Failure Still Gained Proficiency?

Staring at the blackened lump in the pot and smelling its burnt stench, Luo Chen's eyes were bloodshot, his face as gray as ashes.

Failed!

The sixth pot had failed again!

This was the sixth day of refining All Wonders Pills. He had been proceeding in an orderly fashion, one pot a day.

The final result wounded him deeply.

Not a single success!

The best attempt had merely produced a pot of pale reddish paste.

He was certain the Pill Recipe said the finished product should be deep red—redder than his patriotic heart!

Looking somewhat dejected, he picked up the pot and poured that black lump onto the far bank of the creek.

Then, by the creek, he halfheartedly scrubbed the pot with a loofah sponge.

The refining process from earlier kept replaying in his mind.

"The proportions definitely aren't wrong. I used a scale and measured everything down to the finest detail."

"The order of adding ingredients can't be wrong either. Every time, I added them exactly when the symptoms appeared."

"Is it a problem with the heat? Or is the firewood no good? But the Pill Recipe said any Peach Wood would do. It's only a Tier 1 Pill; it can't possibly have such demanding requirements."

"Or is my technique wrong?"

The repeated failures had made Luo Chen begin to doubt himself.

He even wondered whether he simply had no talent for pill refining. Perhaps his success with Grain Avoidance Powder was only because the original owner had talent, and he had merely inherited an Entry Level foundation.

He had only stolen someone else's fully leveled game account and was striding like the wind down a road they had already paved.

Splash!

Water droplets struck his face.

A huge carp had swum past, leaping as it passed and splashing water all over him.

There had been more and more fish in the creek lately. They had probably been swept over from the Lancang River when its waters rose.

Luo Chen glanced at the fish that was about to swim away, and anger surged up in him.

Balala Energy!

Fireball Spell!

A lump of black charcoal floated to the surface, then drifted farther and farther away with the creek.

He lowered his head and looked at the Iron Pot in his hands, now scrubbed spotless.

"Could it be a problem with the equipment?"

Luo Chen could not help revealing the classic bitter smile of a webnovel protagonist. How could he not know the predicament of his pill refining?

He had no famous master to guide him, no family to support him—not even proper pill-refining equipment.

Others used fine Magic Tool Alchemy Furnaces and burned Heavenly Earthfire, while he was over here simmering medicine in an Iron Pot.

But a good Magic Tool Alchemy Furnace cost ten times as much as a Flying Sword of the same tier!

Even the defensive Magic Tools most beloved by independent cultivators could not compare to the value of a Magic Tool Alchemy Furnace.

Just gathering enough ingredients for ten batches of All Wonders Pills had already emptied his coffers. Buying an alchemy furnace or medicinal cauldron was simply beyond his wildest dreams.

Besides, even the most rubbish alchemy furnace could not be heated with ordinary firewood.

At the very least, it required Tier 1 spirit wood as fuel, along with a Pill Refiner constantly using spiritual energy to adjust the heat.

He could not afford Tier 1 spirit wood, and he did not have the cultivation to keep adjusting the heat with spiritual energy either!

Sometimes, he too wanted to be like the Pill Refiners in the tales, producing a dozen or more round pills straight from the furnace instead of kneading the scorching medicinal paste into balls by hand.

Who did not know that stuff was hot?

Some medicinal pastes even came with negative effects on the body!

Wasn't it because he had no other choice?

After a bout of self-pity, Luo Chen put the pot back on the stove, untied his apron, and sat at the entrance.

Facing the lingering glow of the setting sun, he gave himself two resounding slaps.

"Why am I thinking about all this useless nonsense?"

"I've already gambled my entire fortune on this. Even if I crash into the southern wall this time, I'll smash through it before I stop!"

"I won't refine tomorrow. I'll adjust my mindset first."

Everyone understood the principle that haste makes waste.

But when the moment came, people often had to smash their heads full of bumps before realizing they had been too hasty—too hasty.

There was nothing much to do that night, and Luo Chen had a ball of pent-up fire in his chest.

He needed to vent it!

So...

Fireball Spell!

Fireball Spell!

Fireball Spell!

The creek suffered disaster, and the fish in the water cried bitterly.

Nine Fireball Spells unleashed at full strength in succession drained every last trace of spiritual energy from his body.

With nine points of proficiency in hand, Luo Chen returned to the house in exhaustion, sat cross-legged in meditation, and circulated the Evergreen Art.

After one Greater Heavenly Circuit, one-fifth of his spiritual energy had recovered.

After another Greater Heavenly Circuit, another fifth of his spiritual energy had recovered.

Mm, that was enough.

Low-level cultivators had weak physiques, and their minds and souls had not undergone any qualitative transformation either. Cultivating two or three times in one night was more or less the limit.

Late that night, Luo Chen fell asleep like a fool.

When he woke the next day, less than half of his spiritual energy had recovered.

His limited spiritual energy was also what prevented him from using Spell proficiency to break through bottlenecks and gain Achievement Points.

Grinding Fireball Spell for one day required five days of recovery!

Even the low-energy Cleanse Spell required sufficient time.

Luo Chen did not live anywhere particularly safe, either. He had to keep some Mana in reserve at all times in case he needed to flee for his life.

In truth, the moment he got up that morning, he felt a lingering fear.

He had truly gone mad last night, actually exhausting all his spiritual energy. If some demonic beast had wandered over here, he would barely have had any ability to resist.

"I can't do that again in the future. Remember that, remember that!"

After muttering to himself, he sat cross-legged in meditation and circulated the Evergreen Art once.

Another fifth of his spiritual energy recovered.

Then he opened the Attribute Panel.

[Name: Luo Chen]

[Lifespan: 27/75]

[Spirit Roots: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth]

[Realm: Third Layer of Qi Refining Stage: 75/100]

[Cultivation Method: Evergreen Art Mastery: 249/300]

[Spells: Cleanse Spell Novice 51/100, Entangling Spell Proficient 176/200, Fireball Spell Perfect 304/500]

[Skills: Tier 1 Alchemist: Grain Avoidance Powder Grandmaster 507/1000, All Wonders Pill Novice 3/100]

[Achievement Points: 1 point (can be used for Corresponding realm cultivation method, spells, Skill Entry)]

Luo Chen stared at the Attribute Panel in a daze.

Unless something unexpected had happened, that lifespan should have been his own before he transmigrated. The original owner of this body had long since died, so their lifespan should have been zero.

The reason he wanted to earn Spirit Stones so badly was, in truth, for cultivation—for immortality.

Whenever he thought that, had he not transmigrated, he could only have lived to seventy-five on Earth, he felt somewhat sorrowful.

He would not even have reached the point of a joyous funeral at eighty, where his descendants could dance and party at his funeral—though before transmigrating, he had only been a single dog.

So in this life, he had to cultivate step by step to the highest point and live as long as possible!

Then cold, hard reality gave him a slap. More than half a month had passed, and he had never skipped his twice-daily Evergreen Art cultivation.

Yet his realm had not moved in the slightest.

Even a balanced Five Spirit Roots constitution should not be this useless, right?

How had the previous original owner cultivated to the Third Layer of Qi Refining Stage? Surely the owner of that skeleton had not left him several huge bottles of Qi Nourishing Pills!

After the cold reality came the moving benefits brought by transmigrating.

Evergreen Art proficiency had risen by twenty-six points, though he did not feel much difference.

In the Spells section, Cleanse Spell had gained two points. Once, he had used it to clean his magic robe; the other time, he had used it to wash the Iron Pot, thoroughly cleansing away the off-flavor left behind from refining Grain Avoidance Powder.

Entangling Spell had barely changed. He had no desire to pull off some Blue Silver Entanglement and then try to kill across levels against a Golden Core Stage cultivator.

Fireball Spell, on the other hand, had gained a massive thirty-six points of proficiency through two maximum releases each day, plus last night's extravagance.

It had now broken through Mastery level in one go and reached Perfect Grade.

It had even granted him an Achievement Point for breaking through a tier.

Hehe, what did a Fireball Spell at the Perfect Level feel like?

But his spiritual energy had not fully recovered yet, so he should restrain his excited heart and eager hands for now!

With that thought, Luo Chen closed the Attribute Panel.

But before closing it, his gaze subconsciously flicked over the Achievement Points. He blinked, then hurriedly opened the panel again.

"Wait!"

"[Skills: Tier 1 Alchemist: Grain Avoidance Powder Grandmaster 507/1000, All Wonders Pill Novice 3/100]"

He remembered clearly that after using an Achievement Point to bring All Wonders Pill to Entry Level, its proficiency should have been only one point. Yet now, it was three.

But he had never successfully refined an All Wonders Pill even once!

"Failure can still raise proficiency?"