Steady Development

Having reached an agreement, Guan Sheng gave Han Yi the Evil-Repelling Pill Formula and enough spiritual herbs to refine twenty batches of Evil-Repelling Pills.

Han Yi felt grateful for this trust.

After that.

He set aside twenty spirit stones and spent the remaining twenty on raw materials for refining Qi Nourishing Pills, along with some spirit sand. Then he left the Mystic Fire Pill Shop and hurried back to his residence.

A quarter of an hour after he left, Jiang De came downstairs in the Mystic Fire Pill Shop. His gaze fixed on Guan Sheng, his expression slightly gloomy.

"Old Guan, what are you plotting?"

"Aren't you afraid that brat will really take the money and run?"

"Never mind the pill formula for now—the twenty batches of materials alone are worth no small sum."

A trace of anger showed on Jiang De's face. What angered him was that Guan Sheng had made this decision without consulting him, acting on his own authority.

Guan Sheng's usual smile vanished. Meeting Jiang De's gaze, he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I told you already. That kid is meant to take the blame."

"As for how this will be handled, you needn't meddle. I'll make the arrangements."

Guan Sheng's tone revealed little emotion, yet it made Jiang De's heart tremble. Still, the anger in his heart had not faded.

"Fine. Since Old Guan says so, I won't interfere any further."

"However, I will report this matter truthfully to the hall master. Old Guan, you'd best think carefully about your explanation."

With that, Jiang De flicked his sleeve, turned, and returned to the second floor.

Behind him, Guan Sheng stared at his retreating back, a cold gleam curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Idiot. Does he really think that just because he has someone backing him, he can make little moves behind my back without restraint?"

The cold smile flashed by in an instant before he quickly restrained it.

Then a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.

"Still, that Han Yi brat managed to successfully refine three batches of Qi Nourishing Pills in such a short time. His pill-refining skills have truly improved by leaps and bounds."

"All the better."

"Someone like that will make a more convincing scapegoat."

"The plan is feasible."

On the other side, after returning to his own courtyard, Han Yi activated the Array Disk, locked the courtyard gate, and took everything out.

Han Yi began taking stock.

Materials for Qi Nourishing Pills, materials for Evil-Repelling Pills, the Evil-Repelling Pill Formula, spirit stones, spirit sand, and other miscellaneous items.

He did not immediately begin attempting to refine Evil-Repelling Pills, nor did he continue refining Qi Nourishing Pills.

Instead, he picked up the spirit stones and began cultivating.

Cultivation level was the foundation. Once one's realm rose, both the quality and quantity of spiritual power within the body would improve. It was the cornerstone of pill refinement and the use of other techniques.

Han Yi understood this clearly.

Before his pill-refining art broke through, he had been short on spirit stones and spirit sand, never possessing more than ten pieces in total.

With point missions weighing on him as well, he had basically never had the chance to cultivate directly with spirit stones. He only used them sparingly when recovering spiritual power, pinching every bit as though counting copper coins.

Now, things were different.

His pill-refining art had broken through, and he now had the proficiency panel. Han Yi was full of anticipation for the future.

As long as he kept refining pills, sold them for spirit stones, used half for cultivation and the other half to buy more pill-refining materials, then refined more pills and sold them for more money...

With such a cycle, the immortal path was within sight.

Han Yi closed his eyes and circulated the Fire Pill Profound Art. At once, every pore on his body opened, absorbing the spiritual qi in the air.

But there was not even a spirit vein here. The spiritual qi in the air was pitifully thin; no matter how he absorbed it, he could barely sense any.

Without spirit stones, it would take until the year of the monkey and month of the horse for this cultivation session to show any obvious results.

Under normal circumstances.

A cultivator's cultivation speed depended on two core factors.

One was physique, and the other was environment.

Physique, put plainly, meant spiritual roots. A cultivator with heavenly spiritual roots absorbed spiritual qi more than ten times faster than one with mixed spiritual roots.

Different physiques meant different affinities with spiritual qi, different amounts of spiritual qi absorbed within the same span of time, and naturally, a world of difference in cultivation progress.

Environment referred to the density of spiritual qi while cultivating. For instance, the spirit vein of the Mystic Pill Sect's Inner Peak was at least third-grade, making its spiritual qi more than twice as dense as that of the Outer Peak's first- and second-grade spirit veins.

To put it more extremely, if a pig were placed within an immortal vein above the ninth grade, it might become an immortal even if it did nothing but eat its fill and sleep.

And a cultivation environment included not only spirit veins, but also spirit stones used to aid cultivation.

At this moment.

Although there was no spirit vein here, under the pull of Han Yi's body, a threadlike warm current flowed from the spirit stone in his palm into his body. Nourished by this spiritual energy, the mana within him immediately stirred with delight, growing more vigorous and flowing faster.

The sun rose and the moon set.

Crack!

Only after a crisp sound reached his ears did Han Yi slowly open his eyes.

Lowering his head, he looked at the spirit stone in his palm. What had once been grayish-white had already shattered into fine powder. With a light squeeze, it turned to dust and vanished between his fingers.

Retracting his gaze, Han Yi examined the mana within his body, but he did not feel any obvious change.

Next, Han Yi looked at the proficiency panel.

Realm: Qi Refining Layer 2 (24/100)

Not bad. One spirit stone boosted the progress by five points—a huge improvement.

Only then did joy appear on his face.

Over the previous seven days, without spirit stones to cultivate with, his progress had remained stuck at 19/100. This time, using a spirit stone to cultivate, the progress was immediately obvious.

If aptitude was lacking, spirit stones would make up for it.

This path worked.

After that.

Han Yi entered a frenzied cultivation mode. After using up ten spirit stones, he began refining pills while using spirit stones to restore his mana, cultivating alongside it.

As his pill-refining proficiency rose, his success rate in refining Qi Nourishing Pills this time had reached sixty percent.

Of the ten sets of Qi Nourishing Pill ingredients he had purchased, he successfully refined six furnaces. One of those furnaces had even yielded twelve pills.

In the end, he had a total of fifty-eight Qi Nourishing Pills—more than double his first batch.

Han Yi was overjoyed.

Looking at the Qi Nourishing Pills stored in jade bottles, Han Yi's sense of accomplishment swelled to bursting.

Then, he began attempting to refine Evil Warding Pills.

Refining Evil Warding Pills was several times more difficult than refining Qi Nourishing Pills, and this was his first attempt.

He ruined five furnaces before finally succeeding with the sixth.

In the end, from twenty sets of ingredients, he refined only three successful furnaces, for a success rate of merely fifteen percent.

Yet if such a success rate were seen in the Mystic Pill Sect, only outstanding disciples skilled in pill refinement on the Outer Peak could achieve it. He was already making a modest profit.

As for inner sect disciples, most of them had success rates of twenty percent, or even over thirty percent, when refining Evil Warding Pills.

By now, a full two months had passed since Han Yi had last gone out.

Sure enough, cultivation knows no passage of time. Two months just slipped by like that.

Han Yi sighed, his gaze falling upon the translucent panel before him.

Name: Han Yi

Lifespan: 21/87

Realm: Qi Refining Layer 2 (87/100)

Cultivation Art: Fire Pill Profound Art (Beginner 59/100)

Skills:

Pill Refining (First Glimpse 89/100)

Spirit Void Finger (Novice Practice 70/100)

Sure enough, brute force creates miracles. Twenty spirit stones directly pushed my realm's progress all the way to 87/100.

My cultivation art has improved too.

Pill Refining is nearly ready to break through as well. First Glimpse already gives me such a high pill-refining success rate. If it breaks through to the next level, wouldn't that be even more outrageous?

I can't wait.

After looking over the panel, Han Yi was extremely satisfied with his current progress.

As long as he kept grinding, developed steadily, and advanced step by step, the immortal path would surely be within reach.

What a wonderful feeling.

Then, his gaze fell upon the many jade bottles laid out before him.

After thinking for a moment, he poured two Evil Warding Pills from the successfully refined batch into a new jade bottle.

This was preparation for his upcoming breakthrough to Qi Refining Layer 3.

Next, he sorted through the pills he had refined. After confirming that everything was in order, he decided to set out for the Mystic Fire Pill Shop.

Although the Mystic Fire Pill Shop required everyone to gather once each quarter, he did not wish to wait. Going a month early was permitted as well.