Chapter 10: Cultivating Qi - The Third Level

[Realm: Qi-Training Second Layer（87/100）]

"I'm not far from reaching the third layer of my realm now."

"Strength is paramount. No matter what kind of danger I face, each enhancement in strength represents an additional layer of protection."

"Right now, I must first break through to the third layer of Qi-Training."

"Afterwards, I should practice my one and only combat skill, the Spirit Void Finger, to a level sufficient for self-defense."

"Furthermore, I need to stay vigilant at all times on my next expedition."

"Also, the Spirit Void Finger is far from enough for protection. If there's a chance, I need to acquire another more specialized combat magic skill."

"On the other hand, if my Alchemy Skill could improve further, then…"

Han Yi was calculating in his heart, arranging his plans meticulously.

Then, he took out a Spirit Stone and began to cultivate.

He now has over fifty Spirit Stones, which could be considered as a small fortune among the outer disciples in the Xuandan Sect.

Usually, only those outer disciples who reached the fourth layer of Qi-Training could have this many Spirit Stones on hand.

And only the inner disciples dare to use Spirit Stones for cultivation without any psychological burden.

Which outer disciple wouldn't use their Spirit Veins for cultivation instead of Spirit Stones if they could? Even if they did resort to using Spirit Stones, they would only do so for breakthroughs, daring to sacrifice them only then.

Cultivation is timeless, especially when it involves absorbing Spirit Energy from Spirit Stones, which could easily get cultivators with lower realms addicted.

When the third Spirit Stone was crushed into dust, the progress of the Qi-Training second layer had reached 99/100.

Han Yi didn't rush to use the Spirit Stone to break through immediately.

Instead, he started focusing on pill refining.

His hasty advancement in a short time had affected his control of magic power and attempts to break through in this state could be very risky.

He knew very well the key point: haste makes waste. You can't rush things, especially at crucial moments."

"On one hand, I can use pill refining to hone my control of magic power. On the other hand, it could help adjust my mindset before the breakthrough."

Han Yi began pill refining.

This time, thanks to the improvement of his Alchemy Skill, the success rate of refining Nurturing Qi Pills has exceeded 60%, close to 70%.

Every time he refines a batch of Nurturing Qi Pills, it consumes his internal magic power. During recovery, he absorbs the free-floating Spirit Energy in the air instead of using Spirit Stones.

The biggest disadvantage of this method is that it is slow, very slow.

Each batch takes almost a day to fully recover.

But the biggest advantage is that Han Yi can control his internal magic power more precisely and freely.

Pill refining is monotonous and boring.

But Han Yi is immersed in it, feeling his control over his inner magic power improve bit by bit.

Only through constant quantitative changes can qualitative changes occur.

Without taking small steps, one can't travel a thousand miles. Without a collection of small streams, one can't form a river or a sea."

When he finally put the last batch of Nurturing Qi Pills into the jade bottle, the jujube tree in the backyard had sprouted new buds, the yard was covered with a thin layer of fallen leaves, and the red marks on the wall of the yard had also been painted dark brown.

"Out of twenty-five raw materials, seventeen bottles were produced. Roughly calculated, the success rate is around 70%."

"This terrifying pill refining success rate, among the outer disciples, only those who have reached the sixth Qi-training layer can achieve this."

"More importantly, I've reached the peak in my control over magic power."

"If I don't break through now, when will I?"

Han Yi put down the jade bottle, took a deep breath, took another jade bottle out of his storage bag, in which were two pills.

Exorcise Evil Spirits Pill.

These were what he had reserved when refining the Exorcise Evil Spirits Pills previously, prepared in advance for the breakthrough.

After taking the Exorcise Evil Spirits Pill.

He then took out a whopping twenty Spirit Stones, held two in each hand, and placed the other sixteen beside him.

And then.

Began to operate his technique, bolster his magic power. The previously stagnant progress, after half an hour, pushed forward to 100/100.

One hour later.

Han Yi noticed a soft whispering sound in his ears.

A chill ran down his spine. He knew this was the seductive voices of the Heavenly Demons.

And since he was merely breaking through the third layer, even if an Outer World Heavenly Demon descended, it would just be a lesser Heavenly Demon.

As long as he didn't deliberately pay attention to it, there wouldn't be any major problems with the Exorcise Evil Spirits Pill in him as this prevented the Heavenly Demon from invading his body.

The hypnotic sounds gradually grew stronger, but they had no effect whatsoever on Han Yi, whose heart remained steadfast.

In his past life, as one of his hobbies, Han Yi had stored more than 10TB of romantic action movies on a mobile hard drive, neatly categorised. He became something of an expert in the industry.

A chen(or hour) later.

Han Yi, who was currently meditating, suddenly felt the magic power within his body become stickier in an instant.

He knew, he had made a breakthrough.

After the breakthrough, the amount of magic power in his body reduced, but the quality improved a level.

Before reaching the sixth level of Qi cultivation, each layer's breakthrough represented a qualitative change.

At the same moment, the seductive whispers in his ears vanished.

The invading Outer World Heavenly Demon had left.

Han Yi didn't immediately stand up, instead he took the opportunity to consolidate his realm, changing the Spirit Stones beside him one after the other.

Only after a full day did he stop.

At that moment, Han Yi looked at the panel, and only relaxed once he confirmed the information displayed, showing that he was at the third level of Qi cultivation.

[Name:Han Yi]

[Lifespan:21/89]

[Realm:Qi cultivation level three（3/100）]

[Skill:Fire Profound Skill（Beginner 69/100）]

[Abilities:

Alchemy Skill（Enter the Hall 3/100）

Spirit Void Finger（Beginner 70/100）

]

Then, after he reviewed the other information, a look of joy flashed across his face.

His lifespan increased from 87 to 89 years.

Of course, this lifespan referred to dying of old age in peaceful circumstances, something extremely difficult to achieve in the perilous cultivation world.

His foundational skill, Fire Profound Skill, showed slight progress, but was still at the beginner stage.

The greatest change was in the Alchemy Skill.

Unknowingly, his Alchemy Skill had progressed from 'Peering into the Gate' to the 'Enter the Hall' stage.

"Great, my Alchemy Skill has reached a new stage. It must've broken through when I was creating the last batch of Nurturing Qi Pills. No wonder all those pills were a success, and each batch produced twelve units."

"Next, I'll continue practicing alchemy. After my Alchemy Skill leveled up, my success rate in creating the Exorcise Evil Spirits Pill should also improve."

No sooner said than done.

In reality, with the breakthrough in his realm and the increase in the quality of his magical power, not only did his success rate improve, the time it took him to produce the pills also shortened.

Previously, it took him almost a month to produce twenty Exorcise Evil Spirits Pills, but now, he successfully created them in just about ten days.

And the success rate increased by almost twenty-five percent.

Out of twenty sets of raw materials, he succeeded in producing five batches.

According to the standards of the Xuandan Sect, this already represented the level of an Inner Peak disciple's Alchemy Skill.

After thinking about it, Han Yi put two jade bottles into the corner of his storage bag without intending to disclose them.

"Making the Exorcise Evil Spirits Pill for the first time, you could say that it was due to my breakthrough in Alchemy Skill."

"For the second time, if my success rate increases by one-tenth based on the first time, and the interval is only a few months, that would be too against the heavens."

"So, let's just say I only succeeded in making three batches."

"This would be considered reasonable for a Qi cultivation third level disciple from a minor faction."

"Additionally, I shouldn't sell all the Nurturing Qi Pills. With my previous success rate of 60%, I could sell thirteen bottles and keep four for myself, or sell them somewhere else."

"I also have to be careful about that sudden murderous aura."

Han Yi cast his gaze on the panel's only combat magic skill[Spirit Void Finger].

He sighed lightly.

While Spirit Void Finger was low-level, it was currently his only combat skill and he could only depend on it.

"There's no other way."

"I just need to keep grinding!!"