He cleared his mind after some thought and started to practice alchemy with utmost concentration.
Since he had a limited set of herbs to practice, he had to be very careful and revise his methods before and after trying to refine the pills.
It wasn't difficult for him to refine this low-level pill, since he completely memorized and mastered the book of alchemy he received from Elder Yang. After a single failed try, he revised his methods and succeeded in refining three pills.
He could have refined a total of ten pills with this set of herbs, but he wasted some of the medicinal liquid in the process and got just three.
He kept contemplating and revising his refining techniques, searching for mistakes and areas which could be improved.
Time passed slowly for him but quickly for others. He spent the whole week researching his alchemy and trying to do better, not doing anything else. He wrote many notes and revised them over and over as if trying to find something.
At the end of the week, he went to a planned meeting point, where he and the other two disciples would meet from now when it's time.
It was beside a small lake and waterfall, with crystalline water and many carps leaping from time to time. The trees' lush leaves were reflected in the water and a faint fog come along the water's flow.
Along with the sounds of the falling water and fish leaps, the birds' songs enchanted the scene.
For Ji-Yoon, it was truly beautiful and ethereal scenery.
"Junior Brother Yun, you came," said Jiang Wu, who was waiting as he sat above a stone and smoked a pipe, it was green with golden markings.
"Senior Brother Jiang, I didn't know you liked to smoke a pipe. Otherwise, I would surely bring something interesting to you," Ji-Yoon greeted him with cupped fists and said.
"Hoh? Something interesting?" Jiang Wu's eyes narrowed.
"Don't try to look cool in front of a kid, you are bringing shame to yourself." Feng Ling appeared suddenly as if the wind brought her from afar. Her robe fluttered slightly, and her long black hair followed its rhythm.
"Hmph! What does it have to do with you? Do you think a 'shotacon' has any face to say something like 'embarrassing yourself?'" Jiang Wu retorted with a gloomy expression.
"Who the hell gave you the lion guts to talk back to me?" Feng Ling exuded an intense and hostile aura directed at Jiang Wu.
'What!? Does this term exist in this world too? Moreover, it seems like her 'preferences' aren't secret.' Ji-Yoon thought it was not only dangerous but also amusing.
"Ahem! Senior Brother and Senior Sister, I will leave the spatial ring here with you. I have something urgent to do, so goodbye!" he spoke quickly, almost getting out of breath.
He left after putting the ring above a small stone-crafted table, used for games such as Go and Chess. It was indeed a good place to play, and it was no wonder that there were several of those tables near the lake.
"Wait, Junior Brother Yun!" seeing the 'shota' quickly fading away from her vision, Feng Ling shouted. However, the only answer she received was a quickening of his pace.
"Damn vixen! Why are you always looking for small kids to play with? Don't you care about your reputation?" Jiang Wu snorted indignantly.
"Says the guy who seems to like to wear a green hat, is it so heavy that you cannot get it out?..." she retorted, and foam was almost forming above her head.
"You bitch!"
"Best go looking for your partner, she might have gotten lost in someone's cave again!"
"Say it again? I will fucking denounce you to the sect for what you did to that other kid?"
"What did I do? I just caressed him a little!"
.
.
Wiping off the cold sweat on his forehead, Ji-Yoon breathed out a sigh of relief after getting into his safe mountain hole.
"Alas, why am I so unlucky to have such Senior Sister aiming at me?"
[Ding! Dong! It's time for your daily check-in!]
'Better get something good to please my mood... Check-in.'
[Ding! Dong! Congratulations host on receiving the system item: A day of free 'smart time,' or so you call it.]
"...DAMN! Is there something like that!? Hahahaha!" Ji-Yoon's mood got a thousand times better instantly, he was grinning so hard his head almost split. His luck seemed to have reacted to his desires, or so he thought.
He immediately used the item, feeling the sensation of being 'normal' again.
"Ah, yes! That's the feeling! I would do almost anything to be in this state permanently..." he muttered with frenetic eyes and an obsessed expression.
[Ding! Dong! Host, be careful!]
"Damn! It's too good! How can I control myself properly?" he shouted.
[Ding! Dong! Take it as a test to your heart!]
"Alright, alright. I will try to not get lost in this again."
He immediately sat on his comfy cushion with closed eyes and started to grasp the principles of the Mortal Dao, trying to comprehend the Flow Manual.
"Follow the Mortal Vision, encounter the Mortal Dao. The Mortal Dao is everywhere, use it for yourself. Follow the flow to die, follow the flow to live. The Flow and the Dao are the same," He constantly muttered the words.
He then understood why he was unable to understand it before, his comprehension of the Mortal Dao was still too low!
'This won't do! I will use all the time to comprehend it if necessary!" Ji-Yoon felt as if the secrets behind the manual were extremely compatible with him, he felt a strong urge to comprehend them.
An hour, three hours, nine hours... Time passed quickly outside, but his mind seemed to be in a time loop as if time lost meaning.
His All-in-One Foundation Cultivation Technique was being unconsciously improved by him and his cultivation base turned more and more solid. His transformed body was being refined more and more towards a perfect balance between his cultivation and his foundation.
When Ji-Yoon opened his eyes again, a whole day passed by. His whole aura was contained perfectly, not leaking one bit. His bearing seemed rather ordinary as if he was just a mortal kid.
He had a smile imprinted on his face, seemingly to a kid that found a sweet in his pocket.
'Everything seems different in my eyes now. I can faintly see and sense the 'flow.'
[Ding! Dong! Congratulations host on achieving small success in your comprehension of a Dao for the first time, you received the Star-Grade item: Void Consciousness Stone.]
The cherry kid, seeing the words "Star-Grade," almost fainted from shock.
[Ding! Dong! Congratulations host on getting a Star-Grade item for the first time, you receive the Star-Grade item: Lucky Mi Baijiu Calabash.]
If not because he was a cultivator, he might really have fainted on the spot. He did absolutely nothing to deserve those items, yet he got them just like that, like a pie falling from the sky.
After spending some time controlling his swinging mood and to re-compose himself, he breathed out some turbid air and started to examine the items' information given by the system.
His expression slowly grew to the one of a kid who suddenly found he was the son of the country's richest man.
He opened his mouth several times but no words came out of it. He was definitely happy but felt a bit lost because he got the items without doing anything.
[Ding! Dong! Host, please don't forget about the most important thing, Luck! This system's name is Lucky Prick System!]
Hering it, he only felt more conflicted. Why does he have such luck then? 'Too many people might deserve it more,' he thought.
[Ding! Dong! Why are you still trying to reason about it? What do you think the word 'luck' means? It has absolutely nothing to do with whatever kind of person one is or if one deserves it.]
'...Sigh... You are right. I'm just a bit out of sorts...'
[Ding! Dong!]
He moved his mind to the system's storage and got the two items out.
One of them was a pitch-black cubic stone, it emitted a mysterious aura. The other was a white dried bottle gourd with a black plug and black string around, it emitted an intoxicating aroma, like the sweetest rice wine.
He first opened the bottle gourd and took a sip of the Mi Baijiu inside it. It was a bit similar but stronger than the soju he drank in the past.
According to the system, the bottle gourd content can be replenished by using his vitality and True Qi, so it was basically an endless supply of rice wine, except that it can increase his luck every time he drinks all of its content.
After drinking all of the Mi Baijiu inside the gourd, Ji-Yoon felt somewhat drunk, but he could bear it. At the same time, he felt a sudden wave of relief washing his very soul.
Since it was his first time drinking it, the permanent increase in his luck was greater than normal. From then on, the effects won't be as great and would just increase his luck a little bit each time.
He put the gourd in the storage again and concentrated his attention on the stone. Its effects were simply to increase his consciousness strength. However, he could use it to reach the entry-level or even the Small Success level of the Dao Mind Refining Technique, all would depend on his luck, which coincidentally increased by a large margin.
He sincerely thought that the Dao Mind Refining Technique was a money pit. Even a Star-Grade powerful item wouldn't be able to push him to the Greater Success level of it.
He clicked his tongue and used his ethereal mind, forming a connection between his mind and the stone, which slowly began to disappear, and instead appear at his Consciousness Sea.
When it was completely materialized in his mind, he began to revolve the technique.
His Consciousness Sea got stormy in an instant, making him almost get lost in countless scattered thoughts as if he was dreaming.
He had to maintain concentration otherwise he would not only fail but also hurt himself.
Fortunately, he completely mastered the technique before and managed to pull himself together after the first impact.
The technique was extremely mystical and involved some mysteries of the Life Dao, it was about changing his perception of something as mystical as the Dao, so it was complex.
He spent two whole days in deep concentration, having to fight against sudden waves of bewitching confusion and mind-tearing pain.
The cubic stone had gradually been transformed into pure Consciousness Energy to fuel the technique during those two days.
After completely dissipating, his Consciousness Sea had already been transformed beyond recognition and words. Ji-Yoon felt much sharper and smarter than before, he could grasp principles more easily too.
Even without the IQ booster help, he felt that his IQ, more specifically related to his Dao comprehension ability, increased about a frightening dozen times. What if he uses another round of 'smart time'?
And this wasn't the only gain, he also felt many of the mysteries of the Life Dao while using the technique, increasing his comprehension of it to the Small Success Level.
He got up from his cushion and stretched his body, roaring in emotion. He had been observing that his cultivation base and body had been further transformed with his increased comprehension of the Life Dao. It wasn't an increase in raw, but rather an increase in efficiency in his use of their capabilities. Just like a mortal martial artist's goal is to use what they already have to their best capabilities.
His Ethereal Mind's range hadn't increased, but its sensibility had by a dozen times.
He suddenly felt a strong urge to fight someone to try his current strength. Although he had the fighting experience of the Sage, he was starting to feel it was insufficient now.