Inside the Cave Heaven Gourd.

  Xia Li lay prone on the grass, continuously coughing blood. His injuries this time were severe—ambushed by a Soul Transformation cultivator, taking a palm strike head-on...

  Even though the force that ultimately hit him had weakened to less than one-tenth, it was still enough to critically wound him.

  He could now defeat Nascent Soul cultivators. His characteristics were high attack, high agility, but weak defense.

  Without exaggeration, a Foundation Establishment attack that hit his weak points would be enough to take half his life.

  Initiative was crucial for him. Whether it was telekinetic suppression or Heaven Chip scanning, he needed to detect the target first. Once he lost the initiative, his advantages would vanish entirely.

  When being sucked into the sand worm's mouth, he had urgently taken out the golden bowl the old monk had left behind, placed the Cave Heaven Gourd inside the bowl, then crawled into the Cave Heaven Gourd himself.

  "Heaven Chip... begin self-diagnostic..."

  "I-initiate self-repair protocol..."

  Xia Li's prosthetic eye currently glowed red. He couldn't see out of his right eye anymore—the prosthetic was damaged—and his left eye's vision was extremely blurry.

  His right arm had fallen off when he dropped into the sand worm's mouth due to connection damage. Fortunately, he wore both the mysterious ring and Phase Ring on his left hand.

  【Scanning...】

  【Your meridians are 63% damaged, Spirit Qi and blood circulation obstructed】

  【Heart 32% damaged, lungs 75% damaged, liver 25% damaged...】

  【Skeletal damage exceeds 40%...】

  【Digestive system has ceased function...】

  【Detected abdominal hemorrhaging!】

  Heaven Chip gave a simple summary of Xia Li's current condition. There wasn't a single intact place on Xia Li's body.

  【Warning, warning, warning, your blood pressure is too low...】

  【Warning, warning, warning, heart rate unstable...】

  Amid Heaven Chip's repeated warnings, Xia Li now somewhat regretted not having purchased any medical supplies on Earth—he'd spent everything on weapons and equipment.

  If only he had his own modification pod right now, or an intelligent medical kit.

  "Stimulate adrenaline secretion..."

  "Continuously monitor heartbeat, authorize cardiac defibrillation if needed..."

  "Monitor status of all major organs..."

  Xia Li gave Heaven Chip commands while searching through Qiao Yuan's possessions. He had to admit that Qiao Yuan fellow was quite wealthy—his storage ring contained many treasures.

  Besides pills, there were also healing artifacts.

  Xia Li immediately took out the artifact—a completely jade-green tree branch, crafted from unknown materials. Fortunately, this branch hadn't yet developed an artifact spirit, allowing Heaven Chip to forcibly crack the ownership imprint Qiao Yuan had left.

  Half a minute later...

  The branch floated above Xia Li's head, sprinkling green light into his body to heal him. The best healing pill in Qiao Yuan's storage ring was a fifth-grade Great Restoration Pill.

  That was a precious pill that Soul Transformation cultivators would only use when critically wounded. Even someone with Qiao Yuan's exceptional background only had two in his storage ring.

  Xia Li didn't hesitate at all and directly took one.

  Outside was the worm's belly.

  He didn't know how long the golden bowl could hold, but this Cave Heaven Gourd's defenses definitely couldn't resist the digestive fluids inside the worm's belly.

  So he had to hurry and heal.

  Under the combined effects of the healing artifact, Great Restoration Pill, and healing techniques, Xia Li slowly passed the critical period. He supported himself into a sitting position, then half-knelt and continued vomiting blood.

  That was all stagnant blood inside his body—it had to be expelled.

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  "Cough, cough..."

  The bloody taste in his throat made Xia Li extremely uncomfortable, but this wasn't the end...

  Prosthetics, while powerful and convenient, also had some unavoidable drawbacks.

  Once damaged, they were not merely useless—they became harmful!

  Damaged and displaced embedded prosthetics would pierce internal organs. Not to mention nearly all his embedded prosthetics were basically destroyed...

  "Heaven Chip, mark positions of damaged prosthetics..."

  【Scanning...】

  【All marked】

  "Good... now numb pain receptors."

  【Processing...】

  "Enable body takeover mode. Can you surgically remove all damaged prosthetics?"

  【Negative. Lacking surgical conditions and tools. Please use telekinesis to perform surgery under my guidance】

  Heaven Chip could take over all bodily functions—except it couldn't take over telekinetic use.

  "Alright..."

  【I request authorization to use Ethereal Spirit Dharma Body to assist your surgery】

  "Granted!"

  Xia Li nodded, and a semi-transparent figure rapidly emerged behind him.

  【Please remain supine. I will now make thoracic and abdominal incisions】

  "Mm..."

  Then...

  With Heaven Chip's help and guidance, Xia Li very fiercely performed surgery on himself while remaining conscious, removing prosthetic fragments from his organs one by one.

  The entire process was accompanied by intermittent bleeding—Xia Li even had to use telekinesis to suppress his blood flow rate.

  For embedded prosthetics like the Spirit-Conducting Exoskeleton that directly covered his bones, damaged fragments could potentially be lodged in his bone marrow. Xia Li had to extract objects from within his marrow.

  Thank goodness his telekinesis was powerful, otherwise this step would have truly stumped him.

  Over an hour later...

  Xia Li's face was pale as he let out a breath of relief. Beside him was a pile of bloodied mechanical parts and fragments, some of which even had bits of flesh still attached.

  As for his prosthetic eye and prosthetic nose, though their functions were damaged, their exteriors weren't seriously affected and didn't need removal for now.

  Only after completing all this did Xia Li dare to fully focus on healing. Otherwise, if prosthetic fragments were covered by newly grown flesh and blood, extracting them later would be truly troublesome.

  But an even more troublesome point remained.

  The Spirit Core was also damaged, making his use of Spirit Qi extremely clumsy now. He couldn't precisely control Spirit Qi on his own.

  Fortunately, the Great Restoration Pill's medicinal power was truly potent. Even though Xia Li had wasted much of it, that surging life force was still enough to restore him fully. Even his long-lost right arm...

  Its wound site felt itchy—that was the sensation of flesh regenerating.

  Xia Li continued healing with full effort until his body fully recovered.

  "Phew..."

  "Finally alive again..."

  Xia Li stood up. His combat strength was very low now. Missing his prosthetic right arm and unable to use the Spirit Core, his cultivation realm was extremely unstable.

  One could say he had Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivation in name only. Xia Li was still very unfamiliar with how to control his dantian.

  Previously it had all been intelligently managed by the Spirit Core.

  But now, though he'd escaped danger, when Xia Li sent out divine thought to probe outside, he immediately noticed the exterior was pitch dark. He was inside a massive cavern.

  No need to guess what that "cavern" was.

  It was the worm's belly.

  He couldn't get out now. The golden bowl was soaking in some extremely viscous liquid, yet somehow that liquid couldn't enter the bowl.