Immortality and cultivation begin with alchemy and accounting.

Although his predecessor was an alchemist, he didn't particularly love the profession; he only used it as a means of making a living.

But after the alchemy settlement system was implemented, Bai Xuanjing had completely fallen in love with alchemy.

During the few days that Bai Qingshan was there, Bai Xuanjing had no opportunity to refine pills, which made it quite difficult for her.

Nearly an hour later, the first batch of pills was successfully refined.

Bai Xuanjing quickly checked the settlement rewards.

Overall rating: 7/10

[You have received the following reward: 1 fragment of the Tier 1 Mid-Grade Magic Weapon, Golden Tortoise Armor]

"More fragments of the Golden Tortoise Shell!"

Bai Xuanjing was overjoyed.

This is the second fragment of a magical artifact he obtained through alchemy.

Most importantly, this artifact fragment and the first fragment he obtained came from the same artifact.

This means that he will eventually be able to gather all the fragments and condense the Golden Tortoise Armor, instead of always being "just one step away"!

Bai Xuanjing quickly sat cross-legged and began refining spiritual energy to prepare for the next pill refining session.

……

Two months later.

The molten lava beneath the earth was inside the alchemy chamber.

Overall rating: 7/10

[You have received the following reward: Cultivation level increase * Three months of arduous training]

As settlement rewards are received.

A familiar surge of spiritual energy arose within Bai Xuanjing's body.

Both times it was three months of arduous cultivation, but this time the agitation of spiritual energy seemed to have triggered some kind of strange reaction within Bai Xuanjing's body, which lasted for a longer period of time.

A full fifteen minutes later, it still hadn't stopped.

Sensing the changes within her body, Bai Xuanjing's expression changed.

Without hesitation, he took out a Azure Scale Pill from his storage bag and swallowed it. Then, holding a low-grade spirit stone, he sat cross-legged.

The Azure Scale Pill entered Bai Xuanjing's abdomen and transformed into pure magical power, which surged into Bai Xuanjing's dantian and limbs.

Bai Xuanjing continuously absorbed the spiritual energy from the spirit stone.

The Mysterious Fire Scripture within the body operates spontaneously.

Unlike usual, this time, Bai Xuanjing was using the fourth level of the "Mysterious Fire Scripture" technique!

Bai Xuanjing felt the bottleneck at the fourth level of Qi Refining becoming increasingly apparent.

The breakthrough is today!

As the incantation was activated, the restless spiritual energy within Bai Xuanjing's body gradually calmed down, circulating along her meridians under the guidance of the incantation. However, her Taoist robe fluttered in the wind, as if being blown by a gust of wind.

About an hour later.

As if some kind of constraint had been broken, Bai Xuanjing suddenly opened his eyes.

A feeling of exhilaration welled up from his chest, and a warm sensation filled his limbs, making him feel so comfortable that he almost cried out.

"Qi Refinement Level 4, breakthrough achieved!"

Bai Xuanjing couldn't hide the surprise in his eyes.

Although the process of breaking through cultivation is extremely arduous, the feedback from one's cultivation after the breakthrough is incredibly pleasant.

This was a feeling of exhilaration that Bai Xuanjing had never experienced in her previous life.

It seems to be a feeling unique to those who cultivate themselves.

Breaking through to the fourth level of Qi Refining today was both unexpected and reasonable.

In fact, as soon as she transmigrated and received feedback on her cultivation level, Bai Xuanjing sensed the bottleneck of the fourth level of Qi Refining.

In the past two months, he has refined nearly a hundred batches of pills, of which more than sixty batches were successfully refined.

The success rate of pills at level six far exceeds the initial success rate of just over fifty percent, naturally due to the continuous improvement in Bai Xuanjing's pill-refining skills during the process.

Don't underestimate this 10% success rate in achieving the desired pill.

For ordinary cultivators to increase their pill-forming success rate by even 10%, it often takes several years of arduous alchemy training.

In addition to the improvement in her alchemy skills, Bai Xuanjing also received a settlement reward of twenty-one cultivation level increases.

After conversion...

Five years of arduous training!

"The original owner's aptitude was really quite ordinary. He had already touched the threshold of the mid-stage Qi Refining realm, but it took him five years of arduous cultivation to break through," Bai Xuanjing couldn't help but sigh.

In other words, based on his predecessor's aptitude, he would have reached the mid-stage of Qi Refining around the age of thirty.

Breaking through each minor realm often takes several years, and the time increases with each level.

In addition, as cultivators age, their internal energy and vitality begin to decline...

From this perspective, without other opportunities, he would probably only ever be a minor cultivator at the mid-stage of Qi Refining!

That's normal.

Without the settlement reward, even in a family like the Bai family, with resources allocated to him, it would be extremely difficult for Bai Xuanjing to even reach the mid-stage of Qi Refining cultivation, given his talent!

"At the fourth level of Qi Refining, you're considered a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator. You could consider learning the Water Drilling Technique!"

Bai Xuanjing sensed an unprecedented abundance of spiritual energy within her body, and her eyes sparkled.

The water-drilling technique is not a technique of the Bai family, but a reward that Bai Xuanjing received for refining pills a month ago.

It is also the only spell reward he has received so far.

The Bai family is considered a large clan, and they possess a considerable collection of magical techniques.

If it were just ordinary magic, Bai Xuanjing might not even be interested.

However, the water-drilling technique is an exception. Although it is only a first-tier low-grade technique, it does not emphasize direct confrontation but rather sneak attacks.

The essence of this technique is to condense a water drill about an inch long with spiritual energy. This water drill has a slight concealment effect, making it difficult to detect when facing an enemy.

However, its power is not weak. If a sneak attack succeeds, the damage it causes may be higher than some large-area first-tier mid-grade spells!

Moreover, because the condensed water diamond is quite fine, the main difficulty lies in mastering the spiritual energy and incantations, so the consumption of spiritual energy is not high.

It is definitely a gem among low-grade first-tier spells.

"A reward for completing the settlement is bound to be top-notch!" Bai Xuanjing commented after receiving the rhinestone.

Although most of the settlement rewards are for improving alchemy skills and cultivation level.

In addition to the water-drilling technique, Bai Xuanjing also received a fragment of a golden tortoise armor, as well as several talismans and elixirs.

After breaking through to the fourth level of Qi Refining, Bai Xuanjing would also squeeze out some extra time to practice the Water Drilling Technique, in addition to refining pills.

The fastest way to improve in magical arts is not to practice in isolation, but to have a fellow cultivator or demon beast to spar with.

Bai Xuanjing didn't know any cultivators nearby, and even if she did, it was impossible for her to violate clan rules and bring them to Autumn Maple Island.

As for finding a demon beast to spar with, Bai Xuanjing rejected the idea as soon as it came to mind.

Refining Qi to the fourth level only provides some self-protection in a dangerous place like the open sea, but it's still not enough.

Not to mention that demonic beasts have strong physical bodies, and in familiar environments, sea demonic beasts may not necessarily be at a disadvantage when facing cultivators with slightly higher cultivation levels.

Furthermore, Bai Xuanjing has little experience in hunting demons. If she rashly goes out to sea to hunt demons, and if she provokes those seemingly weak but actually cunning demons, she risks...

Or perhaps you've provoked a pack of monsters, beaten the smaller ones, and then the older ones came. If you're chased by the monster pack, you might not survive.

Everything should be done with caution and prudence as the priority.

Speaking of demonic beasts, after Bai Xuanjing practiced the water drilling technique, he couldn't resist the urge to practice on the wildfire worms.

But Bai Qingshan's demon-slaying skills were so good that not a single firefly appeared after he left!