Tower of Heaven

The chimera beast was being faced with seven cultivators that were either equally as strong as it or just slightly weaker. It naturally was not going to win.

Seeing their strength, Atlas was confident that they would have been able to handle it themselves if they were given another year to improve.

'This is a Tier 6 beast. In other words, it is similar to a Law Sea Realm cultivator.'

It was also unintelligent. It operated on instinct alone and only had enough intelligence to know that it had to protect the treasure until it could take it. If it were any smarter, it would have chased down anyone who knew about this clearing and killed them.

'The Tier System applies to all beasts that have bloodlines below Emperor Grade, as the most intelligence they will ever have is still less than the average sentient being.'

Beasts with bloodlines above Emperor Grade were those with human forms and intelligence that was equivalent or superior to humans. They used the same cultivation systems as all other sentient beings.

As for a bloodline like Artemia's…

Well, the Azure Dragon Bloodline that was backed by the presence of Azure Dragon Gods and Divine Beasts was nothing short of a Celestial Grade Bloodline, the highest possible tier.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Atlas skillfully dodged the beast's attacks.

'This beast is quite strong, and judging by the simplicity of its attacks, it must be young. To reach Tier 6 so rapidly…its bloodline must be of the Royal Grade.'

It was directly below the Emperor Grade that granted sentience. In other words…

'...this chimera has some tricks of its own.'

Suddenly, Atlas shouted out.

"Jump!"

Without a thought, all six of those who called him here jumped. Only the two who were close to the beast needed to do so, but this was fine as well.

When the three people in the beast's vicinity jumped into the air, it abruptly moved its claws in a low sweeping motion.

Qi had been flowing through its every movement until now, but this was the first time it directly utilized the energy.

Its claws were coated with it, and when its slash was completed, thick black lines of energy materialized where its claws had passed.

It looked like nothing more than a light trail that faded as the attacking group landed on the ground, but they all knew otherwise.

The sharpness they felt below them in that moment was more than enough to sever their legs.

"It is using qi, which means it is getting desperate. Keep pushing, but watch its movements carefully!"

Atlas gave out orders as he charged in. Since it had used a large attack, this was obviously an opportunity.

Before the beast could regain its balance, Atlas charged in and slammed his body into it. A huge wave of flame qi accompanied his movements, putting even more pressure on the beast.

[Guriyatra's Life Seed]

With one paw still in the air, it could not steady itself. It was forced to stumble away while Atlas prepared his next attack.

In those few seconds it took him to prepare its qi, Jason and Farrah jumped in. With his sword, Jason slashed at the beast's legs to impede its mobility. From the other side, Farrah thrusted her spear at its vital points to inflict as much damage as she could.

From the backline, the two flame practitioners made their move as well.

Voom!

A flame spear slammed into the beast's face. It did not pierce it, but it burned its nose and mouth. An attack that looked like a swarm of flame vipers cut towards the beast and latched onto it, burning its fur and skin.

They did considerable damage, and their efforts forced the beast to remain in its dazed state.

However, in the end, the four of them knew that they were only present as support.

'They called me because of the Fist of the Mountain King.'

That was the attack they believed had the power to kill the beast. Atlas was confident that he could also kill it using other techniques, but it was a good time to test his theory.

'If this realm is helpful to the technique's development, then I will find out now.'

With their stalling, Altas had more than enough time to prepare himself.

He looked at Nadia, who stood behind them. She frowned when she noticed him, but she understood his eyes perfectly.

She was only frowning because she wasn't sure if her ability was enough to do what he wanted.

With no other choice, she spread her hands and created several barriers that covered herself, the treasure chest, and everyone else other than Atlas. As she poured all of her qi into those barriers, strengthening them as much as possible, he shot forward.

His fist was pulled back like a bowstring packed with unimaginable strength. He was separated from the beast by over ten feet, but he crossed the distance in two steps.

That was when the power in his fist was released.

He approached the beast from his side, knowing that he would shatter all of its organs with this fist. It looked at him with wide eyes, clearly seeing his movements. As Jason and Farrah had retreated in preparation for the Fist of the Mountain King, it had the chance to jump up and move so Atlas at least didn't kill it in one strike.

He noticed this slight movement, but he didn't care. The beast couldn't move far enough for it to matter.

After all, in its current position, the treasure chest was directly behind it.

Atlas reached his target and pushed his fist out like it was fate.

He did not strike near its front leg like he wanted, but closer to the thigh of its hind leg.

[Eight Calamities: Fist of the Mountain King]

The power of the technique was shown regardless.

Booooom!

The ground was torn to pieces. The treasure chest had a weaker barrier around it than the rest of the group, so it shattered almost immediately. Luckily, since the chest was able to avoid the initial impact force, it was able to survive the aftermath.

The barriers on the six people watching the scene were much stronger, but even they flapped in the wind like they were made of cloth. The people being protected inside were forced to use their own qi protections as well in order to avoid the powerful residual impact that made it past Nadia's efforts.

The boulders surrounding the clearing were shattered into dust. They crumbled down as the beast was thrown back and fell onto its body, burying it under a mound of rubble.

The rubble moved like the beast was trying to stand up, but nothing came out of it.

'Its back legs at the very least were destroyed by my attack. It will not be able to stand up even if it is alive.'

And, with Guriyatra's Life Seed still eating away at its life force, it was bound to die under that rubble if nothing else was done.

Whether it was an act of mercy or because he wanted its corpse, Atlas unearthed it from the rubble.

He looked into the weak eyes that were already looking back at him when he pulled the chunk of stone off of its head.

Despite being in the weakest position it had ever experienced since birth, the beast bared its teeth and growled.

Atlas couldn't help but smile.

"Until the end, you wish to fight. If nothing else, I can respect your spirit."

As if it understood his words, the beast slowly closed its eyes. Without saying anything else, Atlas dug a blade into its neck and ended its life.

Once its life force had completely drained away, he collected it in his spatial ring and turned around to face the rest of the group.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"That has been taken care of," he said.

As they watched nervously, he smiled and shook his head.

"Isn't it about time you see what you did all of this work for?"