Tower of Heaven

'Her background is not simple.' Atlas thought to himself. He had to wonder what kind of peak expert she was related to for her to be valued so highly by the Sage Realm cultivators present.

Was value the right word?

The emotion in their eyes as they gazed at her was more akin to fear than anything else. They were truly terrified.

'It is not even simple superficial terror. They are even suppressing their greed in her presence.'

In most cases similar to this one, the unlucky scion who became too confident in their backing would be ruthlessly killed.

Within the Mysterious Tomb, who could say how one died?

The wealth these scions tended to carry was enough to cause anyone to drool, but the men and women who knew Artemia's identity clearly held no such thought.

'Hmm, the Tatsuya name must be powerful. No wonder she was confused when we first met.'

When Atlas thought about it for a bit, he dropped it in the end. He wouldn't benefit at all from knowing, and he didn't have enough general knowledge to even understand the importance of her name regardless.

And so, he returned his focus to cultivation.

Time quickly passed. 5 hours later, a gruff man appeared in front of the large crowd and cleared his voice.

"Kuhum! Fellow cultivators, the Mysterious Tomb is finally showing signs of opening! Come, let us march!"

"March!"

"Kuahaha! To the treasure!"

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Various sounds of excitement congregated around the group as they moved. Among them, Atlas and Artemia were silent.

But if one looked carefully, they'd see the slight bobbing of Atlas's Adam's apple, indicating his speech.

"Do you have any information on the Mysterious Tomb?" He asked.

His voice was transferred directly into Artemia's mind. This technique was termed Voice Transmission and was actually quite easy to use. The only caveat was the fine qi control necessary to do so.

Artemia was naturally impressed by the fact that Atlas possessed such control, but she put away that thought and answered his question using the same method.

"I didn't have much time to research it, so I can't say for certain. However, judging by the tomb's location, it should belong to a Beast expert. As for their cultivation level or identity, I cannot say."

Atlas nodded. He surmised this much as well from the knowledge he had of Mysterious Tombs as a whole. He never expected to get good information from Artemia in the first place, but he tried nonetheless.

Now that he knew there was no avenue for him to learn more, he turned his attention away and focused on the trek, spending most of the time observing his internal body.

'After my meridians, it was my flesh…my body is being changed on a fundamental level to create a physique. What a mystical ability!'

He still couldn't believe the absurd power of the damn treasure in his body. It was something far beyond even the reach of the Heavenly Emperor.

'The work of Immortals? Or perhaps even a product of the Gods? The world has truly become vast after reincarnation.'

Previously, he believed the World Core Realm to be the peak of cultivation. Even at the very end of his past life, he didn't realize the existence of the Immortal Realms in the slightest.

But after reincarnation, not only did he learn about the Immortal Realms, but he learned of the existence of the God Realms as well!

The path to cultivation was far longer and more grueling than he knew it to be, but this didn't phase him.

It instead lit a spark within.

A spark that wished to see the world from the peak, a spark that deigned to be a mere one amongst many.

This spark was the very thing that drove him to climb the tower, aside from his myriad of unanswered questions.

While Atlas was stuck in thought, the 10-kilometer trek to the Mysterious Tomb finally reached its end. In front of the group stood a large pyramid-like structure with an equally large gate at its head.

In front of that gate stood two Sage Realm practitioners, but they looked like mere ants in front of the tomb.

Atlas observed carefully, taking into account the etched carvings along the pyramid's surface. As he did so, the weathered surface began to paint a picture.

An impossibly large beast cloaked in mist. Although he couldn't discern its identity, he could clearly feel its unbridled power even from these aged carvings.

"A Behemoth…" he muttered unintentionally.

Beside him, Artemia's eyes widened.

"What…did you just say?"

"A Behemoth. The owner of this tomb was a member of their exalted race," Atlas replied without even looking over.

But he didn't realize the effect his words had on her. Behemoths were only a legend for those within the Tower. Many believed them to be mere folktales and nothing more.

Behemoths weren't necessarily a race, but a species. They came in all different shapes, some being dragons while others being mere flies. But they all shared one thing in common…

They were preposterously massive.

A small Core Formation Realm Behemoth would be more than twice the size of the Flaming Ape he faced prior. As for a full-grown member of the species…?

Their gait covered the Heavens themselves. A single step would cause continents to shatter and even a breath could cause natural disasters.

They were truly terrifying. Atlas himself had encountered them plenty of times in his past life, and he'd slain them just as often.

But more than that, he dearly remembered an old friend he used to know, a member of the Behemoth race that was wise beyond his caliber.

'I wonder what became of you in the time I was gone? If you knew I was planning to plunder the treasures of your brethren, how would you react?'

Atlas didn't submerge himself in reminiscence for long. He was brought out of his thoughts by rumbling so ferocious it felt like the earth was being cleaved in two.

"It's opening!"

"Here we go!"

"All forces, prepare to raid!"

Exclamations filled the air again. The fervent atmosphere even infected Atlas, making his blood pump in excitement.

The massive doors of the tomb moved just as slowly as their weight suggested. Even when a horde of impatient cultivators attempted to help it along the way, their strength wasn't nearly enough to make a difference.

The earthquake lasted for many minutes. The doors moved at a snail's pace. But they had to open at some point.

And open they did, revealing the pitch blackness within the tomb.

"Everyone be careful! We are entering an expert's tomb, so anything could happen! Keep your wits about you, weaker cultivators come to the front, everyone get ready to move!"

The gruff man spoke again, not even bothering to hide his intentions of using weaker cultivators as meat shields, but nobody felt indignant at this.

They also knew the risk when they first signed up. Not a single person was forced or coerced into doing so. If they died, they only had themselves to blame.

Atlas headed to the front of the crowd along with the other Qi Seed Realm cultivators. As for Artemia, there was no way the attack force would let someone of her status be a meat shield.

The two separated unceremoniously, but Atlas hardly cared about that.

His blood was raging and roaring, filling his ears with their cries. [Intuition] was especially loud as well.

It seemed…this tomb would be extremely fortuitous if Atlas could grab hold of the opportunity.

And if he couldn't?

He'd waste his reincarnation just like that, ending up as another talent that could never bloom, another corpse among the mountain that would form from them by the time this expedition ended.