Reon weakly pushed himself up, his entire body trembling. Every breath was labored, every movement a struggle.
And then—he saw them.
Cloudia and Little Tiger, drenched in his blood.
Yet, despite their exhaustion, despite their trembling bodies, they remained coiled around him, refusing to let him go.
They absorbed some of the pain he endured.
They had stayed by his side—
Even through his agony.
Even through the storm of power that had nearly consumed him.
His gaze lingered on Cloudia, and for a moment, his breath caught in his throat.
She looked...
Different.
Her once silver fur now gleamed with a
Golden Hue
, shimmering like Divine Silk under the faint light.
Her single silver tail was gone.
Instead—
Two long, magnificent
Golden Tails
swayed gently behind her.
Her face, too, had transformed—no longer the same as before, but something
Ethereal
, something
Divine
.
She was
Breathtaking
.
She looked like a
Celestial Fox Deit
y, descended from the Heavens themselves.
But—she was exhausted.
Struggling.
Still holding on.
Beside her, Little Tiger, her big form trembling, was using her Thunder Element—gently, carefully—to keep Reon warm.
Reon's lips curled into a soft, tired smile.
He was
Smiling
.
Unknowingly.
Instinctively.
How long had it been since he last smiled like this?
Since arriving in this world, he had often found himself unknowingly smiling like that.
Without Even Realizing it.
Then—he whispered, his voice barely above a breath.
"Thank you... my companions."
A promise formed in his heart, a resolve carved deep into his very soul.
"This time around... I Won't Wait For Things to Change."
"
I Will Change Them Myself
."
With weak, trembling hands, he reached out and gave them a light pat on their fur.
They shivered but didn't Resist.
They were exhausted.
They had given him everything.
"You can rest now," he murmured.
Then, closing his eyes, he sank into deep meditation—allowing his body to begin its transformation.
He felt it.
His very bones were reshaping, hardening—becoming something beyond mortal, something tougher than the hardest metal to exist.
His veins and arteries, once ordinary, were refining—becoming thinner, more efficient, coursing with newfound power.
His lesser meridians—one by one—began to unblock, a slow yet steady process.
Until, at last—
He had unblocked nearly all of them.
Then—
Something far greater than mere meridians began to take shape within him.
Core Meridians
.
A human body holds the potential for
Nine Core Meridians
, each a crucial pillar in stepping into the
Foundation Establishment Realm
.
Once a cultivator steps into this realm, their Core Meridians are set in stone—no more can be formed.
Thus, these meridians are the
Foundation of Everything
.
This was not the same unstable foundation that Xue Taiyang had once struggled with.
His past instability had originated from the formation of his
Initial Core
—the very foundation a cultivator constructs at the beginning of their cultivation journey.
It was still something that could be easily stabilized with a bit of effort.
But
Core Meridians were different
.
They were
absolute
.
Irreversible
.
The true measure of a cultivator's potential.
This Foundation was like the
base of a towering structure
—the more stable and vast its base, the
higher it could ascend
toward the heavens.
And so it was with cultivation.
The greater the number of Core Meridians one formed, the greater the heights they could reach in their path to power.
Yet, for most cultivators, forming more than
Three Core Meridians
is an impossible dream.
No matter how fiercely they struggled, they could only attain a
Basic Foundation
, shackling them to the
Nascent Soul Realm
, forever unable to transcend beyond it.
Those who manage to form
Five
achieve a
Mortal Foundation
, marking them as
True Geniuses
.
Though their path remained arduous, they could still ascend to the
Body Integration Realm
through sheer perseverance and effort.
With
Seven
, one attains a
Solid Foundation
, a feat so rare they are hailed as a
Once-in-a-Millennium
Prodigy
—an individual said to have the potential to
Ascend
.
Eight
signifies the
Perfect Foundation
, a title reserved for
Heavenly Geniuses.
They have
Unlimited Potential
.
And then,
There is
Nine Core Meridians
The
Mythical
Flawless Foundation
.
A
Heaven-Defying Existence
.
No one has ever achieved it.
Legends whisper that if one were to succeed, their path would be
Free Of Bottlenecks
, their cultivation
Boundless
.
And now—
Reon's Core Meridians were Forming.
.
.
From a place unseen, where only a faint screen flickered in the void—
A voice whispered, unheard by Reon.
[So this is Master's constitution awakening... The pain and despair he has endured in this fragile form... Even a
Celestial being
would find it nigh impossible to endure it after a life filled with despair.
[He truly deserves to be our Master. I feel so fortunate to witness this up close and to aid him.]
[I've recorded everything. I'll show it to them later—to make them jealous. Hehe!]
.
.
Beyond Reon's Awareness—
A storm was
Brewing
.
One that shook even the
Mightiest Beings
of the world.
Before, only a handful of the strongest cultivators had paid attention to the strange phenomenon.
Some were
Envious
.
Some were
Curious
.
Some were even
Overjoyed
.
But now—
Now, they all felt the same thing.
Fear.
Absolute, Suffocating Fear.