Chapter 314: Calamity Born of Man

Inside Hall Six, a hundred cultivators each held a wisp of flame hovering in their palms; under their control, the flames flickered, growing larger or smaller, brighter or dimmer.

Hua Changxi moved among them, occasionally offering tips on the intricacies of controlling the Fire Control Technique.

During this time, many cultivators wore obvious expressions of joy on their faces.

For no other reason than that they discovered, after Hua Changxi's guidance, they had become more precise not only in the Fire Control Technique but also in their manipulation of spiritual energy than before.

After assessing the fire-control abilities of the cultivators present, Hua Changxi took out some grade-one spiritual herbs: "Next, I will explain the complete pill-refining process to everyone."

"The first step is to determine which pill you intend to refine and, according to the pill formula, prepare the corresponding spiritual herbs."

"The second step: after gathering all the spiritual herbs, you must clean and process them. Note that the quality of this processing directly affects the quality of the pills refined afterward."

"The third step is to decompose and purify the required components of the spiritual herbs, then grind the prepared herbs into powder."

"The fourth step involves fusing the medicinal ingredients and decomposing impurities."

"Starting from the third and fourth steps, the requirements for the pill refiner increase significantly; one must not only be thoroughly familiar with the spiritual herbs but also understand the differences in the medicinal properties of their various parts."

"Furthermore, one must possess supreme control over spiritual power; otherwise, incomplete decomposition, insufficient grinding, inadequate fusion, or failure to fully remove impurities will all affect the quality of the pill."

"Next comes the fifth step, the most critical and important stage of pill refining: condensing the medicinal ingredients into a pill. Whether the pill takes form determines the success or failure of this entire refinement."

"The final step is to seal the medicinal properties and spiritual energy within the pill."

Hua Changxi looked at the crowd: "The steps of pill refining are not overly complicated, but refining high-quality pills is far from easy. If you wish to walk far on the path of the Pill Dao, you must lay a solid foundation in all aspects."

"Now, I will demonstrate the refinement process of a grade-one Yuanling Pill for everyone."

The pill furnace Hua Changxi used for teaching was merely an ordinary one; to ensure everyone could clearly see the refining steps, she deliberately slowed her movements.

Spiritual fire ignited, and one spiritual herb after another flew into the furnace, undergoing decomposition, grinding, fusion...

Everyone watched with rapt attention, even the grade-two and grade-three pill refiners present.

Every step Hua Changxi took in refining the pill was extremely concise, radiating a Dao rhyme of returning to simplicity and truth.

Soon, a rich fragrance of pills diffused throughout Hall Six.

The pill condensed and took form!

The furnace lid opened, revealing ten grade-one Yuanling Pills emitting a green glow, floating into everyone's line of sight.

They were supreme-quality pills!

Although they had long known Hua Changxi's pill-refining skills were superior and had guessed she could produce supreme-quality pills, witnessing her refine nearly perfect supreme-quality pills with such ease still sent a great shock through everyone present.

Director Gu's eyes flickered as a guess leaped into his mind: Was it Hua Changxi who ignited the pill fire on First Street of Nine Streets?

He was not the only one thinking this; many others present harbored the same suspicion.

Hua Changxi summoned the ten supreme-quality grade-one Yuanling Pills before her; on the round surface of each pill was a conspicuous ring of green patterns: "Since these are grade-one pills, they possess only a single pill mark."

With a wave of her hand, the ten Yuanling Pills began circling through Hall Six.

The audience immediately suppressed the myriad thoughts in their hearts and focused intently on the supreme-quality grade-one pills before them.

"To determine the quality of the pills you have refined, you need only look at one thing: whether the pill mark is complete."

"Low-grade pills have the most flawed marks, and their brightness is the most dim."

"Low-grade pills also contain the most impurities; consuming too many of them will not only leave pill poison lingering in the body but also damage one's spiritual roots."

"Supreme-quality pills possess complete marks surrounded by a pill luster; consuming them carries almost no side effects."

The grade-one supreme-quality Yuanling Pills refined by Hua Changxi displayed brilliant marks that completely encircled each pill.

"Very well, I have now demonstrated both the complete steps of pill refining and the actual operational procedure. Now, take out your furnaces and refine a batch of grade-one pills for me to see."

Upon hearing this, everyone took out their prepared pill furnaces and spiritual herbs and began refining in succession.

Most of those present were already pill refiners; apart from a few whose skills were quite good, the rest exhibited obvious deficiencies.

Hua Changxi watched silently as the crowd refined their pills; at this moment, she merely wished to gauge everyone's level of skill, so she did not step forward to correct them.

When her gaze fell upon Dongfang Xu and Dongfang Hao, her eyes flickered slightly.

To be honest, seeing these two in Hall Six surprised her somewhat; after all, they had come with the Medical Bureau attached to the Xia family, meaning they should belong to the faction of the Guardian Families.

Apart from the apprentices from Danyuan Peak, everyone attending the lecture today belonged to factions of the noble and powerful families of Jingcheng; thus, the appearance of these two seemed particularly out of place.

However, the pill-refining skills of these two were indeed quite impressive.

Once most people had finished refining a batch of pills, Hua Changxi, noting that the day was growing late, announced directly: "We will stop here for today. Class dismissed."

Watching Hua Changxi's retreating figure, Dongfang Xu packed up his furnace and said to Dongfang Hao: "This lecture by Hua Changxi was worth attending; I gained quite a bit from it."

Dongfang Hao nodded in agreement: "In the path of pill refining, I fear even Qingyao cannot compare to her."

Dongfang Xu tilted his head: "Sister Qingyao has excellent talent, yet compared to Hua Changxi, she always seems to lack something."

After a moment of silence, Dongfang Hao said: "Qingyao is a vine clinging to the two great mountains of the Xia and Meng families, whereas Hua Changxi is a solitary tree rooted deeply in the earth."

Hearing this, Dongfang Xu's eyes suddenly brightened with understanding: "Brother, that description is very apt."

Dongfang Hao sighed inwardly; with Hua Changxi present, it would likely be difficult for the Guardian Families to elevate Qingyao to the position of Master of the Sacred Land.

In the days that followed, Hua Changxi spent her days teaching pill-refining techniques at Hall Six and returned to Danyuan Peak at night to cultivate the Twelve Styles of Soul Control.

Time slipped away day by day, and in the blink of an eye, it was mid-November.

On the sixteenth day of November, just as Hua Changxi was guiding Mu Qingying in the technique for sealing a pill's medicinal properties and spiritual energy, a tremendous roar like a mountain collapsing and the earth splitting suddenly erupted, as if something had exploded, causing everyone's face to change drastically in shock.

"What has happened?"

"Look quickly, what is that?"

In the sky south of Jingcheng, black cracks resembling a spiderweb appeared, from which countless scorching, crimson fire-type spiritual energies gushed forth.

The sky over there looked exactly like an eggshell that had been smashed apart.

This sight caused everyone's pupils to tremble.

"That is... a spatial rift!"

Hua Changxi's expression also changed drastically; through the spatial rift, she saw the fiery-red Fusang Wood.

Something has happened at the Artifact Saint Palace!

Thinking of Hua Liulang in the Artifact Saint Palace, Hua Changxi without a second thought condensed her spiritual clouds, flashed upward into the sky, and swiftly flew toward the Artifact Saint Palace.

Around the smithy where the ruins of the Artifact Saint Palace lay, spatial rifts continued to spread and expand; common folk nearby were either sucked into the fissures, severely injured by them, or burned by the erupting fire spiritual energy.

The carnage was so severe it resembled being in purgatory.

When Hua Changxi arrived, she was greatly startled by this bloody scene.

She wanted to save people, but because the area affected by the spatial rifts was truly too vast, she did not even know where to begin.

"Spatial tearing! The Artifact Saint Palace requests all fellow Daoists to join forces and suppress the space!"

A voice filled with urgency and pleading rang out in the air; immediately afterward, several figures flew out, releasing spiritual energy in an anxious attempt to halt the spread of the spatial rifts.

As soon as the words fell, countless cultivators flew out from all directions and began working together to suppress the spatial rifts.

Hua Changxi also joined in, but very soon she realized this approach would not work; the cultivators' spiritual energy was limited, and they could not hold out for long.

Just then, Tong Yao suddenly rushed over, grabbed Hua Changxi with a face full of anxiety, and said, "Changxi, now only you can help the Artifact Saint Palace."

Hua Changxi paused in expression: "How can I help?"

Tong Yao pulled her along: "Come with me first; we will talk as we go."

Seeing this, Hua Changxi withdrew her spiritual energy and allowed Tong Yao to pull her down toward the ground.

"Someone employed a Dao weapon to blast apart the Artifact Saint Palace's mountain-protecting great formation, causing widespread spatial tearing. If the spatial rifts are allowed to keep spreading, it will cause a spatial collapse."

"When that happens, not only will the old site of the Artifact Saint Palace be severely damaged, but the Fusan Divine Tree will also suffer heavy injuries."

Tong Yao quickly explained what had happened: "Using spiritual energy to suppress them can only slow the spread of the spatial rifts; once the suppressing force disappears, space will still collapse."

Hua Changxi had not expected that the current situation was actually caused by human disaster: "How do you want me to help?"

By now, the two were standing on the ground; Tong Yao looked at Hua Changxi with grave seriousness, a hint of difficulty appearing on his face, as if he found it hard to speak.

Hearing the cries of agony rising and falling all around, Hua Changxi felt her mind stirred into great agitation: "Just speak plainly. Whether I can help or not, I will decide for myself."

Tong Yao stopped beating around the bush: "I heard from Xia Yang and Xia Xue that you once entered the space where the Fusan Divine Tree resides."

Hua Changxi nodded.

Tong Yao said: "The Great Sun Divine Flame is the Artifact Saint Palace's supreme treasure; combined with the palace's Heaven-Forging Hammer Technique, it can repair spatial rifts."

Hua Changxi understood his meaning: "You want me to enter the spatial rift and unleash the Great Sun Divine Flame?"

Tong Yao nodded: "I know this is very dangerous, but the Artifact Saint Palace truly has no other way."

Hua Changxi fell into thought; entering a spatial rift was undoubtedly dangerous, yet she had mastered the 'Tear' character law, so in this regard she had no fear.

What she worried about was being unable to withstand the power of the Great Sun Divine Flame.

Looking at the numerous cultivators in the high sky struggling laboriously to suppress the spread of the spatial rifts, Hua Changxi gritted her teeth and decided to treat it as tempering her body with the Great Sun Divine Flame: "Very well, I agree."