Only when the moon was clear in the sky, unhindered by any horizon, did Atlas finally rise to his feet.
He was forced to circulate qi for hours in order to regain his faculties. Even after, he had to replenish his empty dantian. His experience in that abyss was terrifying. He had sohow survived, but the aftereffects were enough to tell him about what his fate would have otherwise been.
[Treacherous Phoenix welcos you back to the land of the living.]
[Great Sage, Heaven's Equal wonders if there is another Ascender as ballsy as you.]
[Many Gods have started to take a true interest in you.]
Atlas was getting berated by ssages from Gods with many aliases. He had learned about so of the larger pantheons during his ti in Vanatos, but he wasn't paying enough attention to the Gods to connect those pantheons to their individual Gods.
He only saw that one ssage.
Indeed, he had been welcod back to the land of the living.
"For a second, I thought I was truly dead. What happened?"
It was unknown whether he was asking the Gods or himself, but he received a response.
[You t a Guide.]
Despite the fact that their ssages were still started with "Treacherous Phoenix says" or other such phrases, it felt like they were truly speaking to him.
[In this Tower, there are more mysteries than you are aware of. Among them are the Guides.]
What Atlas received was less of a spoken explanation and more of a written description. He felt like, after that first sentence, the Tower was talking to him rather than the God themself.
Having said that, the information was the sa. Atlas t a Guide in the abyss.
Guides were a mysterious race of unknown origins. They appear as humanoids cloaked in shadow, the only piece of their visage peeking through the veil being the burning blue flas that replaced their pupils.
They were a strange people. Not only were their origin and purpose unknown, but their locations, cultivation, and any information pertaining to them were missing from the world as if they never existed.
And one could say that they truly didn't.
Guides were titled as such for a reason. The only ti they'd appear was when a cultivator found themselves in a perilous situation they had no chance of escaping. At this critical juncture, a Guide would appear and provide the cultivator with "sothing" that could save their lives.
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This "sothing" could truly be anything; rare treasures and cultivation techniques, sudden enlightennt on the Grand Dao, or even the sudden and unprovoked assistance of a nearby powerhouse.
Of course, Guides were exceedingly rare existences. Their existence was synonymous with miracles, but these miracles weren't handed out to everyone. Of 1,000,000 cultivators, perhaps a single one would be chosen by a Guide.
That single person was guaranteed a reward that had the potential to change their lives.
The Guide that found Atlas transported him to the 25th Floor. What he received was a pass that allowed him to skip the floors between the 21st and here. In terms of what a Guide could give, Atlas' reward could be considered diocre.
However, he didn't think so.
That Guide didn't just give him a pass. It gave him back his life. That was more than he could ever ask for, especially when he received the help for free and without any attached strings.
'Haa…it truly is interesting.'
According to the description, Guides were one of the 6 Mysteries of Heaven. These 6 Mysteries were strange occurrences, areas, and groups within the Tower that couldn't be explained even after several millennia of its existence.
The strangest part wasn't that there was no information about them in the Tower. What was strange was that even those who lived in the previous era had no information about them.
For the peak powerhouses who existed before the Tower's descent, information was a simple thing. They would often have knowledge of everything that took place.
So when even these peak powerhouses with power just barely lower than the 9 Kings were stumped, the 6 Mysteries were created as well.
Atlas could be considered a son of heaven for being lucky enough to encounter a Guide at this point in his journey.
'But it was not luck. I was guided there by a mysterious being.'
The [Treacherous Phoenix] who had been following him since the 11th Floor…
This God's identity was unknown. Atlas had not found records of them in any of the pantheons the Tatsuya Clan had information on. There were several potential candidates, but nothing significant enough to be called information.
However, that sa God had helped Atlas several tis already. He was starting to believe that they would make a good ally.
'So, I am on the 25th Floor.'
Atlas stood up. He was in the midst of a rocky and mountainous terrain. He was sitting on gravel in the middle of nowhere, completely exposed to the forces of nature. It was a miracle that he hadn't been killed or robbed in the ti before he awoke and regained himself.
'The 25th Floor's trial is…'
Once again, it was related to humans. Or, maybe it was better to say that this trial was related to "society."
Atlas was mind-boggled when he saw the nature of the task.
'They want to work as an official? As in…one of those people who write for a living?'
It was a profession so far separated from what Atlas knew that he couldn't even fathom it. Those people spent their entire lives contained inside of books and information pertaining to the world and more intellectual fields. They were sothing like the antithesis of cultivators.
'Our two worlds rarely interact. Even the scholars and sages among cultivators focus on defining aspects of the Heavens and the Great Dao. Their mortal variants, however, are more focused on earthly matters.'
It was sure to be a new experience. But, if he wanted to experience it, didn't he need to find a city?
'A city…there is not one anywhere nearby.'
It was a sha. Though Atlas' ridians and qi channels were not damaged deeply, they had been strained over the course of the past month. If he could help it, Atlas wanted to use as little energy as possible.
'However, I must also consider the fact that I am still being pursued.'
He may have escaped, but the people at Dusk still had his location. They would surely question how he arrived on this floor, recognize that there was so sort of secret, and pursue him with even more fervor.
'I either need protection or a person or thing who can destroy their seal.'
With that thought in mind, Atlas started moving.
He made it off of the gravel-filled plateau where he awakened and moved down into the rest of the realm. It was when he was skating across the edge of a cliff to find a way down that he discovered sothing interesting.
There were two large groups of people at the bottom of the cliff. They were standing in front of a cave entrance that was too smooth to have been created by nature and arguing over so issue.
Their words were not necessarily loud, but their voices were projected by the environnt. Combined with Atlas' hearing, it was enough for each and every word to reach him.
And, despite saying he needed to be cautious about his energy usage…
…he couldn't help but be interested in what they were saying.
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