Tower of Heaven

Atlas' dantian looked strange when compared to that of an ordinary Core Formation Realm cultivator, but the process of breaking through was no different.

Instead of a core, Atlas had two vines surrounded by a qi mist that represented his supply. In order for a breakthrough to occur, the qi mist in the dantian had to be packed enough to overflow, providing the cultivator with enough energy to improve the dantian itself.

Atlas had this much qi. He always had it from the moment he broke through to the Core Formation Realm. The flame vine sucked in so much qi upon its creation that it left his dantian overfilled.

As he used his qi and replenished it, this state was relatively maintained until now. With the creation of the water vine and the same influx of energy, Atlas did not need to wait for anything else.

He focused on his dantian and imagined it in his mind, taking control over the qi mist. Slowly but surely, he circulated it within his dantian and created a flow. The qi mist revolved around the twin vines, gradually increasing in speed.

The boundaries of Atlas' dantian were pressured greatly. Due to the pressure inside, those walls expanded and expanded as they were forced to become larger.

The dantian space widening was only a temporary effect at first, but the revolving of the qi inside acted like a mechanism that forced that shape to hold.

'Maintain it.'

In order to become a Sage, it wasn't necessary to entirely shatter the dantian. However, the dangers that were avoided were only replaced.

Atlas had to maintain the revolution of his qi at a specific speed until his dantian walls were completely molded. Only then could he continue with his breakthrough.

This was the first step that held many people back. If the revolution dropped in speed or became too fast, the walls would either return to their original shape or break down entirely. Both options led to a cultivator being crippled indefinitely.

Aware of the dangers, Atlas rid his mind of any and all thoughts, focusing only on the breakthrough.

Minutes turned into hours and time became irrelevant in his mind by the time he felt his dantian walls settle into place. Without even taking the time to breathe a sigh of relief, Atlas moved on to the next step.

The rapidly moving qi had reached a state where it was almost liquid. The mist was packed into a dense layer of qi that moved as one. Atlas slowly used his Will to compress the ring of qi, bringing it closer to the core.

Those first few steps were taken slowly. Atlas pulled the qi away from the walls while paying special attention to its movement. The scene in his mind was truly spectacular. When he entered his dantian, everything within scaled immensely.

The two vines were tens of feet tall. The qi mist was like a storm raging about with the intent to destroy everything in its path.

All of that destructive force was in his control, and all of it needed to be tamed.

The qi was compressed and compressed and compressed. It formed a tight ring around the vines and spread its influence across the entire bottom half of the dantian space.

'Okay.'

Thus far, it was perfect. The remaining steps were much calmer.

Atlas loosened his control over time and let the qi disperse itself into the bottom half of his dantian. As the nearly liquified energy settled, it thickened and took on the properties of earth.

The dantian separated into two halves, one filled with solidified qi and the other remaining empty. Any excess qi mist settled into that empty space, and by all intents and purposes, that should have been the end of Atlas' breakthrough.

But, of course, things weren't so simple for him.

The moment the earth was created, the twin vines retreated into the ground, boring holes for themselves in the earth. Atlas gritted his teeth as his dantian was strained, but he made no moves to interject. At this point, he already understood the workings of his treasure.

Where the vines once stood, a twin sapling appeared. It glowed with hues of red and blue, surrounded by an aura of mystery that even Atlas couldn't penetrate.

The main bodies of the vines continued to move around in the earth of his dantian as if trying to find a comfortable position, but the discomfort caused by their movements was overshadowed quite rapidly.

After all, the Heavenly Unification Law that Atlas practiced had one more effect outside of its actions in his dantian.

First it was his eyes, then it was his meridians and flesh. The order was similar to the Heavenly Path, so Atlas knew what to expect next.

He gritted his teeth in preparation and accepted it when it came.

All at once, every bone in his body shattered into hundreds of pieces.

"ARGH!"

Atlas couldn't hold his groan of pain. In that instant, his mind experienced so much shock that he almost instantly lost consciousness. Holding onto consciousness by the smallest thread, Atlas summoned qi to his fingertips.

Voom!

The power of an Earth Sage was already his. The plumes of flame he summoned were small, yet burned brightly enough to illuminate and heat the entire cave.

Nevertheless, Atlas didn't summon the flames because he was cold. The bones in his body reformed within some seconds, but he knew they were going to shatter again the instant they were fully healed.

Before that happened, Atlas slammed his hand into his own thigh, burning himself with his flames.

Crack!

With a guttural sound, his bones shattered again. The same mental impact struck him, but his mind was focused on a separate pain. The searing of his skin, the burnt smell of his flesh, he focused on these and just barely kept himself conscious.

It was a torturous process.

His bones shattered and reformed, shattered and reformed. It happened almost ten times before they settled into place and returned to normalcy.

Atlas wanted to celebrate his breakthrough. Without a doubt, the bone reformation that just occurred had a similar effect to undergoing Bone Forging. He was much, much stronger to the point where he was incomparable to his previous self.

Unfortunately, he didn't have that liberty. The moment his mind gained assurance that the torturous cultivation session was over, it collapsed.

Atlas' body fell lifelessly to the floor. It would be several hours at the very least before his eyes saw light again. Discover stories at m,v l'e|m-p y r

He was unaware of it, but his actions caused a relatively large scene outside. As the vines in his dantian moved, Heavenly Lightning struck the mountain above him. If he was able to leave the cave after finishing his cultivation, he would have noticed that the mountain peak no longer existed.

It was flattened by the Heavens in an attempt to reach him.

"Is this the one who caused such troubles?"

A voice appeared in the cavern just moments after Atlas collapsed, but strangely enough, there was not a second person inside.

"Hmm…his body is not harmed, but this environment will not do."

The voice commented on his situation matter-of-factly as if it was speaking to a third person.

"Bring him back to the sanctum. I would like to see him myself."

The ones who responded were not living beings, but the waters themselves.

Atlas' body was moved out of the cave and taken to a place unknown.

Only, he would not know this until some time later.