First Glimpse

First Glimpse

"Don't rush. Steady yourself."

Han Yi drew a deep breath and took stock of all the spiritual herbs and medicinal plants he had poured out from his storage pouch.

A moment later, his brows furrowed again.

"Judging by the materials I have on hand—and not even considering the success rate—I can only refine about two batches of Mind Sharpening Pills, sixteen batches of Plague Dispelling Powder, and twenty batches of Beast Nurturing Pills."

"Even if I truly raise my alchemy to a new level, I still won't have enough materials afterward to refine pills worth one hundred points."

"Forget it. There's no use overthinking it. I'll take it one step at a time."

Han Yi prepared to continue refining pills and strive to raise his alchemy to a new level.

However, before continuing, he first needed to restore his spiritual power. After consecutively refining four batches of pills, the already meager spiritual power within him had been completely drained.

He took out two taels of spirit sand and held it in his hand. Closing his eyes, he began circulating the Fire Pill Profound Art to restore his spiritual power.

Thanks to the spiritual vein of Little Spirit Void Peak, the spiritual energy in the courtyard was not thin. Combined with the spirit sand in his hand, it took Han Yi only half an hour to open his eyes again.

"Whew, this feels amazing. Unfortunately, spirit sand doesn't last. Two taels of spirit sand, circulated at full force, can only sustain me for half an hour. In the original owner's memories, he had been reluctant 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 of the Outer Peak, and his reluctance to use spirit sand and spirit stones, it had taken him three years to go from a beginner to the second level of Qi Refining."

After restoring his spiritual power, Han Yi swallowed a Fasting Pill and threw himself back into alchemy.

It was still Plague Dispelling Powder.

Refining pills, restoring spiritual power, taking Fasting Pills, meditating to rest, cultivating, refining pills again, restoring spiritual power again, taking Fasting Pills again...

The cycle repeated itself.

There was no sense of time in alchemy and cultivation.

Han Yi focused completely, immersing himself in it.

At some point—

In the Meditation Chamber, when he reached out to pick up more herbs and continue refining, he discovered that only a pile of opened jade boxes remained beside him, with nothing but a few scattered supplementary ingredients left inside.

The original twenty taels of spirit sand and three Low-grade Spirit Stones had also been completely used up.

"Finished?"

Once he realized that this stretch of alchemy had come to an end, Han Yi let out a long breath.

His body was exhausted, yet his mind was unusually exhilarated.

He looked at the jade bottles placed on the other side, satisfaction swelling in his heart.

"Two bottles of Mind Sharpening Pills, twelve bottles of Plague Dispelling Powder, twelve bottles of Beast Nurturing Pills."

Then, he looked toward the illusory panel before him.

Name: Han Yi

Lifespan: 21/87

Realm: Qi Refining Level 2 (19/100)

Cultivation Method: Fire Pill Profound Art (Beginner 29/100)

Skills:

Alchemy (First Glimpse 11/100)

Spirit Void Finger (Novice Practice 29/100)

"The progress of Qi Refining Level 2 went from 14/100 to 19/100. That should be thanks to the spirit sand and spirit stones. This cultivation speed really is far too slow. The Fire Pill Profound Art went from Beginner 23/100 to Beginner 29/100, an increase of six points—better than nothing. The greatest change is..."

Han Yi looked at the skills section. The original 'Alchemy: Novice Practice 82/100' had become 'First Glimpse 11/100.'

Obviously.

For skills, the stage after Novice Practice was First Glimpse.

In fact, after refining twelve batches of Plague Dispelling Powder and fifteen batches of Beast Nurturing Pills, Han Yi's alchemy had already broken through into First Glimpse.

Before the breakthrough, his success rate in refining Beast Nurturing Pills and Plague Dispelling Powder had only been close to the original owner's fifty percent.

After the breakthrough, judging from the results of this round of refinement, his success rate for Beast Nurturing Pills had reached one hundred percent, while he had failed only one batch of Plague Dispelling Powder.

As for the Mind Sharpening Pills he valued most, both batches had succeeded. Though the two batches had not produced many pills—only five in total—compared to his original thirty percent success rate in refining Mind Sharpening Pills, it was already an extremely significant improvement.

"This kind of rapid improvement was absolutely unlike the original owner's.

The original owner had refined so many batches of pills over three years, yet progressed slowly. My improvement in pill refinement over these past few days has far surpassed his.

The root of it lies in this work manual I brought with me when I transmigrated.

In other words, only with this manual panel can I see the progress of my skills.

Then this panel should, for now, be called... the Progress Panel?

No, that's not right.

Progress Panel doesn't explain its characteristics.

This is a cheat that lets me become increasingly proficient at a skill as long as I practice, as long as I grind.

Proficiency, proficiency. With this panel, all skills will become more proficient.

Then I'll call it the Proficiency Panel.

Additionally...

Two bottles of Mind Sharpening Pills, twelve bottles of Plague Dispelling Powder, and twelve bottles of Beast Nurturing Pills can be exchanged for a total of 49 sect points.

Though it's still not enough.

But if I exchange these pills for points, then buy medicinal herbs, with my pill refinement technique after this breakthrough, earning one hundred points will only be a matter of time."

At that moment, Han Yi finally let out a complete sigh of relief.

Just like in his previous life, with a skill at his side, he would have a place to stand wherever he went beneath heaven.

Han Yi put the refined pills into his storage pouch, stood up and stretched lazily, then left his residence, preparing to head to Vermilion Bird Peak to exchange the pills for points and buy enough medicinal herbs.

But when he stepped out of his residence, he ran into Zheng Hai, who had hurried over.

"Han Yi, why did you only come out now? You worried me to death."

"I came seven or eight times, but never saw you even once. I was almost going to apply to have the Enforcement Hall come check whether you'd lost the will to live and hanged yourself in the courtyard."

Zheng Hai wore a helpless expression.

"Don't panic. What do you need me for?"

Han Yi frowned, feeling as though he had overlooked something.

"What is it?"

"It's already been twelve days, yet you're acting as if nothing happened."

"I'd originally thought up several methods to see whether any of them could work. But now it's too late—the ten-day deadline has already passed. This is going to be even more troublesome."

The moment Zheng Hai finished speaking, Han Yi's eyes widened.

Only then did he remember what he had overlooked.

Time.

A full twelve days had already passed.

Yet to him, it had felt like only four or five days.

With a turn of thought, he understood where the problem lay.

Inside the Meditation Chamber, aside from using spirit sand and spirit stones to rapidly replenish his spiritual power, he would also occasionally settle his mind and cultivate the Fire Pill Profound Art with the spiritual energy supplied by the Little Spirit Void Peak's second-tier spirit vein.

He could keep track of the time spent refining pills.

But once he cultivated the profound art and his mind entered his body, time became uncontrollable.

Perhaps he had merely felt that he had closed his eyes and cultivated for a short while, that half an hour had passed in his perception.

But in reality, most of half a day had already gone by.

The saying, "Cultivation knows no years," was not spoken without cause.

In truth.

Before cultivating, ordinary cultivators would deliberately leave behind a thread of thought, suggesting to themselves when to awaken, rather than immersing themselves in cultivation without end.

But after transmigrating, Han Yi still regarded this as his first time cultivating and lacked such an awareness.

This was what had caused this error in time.

Moreover.

In the Mystic Pill Sect, whether on the inner peaks or the Outer Peak, every disciple's residence had a courtyard formation. It served to protect the residence's owner, preventing other disciples from barging in while they cultivated and disrupting their practice, perhaps even causing cultivation deviation.

Over these twelve days, Zheng Hai had come seven or eight times. Unfortunately, he could not enter Han Yi's courtyard at all, and it had worried him so much that he had nearly forced his way in.

"You..."

"Ah, forget it. What's done is done; saying more is useless. You should hurry to Vermilion Bird Peak and settle the points first. Otherwise, if the Enforcement Hall gets involved, you'll have to bear some punishment no matter what."

Zheng Hai left. Though he felt like he hated iron for not becoming steel, after calming himself down, he still comforted Han Yi and said that they would think of a way together to help Han Yi pass the Return-to-Sect Assessment a year later.

And Han Yi saw the anger of one who wished better for him in his eyes.

But with a companion like this, Han Yi felt deeply satisfied.

He was not as discouraged as Zheng Hai.

"Forget it. Since it has already become a fact, I should head down the mountain first."

"My alchemy has improved. Applying for the assessment to return to the sect shouldn't be difficult for me."

The wood was already made into a boat; regret was useless now.

Han Yi gathered himself and once again headed for Vermilion Bird Peak.