Chapter 5  : Rapid Progress

In Mengshan City, North City District, inside a courtyard belonging to the Xuandan Sect.

Han Yi put the small silver disc “array plate” into his storage bag, a satisfied expression on his face.

With this array plate, he was the master of this courtyard.

This courtyard, not including the open-air backyard, had an inner area of over one hundred square meters, including a cultivation meditation room and two living bedrooms.

The backyard was equally spacious, and within it, an unknown variety of date tree was laden with red dates.

Next to the date tree, stone benches and tables were covered in fallen leaves and dust.

But Han Yi didn’t mind at all.

After all, for a short period, this would be his home.

Returning to the meditation room, Han Yi first took out everything from his storage bag.

The largest item, a hexagonal copper pill furnace, was placed in the center of the meditation room, while the remaining alchemy and auxiliary materials were placed around it.

Before going down the mountain, he had exchanged his previously refined Rejuvenation Pills, Expel the Epidemic Powder, and Nourishing Beast Pills for points, and then used all these points to purchase herbs and Spirit Coal.

Moreover, all of the herbs were materials for refining the Nurturing Qi Pills, amounting to as many as eight sets.

“Now that my Alchemy Skill has reached the threshold, I wonder what my success rate will be in refining Nurturing Qi Pills,” Han Yi thought expectantly.

At Little Lingxu Peak, after breaking through to a new level of alchemy skill,

His success rate in refining Expel the Epidemic Powder and Nourishing Beast Pills was close to 100%.

Although he had only practiced refining Rejuvenation Pills twice, both attempts were successful.

So, before going down the mountain, he gambled all his points to exchange for materials to refine Nurturing Qi Pills.

After organizing the materials, he did not immediately start refining the pills, but instead sat cross-legged to practice cultivation on the side.

Every Nurturing Qi Pill was critical to him, so it was crucial not to fail and to ensure he was in the best condition possible for refining.

Two hours later.

Han Yi opened his eyes, feeling the replenished mana in his body, but also a sense of helplessness.

His spiritual root belonged to the lower-grade Fire Spirit Root. The aptitude was just too poor.

It took a full two hours just to restore a little bit of mana.

If mana depletion was severe, the recovery time would undoubtedly be even more extended.

“Never mind, I’ll refine the pills first, then sell them for Spirit Stones, use the Spirit Stones to buy alchemy materials, and cultivate, then refine pills again, sell them, and so on…”

“Continuously cycling like this will make me wealthier.”

“With insufficient aptitude, I’ll make up for it with Spirit Stones.”

Collecting all his thoughts, Han Yi began refining pills.

First, he sent a stream of mana into the hexagonal pill furnace.

Then, he carefully placed the measured Spirit Coal into the three entrances under the pill furnace. Following the steps, he threw the various herbs into the furnace one by one…

As all the materials were fed into the furnace, Han Yi’s expression grew more tense, his hands constantly feeding mana into the furnace.

His mind constantly sensed the changes in the materials inside the furnace, increasing or decreasing mana input to gradually merge the materials.

At some point.

Even though Han Yi’s forehead was dripping with sweat due to nervousness, he felt a surge of joy in his heart.

The pill was about to be formed.

The very next second after this excitement took over his heart,

The sticky black substance in the pill furnace that had melted into one and was only a step away from forming a pill made a faint sound, as if a bubble had burst.

Pop!

Han Yi’s face changed, but before he could do anything,

The black, sentient, wriggling substance in the furnace consecutively made ‘pop-pop’ sounds.

Then, regardless of the amount of mana he transferred, the wriggling black substance gradually softened and stopped responding.

Upon seeing this, Han Yi let go of his hands and heaved a long sigh.

“Failed.”

Then, he furrowed his brows and began reflecting on the process.

“The earlier steps were all correct; there wasn’t a single mistake.”

“The problem lies in the later part.”

“There shouldn’t be any issue with the materials, and the amount of Spirit Coal should also be correct. Throughout the entire process, my magic power never wavered . What could be the reason then?”

After thinking for a moment, Han Yi couldn’t identify any obvious anomalies.

He looked at the workbook he had renamed the Proficiency Panel once more.

[Alchemy Skill (Initial Glimpse of the Path 12/100)]

“The progress from 11/100 to 12/100, even with a failed attempt, should have made a leap.”

“Never mind, the sample size isn’t enough. Let’s try another furnace.”

This time, it took a full six hours. Han Yi consumed a Grain Avoiding Pill during this period, and by evening, he eventually replenished his magic power.

If he had Spirit Stones, it would have taken only about two quarters of an hour.

If he used Spirit Sand, it would have taken an hour.

Even without Spirit Sand and Spirit Stones, if he was on the Little Lingxu Peak, with the Second-stage Spiritual Vein, it would take no more than four hours to recover.

It goes to show the importance of wealth and location in cultivation.

After regaining his magic power, Han Yi started to refine a second furnace of Nurturing Qi Pills.

A quarter of an hour later.

Dan Qi dispersed.

Han Yi looked at the translucent jade bottle in his hand, and his heart was filled with boundless joy.

“Success.”

In the jade bottle, there were eight white pills about the size of a fingernail.

Nurturing Qi Pills.

According to the sect’s exchange rules, one Nurturing Qi Pill could be exchanged for ten points; this bottle meant eighty points.

If it weren’t for the deadline having passed, Han Yi would only need to refine another furnace of Nurturing Qi Pills or two furnaces of Rejuvenation Pills to meet the requirement of one hundred points.

After rejoicing, Han Yi noticed that there was a change in the progress of the Proficiency Panel.

[Alchemy Skill (Initial Glimpse of the Path 13/100)]

Besides this minor change, he was more concerned about the differences between the two attempts.

“The order was identical, the movements were the same, and there were no subtle differences in the magic power, but one furnace succeeded while the other failed.”

“When refining failed, there was a change in progress, and when refining succeeded, there was also a change, but they were the same.”

“The reason behind this, after thinking about it, can only be attributed to the success rate.”

Refining pills is not a guaranteed success if all the steps are correct.

Success rate is a factor.

The so-called success rate refers to the probability of an alchemist successfully refining pills under the condition that there are no apparent minor mistakes.

This probability cannot be concluded with a small number of refining attempts; a certain scale of refining attempts is needed to deduce it.

Just like when Han Yi accidentally refined a furnace of Nurturing Qi Pills on Little Lingxu Peak.

Could it be said that his success rate for refining Nurturing Qi Pills was one hundred percent?

Of course not.

Because all of his subsequent attempts to refine Nurturing Qi Pills failed.

With his Alchemy Skills at the time, the probability of his success in refining Nurturing Qi Pills was actually less than ten percent.

“I wonder what the success rate is for my Nurturing Qi Pills now.”

At this moment, it was getting late. Having eaten a Grain Avoiding Pill earlier, Han Yi didn’t feel hungry.

He still picked some red dates from the backyard to eat, rested for an hour, and then immersed himself in cultivation again.

…

Days passed like a flash.

This time, Han Yi paid attention and didn’t close his mind completely like he did during the first cultivation. Before each magic power recovery, he added an extra thought, so that when his magic power was fully recovered, he could regain consciousness.

At this moment.

In the quiet chamber, the materials for eight sets of Nurturing Qi Pills had disappeared, replaced by three bottles of finished Nurturing Qi Pills.

Although they were just ordinary quality Nurturing Qi Pills, they were already a considerable wealth for Han Yi.

“Three successful furnaces – eight pills in the first, ten in the second, and another eight in the third.”

“A total of twenty-six pills.”

“I’ve made a fortune.”