

After all, he was also forced into this situation, so nobody could blame him for being unavailable.

As he entertained his thoughts, Feng Yaohua allowed him to explore his room.

"Someone will come get you when it's time for you to go out. Until then, you can do whatever you want."

She smiled, reaching her hand out.

"Next time we meet, we'll be opponents. Even though I am grateful for your life-saving grace, I won't go easy on you."

Atlas smiled, grabbing her hand and shaking it.

"I would expect nothing less from the great geniuses of the Feng Clan."

Feng Qingru quickly bid her goodbyes as well before the two geniuses retreated down the hall.

After they'd left, Atlas closed the door to his room, embracing these few minutes of privacy that he had.

'Everything is moving fast. I only just arrived, yet I already have friends and enemies in the clan.'

He thought to himself, moving to one of the cushioned chairs in the room that he could use for cultivation.

'If there are only a few minutes remaining before I am called, then there is no need to try to spend this time meaningfully.'

He really only planned to calm his mind completely and enter the perfect state before the combat circuit.

His mind was already calm, but as he went over his martial forms in his mind, it calmed even further.

Just imagining combat put his qi in a state of circulation as it prepared for the moment when it needed to be unleashed.

He could not imagine what the strength of a phoenix looked like, but he could imagine their flames well. He had seen them several times since he entered this palace, and he had been bathed in them in the Trial of Fire.

Those warm and gentle flames of rebirth were only warm and gentle to those who could tame them. Atlas put himself in the shoes of a man who had never had a connection with fire. He approached those same flames as a stranger that they could not recognize.

And even though everything was nothing more than a mental recreation, he could vividly feel the searing pain of his body being incinerated.

Knock! Knock!

His eyes opened to the sound of knocking on the door.

"Sir Guest, are you there? The festivities will begin shortly. Your presence is being requested in the arena."

A kind and quiet voice was calling him in a tone that he almost wasn't able to hear.

'Hmm…'

He still remembered what those flames felt like. He felt like he was prepared for what was to come.

Opening the door, his eyes met with those of a small girl roughly half his height. She had the same red hair as the other phoenixes, but her chubby cheeks and half-complete human form that was still mixed with several phoenix-like elements marked her as someone much younger than the rest of those he'd met.

'If she still hasn't completed her human form, then she must be no more than a baby in phoenix terms.'

The girl bowed when she saw him and immediately began rushing him in a certain direction.

'Feng Yaohua said that every True Phoenix born is treated with utmost importance. In most cases, the Feng Clan can arrive before any noticeable phenomenon attracts wandering cultivators, however, in the case that they were too late…'

This girl was an example.

Even though she was a phoenix who represented life and vitality, she had a huge scar running down her face that refused to ever heal.

'To give a phoenix an incurable wound is an incredibly gruesome feat. When one sees things like this on multiple occasions, over and over again, perhaps it is impossible to not view the outside world with hostility.'

Atlas sighed to himself. The Tower's conflicts ran deep, didn't they?

Thinking such a thing, he followed the girl until they reached a long corridor that opened to a great wave of light. She looked up at him, then down the corridor, before pointing her arms in that direction and bowing her head.

Atlas smiled slightly.

"Thank you for your guidance."

As he was so kindly instructed, he walked down the corridor and arrived at his final destination.

In the stands all around, he saw phoenixes blazing with fighting spirit. In front of him stood the same Elder that greeted him in the city. All of their attention was on him.

"...all of you must have already heard of him, but this must be your first time seeing him in person."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The Elder, who was in the middle of speaking, reached the end of her speech as he arrived next to her.

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"This is Atlas Vaun. Starting today, his job is to defeat thirty-three of our most talented geniuses."

With one sentence, the fighting spirit in the crowd multiplied.

The Elder glanced at him with a sly smile on herself before looking back at her own disciples.

"...and it is the job of all of you to show you that the Feng Clan isn't so easy to dominate."

It was as if she'd dropped a bomb filled with aura of the most extreme caliber directly on the arena floor.

Perhaps it was only in this moment that Atlas finally realized just how much this combat circuit meant to the ones who'd be facing him.