Chapter 157: 7 Meridians
In the heart of the embattled village, Elton sat unmoving, legs folded, lost within a storm of cultivation.
Inside his body, the five meridians burned like rivers of molten steel, flooding his frame with power. Then, with a thunderous roar that echoed only within him, something shattered—an old blockage torn apart. A sixth meridian burst forth, glowing with elven nature magic interwoven with a deeper aura.
It flowed seamlessly into the others, pulsing as if it had always belonged.
But this breakthrough was far from over.
Elton's Ki and magic converged violently, rising in waves higher than before. A faint bloody energy seeped out, curling around his body like crimson smoke.
Christy, who had been watching closely, felt a thrill of joy at first—until that bloody aura appeared. Her face drained of color.
"Gege! No!" She lunged forward, reaching for him—only for her hands to slam against a sudden crimson barrier. The impact rattled her bones.
She staggered back, teeth gritted.
"Gege!! Please, wake up!"
Shayleaf, who had been observing with equal concern, pressed her lips together before forcing her voice steady.
"Chris… leave Brother Elly be. It seems he's experiencing a breakthrough—different from mine, but something similar nonetheless."
Christy's expression twisted. She wavered… then slowly lowered her hand with a hard sigh.
"Fine. But if I sense even a hint of danger, I'll break this barrier myself—no matter the cost."
Her eyes narrowed, voice dropping into a private domain only Elton and the other presence inside him could hear.
"You. I know you can hear me. If this is your doing—I won't let you harm him."
The response was immediate.
A booming laugh rang in her mind, arrogant and amused.
"Bwahahaha! Woman of mine, so rude and dismissive—how cruel! But worry not. This is no harm. This is progress. Unlike him, I can split my attention for perpetual cultivation. Half of me cultivates with him, speeding this process along. If you disrupt it, you'll harm us both. So keep your claws sheathed."
"Hmph!" Christy only snorted coldly, though relief and frustration churned in her chest.
Outside, the war raged on.
Explosions battered Shayleaf's barrier from all sides, shaking the village like an earthquake.
"Ughh! These people are so damned persistent!" Shayleaf cursed, sweat beading on her brow as she reinforced the weakening grove.
"…Haah." Christy's helpless expression hardened into a deadly calm as her Aka Boshi no Tengan ignited. Her scarlet eyes flared, and her aura sharpened into a blade.
"If they want death so badly, then let them have it."
She vanished from Elton's side, reappearing at the barrier's edge cloaked by foliage. Her hands rose, energy coalescing into a roiling storm of chaotic red. Sparks of electricity danced around her palms as the energy deepened, condensed, sharpened.
Some among the priests' force noticed it—but far too late.
–Akaboshi-shō Konton Ha–
The crimson beam erupted like a dragon's roar, tearing through the barrier outward without resistance. It streaked across the battlefield, annihilating everything in its path.
"Your Reverence! Look out!"
"Barrier—nooo!"
The priest leader's desperate shield shattered instantly. The beam carved through trees, beasts, earth, and men, detonating in a line of carnage until it finally burned itself out.
When silence fell, the battlefield stared in horror. The once-booming priestly force lay in ruins—scattered corpses, scorched earth, and a broken leader kneeling with blood pouring from his mouth.
"You… you will pay for this!" he roared, trembling with fury. "Kill them all, in the name of our dark heavenly lord!"
"Kill! Kill! KILL!" his remaining subordinates echoed, frenzy in their eyes.
Meanwhile, the Leopard demi-human party assessed the chaos from their flank.
"Tch. That arrow user is relentless, and now another power like this? At least two Golden Lords in that village, maybe three by the feel of those plant summons." The grey-skinned woman's fangs gleamed as she hissed in frustration.
The armored human grunted agreement.
"We're the smallest force here, but our strength is the highest—three Golden Lords and a Gold Tier Four. The beasts are close with two Golden Lords, but even so… we're all being pushed back. We must tread carefully."
The other leopard demi human could only nod in agreement to his thoughts but when he looked to the leopard demi human leader he already knew what would happen.
The leopard demi human leader's eyes blazed. His voice was a growl.
"No. We press on. I refuse to let them slip away."
The others exchanged glances, then shrugged grimly. There would be no dissuading him.
Back within the grove, Elton's bloody aura thickened.
Then—crack.
Another barrier inside him broke. A seventh meridian manifested, glowing bright crimson. His entire presence erupted upward, his aura warping violently—flaring between a golden-white nature glow, a furious blue flame, a storm of white lightning, and finally a black-blue starry brilliance that spun like a miniature cosmos.
At the same time, the external barrier finally shattered under the siege, exploding in shards of magical light.
Shayleaf rose to her feet, eyes blazing, her full aura unleashed. A forest of magical script and vampiric power flared into the air around her.
"I've had enough of this," she declared coldly. "Chris—protect Brother Elly until he wakes."
Without waiting for a reply, she vanished into the fray, her magic surging like a tidal wave.
Christy turned back toward Elton. His body was now eerily silent, his aura hidden, as though it had sunk deep into the void.
She clenched her fists, whispering under her breath:
"Gege… wake soon."