Chapter 196: Shattering Nine Locks

Shattering Nine Locks

"Do you suspect the person who planted the Ghost Orchid at the entrance?" Elder Rowan suddenly asked.

Despite the evidence before them, he still seemed reluctant to accept that a zombie could grow powerful enough to regain its sanity—even temporarily.

"That’s possible," Seana replied. "But the one who planted it could also be one of the Zombie Lord’s subordinates."

Rowan nodded thoughtfully.

"We need to get out of here as soon as possible," Nyren said. Her voice was cold, but frustration showed in her eyes. Since the apocalypse began, she had worked hard to grow stronger. Now she couldn’t even summon a little bit of Qi to get out of here.

"And how do you think we—"

Darian stopped mid-sentence.

His eyes had fixed on something in the neighboring cell.

Nyren, Oren, Caelan, and Rowan followed his gaze.

Infront of the suspended Lothe, two monster cores hovered, surrounded by swirling green energy. Even from across the corridor, the cultivators could feel the power contained within them.

Level Five mutated beast cores.

"Is he actually doing that?" Oren asked.

"How can he access his Soul Manor?" Caelan murmured.

Their own Soul Manors were sealed alongside their cultivation. Even their spiritual connections to their weapons and treasures had been cut off.

Yet Lothe had summoned two monster cores.

Seana was startled too, but her surprise soon gave way to concern. Lothe had always been a mystery to her, but that didn’t make what he was doing safe.

Lothe focused on the chains around his wrists.

The idea had occurred to him when he first examined the runes. They were intricate, designed to suppress cultivation and siphon Spiritual Qi. If they relied on delicate inscriptions, perhaps enough energy could overwhelm them.

The problem was his own cultivation had been suppressed. Even if his Void Devouring Qi Circulation Technique could refine the cores’ chaotic energy, he still needed enough power to break through the prison’s restraints.

It was a dangerous gamble.

But remaining imprisoned was no safer.

The cores rotated slowly before him. Green energy seeped from them, curling through the air like smoke.

"Are you mad?" Nyren shouted. "Those cores haven’t been purified!"

She knew the risks. Since the apocalypse, the Four Great Sects’ alchemists and array masters had studied monster cores extensively. Their research had revealed how dangerous the unrefined energy could be.

It could overwhelm a cultivator’s meridians and cause them to rupture. In worse cases, it could throw Spiritual Qi into chaos, destroy the body from within, or drive the cultivator into a violent frenzy.

Some victims simply exploded.

Only after the Four Great Sects developed purification arrays could the energy in monster cores be safely absorbed.

And Lothe was attempting to bypass all of that.

Without a purification array. Without an alchemical device. And without access to his normal cultivation.

"Seana, talk some sense into him!" Nyren said. "Do you want him to die?"

Seana didn’t answer right away. She watched Lothe and understood what he was attempting.

That only made her more worried.

"Are you going to be all right, love?" she asked softly.

"I won’t be able to help you regulate your blood circulation if it starts flowing backward again."

Lothe turned his head slightly. A faint smile touched his lips.

"You know me too well."

His gaze softened as it met hers.

"I’ll make it quick, all right? You can scold me afterward."

Seana pressed her lips together. She wanted to stop him, but she understood why he was taking the risk. With their cultivation sealed, this might be their only chance.

"Don’t you dare die on me, Little Fox."

"I Won’t."

The others stared at the two of them in disbelief.

Lothe had summoned monster cores from his Soul Manor, something none of them could explain. Now he intended to absorb them directly—and Seana seemed to understand exactly what he was doing.

What kind of nonesense was this?

Lothe didn’t explain. He had already made his decision.

With a thought, he drew energy from both cores.

BOOM!

Two torrents of green energy burst from the cores and rushed into his body.

"Argh!"

Pain ripped through him.

It felt as if two raging rivers had collided inside his body, tearing through everything in their path. The chaotic energy surged toward his meridians, carrying the raw, unrefined essence of the beasts.

Normally, Lothe’s Void Devouring Qi Circulation Technique could refine the energy of a Level Five monster core. His internal Coordinate Anchors helped him control the flow, reduce backlash, and refine energy with unusual efficiency.

But the Nine-Lock Prison had suppressed his cultivation.

His meridians were restricted. His Core was sealed. Even his Spirit Root, housed within his Core, was locked away.

He was trying to force a river through a blocked channel.

And the river was already raging.

BOOM!

The chaotic energy struck the first restriction in his meridians. The impact shuddered through his body.

Lothe jerked against his chains.

Blood gathered at his temples as sweat ran down his face.

[WARNING!]

[Unpurified energy detected.]

[Two Level Five mutated beast cores are being absorbed simultaneously.]

[Internal energy instability detected.]

[Severe meridian damage imminent.]

Seana’s expression changed. "Little Fox!"

She pulled against her chains, but they rattled without giving.

Lothe didn’t seem to hear her.

The energy struck the restriction again.

BOOM!

His meridians shuddered. Blood surged backward through his body, and a thin line spilled from his nose.

Then another.

Blood ran from his ears, staining his cheeks and robes.

"Lothe!" Seana cried.

His body trembled. The chains creaked as his muscles tightened, but he couldn’t raise his hands to clutch his chest.

He could only endure.

The energy was too violent. His technique kept trying to refine it, but the sealed pathways prevented a proper circulation cycle. The more energy he absorbed, the greater the pressure became.

[WARNING!]

[Meridian Lock remains active.]

[Energy circulation obstructed.]

[Internal pressure exceeds safe threshold.]

[Meridian rupture imminent.]

Lothe clenched his teeth.

Not yet.

If his meridians ruptured, he might lose the pathways he needed to circulate Qi. And if the chaotic energy reached his Core unchecked, the damage could be even worse.

BOOM!

Another internal collision.

His vision blurred. Blood spilled from the corners of his mouth. Each breath felt like swallowing broken glass.

His consciousness wavered.

For one awful moment, he felt as if his body were being torn apart from within.

Then something stirred inside his Core.

The three Coordinate Anchors he had previously placed around his Void Qi flickered into his awareness.

One.

Two.

Three.

Their spatial signatures remained faintly connected to his internal energy, even through the prison’s suppression.

A subtle ripple passed through his body.

The anchors didn’t purify the chaotic energy or erase the restraints. They gave Lothe three fixed points within the turbulence—references he could use to distinguish the energy’s movement from the barriers obstructing it.

It was like finding three unmoving stars in a storm.

Lothe seized the opening.

There.

He guided the chaotic flow using the faint connections to the anchors. The energy surged forward again, but this time it struck the restriction at a different angle.

BOOM!

The impact shook his meridians.

The restriction trembled, but held.

Lothe’s face twisted with pain. Blood continued to drip from his nose and ears.

[Meridian Lock: Structural instability detected.]

[Warning!]

[Physical damage increasing.]

[Continued absorption may result in permanent injury.]

He ignored the warning.

One failed attempt wasn’t enough. He had to keep adjusting the flow until the energy struck the restriction’s weakest point.

Another surge poured from the monster cores. The chaotic energy battered his meridians, and the three anchors flickered as they guided its course.

Lothe forced the energy to compress against a single point.

BOOM!

The restriction shook violently.

A hairline fracture appeared across the invisible barrier.

Lothe’s eyes widened.

Again.

He drew in more energy.

The green torrents thickened, and the pressure inside his body mounted. His muscles convulsed. Blood gathered at his ears and nose. Then the circulation reversed again, and the droplets began to rise along his cheeks, crawling toward his forehead against gravity.

"Stop!" Seana screamed. She struck her chains with both hands, trying to break free. "Little Fox, you’re going to destroy yourself!"

The others watched in horror.

Even Rowan’s expression darkened. He had seen cultivators risk their lives for power, but Lothe’s body was visibly nearing its limit.

Still, Lothe continued absorbing the cores.

CRACK!

The Meridian Lock shattered.

[Meridian Lock: UNLOCKED.]

[Meridian pathways partially restored.]

[Spiritual Qi circulation permitted.]

The notification rang through Lothe’s consciousness.

He had no time to celebrate.

The chaotic energy surged through the newly opened pathways, burning as it raced toward his Core.

There, it met the next barrier.

The Core Lock.

Lothe’s breathing grew ragged. The Core Lock didn’t simply restrict his cultivation. It suppressed the source from which he gathered and controlled Spiritual Qi.

Beyond it lay his Spirit Root. His very Superpower.

If the unrefined energy struck the lock unchecked, the pressure could destroy his Core before the restriction broke.

He had to control the flow.

The three Coordinate Anchors resonated again, forming stable reference points around the chaotic current. Lothe guided the energy through his restored meridians, compressing it until it struck the Core Lock with focused force.

BOOM!

The impact reverberated through his body.

Lothe’s back arched. Blood burst from his mouth and splashed across the stone floor.

The Core Lock held.

[Core Lock: ACTIVE.]

[Core integrity at critical risk.]

[WARNING!]

[The Core is under extreme internal pressure.]

[Spirit Root integrity endangered.]

Lothe’s consciousness flickered. The world seemed to drift away.?