Becoming a Fox Spirit from Under One Person.

How did you know?

Is he a wizard and also a weapon refiner? What kind of talent does that require?

"Don't be surprised, I have a cheat guide." Xia He flipped through the little black book. This book, derived from the Precious Bond Book, not only provides basic cultivation methods, but is also an encyclopedia of magic and an illustrated guide to artifact identification.

The questions in one's heart can generally be answered by reading books, and the price to be paid varies depending on the impact of the answers on the world. Zhao Guizhen's fate is lowly and dangerous, and his strength is originally below Xia He's. Asking him questions only requires a negligible amount of Qi.

"It's almost time, you evil Taoist."

"I haven't lost yet!" Zhao Guizhen pointed his finger. "Go!"

Swish!

The malevolent energy that caused the body to mutate suddenly attacked, but stopped in mid-air before it could reach Xia He's side.

Zhao Guizhen's mind trembled, and a cold, damp chill surged from his dantian, rushing straight to his soul.

The malevolent energy backfired!

The old Taoist priest rummaged through the brocade pouch and examined the pills with a puzzled expression. Having been lying in the cultivation furnace for so long, the pills seemed to have spoiled and become moldy. Clearly, the alchemy methods of Maoshan wouldn't be this ineffective, but the pills had indeed gone bad.

No, no...

"No!"

The backlash of the evil energy meant that he lost the power to control the seven Yin spirits. In an instant, the seven Yin spirits turned against him, turning their hideous and fierce faces toward Zhao Guizhen himself.

Stab it!

Before Zhao Guizhen could react, the ghost face that appeared on his right arm tore a piece of flesh from his left shoulder, revealing clear flesh texture at the wound site, and glaring blood immediately gushed out.

"You bastards, this body is your refuge. Do you want to die together?!"

The Seven Fiends remained unmoved, and an astonishing sight unfolded: the mutations caused by Zhao Guizhen's body were slowly devouring him.

"Ahhh!"

Xia He covered her ears, but could still hear the screams and wails echoing through the forest. Zhao Guizhen's body was torn apart and devoured layer by layer, revealing the warm and smooth white bones underneath. In the end, only seven broken flesh worms and organs spilled all over the ground remained beside the skeleton.

"Died in this way?"

Xia He was a little surprised, but her purpose in chasing after him wasn't actually for Zhao Guizhen.

The seven severed fleshy worms were still writhing violently, and yin energy surged from their bodies like an ink spring.

The black mist surged and condensed, gradually outlining seven small silhouettes.

The oldest of the seven children was no more than eight years old. They floated in mid-air, their faces blurred, their eyes shining with a terrifying, malevolent light.

Xia He raised her hand, and a ball of warm, gentle energy, as soft as morning mist, slowly enveloped the twisted spirits. The resentment peeled away layer by layer, like solid ice being doused with hot water.

The child's face gradually became clearer, his eyes shifting from violence to confusion, and then from confusion to a timid glimmer of light.

"Thank you, sister," the eldest boy said.

Xia He crouched down, bringing her eyes to their level: "Is there anything else you want to do?"

The seven ghost children looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally, the eldest boy spoke up and expressed his wish. Before they died, they were just innocent children who missed home and their parents.

Children who went missing back then should have their families informed of their whereabouts.

Xia He nodded.

The perpetrator is dead, and the feud is over. As for the seven broken families, at least they don't have to wait another lifetime.

"Then you can stay with me for a while."

Xia He's palms faced upwards, and seven strands of Yin Qi coiled and gathered within them.

With another clench of her fist, the Yin spirit was drawn into her spiritual platform. The extra impurities deep within her soul caused a subtle misalignment between Xia He's body and spirit. It felt like wearing ill-fitting shoes, uncomfortable with every step, but she could still bear it.

Xia He took a deep breath, turned around and ran towards the workshop.

Inside the small room, which reeked of grease, the argument resumed. Chen Ruoan felt like he was talking to a brick wall; Ma Xianhong across from him was as stubborn as a mule, completely unable to understand.

Suddenly, even the foxes wanted to use their power to deploy temporary workers for murder and arson.

Biyou Village isn't the key issue; the main thing is to cause some trouble for Ma Xianhong. That guy deserves to have his furnace smashed.

"The Body Cultivation Furnace is not important," Chen Ruoan said.

"The cultivation furnace is of course important! I want to use the furnace to regain my lost memories and find my lost family!" Ma Xianhong's tone was tinged with hysterical madness, which undoubtedly confirmed Qu Tong's existence.

“During the Republic of China era, I visited many schools of craftsmen. Whether they were weapon refiners or puppeteers, they were used to devoting their entire lives to polishing objects. After relying on objects for a long time, they easily forgot to seek their inner selves.”

"How can one seek the methods of crafting weapons and mechanisms internally?"

"First, let's figure out what 'divine strategy' is."

"A clever mechanism for opening and closing." Ma Xianhong answered based on the knowledge passed down from his grandfather.

"Ancient books say that what is rooted in the middle is called the divine mechanism. The divine mechanism is the inherent activity mechanism of all living things. Humans are created by heaven and earth and are themselves an incomparably exquisite and complex 'vessel'. Naturally, they can be refined internally through various means."

Chen Ruoan pointed to the dark gray iron-skinned pumpkin: "The difference lies in whether you use a cultivation furnace or your own body as the furnace."

Ma Xianhong rubbed his forehead and stared at the body-cultivation furnace. Theoretically speaking, the physical changes brought about by external objects are indeed far less significant than the positive changes achieved through internal body cultivation.

Could it be that I've been practicing this "Divine Machine Hundred Refinements" incorrectly all along? There are legends of ancient master mechanics ascending to immortality, but I've never heard of a legend of mechanical ascension.

Chapter 236 Divine Refinement of Hundred Techniques, Second Stage

"Thank you very much, senior. I was being inconsiderate." Ma Xianhong stared at the cultivation furnace again, said a brief farewell, and then ran into the furnace and sealed himself inside.

In the following days, Ma Xianhong secluded himself for meditation, barely eating any food.

Chen Ruoan provided an excellent idea, but it was by no means easy to find the method of internal cultivation from the blueprints and techniques of "Divine Refinement".

One day, Fu Rong and Liu Wu Kui, who were in charge of the meals for Shang Genqi, came to the workshop to deliver food. Old Ma was sitting on the steps in front of the house, lost in thought.

"Master Ma, dinner's ready! Today we're having boiled fish and braised pork knuckle."

"Um···"

Ma Xianhong responded in a low voice, then looked up. Instead of looking at the steaming food, he noticed the energetic orange-haired loli next to him.

Liu Wu Kui, one of the top talents, underwent a benign mutation in her soul, giving birth to a special ability called "Five Directions Revealing Truths". When she is threatened, the five masks around her body and on her head will automatically activate a defensive mode to resist attacks.

The younger sister has a benign mutation, while the older brother suffers from chronic illnesses due to a malignant mutation. In order to save his brother, Liu Wu Kui travels all over the country, visits many schools of thought, and incurs a lot of debt.

"Kui'er, have you ever been exposed to any schools of thought that specialize in internal cultivation?"

“Internal cultivation?” Liu Wu Kui thought for a moment. “Does the Quanzhen Longmen count? Their Taoist masters are famous in the circle for their skills in cultivating both body and mind.”

"Of course it counts, tell me."

"Master, you know I'm notoriously slow-witted, so I don't remember those things at all. But I did take a lot of notes. I'll send them to you later."

"I want it now."

"Oh, oh, oh..." Liu Wu Kui felt that Master Ma was different from usual lately, so he hurriedly returned to his residence and handed over the notes he had taken along the way.

Ma Xianhong flipped through the notebook, which was densely filled with records of various schools of thought's understanding of soul mutation, as well as folk remedies for altering one's destiny, most of which were, of course, fake.

"The loss of the soul can be repaired by itself, and the real-world memories and emotional memories related to the three souls will be recovered together."

"The premise is that there is no physiological damage to the brain."

Ma Xianhong touched his forehead. When he was a child, he built a cultivation furnace, but it exploded. The ejected fragments almost pierced his skull. If it weren't for his sister's rescue, he probably would have died then.

Is it damage to a functional area of ​​the brain?

"My sister is skilled in medicine, so why couldn't she handle it properly for me back then?" Ma Xianhong recalled carefully. In fact, it was his sister who came up with the idea of ​​creating the Body Cultivation Furnace in the first place.

"No, my sister wants to harm me, there's no need for her to save me. It's my three souls that are damaged!"

“The method to replenish the soul…” Ma Xianhong continued to flip through his notes and suddenly found an explanation of the concept of “primordial spirit”.

Primordial spirit?

The primordial spirit is the innate spirit, which is present at birth and governs the life activities of the human body. It is the innate nature, which is empty, still and inactive.

"The divine mechanism is also the master of human activities. If we consider a person as a machine, then we have found the core hub that maintains the machine's operation. Then, the spirit is the core, corresponding internally to the five internal organs and externally to the skin, flesh, tendons, bones, and blood vessels, thereby tempering life..."

"That's right, that's right! All along, my understanding of the Divine Machine Hundred Refinements has been far too superficial."

Ma Xianhong handed over the notes, hurriedly ran back to the cultivation furnace, and isolated himself from the outside world again. He used the observation artifact to examine the blueprints and cultivation manual of "Divine Refinement".

On the first day, following the methods of weapon forging, the external skin and flesh were refined separately, and then the process was extended to the meridians...

On the third day, the bones and meridians begin to take shape, and the results begin to surpass ordinary physical training, transitioning to a more refined level.

On the fourth day, Ma Xianhong stepped out of the cultivation furnace and examined his hands in disbelief. Chen Ruoan and Xia He were standing next to the workbench, playing with a mechanical puppet shaped like a green frog.

"Senior, senior..."

"I am temporarily unable to delve into the depths of my soul, but this physical body is almost indestructible. It feels as if my internal organs and body have become defensive magical artifacts."

If this continues, will I end up with a heart of gold, lungs of silver, a head of bronze and a back of iron, and eyes of fire?

Ma Xianhong swallowed.

"At least he's teachable."

If something is completely hopeless, then temporary workers will have to be deployed.

Compared to his previous arrogance, Ma Xianhong had clearly toned down his demeanor. He cupped his hands and asked, "Senior, although my physical strength has improved, I haven't yet found a way to repair my soul. Is it possible to restore its incompleteness and regain my memories?"

Chen Ruoan raised his hand and pinched his finger, saying, "I am also a sorcerer. You don't need to wait for Zhuge Qing anymore. Let me give you a divination."

The fox pretended to pinch a few times.

"The comment is here, just three words: Bi Ma Wen (弼马温)."

"Sun Wukong?"

The official title of Bi Ma (弼马温, a high-ranking official in charge of horses) was not enough for him; the title of Qi Tian (齐天, meaning "Great Sage Equal to Heaven") did not bring him peace. This "rebellion against the Imperial Horse Administration" was the starting point of the havoc in the Heavenly Palace, and also the source of the monkey's tragic cultivation journey.

"Senior, I don't know how to understand this. Please enlighten me."

"Simple. So, what was Sun Wukong's status before he became the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses?"

Ma Xianhong thought for a moment: "Could it be considered a demon who rules over a mountain?"

"What about you?"

"I am... um, the village chief of Biyou Village, and the newly captured leader of the sect." Ma Xianhong gradually began to understand, while Xia He, who was listening nearby, suddenly realized what the fox was saying.