Tower of Heaven

Atlas was in a relatively isolated corridor of the Imperial Prison. In reality, it was not such an empty place. There were guards stationed every few meters who switched shifts often. There were always soldiers patrolling the halls to ensure that the prisoners didn't think about escaping.

When Atlas left his own corridor, he immediately met two guards. However, he had already accounted for them.

'My spiritual sense still works.'

Because Atlas' mind was still his own, his spiritual sense was able to spread just as far. He could see the layout of the prison that the Second Prince didn't know.

He moved based on these findings.

'The guards change shifts every three hours. It is often enough that none of them are unrested. Their wariness is kept high in this place even when they know nobody will escape.'

It was the kind of incentive that could only exist in people who were getting paid hefty salaries and had extreme loyalty to their nation. The process for picking the Imperial Prison's guards was a strict one.

'Moreover, they are all equipped with a special method that will broadcast their deaths.'

If Atlas happened to kill one of them, the rest would know within minutes. It was far too intricate to be the possession of a mere mortal empire.

'The Emperor spent a great amount of the empire's budget on the creation and maintenance of this prison. However, he did not have the funds to establish a perfect formation.'

Deaths could be tracked, but that was the end of it. If the guards were neutralized instead, they'd only be found when the time came to change shifts.

'In other words, I can buy myself three hours.'

When the two guards passed by, Atlas lunged into the corridor and immediately stabbed his fingers into the closer one's throat. He reeled back and clutched his neck while Atlas moved to his companion and tackled him to the ground.

Bang!

A single punch to the face left the man unconscious. When the standing guard saw Atlas' eyes land on him, he froze.

Time slowed for a second. At the same time, he reached for a horn on his belt and Atlas shot at him.

The guard grabbed the horn successfully, but he couldn't bring it to his mouth. Atlas had his arm around his neck, cutting off his circulation. The man fell unconscious within a minute as Cain did. Once he was neutralized, Atlas went over to the other guard and took measures so that he also wouldn't wake up soon.

The prison was made so bodies couldn't be easily hidden, which posed a problem for Atlas, but he also had a way around it.

'This is where it pays to be the Second Prince.'

He may not have been inside the Imperial Prison before, but he knew a secret about it that was privy to the ears of all Imperial Family members.

'There is a secret route inside the Imperial Prison that is to be used in case traitors ever rebel. It's ironic, since the traitors came from inside the family.'

The route could be accessed from any cell in any part of the prison, but only if one had the blood of the Imperial Family.

Atlas had that blood, and instead of an escape route, he used the tunnels as a place to hide the unconscious guards.

'Even when they awaken, they will have no idea where they are. While they get lost in the labyrinth of tunnels, I can continue forward through the prison.'

It was a foolproof plan. The guards had no means to resist the sudden invasion of a cultivator.

Atlas progressed deeper and deeper into the prison with this method. To the public, only one floor of the Imperial Prison was known, but it actually went several floors underground.

There were at least six layers that Atlas passed through. He encountered over ten guards on the way, all of whom suffered the same fate.

And finally, on the sixth floor, he reached a staircase that was hidden from view behind a fake wall.

He knew for certain when he arrived at the bottom.

'This…has to be it.'

There was nowhere else to go. The stairs didn't go further than this, and even the guards didn't exist in this area. That could only mean that this place could be approached by a select few people, and they were confident that nobody else would ever reach it.

They were wrong. Atlas was here, facing the only thing hidden on the final floor of the Imperial Prison.

The area wasn't separated by iron bars, but instead by a solid door that didn't even have a window in it. Atlas reached for its handle, only realizing its weight once he started moving it.

For some reason, his mind faltered in that moment.

Was it because of what he expected to find?

His hands shook as he opened the door. It was far heavier than the bars that were present in his own cell. This cell was fortified with a door of solid iron that was several inches thick.

Atlas had to use all of his strength to pry it open. Even then, he could only barely move it enough to slip into the cell before it closed behind him.

He was engulfed in a darkness only illuminated by a single torch on the back wall. Still, it was illuminated enough for him to see the scene that made his heart stop.

Atlas' will was completely overrun by the Second Prince's instincts.

"FATHER!"

He roared, uncaring of whether he was heard or not, and rushed towards the lifeless figure chained beneath the torch.

He was on one knee before he realized it, checking the man's pulse.

The Emperor was over one hundred years old, but his great vitality as a cultivator allowed him to maintain the appearance of someone in their mid-40s. He had a neat beard and the same golden hair as the princes. For a very long time, he had been considered the very picture of nobility.

However, his life force had been rapidly drained in this place. It was enough to see the dried blood that dyed the entire floor of the cell red to understand what occurred here. The Emperor was now old and grey, frail because his body had been deprived of even its most basic necessities for the past several days.

'We have been imprisoned for almost the same amount of time, but this is a different level of atrocity?'

In a period of ninety-six hours at the very most, how much did they have to torture him to leave him like this?

Kade's qi was already circulating through the Emperor's body. The Spiritual Wood Constitutions they possessed synergized, connecting Atlas to the Emperor's own Wood Energy. The two turned to one with the sole intent of healing the person whose body they inhabited.

The Emperor was covered in a green hue. That was when Atlas' perception sped up. He didn't know how much time passed before the healing process finished. He was not paying attention.

His eyes were trained on the Emperor's face, watching for every subtle change he could find. Every small amount of color that appeared, every wrinkle that disappeared, and every scar that vanished was caught by his sight.

Even when nothing changed anymore, his eyes stayed there. His eyes stayed there until he saw them flutter.

The eyelids of this body's father.

The Emperor was awakening.