Little Spirit Void Peak

Little Spirit Void Peak

Mystic Pill Sect, Vermilion Bird Peak.

"Junior Brother Han, the sect rules are thus. You have ten days left before the deadline for your courtyard on Little Spirit Void Peak. I think you should make plans as soon as possible. After ten days, if you still cannot complete sect missions and meet the required points, you will have to leave the mountain."

"Also, let me remind you: points cannot be transferred privately. It must be done through sect missions, and fictitious missions are forbidden. If discovered, at best your spirit root will be abolished and you will be expelled from the sect; at worst, your life will be in danger."

"Ah, let me point you toward a path. I heard that over at Little Blazing Fire Peak, Martial Uncle Luo Qi needs a batch of alchemists to test pills. The mission was only posted today, and the points offered are very generous—enough for you to complete your requirement."

"It is just that... the dangers involved are impossible to predict. As an alchemist, I imagine you understand the stakes. Think it over yourself. So far, this is the most suitable solution I could find for you with my authority."

"Enough. You may go."

Han Yi walked out of the main hall, his expression dazed. A blast of cold wind made him shudder from head to toe, jolting him fully awake.

He first turned to look behind him. The sect's management hall covered a vast area, with people coming and going in a lively bustle.

Then he turned back and looked ahead. His entire body trembled, and his eyes widened.

Before him—

A boundless sea of clouds stretched out before his eyes. Spirit cranes frolicked among the clouds, while cultivators occasionally flashed past on flying swords, streaking like flowing light—a scene of immortal splendor.

Han Yi viciously pinched his thigh. A wave of soreness shot through him, making him bare his teeth in pain.

"I'm not dreaming."

"I transmigrated? The memories in my mind really weren't an outline for some novel I made up—they were real?"

"Hiss!!"

Before Han Yi could think further, a voice sounded behind him.

"Han Yi, you came out so quickly. How did it go? What did Senior Guan say?"

Han Yi turned around and saw a young man standing behind him, dressed in the same gray robe as himself. The young man's face was dark, but his teeth gleamed brilliantly white.

A name surfaced in his mind.

Zheng Hai.

"What are you standing there for? Say something. Whether it works or not, you have to give me a definite answer. Senior Guan used to take good care of the two of us. He should be able to bend the rules a little, right?"

The dark-faced young man, Zheng Hai, asked anxiously.

Han Yi steadied himself. By now, he had mostly digested the memories in his mind. Linking those memories with what had just happened in the management hall, he immediately understood the situation.

He shook his head, a trace of helplessness on his face.

"Senior Guan said this is a sect rule. No one can make an exception."

"But he did point out a path for me."

"What path?" Zheng Hai's eyes lit up, and joy appeared on his face. "I knew it. Senior Guan would definitely have a way."

"Over at Little Blazing Fire Peak, Martial Uncle Luo Qi needs a group of sect disciples to test pills with their bodies. The points offered are generous enough to meet my needs."

Zheng Hai froze for a moment, then his expression changed.

"No. Absolutely not."

"The danger of testing pills with one's body is too great. I heard that out of ten people, only two come through unscathed. The rest all meet terrible ends."

Han Yi frowned, then relaxed.

He took a deep breath and slowly said, "Forget it. I'll think of another way myself."

Mystic Pill Sect was located within the Mystic Pill Mountain Range, in Shu Province of the Great Qian Immortal Kingdom.

The sect occupied a vast expanse of land. Aside from its main peak, Mystic Pill Peak, it had nine Inner Peaks. Vermilion Bird Peak, which Han Yi had visited earlier, was one of those nine Inner Peaks. Beyond that, there were more than a hundred Outer Peaks.

Little Spirit Void Peak was one of those many Outer Peaks.

Han Yi entered his courtyard on Little Spirit Void Peak, and his heart immediately settled. Without realizing it, he let out a breath of relief.

This was the most familiar place in his memories. This feeling of relaxation belonged to this body.

He sat cross-legged in the Meditation Chamber where he cultivated daily and began sorting through his thoughts.

He had transmigrated. There was no doubt about that.

But there were many strange details and things he could not understand.

He only remembered falling into a deep sleep. When he opened his eyes again, he was already inside the management hall on Vermilion Bird Peak of Mystic Pill Sect.

Fortunately, just after transmigrating, when he first opened his eyes, the merging memories had left him in a daze, and his reactions had been several beats too slow.

Making a fool of himself would not have mattered. But if someone had fixed their eyes on him, disaster would surely have descended upon his head. This was the world of cultivation—making someone obediently reveal the truth was simply too easy, not to mention methods like Soul Search.

The reason he had gone to Vermilion Bird Peak today was that the term on this courtyard had run out. Or, more precisely, because he lacked sufficient points, his right to reside within the sect would be revoked in ten days.

Mystic Pill Sect claimed to have one hundred thousand outer disciples and over a thousand inner disciples.

Outer and inner disciples were mainly divided by cultivation realm.

Those in the lower and middle stages of Qi Refining were outer disciples. Only those in Qi Refining Late Stage—Qi Refining Layer 7 and above—could be considered inner disciples. Only inner disciples could live on the nine Inner Peaks and enjoy the benefits of their spirit veins.

Outer disciples, meanwhile, lived on the Outer Peaks. The spirit veins of the Outer Peaks were merely First and Second Order Spirit Veins, far inferior to the Third and Fourth Order Spirit Veins possessed by the Inner Peaks.

Furthermore, according to sect rules, disciples of the Outer Peaks had to independently earn one hundred points from sect missions every year to retain their right of residence.

Of course, those one hundred points were not collected by the sect.

They still belonged to the outer disciples and could be used to purchase magical artifacts, medicinal pills, and the like within the sect.

The purpose of requiring those one hundred points was merely to ensure that outer disciples participated in sect affairs rather than squatting in a latrine and refusing to shit.

After all, First and Second Order Spirit Veins were still spirit veins. In other parts of Shu Province, they could support some low-level cultivation families.

Han Yi had sought out Senior Guan Di, whom he knew well, because the deadline was approaching and his points had yet to meet the requirement. He wanted to ask whether there was any way to bend the rules.

Yet for some unknown reason, while inside the hall, the original owner's soul had dissipated, and he had transmigrated into this body.

As for the other young man outside the hall, Zheng Hai, he was considered his friend. In his memories, they had joined Mystic Pill Sect together, and their relationship had always been good.

But unlike Han Yi's predicament, Zheng Hai had no such concern. His alchemy skills were much stronger than Han Yi's, and meeting the sect's minimum point requirement was as easy as turning his hand over.

But since points could not be transferred, even if Zheng Hai had extra points, they were of no use to Han Yi.

My current identity is: an outer disciple of Little Spirit Void Peak, Mystic Pill Sect, Shu Province, Great Qian Immortal Kingdom.

My current predicament is: insufficient points, and my residence is about to be reclaimed.

According to the sect rules in my memories, once someone fails to meet the minimum point requirement and their residence is reclaimed, they have two choices.

The first is to retain their outer disciple status and be assigned down the mountain to work in one of the sect's external businesses. Over the next ten years, they may apply for an assessment every year. The assessment is more difficult than earning one hundred mission points. If they still cannot pass after ten years, they automatically lose their outer disciple status and will have no further connection with the sect.

The second is to voluntarily give up outer disciple status and arrange their own livelihood after descending the mountain.

In my memories, most senior brothers who lacked enough points were unwilling to accept it and chose the first path. But after wasting away three to five years and recognizing themselves for what they were, they would apply to switch to the second option.

Because returning to the sect by passing the assessment was simply too difficult for them.

And it is the same for me.

Difficult, difficult, difficult.

So I must do everything in my power to remain on the mountain.

At present, my only means is alchemy.

And I am only an alchemist who has just entered the gate. Even if I go all out, it will be difficult to complete one hundred points' worth of alchemy missions within ten days.

Could testing pills with my body truly be my only option?

No. I will not be that foolish. The risk is too high. I could die without even knowing how I died. I do not want to become crippled the moment I transmigrate.

Even if my residence is reclaimed, there will still be opportunities.

As long as I live, there will always be opportunities.

Han Yi silently sorted through his own circumstances and the predicament before him.

In his previous life, as an engineer, what he was best at was clarifying problems and finding the optimal solution whenever possible.

"There are always more solutions than problems."

"Forget it. There are too many tangled threads. I'll sleep first and deal with it later."

Whenever he could not think of a solution, he would first clear his mind and shift his attention. Then, when he returned to examine the problem anew, he could always discover another line of thought.

That had also been his thinking habit in his previous life.

Little Spirit Void Peak sat atop a Second Order Spirit Vein. The spiritual energy concentration was not low, and the courtyards built upon it were nourished by the spirit vein, making spring eternal throughout the seasons. Han Yi felt comfortable all over simply standing within it.

He stood up and turned to head toward the bedroom, but his steps paused slightly. His brows furrowed as he stretched out a hand and swiped at the empty air before him—only to grasp nothing.

"This is..."

Within his field of vision, a fiery red line slowly advanced from left to right.

Yet when he reached toward the space before him, there was nothing there.

In less than three breaths, after the fiery red line reached the far right, it seemed to have reached its end. It flashed three times and vanished without a trace.

Just as Han Yi thought that what he had seen was merely an illusion—

Swish!

A translucent panel appeared before Han Yi.

Name: Han Yi

Lifespan: 21/87

Realm: Qi Refining Layer 2 (14/100)

Cultivation Art: Fire Pill Profound Art (Beginner 23/100)

Skills:

Alchemy Technique (Novice Practice 82/100)

Spirit Void Finger (Novice Practice 29/100)

(End of Chapter)