Tower of Heaven

Chapter 228 Siege [3]

It didn't take Atlas more than half an hour to slaughter the group of Cosmic Dragons. No matter how much talent they had, they were all at the Core Formation Realm at most. They could not stand against his power.

The Dao of Water cut them into pieces and made their attacks bounce off of the enemy as if they were made of rubber.

The Dao of Wood stole their life force and made it impossible for them to fight for longer periods of time.

The Dao of Fire incinerated them and left them without complete corpses.

And, just subtly, even the Earth vibrated as Atlas' control over it started to manifest.

Anyone who looked at the scene without understanding it would be forced to believe that a group of cultivators attacked them. And, unfortunately, none of the qi signatures in that group had anything to do with the clans of Divine Sanctuary.

By the time the sun came over the horizon, the five Cosmic Dragons who were not originally in the camp, including Dragonik, had all been slaughtered. When the sun found its way properly into its position in the sky, that pile of corpses was left alone. The person who created it was no longer present.

Atlas left the scene without looking back.

'They will likely be found soon enough. There is no doubt that the majority of them have their lives attached to Soul Tokens. Their clans are certainly already sending people to assess the situation.'

This kind of mass-scale attack would surely be perceived as a move from the Azure Dragon Clan. If the people of the Cosmic Dragon Clans were allowed to find the corpses first, Atlas wouldn't put it past them to fabricate the evidence.

For that reason, Atlas caused quite a scene when he was fighting. Even as he left the place, he sensed the auras of several curious cultivators approaching.

'There is no doubt that they will be on the Tower Forums soon. The Cosmic Dragon Clans will be unable to fabricate the information after that.'

One of the most useful tools of the modern world that Atlas had been completely ignoring, the Tower Forums.

It was a place where any and all Ascenders could share information about any and all things. The only exceptions were those things the Tower itself banned.

No influence or Society, whether Mortal, Immortal, or Godly, could exert pressure on the Tower Forum. And, as Ascenders could choose new titles while using it, there was a guarantee of anonymity whenever it was needed.

The amount of information being shared on these forums was truly absurd. By learning how to maneuver them, Atlas was able to learn a lot more than he ever knew before. The books he read in the Tatsuya Clan palace couldn't compete.

Because the forums existed, something like this was possible. Without doing anything in particular, Atlas was able to absolutely guarantee that this event would not benefit the Cosmic Dragons in any way.

It only looked like their geniuses found themselves in a conflict with other cultivators on the 11th Floor and lost. Their reputation was not helped, but damaged.

'If I am assuming that my thoughts about their plans are correct, then this will make it impossible for them to publicly reveal that Aria is gone. They cannot act on it or say anything about it until the Azure Dragons speak on it, which gives us the advantage.'

Atlas trusted Alaric to use the situation perfectly to his advantage.

'And if the old man is too stupid to do it, then Mireiya will definitely do it for him.'

No matter how airheaded Alaric was, he had a reliable wife who could take care of the important matters.

'Putting that aside…'

Attacking the Cosmic Dragons was a job for the Heavenly Dragons. Despite working towards the same goal, Atlas' actions were actually more selfish in a sense.

He had to work towards the betterment of himself and his Society. That was his goal.

And, for that, Atlas spent two days traveling until he arrived at the Dusk base.

'It is a very public location.'

It sat in the middle of one of the four great cities of the 11th Floor, Black Tortoise City. It was mainly used for the recruitment of new Ascenders, so of course it was a very public location.

'Most of the people inside are not members of Dusk, but new Ascenders who have only just cleared the Tutorial.'

Unlike him, most new Ascenders actually strived to join Societies when they first entered the Tower.

'I will attack when night falls.'

It was best that way. He took some days to scout the location, and he found that the Dusk members never left the premises. It seemed that there was a dormitory inside the building for them.

'Either that is the case, or they are teleporting away from the base every night.'

It seemed improbable, but it wasn't. After all, even Scarlet Fox spent her days using arrays to move all throughout the Tower uninhibited.

'The Forums have been buzzing as of late.'

Atlas didn't forget to check the Forums to see what kind of reaction people were having to the Cosmic Dragon corpses. For the most part, people did not offer much sympathy.

Cultivators were like that. When they saw people die in situations like these, rather than feeling the loss of great geniuses, they only felt that those who died were weak.

All of them cleared the 11th Floor. All of them had faced countless trials in this Tower that hardened their spirits. They were not going to feel anything like sympathy for people who were not a part of their own lives.

However, that same indifference made them value the people close to them even more. Unlike the reactions of the public, other Cosmic Dragons were being much more violent.

They demanded the capture of the people who killed their geniuses and raged at the thought that they were weaker than anyone else. The Elders of their clans quickly hushed them, but some of those comments still appeared.

Atlas was able to properly gauge how that situation was progressing as he focused on his own.

And focus he did.

When night fell, as he planned, he concealed himself and crept into the Dusk recruitment center. The doors were locked shut through formations that would alert several people if they were disturbed, but that kind of defense meant nothing in front of Atlas.

'Any and all formations become meaningless in front of the Formation Spark.'

His qi interacted with the formation. He placed a single finger on the doors, and it melted into their surface like it was made of clay. As he moved his arm, the formation itself glowed in a slight white hue as it was dismantled.

Of course, this kind of dismantling was only temporary. By the time Atlas left this place, the formation would look untouched.

It would be quite confusing when those who came later were trying to understand how this base was destroyed.

Looking around, Atlas confirmed that he was the only person present. His spiritual sense spread carefully until he located a very specific corner of the building.

'Tch.'

It was a shame, but that was undoubtedly a teleportation array.

'It looks like there will be no deaths in this event.'

He wanted to get his hands dirty, but this was fine too.

After all, this attack was merely "provocation."

The true siege had yet to begin.