The Immortal Path is Promising

Han Yi smiled in relief.

"Counting these eight batches alone, my success rate in refining Qi Nourishing Pills is now close to forty percent."

Han Yi contentedly tucked the three bottles of Qi Nourishing Pills into his storage pouch, rose, left the Meditation Chamber, and headed to the rear courtyard.

"In two days, it'll be time for the regular reporting. Then I can sell the Qi Nourishing Pills to Guan Sheng for some spirit stones and buy enough raw materials.

"After that, I'll keep repeating the process.

"I won't have to worry about lacking spirit stones for cultivation."

Over these five days, Han Yi had had no spirit stones for cultivation, and the courtyard where he lived had no spirit vein either. Only then had he realized how important a spirit vein was.

That was why he so desperately wished to return to Little Spirit Void Peak.

Then, he looked at the proficiency panel.

Name: Han Yi

Lifespan: 21/87

Realm: Qi Refinement Level 2 (19/100)

Cultivation Art: Fire Pill Profound Art (Beginner 31/100)

Skills:

Alchemy (First Glimpse 21/100)

Spirit Void Finger (Novice Practice 29/100)

"Not bad. My alchemy is progressing at breakneck speed.

"Sadly, my Qi Refinement Level 2 realm hasn't budged an inch. Even my cultivation art is advancing as slowly as a snail crawling.

"Cultivation truly is a huge problem. I can only find a way to get more spirit stones.

"Right, I still have a second skill."

The moment he stepped into the rear courtyard, Han Yi fixed his gaze on the second skill on the proficiency panel.

Spirit Void Finger.

Alchemy had not disappointed him.

Then... what about Spirit Void Finger?

With that thought—

Han Yi tipped his head back slightly and flicked his right hand forward. As he moved, his thumb hooked against his index finger. When the motion reached its end—

Pfft!

A faint finger-flicking sound suddenly cut through the air.

Six meters away, the nearest red date on the date tree in the courtyard burst open with a pop.

Han Yi shook his head.

"Weak. Far too weak.

"The current power of Spirit Void Finger is only equivalent to an adult hurling a pebble the size of a fingernail with all their strength.

"It could still smash a mortal's head bloody, but against a cultivator, even one at Qi Refinement Level 1, it can't even harm a hair."

Spirit Void Finger was an ordinary spell of Little Spirit Void Peak.

Its principle was simple: compress the mana within one's body into the fingertip through a special method of exertion, then flick it outward. It traveled swiftly, and upon hitting its target, the compressed mana exploded in an instant, dealing damage.

Such a simple principle foretold that this spell's upper limit would not be very high.

Quite a few low-ranking outer sect disciples still cultivated it, but once they reached the middle stages of Qi Refinement, few continued practicing it.

Yet for Han Yi, this was the only skill he currently possessed that could produce any real power.

There was no choice.

He would just practice it.

Pfft, pfft, pfft...

In the rear courtyard, Han Yi first flicked the fingers of one hand, repeatedly activating Spirit Void Finger.

Then, finding that not satisfying enough, he brought both hands into play. No longer limiting himself to his middle fingers, he flicked all ten fingers at once.

Mana surged like a tide, rushing forth like wind and rain.

The longer he flicked, the more natural it felt.

With every strike, he made subtle adjustments based on the previous state—altering the way he exerted force, the amount of mana, the degree of compression, and more.

In less than half an hour, the date tree, once laden with fruit, had already been stripped bare by nearly half.

The courtyard wall and ground behind the date tree were smeared with red fruit pulp, and a sweet fragrance washed over him.

Han Yi stopped, standing still as his breath grew slightly ragged.

The magical power within his body was all but depleted.

Though he had controlled every finger strike, releasing each one with the smallest possible unit of magical power, there were simply too many of them.

In that brief span just now, he had cast the Spirit Void Finger spell at least thirty times.

"Phew... phew."

Han Yi took several breaths, then looked toward the proficiency panel.

Spirit Void Finger (Novice Practice 59/100).

When he saw its progress had leaped from 29/100 to 59/100, he nearly suspected he had read it wrong.

He closed his eyes, then opened them again.

It was still 59/100.

A surge of joy instantly filled him.

"That means every finger strike adds progress."

"This spell's progress is advancing incredibly quickly."

"As expected, the work manual—or rather, this proficiency panel—is definitely not simple."

When he had first discovered the proficiency panel, Han Yi had tried communicating with it, even cycling through hidden phrases in an attempt to understand it.

Unfortunately, he had gained nothing. For a time, he had believed it was merely a data panel that recorded things like his lifespan, cultivation techniques, and skills, with no other purpose.

But first his alchemy breakthrough, and now this massive increase in Spirit Void Finger progress, had made one fact clear to him.

This golden finger did not merely record things.

It also had the ability to forcibly raise his skill levels at an abnormal pace according to the number of times he practiced them.

Put simply.

In this world, an ordinary person might snap their fingers a hundred times while practicing the Spirit Void Finger and see no progress at all.

But Han Yi was different. Every time he snapped his fingers, he could forcibly drag the skill's progress bar forward.

Every finger strike brought gains, brought enlightenment.

No wonder that, toward the end of his practice just now, his movements had felt increasingly natural, as though countless insights were constantly welling up with every flick of his fingers.

This was the panel's bug.

Thinking of this, Han Yi could no longer suppress his excitement.

"Alchemy is like this, and so is the Spirit Void Finger. Every skill can improve rapidly.

"Doesn't that mean...

"The hundred arts of cultivation, all kinds of spells—for me, they're merely a matter of time. They're all within easy reach.

"The immortal path is within sight. The immortal path is within sight!"

The corners of Han Yi's mouth rose uncontrollably, a smile spilling across his face.

But when his gaze shifted upward and landed on the utterly unmoving second level of Qi Refinement, his expression stiffened slightly.

Realm: Second Level of Qi Refinement (19/100)

"I've been transmigrated for so long and cultivated for so long. Aside from when I was on Little Spirit Void Peak, using spirit sand and spirit stones to cultivate, I barely managed to raise it by a few points.

"After arriving in Mengshan City, without spirit stones or spirit sand, relying solely on absorbing the spiritual energy in the air is like trying to put out a cartload of fire with a cup of water. I can't raise it even a single point.

"It seems realm advancement truly can't be improved through the proficiency panel.

"For now, I need to improve my skills, earn spirit stones, and use them to push my realm forward.

"If my realm isn't enough, spirit stones will make up the difference."

After pondering it over, Han Yi settled on his cultivation plan for the near future. He then returned to the Meditation Chamber, sat cross-legged, and began restoring his magical power.

This time, it took more than a full day to recover.

Afterward, Han Yi went to the backyard again to practice the Spirit Void Finger. With no more dates left, he simply targeted the leaves on the tree.

With a target, he could focus better.

Flick, flick, flick...

A quarter of an hour later, more than half the date tree's leaves were gone, leaving it even balder than before.

Han Yi watched the Spirit Void Finger's progress rise from 59/100 to 70/100. Satisfied, he calculated the time and returned to the Meditation Chamber.

A day later.

His magical power had recovered once again. This time, he did not practice the Spirit Void Finger, because the seven-day deadline had arrived.

Picking up three bottles of Qi Nourishing Pills and activating the courtyard's formation, Han Yi headed straight for the Mystic Fire Pill Shop.

Upon arriving at the Mystic Fire Pill Shop, he met the other two dispatched disciples for the first time: Xia Qingyi and Xiao Yi.

Unlike Han Yi, the two were five or six years older and had already been dispatched outside the sect for several years.

Neither had any intention of befriending or chatting with Han Yi, the "newcomer." They merely cupped their hands in detached greeting, addressed one another as fellow disciples, and said nothing further.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Guan Sheng revealed a faint smile.

"Let's first settle last quarter's tasks. Junior Brothers Xia and Xiao, how did your pill refining go?"