Chapter 114: Nascent Soul
Knowing that most of the Hua family members had experienced bloodline ancestral return, Hua Changxi gave Hua Minghe the Skin Refining chapter of the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique, the Skin Refining Technique copied from the stone wall of Qihuang Hall, and the corresponding medicinal bath formulas.
“To awaken the Totem Divine Abilities within the bloodline, a strong body is needed for support. Therefore, anyone who wishes to obtain ancestral bloodline Totem Divine Abilities must first refine their body.”
Hua Changxi also told the Hua family that the body-tempering extent of the Skin Refining chapter of the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique was deeper and the process more painful than the Skin Refining Technique, letting them choose which one to practice.
In the Hua family courtyard, although the Hua family members didn’t fully understand bloodline ancestral return and Totem Divine Abilities, it didn’t stop them from being happy that they could now cultivate.
Especially Old Master Hua and others who did not have a Spiritual Root. However, there were also unhappy people; Old Madam Hua and Second Aunt Hua were currently in low spirits.
Hua Changxi noticed their emotions and walked over, “Grandmother, Second Aunt, anyone can refine their body as long as they can endure hardship.”
Upon hearing this, Old Madam Hua and Second Aunt Hua showed joy on their faces, “Really?”
Hua Changxi nodded, “You’ll know if you try.”
With many things to attend to, Hua Changxi didn’t stay long at the Hua family. The Hua family’s bloodline had returned to its ancestors. After a moment of thought, she still took out the corresponding medicinal herbs for body refining medicinal baths and gave them to Hua Sanlang, informing him how to prepare them.
She didn’t expect the Hua family to help her much, but she still hoped they would be well and have the ability to protect themselves amidst the general trend of Spiritual Energy Revival.
Hua Changxi returned to the Medical Affairs Department. On her way back, she frowned and looked up at the sky.
She didn’t know why, but for the past two days, she had a feeling of being watched, a sense of impending storm.
Yet, she had probed countless times and found no one watching her from the shadows.
Hua Changxi suppressed the annoyance in her heart and returned to the Medical Affairs Department. As soon as she arrived, she found Zhou Qiuyu and asked her to go to the Marquis’s Mansion to take care of Hua Wuniang for a while.
Zhou Qiuyu, Wang Yun Chu, and Guo Cheng all possessed Spiritual Roots, and the cultivation methods they practiced were provided by her. The three could now be considered her people.
Zhou Qiuyu was steady, meticulous in her work, and among all those who attended her lectures, she was the fastest to learn pharmacology and medical theory. She was perfectly capable of helping to regulate Hua Wuniang’s body.
Hua Changxi gave Zhou Qiuyu several regulating prescriptions and prepared corresponding medicinal herbs for her. At the same time, she also gave her ten top-grade Wood Spirit Stones as compensation for taking care of Hua Wuniang.
Zhou Qiuyu, being a Single Wood Spirit Root Cultivator, knew the function of Spirit Stones. She did not refuse and, after receiving them, assured Hua Changxi that she would definitely regulate Hua Wuniang’s body well. Then, she packed some things and went directly to Marquis Wu Yi’s Mansion.
When Hua Changxi left Marquis Wu Yi’s Mansion, she had said she would send a medical woman to take care of Hua Wuniang. Third Master He did not expect her to act so quickly and sent someone that very day.
Seeing Zhou Qiuyu, Third Master He’s expression was somewhat solemn.
Hua Changxi was actually able to send a Cultivator to take care of Concubine Hua; this was truly beyond his expectations.
Zhou Qiuyu had already undergone Qi Induction. The Medical Affairs Department was rich in Spiritual Energy, and she was now a cultivator in the early Qi Refining stage. Although her cultivation was not high, it was enough for Third Master He to pay more attention to the Hua family.
Third Master He went to the main courtyard and informed Marquis Wu Yi of the matter.
Upon hearing this, Marquis Wu Yi was also very surprised, “Isn’t Hua Changxi just a Laborer in the Medical Affairs Department? How can she assign someone else, and a Cultivator at that?”
Saying this, he immediately summoned He Sirong and He Siqi to inquire about Hua Changxi.
He Sirong said, “Grandfather, Hua Changxi is the Head Steward under Eunuch Jia, managing hundreds of people. Moreover, she has close dealings with Eunuch Zhou and Eunuch Zhao from the First and Second Departments, as well as Eunuch Yu from the Storeroom.”
He Siqi added, “Hua Changxi lectures in the Labor Department, and several eunuchs have tacitly agreed. Now, most of the laborers in the Labor Department are very convinced by her.”
Marquis Wu Yi looked at He Siqi, “Wait, you said Hua Changxi does what in the Labor Department?”
He Siqi replied, “She lectures to the laborers in the Labor Department.”
Marquis Wu Yi frowned, “What does she lecture about?”
He Siqi said, “It’s said she lectures on pharmacology, how to wash medicinal herbs, and process medicinal herbs.”
Marquis Wu Yi pondered, “There must be something going on here. A person wouldn’t do something without a reason. Hua Changxi lecturing in the Labor Department must have another purpose.”
Saying this, he looked at Sirong and Siqi, “Sirong, Siqi, if Hua Changxi is lecturing, find a way to listen in and see if you can find out what she’s really up to.”
He Sirong hesitated and said, “Grandfather, perhaps Hua Changxi simply wants to help the laborers?”
Marquis Wu Yi thought his granddaughter was too naive, “A person does something without benefit, they cannot persist for long.”
“The Medical Affairs Department was a Sacred Land for Alchemy in ancient times. There are great opportunities hidden here. You are in the Disciple Hall, so do not neglect any small matter.”
He Sirong and He Siqi solemnly agreed after hearing this.
Meanwhile, in the Medical Affairs Department building, Gu Jin Fan also obtained the files of Hua Changxi, Zhu Qinghuan, and Shen Qianfan.
Shen Qianfan is a clansman of Shen Zhixing, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice, from his hometown. He came to the Capital City from Jiaozhou two years ago. His ancestors had been doctors for three generations. As soon as he arrived in the Capital, Shen Zhixing arranged for him to enter the Medical Affairs Department.
He is somewhat stubborn and doesn’t have many friends in the Disciple Hall, spending most of his time studying medical skills.
Zhu Qinghuan comes from an ordinary family; her parents are medicinal farmers from villages near the Capital. She entered the Medical Affairs Department as an Apprentice simply to learn more pharmacology and medical theory to better manage the family’s Medicine Fields in the future.
In the Apprentice Hall, Zhu Qinghuan did not get involved in any disputes, focusing her mind on learning.
The files for Shen Qianfan and Zhu Qinghuan were only one page each, and Gu Jin Fan finished them quickly. Hua Changxi’s file, however, was significantly thicker.
She was exceptionally recruited into the Labor Department by Eunuch Jia. After entering the Labor Department, she interacted with people from the Storeroom, physically assaulted someone, collaborated with Eunuch Yu in Alchemy, and was punished by being sent to the Medicine Farm.
Compared to Shen Qianfan and Zhu Qinghuan, Hua Changxi was truly too restless.
After Gu Jin Fan finished reading Hua Changxi’s file, he frowned.
From the moment Hua Changxi entered the Labor Department, she displayed medical skills far beyond ordinary people. Not only was she fast at washing medicinal herbs, but she could also refine pills. With such ability, why would she be willing to be a mere Laborer?
This person must have another purpose for entering the Labor Department!
Gu Jin Fan picked up the upper and middle volumes of Mortal Plant Medicinal Herbs on the desk and began to flip through them. The medicinal herbs recorded within were those Hua Changxi usually lectured about to the laborers.
Among the medicinal herbs recorded here were many newly appeared ones, whose medicinal properties were not even well understood by the Pharmacists on Ninth Street. Yet, Hua Changxi had explained their properties in detail.
Did she know too much?
Gu Jin Fan thought of a possibility: Hua Changxi might have obtained an Inheritance like a Pharmacopoeia or Medical Canon.
If that were the case, he would have to think highly of her if she were willing to share the Inheritance.
Gu Jin Fan called Mu Qingying in and handed her Hua Changxi’s compiled Mortal Plant Medicinal Herbs. “Qingying, aren’t you interested in the new medicinal herbs that have appeared? Hua Changxi seems to have considerable achievements in this area. You can go and listen to her lectures in the future.”
Mu Qingying was puzzled by her Master asking her to listen to a Laborer’s lecture, but she nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, at the Number One Apothecary Shop on Second Street, Gu Jin Fan was also looking at the information about Hua Changxi collected by her subordinates.
Although this document was not as detailed as the one collected by Department Head Gu Jin Fan, it recorded almost all of Hua Changxi’s deeds since entering the Medical Affairs Department.
When Gu Jin Fan saw that Hua Changxi had been punished and sent to Sancha Medicine Farm, where she stayed for nearly a year, she immediately thought of her being seriously injured by a mysterious cultivator when she went to Three Forked Medicine Valley to ask Elder You and others for Creation Fruits.
“Could that mysterious cultivator be Hua Changxi?”
Gu Jin Fan actually didn’t want to believe that the mysterious cultivator was Hua Changxi, because the Fire Lotus she unleashed almost made it impossible for her to escape.
What did this mean?
It meant that the cultivator’s cultivation was above hers.
She found it hard to accept that her cultivation was inferior to Hua Changxi’s.
Moreover, she also thought of the Fire Lotus Fairy who suddenly appeared at Five Finger Mountain. Although she was not present at the earth-shattering battle at Five Finger Mountain, she learned about the situation from various sources afterward.
A Vermilion Bird flew out of the Fire Lotus.
The mysterious cultivator used a Fire Lotus attack against her, and Hua Changxi cultivated the Vermilion Bird Divine Art.
All signs indicated that the mysterious cultivator was Hua Changxi!
Gu Jin Fan’s chest heaved slightly. If the mysterious cultivator was Hua Changxi, and if the Fire Lotus Fairy at Five Finger Mountain was Hua Changxi, then the many events that deviated from her past life were all driven by her.
Hua Changxi, someone who died early in her past life, did she have such great ability?
Gu Jin Fan’s mood was somewhat complex. If she hadn’t saved Hua Changxi, there wouldn’t have been so many changes in this life. However, she also felt a sense of pride.
Regardless, she was the one who saved Hua Changxi, which meant that the source of all the changes in the Four Spirit Realm in this life was her.
“Hua Changxi.”
Gu Jin Fan’s eyes flickered. She got up, quickly wrote a note, and called Zeng Hong, asking him to secretly deliver the note to the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture.
The red-robed Demonic Daoist was the father of Cao Jun, the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture. How would Cao Jun react if he knew that Hua Changxi had obtained the cultivation method his father had desperately wanted?
She knew that Cao Jun had been doing some unsavory things for certain people in the Royal Family and had already become a cultivator.
In her past life, Cao Jun was a prominent figure in the early stage of Spiritual Energy Revival. She estimated that at this stage, Cao Jun’s cultivation had reached at least the Core Formation Realm.
She wanted to see what level Hua Changxi’s cultivation had reached.
After Hua Changxi sent Zhou Qiuyu to take care of Hua Wuniang, she went to Number Six Qihuang Hall to refine Elixirs with all her might.
The battle with the He family at Marquis Wu Yi’s Mansion made her realize the importance of Pills. The grade of Elixirs needed to be improved quickly, otherwise, if she ran out of Spiritual Energy or got injured in the future, she would have no Pills to replenish her Spiritual Energy and repair her body.
That night, as Hua Changxi entered cultivation, she discovered that her Inner Core was vibrating, the amplitude of the vibration was increasing, and cracks had appeared on the surface of the Inner Core at some point.
At the same time, the feeling of being watched grew stronger.
Realm: Core Formation Realm 98,000,000/10,000,000
Hua Changxi looked at her realm data, and a flash of inspiration crossed her mind. She seemed to have guessed what was watching her.
Heavenly Tribulation!
The Inner Core transforming into a Nascent Soul, and advancing from the Core Formation Realm to the Nascent Soul Realm requires undergoing a tribulation!
Hua Changxi certainly would not undergo the tribulation in the Medical Affairs Department. Guessing that she might have to undergo a tribulation, she immediately decided to go to Five Finger Mountain. Under the cover of night, she quietly rode a Somersault Cloud and left the Capital, heading straight for Five Finger Mountain.
Along the way, Hua Changxi felt a storm brewing rapidly in the night sky, following her all the way.
“Crack~”
A sudden lightning strike tore through the night sky.
Seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder rumbling from above from time to time, Hua Changxi’s heart trembled.
It was a lie to say she wasn’t afraid during her first tribulation.
Soon, they arrived at Five Finger Mountain.
Upon reaching Five Finger Mountain, Hua Changxi went directly to the summit of Middle Finger Peak, where the Spiritual Energy was most concentrated. After setting up a Spirit Gathering Array, she sat cross-legged and entered cultivation, beginning to break through her realm.
That night, the residents near Five Finger Mountain experienced a night of strong winds, lightning, and thunder.
After a night of fear and worry, at the break of dawn, the residents discovered that colorful auspicious clouds had appeared in the sky, and a five-colored spiritual rain began to fall.
Bathed in the auspicious clouds and mist, Five Finger Mountain looked like a fairyland.
Seeing such a Five Finger Mountain, everyone was amazed.
“Wow, Master has advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm.”
Bathed in the sweet dew, Welcoming Pine was even happier than if he had advanced himself.
The Mountain Spirit also smiled, he could feel that Five Finger Mountain had expanded again, and the creatures around Middle Finger Peak were growing rapidly due to the falling sweet dew.
Realm: Nascent Soul Realm 100,000,000/100,000,000
At the summit of Middle Finger Peak, after enduring nine Heavenly Tribulations for her first tribulation, Hua Changxi looked somewhat disheveled. Looking at her body, which was torn and bleeding from the Heavenly Tribulation, she reaffirmed her determination to refine her body.
In her Dantian Qi Sea, the original Inner Core had transformed into a perfectly sculpted infant, sitting cross-legged, looking exactly like Hua Changxi.
This was her Nascent Soul!
The Nascent Soul hovered above the Qi Sea, its eyes closed as if in slumber.
Hua Changxi was somewhat confused as to why the Nascent Soul’s eyes were not open. She had not found any relevant records in the books she had confiscated.
“Could it be that the Nascent Soul’s eyes only open when the cultivation reaches the mid-to-late Nascent Soul Realm?”
Hua Changxi had always been exploring her cultivation. Although she cared that the Nascent Soul’s eyes were not open, she was not overly worried. She believed that she would eventually figure it out.
At this moment, what worried her more was that wisp of Black Flame.
The Black Flame had actually taken up residence in the Nascent Soul’s heart!
This made her very worried. She wondered if the Nascent Soul would be directly swallowed by the Black Flame if it grew larger.
“The Black Flame is the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Flame.”
“Seven emotions and six desires…”
Hua Changxi felt that she was not a person with excessive desires. However, the Black Flame residing in the Nascent Soul’s heart made her decide to control her desires well in the days to come!
“Fairy~”
“Master~”
The Mountain Spirit and Welcoming Pine arrived. Hua Changxi withdrew her thoughts, chatted with them for a while, and then hurried back to the Capital.
When Hua Changxi returned to the Medical Affairs Department, she arrived just in time for the lecture.
Good, a night had passed, and no one knew she had left.
When Hua Changxi entered Number One Qihuang Hall to begin her lecture, she saw the Department Head’s apprentice and the He family sisters, and her expression couldn’t help but pause.
Mu Qingying quite liked Hua Changxi’s personality. However, she came to listen to the lecture more to complete the task assigned by her Master. She knew Hua Changxi understood pharmacology and medical theory, but she didn’t think she needed to learn from her.
After becoming the Department Head’s apprentice in the Medical Affairs Department, she had read countless medical books and encountered and seen more medicinal herbs than ordinary people could imagine.
To put it without false modesty, there were very few people in the entire Medical Affairs Department who could guide her.
However, as Hua Changxi’s lecture progressed, Mu Qingying’s expression became more serious, and she even picked up a pen and paper to take notes.
After the lecture ended, she still felt unsatisfied and followed to listen to the lectures at Number Two Qihuang Hall and Number Three Qihuang Hall.
After listening, Mu Qingying finally understood what it meant to have mountains beyond mountains and people beyond people.
She had to admit that Hua Changxi’s attainments in medical theory and pharmacology were truly high, and she was genuinely teaching the laborers real skills.
He Sirong and He Siqi also listened to all three lectures and felt they had gained a lot.
“Hua Changxi.”
Mu Qingying called out to Hua Changxi and walked up to her, introducing herself, “I am Mu Qingying, the apprentice of Department Head Gu. I gained a lot from your lecture today. Can I continue to come and listen in the future?”
Hua Changxi smiled, “Anyone can come to listen to the lectures at Qihuang Hall.”
Mu Qingying did not try to take the opportunity to get closer to her. She said, “I will come again tomorrow,” and left.
After she left, Hua Changxi looked at the He family sisters waiting nearby and walked over, “Second Miss He, Fourth Miss He, thank you for informing me about Fifth Sister’s difficult childbirth. I owe you a favor. If you ever need my help in the future, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
He Sirong knew that Hua Changxi harbored some resentment towards the He family, making it difficult to get closer to her. So, she directly made a request, “Changxi, we heard that you are also teaching some laborers Alchemy. Can we learn together?”
Hua Changxi looked at the two of them, “Yes, but if you learn Alchemy from me, then I will no longer owe you anything.”
He Sirong smiled, “You didn’t owe us anything to begin with.”
Hua Changxi smiled, “I have something to do, I’ll be going now.”
Watching her leave, He Siqi looked at He Sirong, “Second Sister, are we being too direct like this?”
He Sirong showed a helpless expression, “If we don’t do this, how else can we get close to Hua Changxi?”
