Chapter 442: Life Artifact

Hua Changxi felt somewhat guilty because Chang Wei's physical body had nearly collapsed, and she looked at Jia Lu, Ye Lingxuan, and Jiang Henian: "I'll leave Chang Wei in your care; make sure to nurse his body back to health."

After giving these instructions, she picked up the Qihuang Token on the operating table.

Seeing the sword patterns revealed on the token, Hua Changxi confirmed—her guess about the teaching content of Qihuang Halls Ten through Eighteen was correct.

Hua Changxi withdrew the isolation array and walked over to Pang Shaoyu: "For the time being, you and your uncle will both stay in Qihuang Hall Ten." Then she looked at Yu Fu, "Prepare a room for them."

Yu Fu nodded in acknowledgment and turned to leave, instructing someone to make preparations.

Fear still lingered on Pang Shaoyu's face as he looked at Hua Changxi anxiously: "Is my uncle alright?"

Hua Changxi: "Don't worry, he's fine." She paused, "Fortunately, your uncle has been training in Body Refinement all along."

Otherwise, Chang Wei's physical body would never have been able to withstand the impact caused by the Manifestation of the Spiritual Root.

Pang Shaoyu also looked relieved: "My uncle has never given up on cultivation over the years."

Hua Changxi hummed in agreement: "So, opportunities are always given by oneself."

Pang Shaoyu, thinking of the cracks all over Chang Wei's spiritual root, asked nervously: "Can my uncle's spiritual root still be healed?"

This time, Hua Changxi gave a very clear answer: "Yes. But he needs to recover his body first before treatment can begin, and I also need to prepare some things on my end."

Recalling the 'Life Artifact' mentioned in the Creation Hand Divine Ability, Hua Changxi took out her Yinian Communication Device and sent a message to Tong Yao.

"Do you have time? Can you come to Dan Holy Hall?"

"Have you heard of 'Life Artifacts'? I want to forge a batch of 'Life Artifacts'."

"I can't easily describe this kind of spirit artifact. If you come to Dan Holy Hall and see the usage scenarios and targets of 'Life Artifacts' in person, you might gain a more intuitive understanding."

The message was sent, but Tong Yao didn't reply immediately.

Hua Changxi put away her Yinian Communication Device, walked out of the treatment room, and called Yu Fu: "Go ask the disciples of Danyuan Peak who are at Body Refinement Layer Three and above whether they want to see what their own spiritual roots look like. Then bring those who are willing to Qihuang Hall Ten."

Chang Wei was a Layer Two Body Refinement cultivator; during the Manifestation of the Spiritual Root, he could hold out for a while. For cultivators at Layer Three Body Refinement, the probability of physical collapse should be much lower.

Of course, the specifics still needed to be tested.

After Yu Fu left, Hua Changxi suddenly thought of a question—if cultivators did not practice Body Refinement, would it be impossible to manifest the spiritual root, dantian, and sea of consciousness?

Was the reason Chang Wei's physical body nearly collapsed because his body wasn't strong enough, or... because she was still too unfamiliar with performing the Creation Hand Divine Ability?

"Buzz~"

The Yinian Communication Device vibrated; Tong Yao had replied.

"I have time."

"I've seen an introduction to 'Life Artifacts' in the *Four Spirit World Artifact Illustrated*. Life Artifacts have no grade, but their forging difficulty is comparable to the Dao Artifacts used by Dao Lords."

"The Artifact Saint Palace has never forged this type of implement before, and I'm very willing to come and see what the usage scenarios and targets of Life Artifacts look like."

Hua Changxi replied: "Then come over now."

Quite a few Danyuan Peak disciples wanted to see what their own spiritual roots looked like. Before long, Yu Fu began bringing Danyuan Peak disciples into Qihuang Hall Ten in groups.

The commotion at Danyuan Peak naturally drew onlookers from all sides.

"What do you think—how exactly does Hua Changxi unlock the secrets of each Qihuang Hall?"

Ever since determining the teaching content of Qihuang Halls One through Six and Eight, the various factions of Dan Holy Hall had been exploring and researching the other Qihuang Halls along this direction.

Unfortunately, they found nothing.

Meng Qingyao looked at Qihuang Hall Ten and recalled their discussion on the airship during the return trip from Lingguang Hall.

Was Hua Changxi verifying the methods of 'Spiritual Healing' inside Qihuang Hall Ten?

Thinking about the targets of 'Spiritual Healing', Meng Qingyao quickly guessed that the specialization of Qihuang Hall Ten was likely related to spiritual roots.

If that were the case, then Qihuang Hall Eleven's specialization should be about the dantian.

By extension, Hall Twelve specialized in golden cores; Hall Thirteen in nascent souls; Hall Fourteen in... the sea of consciousness? Hall Fifteen in the primordial spirit?

And what about Hall Sixteen, Hall Seventeen, and Hall Eighteen after that? What did they specialize in?

Following this line of reasoning, Meng Qingyao also wanted to verify her guess. Hall Eleven's curator was Shen Qianfan, who definitely wouldn't be willing to give up his hall for her experiments.

The master of Hall Twelve was Wu Lingyue...

Thinking about the close relationship between the Xia and Wu families, Meng Qingyao stopped paying attention to Hall Ten of the Qihuang Institute and turned to find Xia Zhen to discuss the experiment in Hall Twelve.

Inside Hall Ten of the Qihuang Institute, the first batch of disciples Yu Fu had brought were all dual cultivators of body and magic, with the lowest cultivation being at the Core Formation stage.

Hua Changxi didn't know whether manifesting a spiritual root while the cultivator was conscious would cause pain, so she needed to verify this. She chose the strongest, Dugu Lie, for the first experiment.

Tong Yao arrived faster than expected. As soon as he came, Hua Changxi exchanged a few brief words with him and then led everyone into the treatment room.

The spiritual root concerned the very foundation of a cultivator's practice and was not suitable to be known by outsiders. Apart from Jia Lu, Ye Lingxuan, and Jiang Henian, who stayed to assist in case of emergencies, no one else was allowed inside.

Hua Changxi had originally wanted to reassure Dugu Lie, telling him not to be nervous and that his safety was guaranteed. Who would have thought that this man looked completely calm, with even a flicker of excitement and eagerness in his eyes?

"You trust me that much? Aren't you afraid I might hurt you?"

This was the first time Dugu Lie had been so close to Hua Changxi. He looked up at her and said, "You are the Peak Master. Of course I trust you."

Hua Changxi chuckled. "If I weren't the Peak Master, you wouldn't trust me?"

Dugu Lie was momentarily at a loss for how to respond.

Seeing this, Ye Lingxuan quickly smiled and said, "What we trust is you, the person, Peak Master."

Hua Changxi had only wanted to lighten the mood, so she didn't say anything more.

Since Dugu Lie wasn't injured, Hua Changxi didn't make him lie down. Instead, she had him sit cross-legged to regulate his breathing. Once he entered a meditative state, she began to execute the "Creation Hand Divine Ability."

Watching Hua Changxi use the "Creation Hand" for the second time, Jia Lu and the other two were still full of admiration.

As for Tong Yao, who was seeing it for the first time, he was already dumbstruck.

When Dugu Lie's spiritual root manifested, the four people's mouths involuntarily dropped open.

Compared to Chang Wei's cracked and fractured spiritual root, Dugu Lie's spiritual root was absolutely magnificent.

Dugu Lie had a five-element spiritual root. The manifested rainbow bridge of his spiritual root flowed with clearly distinct streams of five-colored light, resembling a five-colored lotus.

Hua Changxi closely monitored Dugu Lie's condition. Seeing no abnormalities, she used the "Creation Hand" to gently touch his spiritual root.

The instant the spiritual root was touched, Dugu Lie shuddered.

Hua Changxi immediately understood: when the manifested spiritual root was touched while the person was conscious, the subject could feel it.

"Do you see? This is a cultivator's spiritual root."

"The life artifact I understand can move between the virtual and the real and can carry spiritual power. At the same time, it must be fine enough to move freely within a tiny space."

"When using a life artifact for treatment, you'll need various sizes of operating knives, suture needles, forceps, and so on. These all need to be forged."

Tong Yao nodded. "Can I touch your 'hand'?"

Hua Changxi: "Of course."

Tong Yao reached out his hand and passed it straight through Hua Changxi's "Creation Hand," exclaiming in amazement, "I can sense your hand, but I don't have a real tactile sensation. This feeling is so strange."

Hua Changxi said, "A manifested spiritual root should feel the same. So, can you forge a life artifact that can perform surgery on a spiritual root, dantian, or sea of consciousness?"

Tong Yao nodded. "I have some confidence in forging a life artifact for the spiritual root. But for the dantian and sea of consciousness... I'll have to go back and consult the elders."

Hua Changxi listened and nodded. She looked at Dugu Lie's dantian area, wanting to manifest it as well so Tong Yao could observe it up close, but in the end she shook her head and gave up.

This was only her second time using the "Creation Hand" divine ability. The first time she used it, she nearly caused Chang Wei's physical body to collapse. She couldn't guarantee that manifesting the dantian wouldn't cause some sudden problem.

If the dantian were damaged, it would be a severe injury. She couldn't risk Dugu Lie.

Hua Changxi withdrew the "Creation Hand" divine ability and looked at Tong Yao. "Then help me forge a set of life artifacts that work on spiritual roots first. As for the dantian and sea of consciousness, we'll talk later."

Tong Yao agreed, "Alright."