Chapter 437: New Mission

"10 EXP points...So, I earn EXP in this manner as well... Sweet!" Yi Chen exclaimed the very next moment as his lips instantly curved into a grin.

’Doesn’t this mean that whenever I’m lacking in experience points, I can just refine a batch of pills just like how I did now? If failed pills could give me 10 EXP points, I wonder just how much they would give once they are a success...’

He thought with anticipation before glancing back at the ten black pills, which were neatly placed on top of a white cloth at the moment.

’Even if it’s a failed product, what if my pill has some other useful function? I do remember reading a few novels where even the failed pills ended up becoming a very useful asset for the main character. Maybe it’s the same with...’

The second that thought crossed his mind, his breathing paused momentarily. The very next instant, he checked the status panel of one of those pills.

===== STATUS =====

Name: Sleeping Crane Pills (Failed)

Type: Sleep Inducing Pill

Rank: Basic Unranked Pill [Mortal Pill]

Remark: A mortal will spit on your face if you give him this pill. [Regenerate: 10,000 EXP]

==================

"This system..."

Yi Chen’s expression turned into a scowl the moment he read the pill’s status. Wanting to calm his irritation, he checked the remark on the status of the pill beside it the next second.

[Remark: Has 8.43% Efficacy. (Regenerate: 10,000 EXP)]

’At least this one’s more informative...’ he thought while checking out the status panel of another pill next to it.

[Remark: Worthless Pill, do it again. (Regenerate: 10,000 EXP)]

Gritting his teeth to control his emotions, Yi Chen checked the status panels of the remaining seven pills one after the other, only to find they all had similar remarks.

’At least the efficacy percentage’s decimal value changed a little...’

Yi Chen thought, in an attempt to console himself, and let out a sigh. He was feeling a little mentally exhausted after all that mental labour, so he decided to practice his swordsmanship for the next couple of hours before coming back to pill refining.

’Good thing that, unlike my quarter, this pill refining room has more than enough space for me to swing my sword around. Well worth those 140 contribution points.’ Yi Chen nodded with a satisfied expression and was about to call out his sword from his storage ring.

However, just then, a panel suddenly popped up in front of his eyes.

’A mission?!’

Yi Chen’s eyes brightened in anticipation as he read the first few words before glancing at the main contents of the panel.

=====MISSION ======

Objective: Refine 1000 Sleeping Crane Pills

Time Limit: None

Penalty: None

Reward: 50,000 EXP

Extra Information: Even failed pills will be counted.

Progress: 0 / 1000

====================

"Fifty thousand experience points?!" Yi Chen couldn’t help but exclaim the moment he read through the mission’s contents.

However, a second later, when he thought about the resources and the effort that would be involved in the creation of those thousand pills, he didn’t feel that it was over the top.

’It took me more than three hours to refine a batch of ten pills. So, if my speed remains the same and I start producing three batches each day, then it will take me almost a month to complete everything...’

He thought to himself, but there was still not a single trace of disappointment on his face as he considered the amount of effort he would need to put in to earn those thousand experience points.

In fact, he felt that the mission was like a pie falling into his lap from the sky.

’In order to register myself as a Pill Apprentice at the Supreme Pill Forging Guild, I naturally have to be able to create a simple pill.

So, creating a thousand pills, although difficult and time-consuming, was already something I was going to do anyway.’

He thought to himself with a victorious smirk as his previous exhaustion faded because of the sudden turn of events.

Therefore, instead of reaching for the sword that was resting inside his storage ring, he walked towards his cauldron and started washing it thoroughly to prepare it for the next refining process.

With that done, he did the same with all the used apparatus, making sure to be as careful as possible. This entire task took him twenty minutes to finish.

When everything was done, he finally began the second refinement process, starting all the way from processing the herbs to prepare the required concoctions before finally adding them in the required manner straight into the cauldron.

However, this time, unlike before, his actions were less clumsy, as the familiarity he gained from the first attempt was proving to be useful in this attempt.

However, that didn’t seem to bring any drastic changes in the final product. Three hours later, the pills were once again black instead of the green colour, clearly indicating that this attempt too was an abysmal failure.

Ding! Congratulations on creating 10x Sleeping Crane Pills (Failed): You earned 10 EXP!

"...Tch."

Although he expected it, Yi Chen still clicked his tongue in frustration despite receiving the 10 experience points from the system.

After cleaning all the equipment all over again while in a shitty mood, he stormed out of the refining room to refresh his mind.

’Luckily it’s time for dinner as well...’ he thought while letting out a sigh as he slowly made his way towards the dining hall using the evening breeze to clear away his frustration.

Along the way, he encountered quite a few senior Outer Sect Disciples who, though they didn’t speak to him directly, pointed at him either behind his back or right in front of him while whispering amongst themselves.

"...That’s the newly joined disciple I told you about earlier."

"Seriously? He really killed him?"

"So, he’s that disciple..."

Catching their murmurings, Yi Chen snorted in an amused manner.

"And here I was wondering what they were mumbling about... so it was about that," he muttered under his breath while relaxingly making his way through a muddy path that was surrounded by trees on both sides and had several Outer Sect Disciples, the majority of whom were lovers walking alongside the path in a leisurely manner.

Among them were a few of his batchmates, both men and women, who greeted him enthusiastically the moment they crossed his path.

Nodding at them with a smile, Yi Chen leisurely made his way towards the dining hall, making sure to arrive there by the time Qin Yao and others usually appeared for lunch.

"Brother Dong, here!"

Finding Dong Yun, who was much taller than Qin Yao, among the crowd of new arrivals, Yi Chen raised his hand to catch his attention, and a while later all of them were sitting at the table Yi Chen was sitting at and were exchanging what had transpired in their daily life.

"Brother Chen... Talisman creation is much harder than I thought. Just a wrong stroke by a millimetre and all the efforts become useless the very next moment!" Qin Yao whined at the table while sitting next to Feng Min, who was nodding alongside him in frustration.

"You don’t say," Dong Yun interrupted him the very next moment and continued, "As luck would have it, I had my biweekly Array Formation class today, which was organised by a Tier 3 Formation Master.

The entire thing went above my head. Do you realise the pain of paying 200 contribution points for a class only for the class’s contents to go completely over your head? You don’t, right? Right?!"

He asked, annoyance and frustration evident on his face.

They weren’t the only ones with complaints. What had started as a small rant from Qin Yao’s side soon snowballed into everyone pouring their hearts out one after the other, causing Yi Chen to inwardly chuckle in amusement.

A while later, Zhou Mei, who had just finished narrating just how hard it was to remember the unnecessarily long names of food which demonic beasts liked eating, glanced towards Yi Chen and asked, "What about you, Brother Chen? Today was your first day at the Pill Hall, right? How was your experience?"

"Well..." The moment Zhou Mei asked this question, Yi Chen couldn’t help being reminded of his failed pills.

As a result, the smile on his face turned forced the next second. "Just like all your experiences, it’s pretty hard to be able to refine the pills. I’ve tried twice since this afternoon, and all the twenty pills I’ve refined have ended up as failures..."

Pausing for a couple of seconds, he thought of the mission panel that had popped up in front of him earlier as he continued, letting out a pursed smile, "...but still, even in these failures, there’s growth. Eventually, I’ll get better at this..."

Hearing Yi Chen’s words, Zhou Mei and the others couldn’t help nodding subtly, clearly agreeing with him, as they felt the same way.

Even though they were complaining and pouring their hearts out at the dining table, they all clearly believed that, although progress was difficult, they’d eventually become more proficient in cultivation and become better cultivators, for that was the very reason that they had joined the sect in the first place.

With that, the conversation soon shifted to a few other miscellaneous things, and using that opportunity, Yi Chen also informed them about his decision to stay at the pill refining hall from now on, so if they needed anything from him during this period, they should find him there.

"Ah, so that’s why you weren’t there in your room all day..." Dong Yun nodded in understanding, and so did the others.

With that said, they wrapped up their dinner soon after and went their separate ways.

Looking at the starry sky, Yi Chen sighed. Refreshed after chatting with everyone, he made his way back towards the pill refining room, ready to start today’s final pill refining attempt.

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