12dz Chapter 297 Injury Detection with the Hunyuan Ruyi Staff
Chapter 297 Injury Detection with the Hunyuan Ruyi Staff
Chapter 297 Injury Detection with the Hunyuan Ruyi Staff
Upon returning from Xianghe Valley, Mo Yuming couldn't wait to find Tieqiao and showed him the copied blueprints.
"Where did you get this from?" Tieqiao asked excitedly as soon as he took a look at the blueprints.
Mo Yuming then told him about the discovery of the Black Stone Secret Realm by the Wise Ape Clan.
"These are all ancient runes, and they even have textual annotations. Although we don't recognize most of these ancient characters, we should still be able to figure them out by comparing them with the fragments and runes in our clan's collection. Fantastic! I never imagined we could see such complete ancient rune techniques!"
You may not know this, but in fact, our Tianxuan Continent has gaps in the inheritance of not only weapon crafting, but also alchemy, array formation, and even profound martial arts techniques. Most of the ancient techniques have not been passed down in their entirety. Although the major families are trying their best to find and fill in the gaps, all they can collect are some broken fragments, and there are almost none that have research value.
Some skills, however, gradually deteriorate due to long-term disuse. Take, for example, the technique of forging meteorite artifacts. Although our family has striven to pass it down through generations, with every member memorizing the key points and practicing forging techniques from the very beginning—after all, forging artifacts is crucial—the forgers of Zhangjiabao all know how to forge meteorite weapons. But this has always remained theoretical. For thousands of years, very few forgers have had the opportunity to actually handle meteorite iron. To have the chance to forge even one meteorite artifact in a lifetime is an immense stroke of luck. The vast majority of forgers have never even seen meteorite iron, let alone forged it. Can such a transmission truly preserve the technique completely? Both forging and alchemy require extensive practice to improve skills. Theory without practice is merely empty talk, like trying to see flowers through a fog—always separated by a layer of mist.
"If you hadn't managed to get so much meteorite iron all at once, I wouldn't have had the confidence to give it a try. If it were just a small piece, I really wouldn't have dared to attempt it!"
After that, Tieqiao ignored Mo Yuming and began to look at the blueprints over and over again, completely absorbed in them. Several hours later, Tieqiao suddenly stood up, ran to where Mo Yuming was meditating, and said:
"No, I'm still not convinced by just the copied pictures and text. I need to go to the ape clan in person and see for myself the real divine weapon. I want to see if the legendary treasure is really made of meteorite iron! I also need to know how the ancient weapon refiners were skilled. This is crucial for improving my weapon refining skills!"
Having said that, he disregarded the late hour, quickly tidied himself up, and led Mo Yuming on a night journey to Xianghe Valley. Mo Yuming had no choice but to follow. On the way, Tie Qiao suddenly paused, took out a piece of green jade from his robes, and tossed it to him, saying:
"This is a recording I made of the techniques for forging meteorite artifacts, along with ancient fragments collected by my family over the years. It will be helpful for your future cultivation!"
Mo Yuming took the jade and probed it with his soul power. Instantly, countless pieces of information flowed from the jade into his mind. Numerous weapon-refining techniques merged into Mo Yuming's consciousness. The sudden influx of information overwhelmed Mo Yuming, leaving him feeling dizzy for a long time. However, many things that Mo Yuming hadn't understood before suddenly became clear. His weapon-refining skills also improved considerably.
As dawn broke, the two arrived at the ape's dwelling. Tieqiao had lived in the canyon for decades and had a very good relationship with the elders of the ape clan. Moreover, the apes were naturally open-minded and, unlike humans, had no intention of keeping secrets. They readily agreed to Tieqiao's request, and soon Mo Yuming and Tieqiao reappeared in the Black Stone Secret Realm.
Inside the secret realm, besides the two elders on duty, only Xiao Mei was still cultivating beside the iron rod. The other ape youths had all reached their cultivation limit and left one after another. Only Xiao Mei was unrestricted and could sit directly under the iron rod to cultivate.
Xiao Mei was surprised but also very happy to see Mo Yuming reappear. She quickly greeted him and shared her cultivation insights.
“Brother Yuming, last night when I was cultivating, I was able to sense the information of the iron rod more clearly. That information seemed to carry a very strong emotion, as if it was trying to express something to me.”
“If I’m not mistaken, the spirit of this iron rod wants to communicate with you, but because your cultivation level is too low, you are far from reaching the level to communicate with it, so you cannot resonate with it,” Tieqiao said.
"Are you so sure? This iron rod is a divine artifact left behind by our ancestor. There are many people in our ape clan whose cultivation is higher than that of Xiaomei, but even our Great Elder couldn't sense any information about the Hunyuan Ruyi Rod." The elder guarding the secret realm asked in confusion after hearing Tieqiao's words.
"The reason why spiritual treasures are different from other weapons, besides their powerful energy, is that they can generate a spirit and have their own consciousness. The higher the level, the stronger the self-awareness. This is also why spiritual treasures can choose their masters," Tieqiao said.
“We all know that, but this is our ancestor’s divine artifact. How could it possibly contact an ordinary child on its own initiative? Besides, although Xiaomei is intelligent, she hasn’t reached the level of being able to make a divine artifact take the initiative to show her favor, has she?”
"That's because the spirit of this divine artifact was severely damaged, almost to the point of being unable to take shape. Generally, there are two ways for a divine artifact to recover from damage. The first is to find a high-level artifact refiner to repair the damage to the artifact body when the artifact body is damaged. The second is to have the artifact's owner nurture the spirit in their dantian or sea of consciousness when the artifact spirit is injured. If conditions permit, rare and precious treasures can also be used to assist it in absorption. But the premise is that the damage to the artifact spirit is not too serious."
"How can you tell that our ancestor's divine artifact is damaged? It's a divine artifact! Is there any weapon that can be damaged like a divine artifact? If it's damaged, how can it still emit special spiritual energy for the younger generation of the clan to cultivate?" another ape clan elder asked, puzzled. This was an invincible divine artifact in their eyes; they simply couldn't believe it could be damaged.
“What could damage it must be a powerful artifact of comparable strength or a great power with extremely high cultivation! Do you know what material the stone used to build this secret realm is made of? And why did your ancestors use this material to build the secret realm?” Tieqiao asked.
"We don't know, we just felt that this stone was particularly solid and very sturdy. It's a very high-grade stone!"
"This kind of stone is indeed very rare, called Fallen Dragon Stone. It is hard, very solid, and extremely stable. No spiritual power can affect it. Even a highly skilled earth-elemental cultivator cannot sense it. If trapped inside, even an earth-elemental cultivator cannot absorb any spiritual energy from it. The only way to break it is with brute force and a sufficiently sharp steel knife. However, it is not a very high-grade material. It is actually quite useless. Apart from blocking spiritual energy and being hard, it has no other uses. It cannot be used for refining weapons or even for building walls. It must be buried deep underground to be used because it cannot be exposed to sunlight. If exposed, it will quickly weather and crumble."
Your ancestor's use of the Fallen Dragon Stone to build the secret chamber was likely a last resort. If I'm not mistaken, your ancestor was either severely injured and nearing the end of his life, unable to wait for the setup of the formations and the discovery of suitable materials to construct the secret realm. Or, the circumstances were exceptional, and there was nowhere to find a weapon refiner or formation master to set it up.”
"Impossible. Our ancestor's cultivation is so high, how could he possibly be injured?"
"These divine artifacts and that armor are weapons bound to him by a life contract. If it weren't for an accident, how could he have sealed them in this stone chamber? Cultivators never part with their weapons. He sealed his weapons in this secret chamber to preserve them properly. Because divine artifacts have their own consciousness, when their master loses his life, their natal treasures will also be damaged. Some divine artifacts will even self-destruct to show their loyalty. Back then, your ancestor knew that his time was running out, so he wanted to leave these treasures to his descendants, but he didn't have a good way to do so, so he could only build this secret chamber to preserve them."
The arrangement of the treasures in the secret chamber reveals just how hastily this secret realm was built. All the treasures were simply placed on the ground, without proper storage. The small chambers dug out to hold various gems were a last resort. You can see that the five small stone chambers each contain energy gems of five different attributes; their distribution actually forms a crude Five Elements Gathering Spirit Array, intended to gather spiritual energy for the divine artifacts within to absorb and restore themselves. However, due to its extremely rudimentary arrangement, even after thousands of years, these divine artifacts have still not recovered.
"After you broke in, you arranged for your juniors to cultivate beneath the divine artifact, which was actually a way of plundering its spiritual energy. Because the artifact's spirit was injured, it couldn't maintain its power. Since it was in this secret chamber, the spiritual energy couldn't diffuse, so the artifact was able to preserve its remaining energy. But after you opened the stone chamber, sending people to cultivate around it only caused it greater damage."
"Is that really true? How did you know?" Both elders became nervous.
"Because I am a weapon refiner, a good weapon refiner not only knows how to refine weapons, but can also communicate with spiritual weapons and sense their condition."
"Please wait here for a moment, allow me to inform the elders that this is a very serious matter, and we need to ask them to make a decision!" The guardian elder looked very nervous and hurriedly went to inform the other elders to discuss the matter together.
"Grandpa Tieqiao, this Hunyuan Staff refuses to let anyone get close in order to protect itself, but why does it tolerate Xiaomei getting close? And even takes the initiative to communicate with her?" Mo Yuming asked, puzzled.
"Didn't I say before? The best way for the spirit of a divine artifact to be fully restored is to sign a contract with a martial artist and be nurtured in the martial artist's sea of consciousness. The original owner of this divine artifact has already perished, so the only way for it to be restored is to find another owner. Xiao Mei is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate it has chosen. However, Xiao Mei's cultivation level is too low to accept such a high-level divine artifact. Therefore, the spirit of the divine artifact is trying to improve Xiao Mei's strength. But the ape race has a long lifespan and a very slow advancement speed, so it is probably not possible to do so for the time being."
"Brother Tieqiao, do you have a good idea?"
Several elders of the ape clan entered through the crack in the secret chamber. The one who spoke was naturally the eldest elder, the most senior member of the ape clan. After hearing what the Iron Bridge said, the guardian elder immediately went to explain the situation to the eldest elder and the others. Naturally, the elders of the ape clan were all very shocked, so the three most senior elders came over.
"The best way is to have Xiaomei form a contract with the artifact as soon as possible, but given Xiaomei's current condition, it will be difficult for her to meet the requirements in less than a few years. If we force a contract, it will only harm Xiaomei. The compromise is to repair the artifact's body first, which will at least stabilize the loss of its spiritual power. We can then have them form a contract after Xiaomei meets the requirements."
"Then we can only entrust this matter to Brother Tieqiao. As you know, our clan is novices when it comes to weapon crafting. Brother Tieqiao, please feel free to make any requests you have, as long as it is within our capabilities!"
"That's no problem. We've been in the canyon for so long and we've received so much care from you. It's only right that we repair the divine artifact. We're building a furnace at Red Spring to forge a treasure, so we can forge it together. We're currently preparing the forging materials. Since forging a divine artifact might trigger celestial phenomena, we'll set up a magic array around the furnace to conceal it. The magic array requires a huge amount of energy to support it, so we'd appreciate it if the elders could send a few representatives to help us."
"Alright, it's a deal!" The ape clan elder happily agreed.
"Yu Ming, come and experience the Hunyuan Ruyi Staff. See if you can spot its injuries."
Tieqiao said to Mo Yuming.
"I tried yesterday, and I couldn't even get within three zhang of it, let alone touch it!"
“Yesterday you approached it with the purpose of cultivation, now you are approaching it as a weapon refiner. Didn’t I already tell you the method on the way? Have you forgotten?”
"Oh, I'll give it a try!" Mo Yuming pondered for a while, sorted through the knowledge in the jade, and sure enough, it contained methods on how to contact spiritual artifacts and examine their structure.
Mo Yuming took a deep breath and, following the instructions of the cultivation technique, slowly walked towards the Hunyuan Ruyi Staff. Sure enough, when he approached within three zhang (approximately 10 meters), the invisible resistance disappeared, replaced by a series of pulses similar to the heartbeat of a living being. These pulses were somewhat chaotic, with discordant vibrations interspersed within the regular rhythm. The closer he got to the iron staff, the more pronounced this feeling became. When Mo Yuming's palm touched the staff, powerful pulses surged through his hand, causing him considerable pain. Fortunately, Mo Yuming's physique was now extremely robust. After strengthening his cultivation technique, he barely managed to withstand the impact.
The moment Mo Yuming probed the iron rod with his divine sense, countless colorful networks of spiritual energy channels, resembling nerve pathways, were imprinted into his mind.