Tower of Heaven

This was a story that took place two years in the future. It took so long for Atlas to discover water without a teacher.

He couldn't be blamed for his slow speed. It was his first time trying to comprehend another Dao. It was also the one that contradicted and complimented his own Dao the most, so it was only natural for the process to be difficult.

Nevertheless, enough hours spent meditating and enough knowledge gained from the libraries created a favorable situation.

One couldn't forget that Atlas had a supreme treasure of some sort. It didn't interfere much, but when events that pertained to it took place, it always reared its head.

The Heavenly Unification Law gave him the key, and he was left to open the door by himself.

Sitting alone in a cave separate from society, Atlas made the final leap.

'The comprehensions I have gained about the Dao of Water have been assorted, pertaining to many different concepts. However, what I need is only one of them. This is unlike the Dao of Fire where I was able to casually choose and infuse a concept into my dantian. If I do not connect to the Dao properly, my progress will be hindered again.'

Atlas was seeking perfection in the grand plan of the future that he had in his head. The Concept of Flexibility became vital to those plans, so he could not lose it here.

'Then, the flexibility of water, its ability to become anything it wishes to be.'

Water was a true free-flowing force. Even when its flow was contained and controlled, it always had ways to escape.

Water was able to attack people with such ferocity that it killed hundreds of thousands in mere hours, but it was also the vital energy that was needed by all mortal beings in order to survive.

It was a mere elemental Dao, no different from fire or earth. However, its connection to the concepts of Life itself was too strong for it to be regarded as anything ordinary.

As Atlas gathered the comprehensions in his mind and turned them into a comprehensive understanding of the Dao of Water, the sky above him clouded over.

Thunder rumbled through the Heavens and lightning struck periodically around the cave. Those who were nearby were either drawn to the clouds' fluctuations or driven away by their terrifying aura.

Atlas, completely unaware of their gathering, continued meditating peacefully.

'Water, it is a great harmonizer that is able to bring equality to many things. It is a deadly force that can kill. It is a healing force of Life. It is everything that is represented by its other six concepts. Yet, even those concepts are an example of the Dao of Water's flexibility.'

There was a surge in his dantian as the concept responded to his call. The waters in a fifty-meter radius did the same. They rippled violently, being pulled by a gravitational force that seemed to originate from the most random location of all.

Atlas understood enough about the Dao. He felt his mind connecting with the concept hidden inside of it. The Heavens were responding not because of this connection, but because of its implications.

Rumble!

As the clouds became fiercer, Atlas' dantian changed. A shimmering blue vine emerged within, wrapping around the red flame vine that already existed and becoming its other half.

"Khhh…!"

Atlas gritted his teeth, disallowing his concentration from falling. Fire and Water could exist harmoniously, but that was only if one could control them properly. Fire, as an element known for its rebellious nature, did not take kindly to the sudden invasion of its enemy.

It caused a scene within Atlas' dantian, thrashing about and slamming into its boundaries. Blood pooled in Atlas' mouth as he took more and more damage, but he did not falter.

All the way, he continued to focus on his qi and on the water vine. He made it grow and grow and grow until it matched the strength of the fire vine, symbolizing the full integration of water into Atlas' abilities.

Of course, he did not have any way to mobilize the water outside of merely creating its qi in the real world, but finding those techniques was a matter for a different time.

Now that Atlas had the water vine, it was the perfect time to pivot into multiple different things.

Firstly, Atlas forced the flame vine to calm down. Using the flexible properties of water, he tangled the water vine around the flame vine's body and prevented it from moving. His qi then pressed down on it, suppressing it and reminding it who its master was.

Once the flame vine started to submit, he took the opportunity and connected to it, changing it from the inside.

'This vine was founded on the concept of superheat. I was unable to change it safely before, but with the water vine suppressing the flame vine, it is a different story.'

Atlas could now strip the flame vine of its concept of superheat and reimbue it with the concept of everburn, completing its form. With this, his separation from his past life was completed.

The fire's color turned redder and redder until it was almost a shade of pinkish white. The flames of Everburn, once at their peak, were the most harmlessly appearing yet deadly flames of them all.

'Everburn and Flexibility…'

These were the first two concepts in Atlas' arsenal. He could feel that they were still shallow, but all that mattered was the fact that they were there, sitting stably in his dantian.

'I must not be hasty with my cultivation after this. Once they have grown to a sufficient level, I can move on to other Daos.'

He decided that the Dao of Wood would have to wait longer than he had originally planned, but it was fine.

It was fine because Atlas was confident in the growth he'd experience in this moment.

The Concept of Flexibility and the Dao of Water had become part of his strength. The Concept of Everburn now represented his Dao of Fire.

With the two vines together, Atlas felt that pull.

Finally, he was not being limited anymore.

The qi in the air around him was abruptly unsettled.

The black hole in Atlas' glabella activated, rapidly sucking in the ambient energy. His dantian was changing at last, changing and improving to become one step closer to immortality.

The Earth Sage Realm. The breakthrough to this stage was always considered important, but it was never explained why.

Well, to put it simply, the cultivation of a mortal was like that. At the World Core Realm, the dantian became a world of its own. The naming of the cultivation stages wasn't just for show.

The Earth Sage Realm was the first step to the creation of that world. It was the moment when a cultivator laid the earth down in their dantian.

And as he'd finally met all of the requirements that the Heavenly Unification Law asked of him, Atlas was also now crossing that bridge.