Work Manual

In the void before him floated a transparent, illusory panel.

The text on the panel was pale red and tiny, yet somehow, with a single glance, he understood all the information on it.

Han Yi froze slightly.

"Isn't this... my work manual?"

The panel's layout and font color were exactly the same as the work manual he had written in Python in his previous life to track work progress.

The difference was—

The little tool he had created in his previous life recorded the completion progress of various work projects.

But this floating, illusory, translucent panel was a comprehensive display of his current condition.

"Lifespan: 87. Qi Refining Layer 2.

Cultivated the Mystic Pill Sect outer sect disciples' foundational technique, 'Fire Pill Profound Art.'

Skills include Alchemy and Spirit Void Finger.

Alchemy has been practiced for three years and is still only at the Novice Practice stage.

Spirit Void Finger was a self-defense spell learned when I first joined Little Spirit Void Peak, but I've only grasped the barest basics.

The cultivation technique uses 'Beginner,' while skills use 'Novice Practice.' Does that mean they follow different advancement paths?"

Han Yi's eyes lit up. Any trace of sleepiness vanished.

Deep down, he felt that this panel which had crossed over with him was the key to breaking out of his predicament.

Unfortunately.

An hour later, Han Yi slowly exhaled. His brows were tightly furrowed, and his expression was unwilling.

"It's just a data panel that records my current lifespan, cultivation technique, and skills. It has no other functions."

"I can't communicate with it either, and there isn't even an instruction manual."

"This isn't scientific."

Han Yi returned to the Meditation Chamber.

A landscape painting hung upon the wall. Within it, an immortal swordsman with the bearing of a transcendent sage rode his sword through the air.

In his memories, he had bought it from a marketplace on one of the Outer Peaks when his spiritual root had first been tested and he had joined the Mystic Pill Sect.

He had heard that the sword immortal in the painting was the current Sect Master of the Mystic Pill Sect.

Back then, having just stepped onto the path of immortality, lofty ambitions had surged within him. He had splurged five taels of spirit sand to buy it, only to later discover that it was an ordinary painting with nothing mystical about it. Zheng Hai had mocked him over it for a long time.

Spirit sand was a smaller unit than Spirit Stones. Though both were mined from Spirit Stone veins, Spirit Stones came in solid chunks, while spirit sand was granular, like drifting sand. The spiritual energy it contained was also less pure than that of Spirit Stones.

One standard Low-grade Spirit Stone was equivalent to ten taels—one jin—of spirit sand.

In his memories, over countless days and nights of cultivation, the original owner of this body had faced this painting, taking it as his goal and using it to spur himself onward.

Now, Han Yi instinctively sat upon the cultivation cushion. Facing the painting, he took a deep breath and calmed himself.

"Work manual, work manual... how exactly can I make use of this manual to solve my current predicament?"

Han Yi's expression looked calm, as though he was not panicking.

But his heart was far from calm. He simply understood that panic could not solve a predicament; it would only make matters worse. No matter the situation, only by facing it calmly could one find the optimal solution.

Besides, he had no intention of being driven down the mountain the moment he crossed over.

The cultivation world was far from peaceful. Cultivation emphasized "wealth," "companions," "methods," and "land."

Of these, wealth was divided into inner wealth and outer wealth. Outer wealth referred to cultivation resources, such as Spirit Stones, pills, and heavenly treasures. Inner wealth referred to one's aptitude for cultivation, including spiritual roots, comprehension, talent, and so on.

Companions referred to Dao companions. So-called Dao companions were those who protected one's Dao, and the term had broad and narrow meanings. In the broad sense, Dao companions were fellow travelers on the path of cultivation, including fellow disciples, masters, and disciples. In the narrow sense, it referred to a man and woman cultivating together, supporting one another along the road to immortality.

Methods referred to "Dao" and "arts." Dao was the core principle of cultivation, its very origin, while arts referred to Daoist arts such as talismans, alchemy, sword arts, and the like.

Land referred to one's cultivation ground. Some concealed themselves in deep mountains and attained insight into longevity; others founded sects and gathered disciples far and wide. Whether deep mountains or sects, both were cultivation grounds.

Within the Mystic Pill Sect, Han Yi's most direct understanding of "land" was spiritual veins.

If he were driven down the mountain and lost access to this second-tier spiritual vein, his future cultivation would become even more difficult. Trying to enter a peak again would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

Han Yi closed his eyes and emptied his mind. A full quarter-hour passed before he opened them again.

"Forget about the panel for now. I'll first familiarize myself with my current skills."

Han Yi did not begin cultivating immediately. He possessed only a low-grade Fire Spirit Root.

After joining the Mystic Pill Sect for three years, he had only risen from newly entering Qi Refining to Qi Refining Layer 2. One could well imagine how difficult the path of cultivation was for him.

In truth, it was not only him. Of the hundred thousand outer sect disciples of the Mystic Pill Sect, at least eighty thousand remained in the early stages of Qi Refining. The higher one went, the more the structure resembled a pyramid.

For Han Yi, breaking through to Qi Refining Layer 3 was not something that could be rushed in a short time.

To break out of his predicament, he had to focus on his skills.

Among the hundred arts of cultivation, the more mainstream ones were alchemy, artifact refining, formations, talismans, and so on.

As it happened, Han Yi was an alchemist. Though his alchemy, judging from the panel, was only at the Novice Practice stage, it was still a craft.

Just like when he had been an engineer in his previous life—so long as he had a skill, he would fear no place he went.

Yet when Han Yi entered the alchemy room, took out the storage pouch tied at his waist, and sent his spiritual power into it to inspect its contents, his expression immediately stiffened.

With a light wave of his hand, he removed everything from the storage pouch.

The largest item was an antique bronze hexagonal pill furnace.

Though it was a low-grade pill furnace, it was the most valuable possession he had.

There were over a dozen transparent jade boxes, each containing spirit herbs and medicinal plants.

Over a hundred pieces of spirit charcoal, stacked in neat piles—auxiliary spirit charcoal required by low-level alchemists when refining pills.

About twenty taels of spirit sand and three Low-grade Spirit Stones.

One large bottle of fasting pills.

Other than that, there were only some miscellaneous daily necessities.

"An unlucky start."

Han Yi sighed.

From the memories he had inherited, a few days ago, in order to refine Qi Nourishing Pills, he had used up his most precious herbs.

He could refine only four types of pills. The highest-quality among them was the Qi Nourishing Pill, but unfortunately, in the past three years, he had succeeded only once—and that had been last year.

Qi Nourishing Pills were useful even to cultivators at the Qi Refining Middle Stage, making them relatively popular within the Mystic Pill Sect.

Refining a single Qi Nourishing Pill could earn ten sect contribution points. A furnace batch would yield around ten pills, so refining just one batch was enough to complete the sect mission.

The previous owner of this body had placed all his hopes on the Qi Nourishing Pills, but unfortunately, the batch had failed.

Besides Qi Nourishing Pills, the other three types of medicine he could refine were Mind Sharpening Pills, Plague Dispelling Powder, and Beast Nurturing Pills.

As their name implied, Mind Sharpening Pills could invigorate the mind. When early-stage Qi Refining cultivators took one during cultivation, it could slightly improve their cultivation efficiency. The effect was not particularly noticeable, but something was still better than nothing.

Unfortunately, once one reached the Qi Refining Middle Stage, Mind Sharpening Pills lost their effect.

One Mind Sharpening Pill could be exchanged for five sect contribution points, while one furnace batch could produce roughly two to four pills.

Plague Dispelling Powder, meanwhile, was a medicinal powder used to treat illness. In the mortal world, it could be called a miraculous panacea, but in the cultivation world, it was better than nothing. One bottle of Plague Dispelling Powder could only be exchanged for a single sect contribution point—utterly tasteless, yet a pity to discard.

Beast Nurturing Pills were food for spirit beasts. Various flavoring ingredients could be added to them, and they could also stimulate appetite.

This too was a cheap medicinal pill. One bottle of Beast Nurturing Pills, like Plague Dispelling Powder, could earn only one sect contribution point.

Of course, the pills mentioned above were all ordinary-quality pills. If their quality improved, the contribution points would increase accordingly.

From his memories, in this world, pill quality was divided into ordinary, Standard Quality, flawless, perfect, pill-patterned, and immortal pills.

The pills refined by outer disciples of the Mystic Pill Sect were all of ordinary quality.

Only inner disciples, or alchemists at the Foundation Establishment level, could refine pills of Standard Quality.

As for grades beyond that, they were beyond Han Yi's understanding.

Moreover, in terms of success rate, Han Yi's alchemy was merely at the Novice Practice level. Even when refining the most common Plague Dispelling Powder and Beast Nurturing Pills, he had only a fifty percent success rate. For Mind Sharpening Pills, it was even lower—just thirty percent.

As for refining Qi Nourishing Pills, he had succeeded with only one batch, so there was no real success rate to speak of.

"Forget it. I'll first familiarize myself with alchemy again, starting with the simplest Plague Dispelling Powder."

Although he had inherited the memories, he worried that the previous owner's skills might feel unfamiliar in his own hands.

Sure enough, when good omens failed to come true, bad ones never missed.

An hour later.

Bang!

The antique bronze pill furnace jolted violently several times, and a wisp of black smoke slowly drifted from the vent at its top.

Several pieces of spirit charcoal beneath the furnace were shattered by the blast and sprayed onto Han Yi's face, adding several tangible black streaks to his complexion.

The streaks on his face were black, but they were nowhere near as black as his heart.

"Damn it, how did the furnace even explode?"

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"The spiritual power I was outputting faltered for an instant midway through."

"The spirit flame from the charcoal was also a little too fierce. The heat went overboard, which caused the furnace to explode."

"Again. I refuse to believe I can't even refine Plague Dispelling Powder."

Han Yi wiped his face, rose to his feet, retrieved fresh materials, and continued refining.

An hour later.

Bang.

The furnace exploded.

Two hours later.

Bang.

It exploded again.

Three hours later.

As a medicinal fragrance wafted from the pill furnace, Han Yi guided it with his mana, filling the jade bottle prepared at his side with black Plague Dispelling Powder as fine as sand.

Whew!

Han Yi let out a breath and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"It wasn't easy. I only succeeded on the fourth try."

"But at this success rate—even if it recovers to fifty percent—I still won't be able to refine a hundred bottles of Plague Dispelling Powder in a month."

"Not to mention, my current materials aren't enough to refine that many."

"I still need to find a way."

With a thought, Han Yi summoned the illusory panel before his eyes.

Subconsciously, he looked at the second skill, Spirit Void Finger.

What use could Spirit Void Finger possibly have? he could not help but wonder.

Just then.

His heart stirred, and his gaze returned to the panel, settling on the first skill.

Alchemy (Novice Practice 84/100)

"Progress at 84?

"No, my memory can't be wrong. It was clearly at 82 before.

"What exactly happened?

"Calm down.

"Extract the phenomenon, analyze the essence.

"The phenomenon is that after refining four batches of pills, my Alchemy skill, while still at the Novice Practice stage, rose from 82% to 84%.

"Looking at the phenomenon alone.

"This is definitely not normal progress. Otherwise, how could the original owner have refined so many batches over the past three years and still remained at the Novice Practice stage?

"There's a problem.

"So what is the essence of it?"

Han Yi's brows furrowed deeply. His eyes remained calm, but his mind spun wildly.

A moment later, he emptied his thoughts once more, then filled them again with the phenomenon he had just observed.

"The data sample is insufficient. Forcing an analysis may lead to an erroneous or one-sided conclusion about the essence.

"Forget it. At this stage, I'll only look at the phenomenon.

"Progress at 84%. It isn't far from 100%.

"If I can cross 100%, that will mean my Alchemy has entered a new level.

"By then, refining Mind Sharpening Pills—or even Qi Nourishing Pills—will surely have a higher success rate."

At that thought.

Han Yi's eyes lit up.

"Heaven never seals off every road."

"This is the way to break the deadlock."