Chapter 442: Life Artifact

Hua Changxi felt somewhat guilty over the near-collapse of Chang Wei's physical body and turned to Jia Lu, Ye Lingxuan, and Jiang Henian: "I'm leaving Chang Wei in your care; you must nurse his body back to health."

Only after giving these instructions did she pick up the Qihuang Token from the control console.

Seeing the sword pattern revealed on the token, Hua Changxi confirmed her suspicion: her guess regarding the teaching content of Qihuang Halls Ten through Eighteen was correct.

Hua Changxi dispersed the isolation array and walked toward Pang Shaoyu: "For the next while, you and your uncle will both stay in Qihuang Hall Ten." She then looked at Yu Fu. "Prepare a room for them."

Yu Fu nodded in agreement, then turned and left to make the arrangements.

Lingering fear still marked Pang Shaoyu's face as he watched Hua Changxi nervously: "Is my uncle all right?"

Hua Changxi replied, "Rest assured, he is fine." After a pause, she added, "Fortunately, your uncle has been cultivating his body all along."

Otherwise, Chang Wei's physical body would absolutely not have withstood the impact caused by the 'Manifestation of Spiritual Roots.'

Pang Shaoyu also looked relieved: "My uncle has never given up his cultivation all these years."

Hua Changxi hummed in acknowledgment: "Thus, opportunities are always created by oneself."

Recalling the cracks riddling Chang Wei's spiritual roots, Pang Shaoyu asked anxiously, "Can my uncle's spiritual roots still be healed?"

This time, Hua Changxi gave a very clear answer: "Yes. However, we must wait until his body has recovered before treatment can begin; I also need to prepare certain items on my end."

Thinking of the 'Life Artifact' mentioned in the 'Hand of Creation Divine Ability,' Hua Changxi took out her One-Thought Communicator and sent a message to Tong Yao.

"Are you free? Can you come to the Hall of the Alchemy Saint?"

"Have you heard of 'Life Artifacts'? I wish to refine a batch of them."

"Such spiritual artifacts are difficult for me to describe; come to the Hall of the Alchemy Saint, and after witnessing the usage scenarios and targets of the 'Life Artifacts' firsthand, you may gain a more intuitive understanding."

The message was sent, but Tong Yao did not reply immediately.

Hua Changxi put away her One-Thought Communicator, walked out of the treatment room, and summoned Yu Fu: "Go ask the disciples of the Alchemy Yuan Peak at the third level of Body Refinement and above whether they wish to see what their spiritual roots look like, then bring those who are willing to Qihuang Hall Ten."

Chang Wei was a second-level Body Refinement cultivator; although he could withstand the Manifestation of Spiritual Roots for a while, the probability of physical collapse for third-level Body Refinement cultivators should be much lower.

Of course, the specific circumstances still required experimentation.

After Yu Fu departed, Hua Changxi suddenly thought of a question: If a cultivator does not cultivate their body, does that mean the manifestation of their spiritual roots, dantian, and sea of consciousness cannot be performed?

Was the reason Chang Wei's physical body nearly collapsed that his body was not strong enough, or was it... because she was too unfamiliar with executing the 'Hand of Creation Divine Ability'?

"Buzz~"

Her One-Thought Communicator vibrated; Tong Yao had replied.

"I have time."

"I have seen introductions regarding 'Life Artifacts' in the 'Illustrated Catalog of Four Spirit Realm Artifacts'; Life Artifacts have no grade, yet their refinement difficulty rivals that of Dao Instruments used by Dao Lords."

"The Artifact Saint Palace has never refined such items before; I am very willing to come over and observe what the usage scenarios and targets of Life Artifacts are like."

Hua Changxi replied: "Then come over now."

There were indeed quite a few disciples of the Alchemy Yuan Peak who wished to see what their spiritual roots looked like; before long, Yu Fu began bringing them into Qihuang Hall Ten in batches.

The commotion at Alchemy Yuan Peak naturally attracted onlookers from all sides.

"Tell me, how exactly did Hua Changxi unlock the secrets of the various Qihuang Halls?"

Ever since the teaching contents of Qihuang Halls One through Six and Hall Eight were confirmed, all factions within the Hall of the Alchemy Saint had followed this direction to conduct various explorations and studies on the other Qihuang Halls.

Unfortunately, none had yielded any results.

Meng Qingyao looked at Qihuang Hall Ten, recalling the discussion they had aboard the flying ship on the way back from the Lingguang Hall.

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

Considering the targets of 'Spirit Healing,' Meng Qingyao quickly guessed that the specialized focus of Qihuang Hall Ten was likely related to spiritual roots.

If that were true, then the specialized focus of Qihuang Hall Eleven should concern the dantian.

By that logic, Hall Twelve would specialize in the Golden Core; Hall Thirteen in the Nascent Soul; Hall Fourteen... the sea of consciousness? Hall Fifteen in the Primordial Spirit?

Then what about Halls Sixteen, Seventeen, and Eighteen? What content would they specialize in?

Following this deduction, Meng Qingyao also wished to verify her own guesses, but Shen Qianfan, the master of Hall Eleven, would certainly not be willing to yield his hall to her for experimentation.

The master of Hall Twelve was Wu Lingyue...

Thinking of the close relationship between the Xia and Wu families, Meng Qingyao stopped paying attention to Qihuang Hall Ten, turned around, and went to find Xia Zhen to discuss conducting experiments in Hall Twelve.

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

Hua Changxi did not know whether manifesting spiritual roots while a cultivator was conscious would cause pain; needing to verify this, she selected the strongest among them, Dugu Lie, for the first experiment.

Tong Yao arrived faster than expected; once he arrived, Hua Changxi briefly exchanged words with him before leading everyone into the treatment room.

Since spiritual roots are the foundation of a cultivator's practice and not meant to be known by outsiders, no one was allowed inside except Jia Lu, Ye Lingxuan, and Jiang Henian, who were present to assist from the sidelines in case of accidents.

Hua Changxi had intended to comfort Dugu Lie and tell him not to be nervous, assuring him of his safety, but to her surprise, the man wore a calm expression, his eyes even flashing with excitement and eagerness.

"You certainly trust me; aren't you afraid I might hurt you?"

This was the first time Dugu Lie had been in such close contact with Hua Changxi; raising his eyes to look at her, he said, "You are the Peak Master, so naturally I trust you."

Hua Changxi chuckled: "If I weren't the Peak Master, would you not trust me?"

Dugu Lie momentarily did not know how to respond.

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

Hua Changxi had only meant to lighten the atmosphere and said nothing more.

Since Dugu Lie was not injured, Hua Changxi did not have him lie down but instead instructed him to sit cross-legged and regulate his breath; once he entered a meditative state, she began to execute the 'Hand of Creation Divine Ability.'

Witnessing Hua Changxi employ the 'Hand of Creation' for the second time, Jia Lu and the other two still wore expressions of full astonishment.

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

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

Compared to Chang Wei's crack-riddled spiritual roots, Dugu Lie's were simply magnificent.

Dugu Lie possessed Five-Element spiritual roots; the rainbow bridge of his manifested spiritual roots contained distinct streams of five-colored light flowing within, resembling a colorful lotus flower.

Hua Changxi closely monitored Dugu Lie's condition; seeing no abnormality, she used the 'Hand of Creation' to gently touch his spiritual roots.

The moment the spiritual root was touched, Dugu Lie trembled.

Hua Changxi immediately understood; when conscious, a person can feel their manifested spiritual root being touched.

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

"The fate artifact I envision must traverse between the void and reality, capable of bearing spiritual power; simultaneously, it must be refined enough to move freely within a square inch."

"Using a fate artifact for healing requires various tools like operating knives of different sizes, suturing needles, and tweezers, so all of these need to be forged."

Tong Yao nodded: "May I touch your 'hand'?"

Hua Changxi: "Of course."

Tong Yao extended his hand, passing it right through Hua Changxi's 'Creation Hand,' and exclaimed in wonder: "I can perceive your hand, yet there is no tangible sensation; this feeling is truly marvelous."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi said: "A manifested spiritual root should feel the same way. So, can you forge fate artifacts capable of performing surgery within the spiritual root, dantian, and sea of consciousness?"

Tong Yao nodded: "I am somewhat confident in forging fate artifacts targeting the spiritual root; however, for those targeting the dantian and sea of consciousness... I must return and consult the elders."

After hearing this, Hua Changxi nodded, then looked toward Dugu Lie's dantian. She considered manifesting his dantian as well to let Tong Yao observe it up close, but ultimately shook her head and gave up the idea.

This was only her second time employing the 'Creation Hand' divine ability; the first time, she had nearly caused Chang Wei's physical body to collapse. She could not guarantee that manifesting the dantian would not trigger some sudden mishap.

Once the dantian is damaged, it is absolutely a severe injury; she could not take such a risk with Dugu Lie.

Hua Changxi withdrew her 'Creation Hand' divine ability and looked at Tong Yao: "Then first forge me a set of fate artifacts for use on the spiritual root; as for those for the dantian and sea of consciousness, we can discuss them later."

Tong Yao agreed: "Very well."