I Can Accumulate Proficiency, Starting from Alchemy

The cloth was stained with blood, and nothing else was present.

Han Yi furrowed his brows.

His divine sense fell upon the blood-stained cloth, scanning it at least a dozen times before confirming that this was just an ordinary piece of cloth stained with blood, with no extraordinary features.

However, he recognized the material of the cloth. It was made from the same kind of material worn by the inner door disciples of the Xuandan Sect. Nevertheless, this couldn’t prove anything.

With a fingertip, Han Yi tapped the cloth, letting spiritual light fall on one of its corners. A clump of congealed blood dropped, merging with the spiritual light to emit a barely noticeable aura.

His eyes suddenly brightened.

This aura was very familiar – weak but undoubtedly belonging to Yan Ru.

But the aura was too weak, and merely having it wouldn’t allow him to find her.

Suddenly, his eyes brightened again.

If the bloodstained cloth was left by Yan Ru, then using the cloth as a medium to cast the Yi Yao Secret Skill would stand a great chance of locating her.

As the idea struck Han Yi’s mind, he waved his hand gently, and channeled his magic. Before him, a profound spiritual diagram was drawn. The diagram fell onto the bloodstained cloth and transformed into a beam of spiritual light, whirring in mid-air before heading unwaveringly east.

This direction indeed matched Yan Ru’s travel route.

The Immortal Boat silently started and followed the spiritual light straight east.

On the other side…

After Han Yi had left Lingchuan City, Zhang Kun carried on as usual, managing the accounts in the Pill Shop, recording everything, and closing the shop.

Then, he returned to the courtyard, which was only three blocks away from the shop.

After activating the formation…

His form transformed into that of a middle-aged man. The aura of this man was no longer at the seventh level of Qi Cultivation, but rather at the Golden Core Stage.

Next, he entered the meditation room, opened the secret chamber, and sent out several messages. Then, he changed into a black robe, left the courtyard, and escaped the formation without making a sound. Leaping into the air, he released the Immortal Boat and sat on it.

Following that…

He took out a special treasure. It was shaped like a formation disk and contained a blood-red fluid.

This blood-red fluid constantly changed its shape, as though it were alive, ceaselessly moving within the formation disk, never resting.

This was a special low-grade magical treasure called the Mother-and-Child Blood Murder Plate.

The treasure served a tracking function and was not affected by other divination techniques. It could track across hundreds of thousands of miles.

Zhang Kun took out a jade bottle from his Qiankun Ring, poured out a colorless, tasteless liquid, and let the drop fall into the Mother-and-Child Blood Murder Plate. The blood-red fluid inside instantly snapped up the liquid like a shark that smelled blood and swallowed it.

Immediately after a brief pause, the fluid began to hit a specific position on the disk. As Zhang Kun looked at it, the blood-red fluid rammed against the eastward direction.

With a cold sneer, he hesitated no more. The Immortal Boat beneath him silently started and disappeared without a trace under the cover of night.

Han Yi was unaware of what had happened to “Zhang Kun” after his departure.

He just kept following the guidance of the Yi Yao Secret Skill, pressing on eastward.

Ten days later…

Han Yi stopped because he sensed something was amiss.

At the moment, he was at the border between Qianzhou and Shu State. Not long ago, on another part of this border, he had been hunted down and eventually counter-killed the Middle Golden Core Stage Cultivator of the Black Divine Tower. This invoked a vague sense of unease in him.

Using the Yi Yao Secret Skill, he found that there were both auspicious and ominous signs ahead, or rather, the signs were ambiguous. Having encountered such situations many times before, and with no clear guidance, he ceased examining his own fortune and reassessed the bloodstained cloth in the box: it still indicated the east.

However, Han Yi had previously confirmed that the bloodstains and aura on the cloth were left by Yan Ru.

After some thought, Han Yi continued his journey eastward, unwilling to stop halfway. On one hand, he wanted a resolution to this, and on the other hand, believing in his own strength, he was confident about his chances. Lastly, Han Yi had an ultimate weapon: the sole middle-grade magical treasure on his body, the Heavenly Immortal Level Boat obtained from the Black Divine Tower’s assassin. In critical times, this boat could save his life from a late-stage Golden Core pursuer.

Qianzhou was vast, about twice the size of Shu State.

While Shu State had 13 counties, Qianzhou had 20.

Han Yi had a basic understanding of the county cities in Qianzhou, but he had only been to Qian Du and Jinyun Immortal City and never visited other regions.

As he crossed one big county after another, Han Yi’s frown deepened.

Something was not right.

It was very wrong.

Why would Yan Ru go such a long distance? Where could she be heading?

On his journey, Han Yi traveled from the northern part of Shu Du, southeast toward Luofeng Country, then over the Shu-Qian boundary and further east.

By this trend, if he continued, he would soon arrive at the Chi Xiao Sword Sect’s territory. Upon crossing the Evil Mountain Range, he would enter the Great Yong Immortal Country.

Yan Ru was just in the Late Stage of Qi Cultivation and wouldn’t normally travel so far.

However…

There were no other issues along the way, so Han Yi guessed that this couldn’t be a trap. If it were a trap, there would be no need to lure him so far away.

One and a half months later…

Han Yi finally stopped. Before him was a mountain range.

At this moment, he was in the eastern part of Qianzhou. According to the map he had acquired earlier, if he turned north at this point, he would be able to see a lofty Immortal Mountain that emitted Sword Qi, after just a day’s journey..