The door to the small room closed behind Yun Che. He remained leaning against the wood for several seconds, staring at the interface floating before his eyes.
[Time Remaining: 6 days.]
[Cultivation Objective: Reach the Elementary Profound Realm.]
[Advancement Method: Dual Cultivation.]
[Required Condition for Partner: Veil-Breaking Pill ×1.]
[Required Spiritual Crystals: 30.]
Yun Che rubbed his face.
"Six days."
The situation was worse than it seemed. Finding a woman willing to accept dual cultivation was already complicated. Now he needed to obtain a rare pill and thirty spiritual crystals before the deadline expired.
He opened the small pouch he carried with him. There was only a small spiritual stone with almost no energy left.
Yun Che let out a bitter laugh.
"I’m nowhere near getting what she asked for."
He looked at the interface again.
Unfortunately, there was no indication that the system would provide him with the resources. It seemed there were no shortcuts.
He had to earn them.
Yun Che left the room.
Mei Liang was sitting beside the main table of the Massage House. Several open boxes were placed before her, containing spiritual herbs of different qualities.
She noticed his presence.
"Have you finished thinking?"
Yun Che approached.
"Almost."
"And did you find a solution?"
"More or less."
Mei Liang raised an eyebrow.
"That means no."
Yun Che looked at the boxes.
"May I ask what happened to these medicinal herbs?"
"A batch I received this morning."
She picked one up.
"Some lost part of their spiritual essence during transportation. They can still be used, but their quality has dropped too much to extract spiritual oil for massages."
"Then you’re planning to discard them?"
"Probably. I have no use for them at the moment. If I leave them lying around, they’ll eventually spoil."
Yun Che carefully picked up one of the herbs that appeared to be in better condition.
His eyes changed.
The system interface appeared.
[Resource analysis initiated.]
[Remaining spiritual essence: 30%.]
[Recommended use: Refinement.]
[Recovery possibility: 72%.]
Yun Che became interested.
"Mei Liang, may I try to make use of these herbs?"
Mei Liang let out a small laugh.
"You? Have you refined pills before?"
"No, but I attended all the lectures on pill refinement."
She stared at him.
"You know how to refine pills only in theory?"
"Yes. I know the procedures."
"And even so, you want to try refining pills?"
Yun Che placed the herb back on the table.
"I don’t need to know everything before I start learning, right, Mei Liang?"
Mei Liang remained silent before pushing a small box toward him.
"This contains low-level herbs. They aren’t valuable enough for me to worry if they are wasted."
Yun Che looked at the box.
"You’re allowing me to try?"
"I am."
She pointed at him.
"But on one condition."
"What is it?"
"If you blow up the furnace, you clean it, okay?"
Yun Che smiled.
"Deal."
During the following hour, Mei Liang explained the basic principles of refinement.
Temperature, the sequence of the herbs, control of spiritual energy, and the exact moment to condense the essence.
Yun Che absorbed every word.
When he began his first attempt, he realized that alchemy was much more difficult than it seemed.
The temperature rose too high, and the essence of the herbs burned.
Dark smoke poured out of the furnace.
Mei Liang closed her eyes.
"First attempt."
Yun Che coughed, exhaling smoke as his face was covered in black ash.
"I noticed."
"You also noticed that you shouldn’t raise the temperature like that. Alchemy requires precision and control."
"I understand. I’ll do it differently this time."
The second attempt was better.
But the essence still failed to condense properly.
On the third attempt, Yun Che slightly changed the order of the herbs, following the system’s analysis.
The fire stabilized, and spiritual energy began to gather inside the furnace.
Mei Liang approached.
"Don’t move."
Yun Che remained motionless.
Time passed.
Finally, the furnace emitted a soft sound, and a small pill emerged from within.
Mei Liang picked it up and examined it carefully.
"A low-grade Spiritual Gathering Pill."
Yun Che looked at her.
"Is it good?"
"For a first attempt?"
She turned the pill between her fingers.
"It’s surprisingly good."
Yun Che exhaled.
Mei Liang continued examining him.
"Who are you really, Yun Che? To think you could get the composition right when applying the formula."
He remained still.
"I’m your disciple."
"That isn’t what I asked."
Yun Che smiled faintly.
"Maybe I’m just beginning to discover my hidden talents."
Mei Liang merely looked at him and placed the pill on the table.
"If you can produce several of these, you can sell them and make some money."
Yun Che immediately understood.
"How much can we earn if I continue production?"
"It depends on the quality. These are only low-grade, so they aren’t worth much."
She paused briefly.
"It won’t be enough to obtain spiritual crystals or high-level cultivation resources."
Yun Che’s hopes diminished.
"Then I need something else."
Mei Liang nodded.
"There’s an internal fair in two days. The disciples usually exchange herbs, pills, and spiritual materials before the opening of the Secret Realm."
Yun Che became attentive.
"Will there be tasks as well?"
"Yes."
"What kind?"
"Some missions are posted for disciples who want to earn contributions. Some rewards can be converted into spiritual crystals."
Yun Che immediately realized that this might be the solution.
"I want to participate in the fair. Maybe I’ll find an opportunity."
Mei Liang frowned.
"You’re still at the Body Tempering Realm, so there isn’t much you can do about that."
"I know, but it’s still better than simply sitting around doing nothing."
"Some of these tasks are dangerous, so don’t be reckless."
"Even so, I need to try."
She stared at him.
"You’re in quite a hurry."
Yun Che looked away.
"I have reasons to be in a hurry."
Mei Liang sighed.
"Fine. But don’t confuse determination with stupidity."
Yun Che nodded.
"I won’t."
Part 2
The next morning, he headed to the pavilion responsible for the sect’s tasks.
Several disciples were gathered in front of a huge wooden board.
Yun Che approached the mission board for the disciples of Profound Flower. There were dozens of missions.
Collect herbs.
Eliminate spiritual beasts.
Deliver materials.
Investigate certain regions.
The rewards ranged from a few spiritual stones to dozens of crystals.
Yun Che examined each one.
Most of them were useless to him.
The rewards were too small, the time was insufficient, or the cultivation requirements were too high.
Until he found a different mission.
[Collection Mission.]
[Resource: Lunar Blood Flower.]
[Location: Dark Moon Valley.]
[Recommended Requirement: Elementary Profound.]
[Reward: 35 Spiritual Crystals.]
Yun Che’s eyes lit up.
Thirty-five spiritual crystals.
It was slightly more than he needed.
He reached out to remove the mission token.
"Yun Che, that mission isn’t for you."
The voice came from behind.
Yun Che turned around and saw an outer disciple looking at him with disdain.
"Didn’t you see the recommended requirement?"
Yun Che looked at the token again.
"I did."
"Then why does trash who’s only at the Body Tempering Realm want to claim this mission?"
Several nearby disciples began looking over.
"He’s Yun Che."
"The useless guy from the Massage House, right?"
"Yes. I thought he had already been expelled from the sect."
The former Yun Che would have lowered his head.
But this Yun Che simply returned their gaze.
"If the mission were exclusively reserved for cultivators of the Elementary Profound Realm, it would be written as a mandatory requirement."
The disciple was speechless for a moment.
Yun Che removed the token.
"Thank you for your concern, senior."
He turned and walked away.
When he left the pavilion, he checked the mission again.
[Reward: 35 Spiritual Crystals.]
[Estimated Danger: High.]
[Probable Presence of Elementary Profound Realm spiritual beasts.]
Yun Che stopped.
Now he understood why no one wanted this mission.
He was still in the first realm. He could not directly fight an Elementary Profound Realm spiritual beast.
Then he remembered what he had just received.
The Supreme Art of Necromancy.
Perhaps he didn’t need to win through strength.
Perhaps he only needed to survive.
Yun Che looked at the mountain in the distance.
"Thirty crystals..."
The interface appeared again.
[Time Remaining: 5 days and 21 hours.]
He clenched his fists.
"I’ll do it."
On the way back to the Massage House, one final message appeared before his eyes.
[Secondary Mission Detected.]
[Objective: Obtain the Lunar Blood Flower.]
[Additional Reward: Unknown.]
Yun Che stopped walking.
He realized that the system was not merely forcing him to survive.
Now, it was pushing him into situations where he would be forced to become smarter, stronger, and more dangerous.
He continued walking.
Within five days, he had to possess the resources necessary for dual cultivation.
And for that, he would have to enter Dark Moon Valley.