Chapter 3: Glimpse of the Gateway
"Don't rush, calm down."
Han Yi took a deep breath and checked all the spiritual medicines and herbs that were poured out of his storage bag.
A moment later, he frowned again.
"With the materials on hand, even without accounting for the success rate, just in terms of materials, I can only refine about two furnaces of Rejuvenation Pills, sixteen furnaces of Expel the Epidemic Powder, and twenty furnaces of Nourishing Beast Pills."
"Even if I really improve my Alchemy Skill to a new level, there won't be much material left to refine a hundred points' worth of pills."
"Forget it, overthinking is useless. Let's take it one step at a time."
Han Yi prepared to continue refining pills, striving to raise his Alchemy Skill to a new level.
However, before he resumed refining, he needed to first recover his spiritual power. Having continuously refined four furnaces of pills, his originally weak spiritual power was already exhausted.
He took two taels of Spirit Sand, held it in his hand, closed his eyes, and began to circulate his Fire Profound Skill to recover his spiritual power.
In the courtyard, thanks to the Spirit Vein of Little Lingxu Peak, the concentration of Spirit Energy wasn't low. Adding the Spirit Sand in his hand, it only took half an hour for Han Yi to open his eyes again.
"Phew, this feeling is really refreshing.
Unfortunately, Spirit Sand isn't durable. Two taels of Spirit Sand, when used at full power, can only support me for half an hour.
In his memory, the original owner was unwilling to use Spirit Sand for cultivation, let alone Spirit Stones.
No wonder his realm was so low.
With a low-grade Spiritual Root, the environment outside the peak and an unwillingness to use Spirit Sand and Spirit Stones, it took him three years just to cultivate from the beginning to the second level of Qi Refinement."
After recovering his spiritual power, Han Yi took a Grain Avoiding Pill and continued refining pills.
He was still refining Expel the Epidemic Powder.
Refining pills, recovering spiritual power, taking Grain Avoiding Pills, meditating, cultivating, refining pills again, recovering spiritual power again, taking Grain Avoiding Pills again...
The cycle repeated continuously.
Time passed quickly in the process of refining pills and cultivation.
Han Yi was fully focused and immersed in the process.
At some point.
In the quiet room, when he reached for the herbs to continue refining pills, he found only a pile of open jade boxes with a few scattered auxiliary materials inside.
The original twenty taels of Spirit Sand and three lower-grade Spirit Stones had also been completely consumed.
"Done refining?"
When he realized that the refining had come to an end, Han Yi took a long breath.
His body was tired, but his mind was extremely excited.
He looked at the jade bottles placed on the other side, his inner heart bursting with satisfaction.
"Two bottles of Rejuvenation Pills, twelve bottles of Expel the Epidemic Powder, and twelve bottles of Nourishing Beast Pills."
He then looked at the illusory panel in front of him.
[Name: Han Yi]
[Life Span: 21/87]
[Realm: Qi Refinement Second Layer (19/100)]
[Cultivation Method: Fire Profound Skill (Entry Level, 29/100)]
[Skills:
Alchemy Skill (Beginner Level 11/100)
Spirit Void Finger (First Practice 29/100)
]
"The progress of the Qi Refinement Second Layer has advanced from 14/100 to 19/100, which should be attributed to the Spirit Sand and Spirit Stones.
This cultivation speed is truly slow.
Fire Profound Skill has advanced from Entry Level 23/100 to Entry Level 29/100, an improvement of 6 points, which is better than nothing.
The biggest change is..."
Han Yi looked at the skill column, and saw that the original 'Alchemy Skill' which was 'First Time Learning 82/100' had become 'Beginner Level 11/100'.
Clearly.
In terms of skills, the next stage after 'First Time Learning' is 'Beginner Level'.
In fact, after refining twelve furnaces of Expel the Epidemic Powder and fifteen furnaces of Nourishing Beast Pills, Han Yi's Alchemy Skill had already broken through to the 'Beginner Level'.
Before the breakthrough, his success rate for refining Nourishing Beast Pills and Expel the Epidemic Powder was only about fifty percent, similar to the original owner.
After the breakthrough, his success rate for refining Nourishing Beast Pills this time reached one hundred percent, while he only failed once in refining Expel the Epidemic Powder.
As for the Rejuvenation Pills he valued the most, both furnaces were successful, although the success rate was not high, and there were only five pills in total.
Nevertheless, compared to his previous success rate of only thirty percent in refining Rejuvenation Pills, this was a significant improvement.
"This rapid improvement is definitely different from the original owner.
The original owner took three years to refine so many furnaces of pills, and his progress was slow. My improvement in alchemy over the past few days is far beyond that of before.
The root of this lies in the work manual brought with me when I transmigrated."
So, it's only with this manual panel that I can see the progress of my skills.
Well, let's call this panel... the Progress Panel?
No, that's not right.
Progress Panel doesn't really capture its characteristics.
This is something that as long as I practice and put in effort, I'll become more and more proficient in certain skills.
Proficient, proficient, with this panel, all skills will become more proficient.
Let's call it the Proficiency Panel then.
Also...
Two Rejuvenation Pills, twelve Expel the Epidemic Powders, twelve Nourishing Beast Pills, all together can be exchanged for 49 sect points.
Although it's not enough.
But if I exchange these pills for points and buy more herbs, with my current Alchemy Skill after the breakthrough, reaching 100 points is just a matter of time."
At this moment, Han Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
It's like in his previous life, he had a skill that ensured he would always have a place in the world.
Han Yi put the refined pills into his storage bag, stood up and stretched, then walked out of his residence to head towards Vermilion Bird Peak to exchange pills for points and buy enough herbs.
But when he walked out of his residence, he ran into Zheng Hai who was hurrying over.
"Han Yi, why are you just coming out? I was so worried."
"I came here seven or eight times and couldn't find you every time. I almost went to the Law Enforcement Hall to see if you couldn't stand it and hung yourself in the courtyard."
Zheng Hai looked helpless.
"Don't worry, what do you need me for?"
Han Yi frowned, feeling as if he had overlooked something.
"What's the matter?"
"It's been twelve days, and you're strolling around like nothing has happened."
"I had thought of several methods to see if they could be implemented, but now that the ten-day deadline has passed, it's even more troublesome."
As soon as Zheng Hai's words fell, Han Yi's eyes instantly widened.
He just remembered what he had overlooked.
Time.
It had already been twelve days.
But it felt to him like only four or five days had passed.
However, with a shift of thoughts, he knew where the problem had arisen.
When he was in the quiet room, in addition to using Spirit Sand and Spirit Stones to quickly recover his spiritual energy, he would occasionally calm his mind and rely on the second-stage Spiritual Vein of Little Lingxu Peak, which provided the Spirit Energy, to practice the Fire Profound Skill.
He could manage the time spent refining pills.
But once practicing the Profound Skill, with his mind immersed in it, time was not controllable.
He might have felt that he had closed his eyes and practiced for a short while, feeling that only half an hour had passed.
However, in reality, it had already been half a day.
'There's no time in cultivation' is not an empty phrase.
Actually.
Generally, cultivators will intentionally leave a reminder before practicing, alerting themselves to snap out of it, rather than being immersed in cultivation.
But after Han Yi had transmigrated, in his consciousness, this was his first time cultivating, and he did not have this concept yet.
That's what led to the time discrepancy this time.
Moreover.
In the Xuandan Sect, whether it was the Inner Peak or the Outer Peak, all disciples' residences had a courtyard formation that served to protect the residence owner from being disturbed by other disciples while practicing, preventing them from losing their focus and possibly causing them to go berserk.
During these twelve days, Zheng Hai had come seven or eight times, but he couldn't enter Han Yi's courtyard, which had made him quite anxious.
"You..."
"Ah, never mind, what's done is done, it's useless to say more. Just go to Vermilion Bird Peak and settle your points, or else the Law Enforcement Hall will intervene, and you'll have to bear some punishment."
Zheng Hai left, and although he was frustrated with Han Yi, he still comforted him after calming down, saying that he would work together to find a way to help Han Yi pass the sect test one year later.
From Zheng Hai's eyes, Han Yi could see his 'anger at his lack of defiance.'
But having such a companion, Han Yi felt very satisfied.
His heart wasn't as disheartened as Zheng Hai's.
"Forget it, since it's already a fact, let's just go down the mountain."
"My Alchemy Skill has broken through, so passing the sect test shouldn't be difficult for me."
What's already done can't be undone, even if he regretted it.
Han Yi composed himself and set off for Vermilion Bird Peak once again.