Chapter 6: Failure Can Also Increase Proficiency

*Pfft!*

Staring at the black lump in the pot, inhaling the burnt smell, Luo Chen’s eyes turned red, and his face was ashen.

It failed!

The sixth pot, another failure!

This was the sixth day of refining the Wondrous Pill, and he had been refining it methodically, one pot per day.

The final result was devastating.

Not a single success!

The best attempt only produced a pot of light red paste.

He was certain that the final product, as described in the formula, was supposed to be a deep red, even redder than his patriotic heart!

With a somewhat dejected expression, he picked up the pot and dumped the black lump on the other side of the stream.

Then, by the stream, he washed the pot with a loofah, absentmindedly.

His mind kept replaying the refining process.

"The proportions are definitely correct; I measured them to the extreme."

"The order of adding the ingredients is also right; I added them at the precise moment the symptoms appeared."

"Is it the temperature control? Or is the firewood not good enough? But the formula says that peach wood is fine, and for a mere first-stage pill, the requirements shouldn’t be that high."

"Or is it my technique?"

The consecutive failures had made Luo Chen start to doubt himself.

He even wondered if he lacked the talent for alchemy, and the success of the Qi-Opening Powder was only because the original owner had talent, and he had just entered the path.

He was merely using someone else’s trained game account, sprinting on a well-trodden path.

*Splash!*

Water splashed on his face.

A large carp swam by, leaping up and splashing him in the face.

The fish in the stream had been increasing recently, probably due to the rising water from the Lancang River!

Glancing at the fish about to swim away, Luo Chen felt a surge of anger.

*Barara energy!*

"Fireball!"

A lump of black charcoal floated up from the water and drifted away with the stream.

Looking down at the clean iron pot in his hands.

"Could it be the equipment?"

Luo Chen couldn’t help but display the classic bitter smile of a web novel protagonist. He knew very well the predicament of his alchemy.

Without a master to guide him, without a family to support him, even the alchemy equipment was lacking.

Others used high-quality magical furnaces, burning celestial and earth fires, while he was here using an iron pot to boil medicine.

But a good magical furnace was ten times more expensive than a sword of the same level!

Even the defensive magical equipment favored by itinerant cultivators was less valuable than a magical furnace.

Being able to gather the materials for ten Wondrous Pills had already left him bankrupt; buying a pill furnace was out of the question.

And the cheapest furnace couldn’t be ignited with ordinary firewood.

At least first-stage spirit wood was required, and the alchemist had to continuously adjust the temperature with spiritual energy.

He couldn’t afford first-stage spirit wood, and he didn’t have the cultivation to continuously adjust the temperature with spiritual energy!

Sometimes he wished he could be like the alchemists in legends, producing a dozen pills at once, instead of having to knead the hot paste by hand.

Who didn’t know how hot that stuff was!

Some pastes even had negative effects on the body!

But he didn’t have the conditions!

After a bout of self-pity, Luo Chen put the pot back on the stove, took off his apron, and sat at the door.

Facing the sunset, he slapped himself twice.

"Why think about all this nonsense!"

"I’ve bet everything on this; even if I hit a wall, I have to break through it!"

"I won’t practice tomorrow; I need to adjust my mindset."

Everyone knows that haste makes waste.

But when the moment comes, one often has to hit their head against the wall to realize they were in a hurry.

With nothing to do in the evening, Luo Chen had a burning anger in his heart.

He needed to vent it!

So

Fireball!

Fireball!

Fireball!

The stream suffered, and the fish in the river cried out in distress.

Nine consecutive full-power fireballs drained his spiritual energy completely.

With nine points of proficiency gained, Luo Chen, exhausted, returned to his room, sat cross-legged, and practiced the Eternal Spring Technique.

One full cycle, and his spiritual energy recovered by one-fifth.

Another full cycle, and it recovered by another fifth.

Hmm, that’s it.

Low-level cultivators had weak physiques, and their spirits and souls hadn’t undergone qualitative changes; practicing two or three times a night was about their limit.

In the early hours of the morning, Luo Chen fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke up the next day, his spiritual energy had only recovered by less than half.

The limited spiritual energy was also a restriction on his ability to use spells to gain proficiency and achievement points.

Practicing fireballs for a day would require five days to recover!

Even the low-energy Clean Spell required sufficient time.

Luo Chen didn’t live in a particularly safe place and had to always retain some spiritual energy for emergencies.

Actually, he was a bit scared when he woke up in the morning.

He had really gone crazy last night, using up all his spiritual energy. If a beast had wandered over, he wouldn’t have had much resistance.

"I can’t do that again, remember, remember!"

Muttering to himself, he sat cross-legged and practiced the Eternal Spring Technique once.

His spiritual energy recovered by another fifth.

Then he opened his attribute panel.

[Name: Luo Chen]

[Lifespan: 27/75]

[Spirit Roots: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth]

[Realm: Qi Condensation Level 3: 75/100]

[Cultivation Technique: Eternal Spring Technique Proficient: 249/300]

[Spells: Clean Spell Novice 51/100, Entangle Spell Proficient 176/200, Fireball Spell Perfect 304/500]

[Skills: First-Stage Alchemist: Qi-Opening Powder Master 507/1000, Wondrous Pill Novice 3/100]

[Achievement Points: 1 (usable for corresponding realm cultivation techniques, spells, skills)]

Looking at the attribute panel, Luo Chen was a bit dazed.

His lifespan, if not unexpected, should be his lifespan before transmigration. The original owner of this body had long died, with a lifespan of zero.

The reason he wanted to earn spirit stones so much was actually for cultivation, for immortality.

Thinking that if he hadn’t transmigrated, he could only live 75 years on Earth, he felt a bit sad.

Not even reaching the age of 80, where the descendants could dance at the funeral, though he was just a single dog before transmigration.

So in this life, he had to step by step cultivate to the highest level, live the longest!

But the cold reality slapped him in the face. After half a month, he hadn’t stopped practicing the Eternal Spring Technique twice a day.

But his realm remained unchanged.

Five balanced spirit roots shouldn’t be this useless!

How did the original owner cultivate to Qi Condensation Level 3? He couldn’t have left a few bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills!

After the cold reality, came the gratitude for the benefits of being a transmigrant.

The proficiency of the Eternal Spring Technique increased by 26 points, though he didn’t feel much.

In the spells section, the Clean Spell increased by two points, once for cleaning his robe and once for cleaning the iron pot, thoroughly removing the residue from refining the Qi-Opening Powder.

The Entangle Spell didn’t change much; he didn’t want to use it to overstep his level and kill a Golden Core cultivator.

The Fireball Spell, with the maximum two uses per day and the extravagance last night, increased by 36 points in proficiency.

Now it had broken through to the Perfect level.

And it provided an achievement point for breaking through the level.

Hehe, what does a Perfect-level Fireball feel like?

But with his spiritual energy not fully recovered, he had to suppress his excitement and eagerness!

Thinking this, Luo Chen closed the attribute panel.

But before closing it, his eyes subconsciously glanced at the achievement points, and he blinked, quickly reopening the panel.

"Wait!"

"[Skill: First-Stage Alchemist: Qi-Opening Powder Master 507/1000, Wondrous Pill Novice 3/100]"

He remembered clearly that after using the achievement point to learn the Wondrous Pill, the proficiency should have been only 1 point, but now it was 3 points.

But he had never successfully refined the Wondrous Pill!

"Failure can also increase proficiency?"

(End of Chapter)