How did it feel to get shoved through the entire planet?

The diameter of the Earth is 12,742 km, composed of the mantle and core. The Phoenix Realm was noticeably larger, sitting at a whopping 20,076 km of the same material composition.

Qin did not have the confidence to respond to that specific question, even though he was among the unlucky few who got transported by underworld express from one side of the planet to the other.

Mostly because he had blacked out for three-quarters of the journey.

Qin remembered his body being quenched in rock and submerged in the magma. The majority of his sensory faculty was too occupied to register the brand new flavor of pain.

On the other side of the planet, the ground fractured to celebrate the birth of a new volcano. Qin, the guest of honor, was spat out like an afterthought.

Even with one-sided beating he went through, Qin’s divine flesh was durable. His vitality as a phoenix was undoubtedly off the chart. Combining the two together allowed them to survive being punched through one face of the Phoenix Realm and into the opposite area, albeit with heavy injuries.

Qin knew it would take much more to kill him. Even now, the healing flames full of vitality were patching his battered body to a working condition. His arm, which was crushed by the anti-reality-altering [Sunset Glow], fought the forces of regeneration, but the phoenix’s healing ability was gradually proving why the Astral Sea was afraid of their clan's ability to recover.

The elderly warrior allowed himself to feel the minor light of optimism. As brutal as his trip past the planet’s core was, it still gave him distance to catch his breath against the highly motivated humanoid man-eating jaguar unleashed by the prayers of the oppressed.

As if taking offense to that line of thinking, Remus Breaker—the man whose existence kept the therapy industry for the elite afloat—popped into existence in front of the falling Qin.

Oh right, Qin thought, remembering a certain report. He can teleport.

A kick, driven by three-tenth violence and seventh-tenth righteousness, punted Qin over the clouds and crushed his nose.

Rem’s posture behind the splendorous attack was a masterpiece that Qin never fully registered. The phoenix’s entire face was too in pain to remember the contour of the taunted leg muscles trained to inflict maximum humiliation against the foes of virtue.

Yet, Qin refused to give in. This wasn’t the first time he confronted an enemy outside his weight class. Time after time, this legendary warrior performed a reversal when he was shoved into the corner.

And this time it would be no different.

Flames blazed, and Qin morphed into his true form. A humongous phoenix with the feathers of the sun and the body that covered the sky. The radiance of purifying flames poured from the majestic bird as it unleashed the ultimate attack in the clan’s repertoire.

[Samadhi Descent]

Cloaked in fire, the majestic bird swooped back into the fight. Flames of purification roared as Qin aimed the most powerful attack of his life at the ultimate protector of good. Winds bellowed from the flaming divine bird, and gravel kicked up in civilization, crippling waves. The heat index did a somersault from the energy intensity that could crack the Phoenix Realm open like an egg. Pushing his life to the very limit, Qin displayed the glory of heaven-transcending the expert of the olden days

Everything Qin had was poured into this single descent, pinning on the possibility that his raw, mind-boggling power would be enough to shake Rem’s invincibility.

Alas, the attack didn’t hit. 

It was nothing short of an ultimatum. Qin’s greatest [Samdhi Descent] was paused before Rem. Its intense radiation dyed the sky red and filled the clouds with flame, but none of that mattered. The fiery projection of the swooping Phoenix stopped dead without landing on Rem’s immaculate clothing.

“Nice,” Rem said, lifting his hand. His thumb, index, and middle fingers were positioned to form the shape of a tripod—the barrel of a star-crushing cannon. “My turn.”

[Hypernova]

Possibilities coalesced into a bubble. Concepts warped and waned inside the miniature egg. In a rumble, the egg of possibilities—a conceptual baby universe—expanded with the luminosity and heat energy rivaling the Big Bang.

The unfortunate clan head was caught in the middle of this explosion. All he saw as his flesh disintegrated was light.

…

The Astral Liner carrying the fleeing remnant of the Phoenix Clan had the full panoramic view of the [Hypernova].

For people who were forced into slavery by this cruel world, the pillar of shining light represented hope. It was the star declaring that their champion had arrived to carry the world for their sake.

It was said that demoralized troops would regain their vigor and roar beneath the embrace of the star. The faithful would cry in joy at the reassuring smile of their mighty guardian. Crafty entrepreneurs were already raking in fortune by how fast the toy barring his liking flew off the shelves.

The people on the other side of that light did not share that sentiment.

For them, Remus Breaker was an unrelenting zombie who kept rising and refused to die. No matter what they did. No matter what strategy they employed, he crushed it all with a smile on his face. He refused to be bought or compromised—a harrowing nightmare that whipped the rest of the world into anarchic fervor.

Seeing that dreadful burst visible from space, Qin’s aide fell to his knees and wept. He knew he wouldn’t see his beloved master again.

Behind him, the remaining soldiers watch the pyre of light. A silent stream of tears trickled down in mourning.

…

Qin laid in a massive canyon created by Rem’s [Hypernova]. He only survived because of his regeneration abilities, but even that was tapped dry against the heat rivaling the birth of the universe.

The force of his [Hypernova] had extinguished Qin’s flames and every other bonfire plaguing the planet. Even the smoke dissipated, allowing Rem’s visage to be seen unobstructed.

Seeing Rem floated down from the cloudless sky, lying in the smoldering soil, a lone question came to Qin’s mind.

“Why don’t you use [Extinction]?” Qin asked, knowing from a report that Rem possessed a technique that could easily nullify his regeneration.

“Who brings a sword to a pillow fight?” Rem asked rhetorically without a care in the world, but what he gave weighed like a colossal mountain.

These exchanges were crushing. He was overpowered, outclassed, and outsped, unable to decipher the mystery of Rem’s defense despite throwing two all-out efforts at him. Qin didn’t even get Rem to treat him seriously.

This wall was plain unfair. Every hit Qin received made him want to die, while Rem didn’t even get a scratch on him.

But when was it fair?

That one question led Qin full circle to the life he led. Was he proud of it? Proud that his progenies gifted him with this doomed destiny? No, it was wrong to blame them.

Everything Qin did was done without regret. He swore the moment he left his nest for his long journey of cultivation to live his life to the fullest. Many enemies were crushed beneath his boot. More friends were raised on his shoulder.

His journey was filled with shame and sadness. Qin had strayed at times. These mistakes—the farce in the Hidden Region and the inability to properly mentor his descendant—were decisions that would eventually turn him into a sinner who would be destroyed by Rem.

But to deny that history would be an insult to the dead and the magnificent story he led. Be it the tears he shed when he first heard the cry of his newborn son or various victory parties with his friends and comrades, they were the mark of pride.

The divine phoenix's legend would not end with him cowering in the dirt. If he were to face his death—deserved or otherwise—he would do it with a prideful smile and his head held high.

Qin got up to his feet. His back straightened. Two feet planted firm. His blade may be broken, but the wave of flames and [Resonance] roiled in reforged vigor.

Rem’s eyebrows were raised.

“I see,” Rem acknowledged the true nature of his enemy. “Glad to see you have found your valor again.” Rem scowled. “Way too late to get things right, though.”

“Better late than never,” Qin said, speaking his final word and igniting the fire of his light for one last performance.

Rem made a small smile.

“That’s right,” the Knight of True nodded. “Better late than never.”

And that was where Qin of the Phoenix Clan went nuclear. 

Throughout myth and various cultures, the phoenix was an immortal bird with the infamous ability of resurrection. At the end of its life, the phoenix would immolate in a fire and be resurrected from the ash.

Reclaiming the passion of his youth and spurred by the pressure of his inevitable demise, Qin reversed that process of resurrection. He siphoned his flame of life and incubated it inside his flesh. At that moment, Qin the Phoenix surrendered it all. His victory and defeat. His joy and sorrow. He wrapped everything he had rediscovered into one massive explosion cloaked in a dying man’s [Resonance].

The fire of the phoenix was that of purification, and Qin used that to purify the grand story of himself.

It was fire that burned Qin alive in a conceptual pyre to create an unstoppable orb that shone like a star. As his soul ignited, Qin still caught something in the eye of his ‘enemy’. Something that soothed his soul in that final moment of life.

Respect

It was such a simple concept, but it meant more than a world to someone at that peak of fame and power. The number of people who earned the Final Fortress’ respect outside of Cosmic Tree True numbered less than ten. With that last thought in his mind, Qin closed his eyes and let himself rest in contentment.

Rem didn’t know if Qin knew what he had accomplished, but Cytortia’s Consilgre had nothing but praise in his mind.

A bit unrefined, there are no chants, and the shaping could be better, but this is a conceptual flame that perfectly merges with [Resonance]. Magnificent. At the last moment of life, you have imbued your technique with [Resonance], intent, and Astral Body in a singular blend. Indeed, this move is qualified to reach the peak of mystic. Not even my [Boundless Field] can cancel something like this.

As if it wasn’t enough to applaud this final showing in his mind, the Sword of Symphony decided to orate it with gusto.

“Qin the Phoenix! You have reached the summit of mystic arts!” Rem declared before the orb, which threatened to implode the very world around him and boil empty space itself. “Our difference aside, it will be an insult to life itself if your [Sovereign Technique]—your achievement—goes unnamed with your passing. Henceforth, I, the Primus Commander of True, shall personally record your might 

“This kingly technique will now be known as the [Tale of the Undying Bird]. Now, let me do the honor of singing your eulogy, o great magus.”

It was there that Remus Breaker took out his sword for this ‘pillow fight.’

And against the overwhelming, reality-breaking flame, the knight started chanting. [Resonance] was baked into every word.

“[Glorious Bard] [Kaleidoscopic Ballad]”

An immense pulsation of power pushed back the flame as the song of [Concept] ignited.

“[Lantern of Possibility]”

Multicolor light speckled with every shade of luminosity manifested into Rem’s outstretched hand.

“[Coalesced and Forged]”

The multicolor light morphed into a blade, ready to be blessed.

“[Frost]”

The blade of light transformed into the purest concept of ice. The world itself appeared to freeze.

“[The Spire of Dream]” Rem waved the blade against the fire, finishing the last of his seven key chants to activate his proud technique. “[Victoria pro bronis laus]”

The Knight then swung his majestic attack that was felt by the entire existential bandwidth, and with that mighty slash came a name no one in the multiverse dared to forget.

“[Sovereign Technique: All-Creation (Frost)].

…

Qin’s last resort—[Tale of the Undying Bird]—created an orb of fire that engulfed the very space the planet had been, and it would have easily expanded to the size it could threaten an entire solar system.

But Rem’s [Sovereign Technique: All-Creation (Frost)] extinguished the flame and turned the Phoenix Realm into fragmented powder snow. The planetary weight of frozen powdered pebbles and ice was left adrift in space, where the ball of dirt that once contained the ocean, continent, and civilization had been.

In that surreal vacuum of space, Rem took a call he knew was coming.

A holographic image of an irritated black-hair elf appeared.

“Hello, Luxina,” Rem said.

“Rem!” Luxina growled. “Is it necessary to use a [Sovereign Technique]? You might accidentally extinguish a star! Three other systems in the bandwidth around Phoenix Realm are having snow in the middle of summer.”

Rem, knowing he had no excuse for a dimension-and-reality-transcendent attack, replied with the first thing in his mind.

“Do you think anything less would be a fitting pyre for Qin the Phoenix?"

Luxina glared at the man, but in the end, she knew Rem too well.

“I guess,” the elf shrugged. “Are we moving the Phoenix Clan from the blacklist?”

“Move them to red,” Rem answered. “I doubt Chandra possessed half of her grandfather’s spine. Qin won them another chance, not an amnesty.”

Luxina chuckled.

“How many chances are there now?” The elf asked—not a hint of anger was present in her. “I guess we are all a big softy.”

Rem looked at the star shining in that vacuum of space and the Astral Liner escaping him.

“You know, Lux. I really want to believe that. I really do.”

…

Inside her cabin, Chandra jerked up from the dream—the circumstances of her grandfather’s prophesied demise.

What she saw was Tai—her face whiter than a sheet of paper.

It didn’t take her a second to put the math together.

“You saw that fight, didn’t you?” Chandra spoke. Her fingers were fiddling with her blanket.

After a few ghastly minutes, Tai looked back at her foster sister.

“You underplay that damn battle,” the Daughter of Winter accused.

“Would you believe it? I elaborated about how my grandfather lost,” Chandra bit back. Both eyes brimmed with tears.

Tai didn’t need to answer. Despite seeing that ‘fight’ with her own eyes, she still couldn’t fathom the power Rem of the future possessed. Everything he did was light years above even the most powerful divinity of today and the Ancient Era. That last attack—the [Sovereign Technique]—was simply mind-shattering. Even Tai, with her two lifetimes of experience, couldn’t comprehend its tail.

Silence hung in the air.

At last, Chandra spoke.

“Tai, do you think we can win?”

The girl didn’t answer. What was the need for that when the answer was obvious?

Finally, Tai understood why the Allphort commanded them to do penances instead of fight.

But then the question became a simple one.

What kind of penance did they need to perform to escape the wrath of the Primus Commander?