Lin Xian City.
Because the Immortal Sect came to this city to select Immortal Seeds, over time, it became a city of loose cultivators.
Outside the city, there's an alley called Spring Rain Lane, where some junior loose cultivators live.
Qin Yu was one of them as well.
The house he lived in wasn't big—one could even call it shabby, with only a wooden bed and a set of table and chairs.
At this moment, Qin Yu was refining medicine in his small partitioned room.
"Bang!"
It was only a momentary lapse, and the alchemy furnace before him let out a dull explosive sound; right after, the scent of burning flooded the air.
Qin Yu's expression turned ugly because of this; cold sweat hung on his forehead, and his face looked rather pale.
After all, refining medicinal liquid consumed an enormous amount of Spiritual Power and his own Spiritual Qi.
But right now, what he found hardest to accept was still the alchemy furnace in front of him.
Just now, although the mishap hadn't shattered the entire alchemy furnace, it did leave several fine cracks in it.
Even though it was just a low-quality, ungraded little alchemy furnace, it was still worth twenty pieces of lower grade Spirit Stones!
If it weren't for this furnace, he could only, like other cultivators, go out and risk his life in the Wuzhao Mountain Range.
There were opportunities in there, but it was also extremely dangerous.
The reason Qin Yu survived in the past wasn't because he was extraordinary, but because he was just too inconspicuous, and simply mined artifact-refining ores in the outskirts for the city's powerful figures.
It was hard labor and didn't pay much each time, but at least it was stable and not easy to attract envy.
And this alchemy furnace was something Qin Yu had spent five and a half years mining to save up for!
Now that the furnace was damaged, where could he possibly find another twenty Spirit Stones to buy a replacement?!
"Sigh!..."
After a long time, a heavy sigh escaped Qin Yu's lips.
Maybe it's time to accept my fate!
When he first crossed into this world, he thought he was destined for anything but mediocrity. Who would have thought, during the Immortal Sect's seed selection test, he was found to have lower grade mortal bone—not even qualified to be a servant disciple of the Immortal Sect.
It was a heavy blow back then, but unwilling to give up, he chose to stay here in Lin Xian City.
Now, he was already over thirty!
After all these years of struggle, he was still just a Qi Refining Second Layer junior cultivator.
Staring at the cracks on the alchemy furnace, with his spirit somewhat dazed, he even felt fate itself was mocking him.
"So be it!"
"Maybe I should just retreat to mundane life, take a wife or two, and live out the rest of my days!"
As he thought of this, Qin Yu suddenly felt an inexplicable lightness all over.
Over the years, there had been quite a few cultivators in Spring Rain Lane making this sort of choice; they might be insignificant in this city of loose cultivators, but in the mundane world, they were high and mighty Lord Immortal Masters!
To marry a few wives, enjoy the splendors of the world—this too could be happiness.
Once he had made up his mind, Qin Yu didn't even bother clearing out the spent medicinal residues in his furnace—he simply left the little room and lay down on the only wooden plank bed in his house.
With his eyes closed, he saw that flame again.
Ever since he became a cultivator and awakened Spiritual Power, he could see it almost every time he closed his eyes.
It was around his chest, flickering, like a candle guttering in the wind.
It looked so insignificant—just like a dying candle running out of oil, as if a light breath could snuff it out.
Or rather, it was like a dying candle precisely because it lacked fuel.
This flame was what brought Qin Yu to this world, and the reason he could endure for thirty years.
Focusing his mind slightly, he saw some information appear on the flame...
[Flame Point: 0]
[Cultivation: Qi Refining Second Layer (18%)]
[Root Bone: Lower Grade Mortal Bone (Flame Point 0/10)]
[Spiritual Power: Entry Level (Flame Point 0/10)]
The Flame Point was still zero.
The progression of his realm was plain to see—just this bit of progress had cost Qin Yu seven whole years!
How many more seven-year spans did he have left?
Even if he spent another thirty or forty years and barely broke through to Qi Refining Third Layer, it wouldn't make much difference to his fate or life.
Root Bone and Spiritual Power were easy to understand; the most important information the flame gave was...Flame Point!
Clearly, only by obtaining Flame Point could he improve Root Bone, could he improve Spiritual Power.
Over the years, Qin Yu had tried countless ways, but had never managed to obtain so-called Flame Point.
He thought it was related to fire, had tried collecting flames, even using Spirit Stones…but still didn't manage to get a single Flame Point.
This was the most despairing part of all.
It's like you're given hope, but no matter how hard you try, it leads to nothing.
After glancing at it once more—maybe because he'd exhausted too much Spiritual Power in alchemy—Qin Yu quickly fell asleep.
The next day.
After waking, Qin Yu first took inventory of his valuables.
He had thirteen portions of healing herbs left, five portions of ordinary medicinal liquid already refined, six pieces of lower grade Spirit Stone, a half-broken alchemy furnace, two life-saving talismans, and a few coins.
This was the entirety of his savings over these years!
He had awakened his Spiritual Power and could refine medicinal liquid, but his talent in Spiritual Power was mediocre, even as an apprentice in a pharmacy, he'd been despised and rejected.
Truly miserable.
Because no one taught him alchemy skills, Qin Yu had to figure it all out himself. As a result, he often ruined herbs during refining. In a year, the Spirit Stones he could earn weren't much better than mining—just seven or eight lower grade Spirit Stones at most.
Only, it saved him from having to go outside, and was a bit safer.
This house in Spring Rain Lane, though unremarkable, was built by the Immortal Sect—destroying a house would be provoking the Immortal Sect itself.