Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 166: Chapter 129: Three Heads_2

At this moment, three corpses were completely covered with alchemical liquid, nourishing in the “Netherworld Ghost Realm Array” under the influence of Yin Cold Spiritual Power.

Li Shiming’s consciousness connected to the IBMz15. Having tested the power of the Mid-grade Magic Weapon Gatling, he became even more resolved about his previous plans.

The power of the Mid-grade Magic Weapon Gatling was indeed impressive, but it had not met his expectations.

A single Mid-grade Magic Weapon Gatling used up as many as ten thousand Spirit Stones, and even though he considered himself quite wealthy, this was a significant sum.

These ten thousand Spirit Stones did not even account for the additional Formations and enchantments.

Yet a Mid-grade Magic Weapon Gatling couldn’t even deal with a Qi Refining Eighth Level Cultivator quickly, which left him somewhat disappointed.

The solution was simple: increase the firepower output.

If one Mid-grade Magic Weapon Gatling wasn’t enough, then two; if two weren’t enough, then even more.

Of course, controlling a Mid-grade Magic Weapon Gatling required manipulation, and even with a copper corpse’s multiple arms, at most it could control two.

He had seen a thesis from a young medical student in the IBMz15’s database that was somewhat unorthodox, yet provided him with great inspiration.

“A Study on the Medical Feasibility of Three Heads and Six Arms” — just from the title, it was clear that this young researcher was no ordinary student.

The young medical student had the inspiration after seeing a conjoined twin with two heads and four arms, who had survived into adulthood.

The medical student speculated whether the legendary ability of three heads and six arms might also originate from conjoined twin deformities and conducted theoretical research on the subject.

“A Study on the Medical Feasibility of Three Heads and Six Arms” was the result of that research. Although the title seemed akin to a legend, the content was extremely meticulous.

It was after reading this paper that Li Shiming found his direction for modifying the copper corpse.

His phobia of insufficient firepower—if he had as many as six Mid-grade Magic Weapon Gatlings—would the rate of 180 ice crystal bullets per second be able to withstand an encounter with a late-stage Qi Refining Cultivator?

Modifying the copper corpse into one with three heads and six arms had a high theoretical chance of success, according to IBMz15’s analysis.

The trickiest part of body modification was the rejection reaction. Different bodies, even if they were compatible in all aspects, could still experience unpredictable rejection.

Not to mention surgery involving the skull, which amounted to a head transplant. In his previous world, such surgeries had at most resulted in brief survival before death.

But Li Shiming believed he could succeed because the subject of his transformation was not a normal human but a copper corpse.

The copper corpse didn’t have to worry about rejection reactions, nor the risk of surgical failure. At worst, it could be reverted to its original form.

With the “Netherworld Ghost Realm Array,” any damage the copper corpse sustained could be quickly healed.

On this trip, he had acquired two complete corpses from late-stage Qi Refining Cultivators, which provided just the materials needed for his modifications. While collecting the bodies, he had used the appropriate preservatives on them.

Before officially modifying the copper corpse, Li Shiming planned to strengthen it first.

Fortunately, he’d also obtained the skeleton of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, which could replace the copper corpse’s bones. After integration through the “Netherworld Ghost Realm Array,” the copper corpse would become even stronger.

The entire foundation was the “Netherworld Ghost Realm Array.” Without its help, and the corpse-refining modification secret technique received from Ren Fei’er, he would not have considered this approach.

The copper corpse was taken into the mechanical space, and the Third Grade Sword Base transformed once again into a surgical scalpel.

Given the copper corpse’s current defensive power, unless it was the Third Grade Sword Base, perhaps only a Spiritual Artifact could easily breach it.

Though he possessed Spiritual Artifacts, he lacked the Spiritual Power needed to control them; in his hands, Spiritual Artifacts were no better than rubbish.

The Third Grade Sword Base was indeed superior, as it could easily break through the defensive power of the copper corpse merely with its material quality, without the need for any help from spiritual power.

Li Shiming decided to start the experiment with a segment of foot bone to see if his idea could be successful.

He replaced the foot bone of a Foundation Establishment Stage corpse with that of a copper corpse, and the surgery was completed very quickly; afterward, he moved the copper corpse out of the machine room space and back into the “Netherworld Ghost Realm Array”.

Such an array created with a third-grade spiritual item and the resulting Ghost Domain space it produced made enhancing a Qi Refining Realm copper corpse extremely simple.

If not for the inherent absorption and fusion limitations of the copper corpse itself, the “Netherworld Ghost Realm Array” alone could rapidly promote a copper corpse to the level of an iron corpse.

In the several months spent within the “Netherworld Ghost Realm Array”, the copper corpse advanced from the Qi Refining Seventh Level to the strength of the Eighth Level, which showed the formidable power of the “Netherworld Ghost Realm Array”.

But it was at this time that Li Shiming truly discovered the formidable power of the “Netherworld Ghost Realm Array” as he applied a transformation secret technique to the foot bone he had replaced on the copper corpse.

The replaced foot bone of the copper corpse took less than ten minutes to transform into a refining corpse bone, completely integrating with the bones of the entire copper corpse.

Li Shiming checked the strength of the foot bone; it was clearly harder than the other bones, seemingly a level higher. Although it might not have reached the level of an Iron Corpse Level bone, it wasn’t far off.

The preliminary experiment gave him tremendous confidence, and he began to methodically transform the bones of the copper corpse, step by step.

From feet to head, he even carefully dismantled the skull before replacing it.

It was only possible to conduct such micro-level surgery thanks to the machine room space; otherwise, the failure rate of such an operation would be terrifyingly high if conducted in the outside world.

Even for a copper corpse, the location of its brain is where the refining spirit resides; one slight mishap could damage the refining spirit, directly destroying the soul of the copper corpse, resulting in a high risk of failure for surgery on the cranium.

A look at what the transformation secret technique states could confirm this.

The transformation secret technique strongly advises against transforming the copper corpse’s head, as that caution stems from predecessors experiencing too high a rate of failure, which serves as a warning for future generations.

Li Shiming might appear bold, but each step he took was based on meticulous calculations; for each bone exchange, he would place the copper corpse within the Ghost Domain of the “Netherworld Ghost Realm Array” to apply the transformation secret technique.

Once the copper corpse completed the first step of transformation, it still bore the aura of a Qi Refining Eighth Level, but inside it hid a skeleton that was at the peak of Qi Refinement and approaching that of an iron corpse.

This skeleton would accelerate the copper corpse’s advancement within the “Netherworld Ghost Realm Array”, becoming an iron corpse faster.

However, Li Shiming certainly would not allow the copper corpse to advance to an iron corpse too swiftly; as the copper corpse was not his life-bound corpse, the controllable range of power difference was within the Qi Refinement Realm. Surpassing that realm could lead the refining corpse to resist or even forcefully break free from the blood covenant and backlash against the master.

Advancing to the second step of transformation, the copper corpse was once again brought into the machine room space, this time along with two late-stage Qi Refining corpses.

The triple-headed transformation began with separating two additional neck vertebrae from the seventh cervical vertebra, sharing the lower spine; at the same time, the pelvic bones from the two corpses were transformed to create stronger scapulae to support more arms.

Although the copper corpse was a refined corpse with extremely strong regenerative abilities and had the presence of the “Netherworld Ghost Realm Array”, the defects in the transformation did not greatly affect the copper corpse.

Still, he insisted on connecting every single nerve, every vein, even the tiniest capillaries, carefully anastomosing them.

The three heads of the copper corpse, each controlling their respective two arms, did not present much of an issue for the original head, but the complexity involved with the two additional heads was beyond imagination.

Fortunately, Li Shiming conducted the surgery in the machine room space using his consciousness, and with micro-level precision, only complexity remained; there was no difficulty.

The two additional heads, together with four arms, from bone to nerve to muscle, were all connected; that medical graduate student probably could have never imagined that his fanciful, rambling thesis would be realized in another world by Li Shiming.

Li Shiming stitched up the skin with cosmetic suturing techniques, treating it as a practice to hone his surgical skills.

Of course, this was mostly showing off his expertise; despite the absence of an audience, his previous life as a surgeon was a profession he greatly envied. Now, not only did he possess surgical abilities, but he had also achieved a standard unattainable in his former life.