Second Time

Chapter 19 - Mimi's Spirit

Another half year passed by.

Shao Yue slowly worked through the list of grade four pills. Every time she went up a grade, the effort required also spiked. Each pill exhausted her, mentally and physically, regardless of whether it was a success or a failure.

Her rate of improvement in alchemy would shock any grandmaster who learned of it. Reaching grade four in a year wasn't something anyone could do. Solidifying a grade one foundation was more along the expected results for that period of time.

Her rapid growth could be attributed to her incredible focus, especially after healing her soul. She could enter a trance state at will and never had any distractions or wavering thoughts while refining pills. In addition, she spent far more time per day on alchemy than even the most devoted of apprentices.

If Shao Yue wanted to make use of a sect's resources to gain pills like Grandmaster Zeng had suggested, she felt it would be a waste if she wasn't at least a grade five alchemist.

Along the way, she rose to the Core Formation Realm's Eighth Stage. With her soul already well-developed, she wouldn't experience any difficulty in breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm, so she didn't really pay her cultivation much mind and allowed it to naturally progress.

Mimi also made great strides. She achieved near mastery of the three techniques Shao Yue gave her, though couldn't match even a tenth of Shao Yue's proficiency.

Her array proficiency had far eclipsed Shao Yue's knowledge. By drawing a circle with some geometric shapes inside and carefully arranging certain items, Mimi could make an area with special effects.

Mimi set up an array around a small plant that assisted its growth, letting it grow twice as fast. She set up one around the doorway to her building that would send out a chime whenever someone walked through. She set up an attack array that would lash out with small lightning bolts towards anyone who entered it, then promptly forgot about it and shocked herself, alarming Shao Yue.

She now comprehended around ten to twenty percent of the arrays in her body. She didn't need to completely understand the arrays, she only had to learn enough to know how to break them without killing herself in the process. Mimi considered her progress to be good.

Her diligent cultivating also brought her to the peak of the Qi Refinement Realm, one step away from breaking through to the Resonance Realm.

Shao Yue called Mimi over and gave an overview of the Spirit World.

"Typically, the goal for solo cultivators is a grade three Spirit," Shao Yue explained. "Shen Jianyu, the Ocean Emperor, has a grade three Spirit, the lowest of all the Emperors. I don't think the grade matters much for your cultivation ceiling, but higher is obviously better."

"Who has the highest?"

"Tian Feng, the Blood Emperor, has a grade eight Spirit. He acquired it by bringing hundreds of cultivators along with him into the Spirit World and offering their souls as tribute."

"That sounds evil."

"He's the Blood Emperor for a reason."

Mimi nodded. "So, I might encounter other people there?"

"Yes, though people are usually too embarrassed to interact with each other unless they've planned to ahead of time."

Mimi tilted her head. "Embarrassed?"

"Generally, people don't have strong souls when they go to the Spirit World, so they can't manifest clothes."

Mimi's eyes widened and she covered her chest. "That's...!"