Amidst a stream of good news returning to the Cyan Yuan Sect, a piece of dreadful news suddenly emerged.
An Elder at the Inner Refining Grandmaster Level had led two Direct Disciples, ten Elite Disciples, and fifty Official Disciples down the mountain to annihilate the Zhao Family of Anyu City. Unexpectedly, they were ambushed by the three major sects: Lingyu Palace, Taiyu Valley, and the Nanhua Sword Sect.
Of the more than sixty members of the Cyan Yuan Sect, only one Direct Disciple returned, gravely injured. He fell into a coma right after reporting that they had been ambushed while attacking the Zhao Family in Anyu City. His Martial Arts Cultivation was now too weak to even sustain his Iron Bone realm. The bones throughout his body were shattered, and any hope of him returning to External Iron Bone Refining was basically lost.
The reason Yang Chan knew all this so clearly was because Xu Gaocen was in charge of treating this person. His life was not in danger, but the fate of his Martial Arts Cultivation was another matter entirely.
This terrible news thoroughly ignited the fury of the Cyan Yuan Sect's upper echelon. They immediately dispatched experts to strike at the three sects: Lingyu Palace, Taiyu Valley, and the Nanhua Sword Sect.
Originally, the Cyan Yuan Sect had planned to deal with the treacherous factions first before addressing the source that had instigated the trouble. But now that these three major sects had jumped out into the open, they would deal with all of them at once.
Such was the mettle of the most powerful force in the state.
Yang Chan also heard that the Sect had sent people to the Capital City of the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty, hoping to borrow the Imperial Dynasty's power.
Whether they could actually borrow that power was hard to say. At this time, natural and man-made disasters were occurring everywhere. Qing State suffered a drought, Yu State a flood, and Yu State a plague of insects. With such calamities happening frequently across the land, the people were restless, and undercurrents of rebellion were stirring.
For now, the other disasters had nothing to do with Yang Chan, but the drought in Qing State was unavoidable. The Cyan Yuan Sect's war with the other three major sects also meant that all the Sect's disciples would have to participate in the fighting.
This was what was expected of a Sect disciple.
The Sect protects its disciples, so in times like these, the disciples must repay the Sect.
Yang Chan was wondering if he should take the Pharmacist assessment first. Just as the thought surfaced, he saw several Basic Level Pharmacists being transferred out of the Cyan Yuan Sect.
They weren't going directly into battle, but they had to accompany the combatants to help treat the wounded and prepare medicine packs. The presence of a Physician could greatly reduce casualties.
After seeing this, Yang Chan dismissed the idea. The Pharmacists who had been sent out were all relatively new to their roles.
Whether it was because their foundations were shallow or because they had volunteered, Yang Chan didn't know. In any case, he was no longer in a hurry to take the Pharmacist assessment.
'Otherwise, the moment I pass the assessment, I'll be drafted. That'd be like serving myself up on a platter.'
Another point was that a Pharmacist's Assistant wouldn't be sent to the front lines alone. They would follow a Pharmacist, as they could be of greater help to the Pharmacist at such a time—far more effective than if they were to fight themselves.
Most Pharmacist's Assistants were still in the process of Nourishing Strength, with few having reached Great Success. Their Combat Power wasn't particularly impressive, but if they helped a Pharmacist treat the wounded, their contribution would be far greater.
So for now, Yang Chan naturally focused on his work, quietly improving his strength, and continued to follow Pharmacist Xu Gaocen.
As an Intermediate Pharmacist of the Cyan Yuan Sect, Xu Gaocen's status was quite high, comparable to someone at the Steward Level, so his chances of being deployed were relatively small.
During this period, the atmosphere within the Cyan Yuan Sect grew much more tense. Even Xu Gaocen, who had always arrived late and left early, began to work diligently. It was no longer one day of work followed by three days of rest, but three days of work and one day of rest.
And even on his day off, he still had to check on the wounded who were brought in. He was basically busy all the time.
Yang Chan saw that Xu Gaocen handled these matters with practiced ease; he had clearly been through this sort of thing before.
He was busier during this time, so Yang Chan's cultivation time was greatly reduced. However, the number of Potential Points in his hands was increasing rapidly. As long as he was doing tasks in the Medicine Hall, he got Qi Nourishing Soup and Strengthening and Nourishing Porridge every day.
These were prepared for the wounded, but as diligent Pharmacist's Assistants, Yang Chan and the others were naturally allowed to have a bowl as well.
This further increased Yang Chan's daily acquisition of Potential Points.
At his peak, Yang Chan could now acquire 0.7 Potential Points in a single day: 0.2 from his daily meat diet, 0.2 from the Qi Nourishing Soup, 0.1 from the Strengthening and Nourishing Porridge, 0.1 from the Jade Essence Skin Refining Powder, and 0.1 from the Bear Gallbladder Skin-Toughening Ointment. The rate at which he was gaining Potential Points was somewhat beyond his expectations.
'If I push a little harder, I might be able to get rid of the leading zero and make it a one.'
After his Ox Demon's Mighty Fist reached Tier Two Entry, Yang Chan had tried adding points. Each point only increased his progress by five percent, which meant he would need at least twenty Potential Points to reach Tier Three. Calculated in terms of proficiency, that would require practicing two thousand times.
Although the difficulty had increased, the speed at which Yang Chan gained Potential Points was also increasing. It was just a bit expensive. However, as his tasks became more demanding, his monthly stipend had also gone up.
After the Cyan Yuan Sect exterminated those treacherous factions, all the Cultivation Resources, gold, silver, and jewels in their possession were sent back to the Sect.
As rear support personnel, Pharmacists naturally received a share of the benefits, and it was no surprise that Pharmacist's Assistants like Yang Chan did too. This was something Yang Chan quite liked.
Income exceeding expenses—it was a virtuous cycle. The whole reason he cultivated so hard was to become stronger and live longer.
During these past few days, through his own efforts and the addition of two Potential Points, Yang Chan's Turtle Breath Body Cultivation Skill had, as he'd hoped, advanced to Tier Two Entry.
His Talent increased by another point, and his lifespan increased by five years. He was becoming more and more long-lived; there was nothing wrong with his cautious approach.
The only unfortunate thing was that he still had Potential Points left over, but he hadn't used them to advance directly to External Refining Copper Skin.
The reason for this was that after a Martial Arts Cultivator breaks through to External Refining Copper Skin, their skin takes on a bronze color that requires one or two days to fade.
The trace was too obvious. Right now, Yang Chan was basically in front of Xu Gaocen and others every day. If he broke through to External Refining Copper Skin, the signs would be too conspicuous.
At that point, he might be forced to leave.
Within the Cyan Yuan Sect, someone at the External Refining Copper Skin level was already considered an Elite Disciple. They were valuable Combat Power and would be sent out to fight.
This was not what Yang Chan wanted. He could only accumulate Potential Points and wait for the right opportunity to break through to the Copper Skin Realm in one go and then return to normal.
Yang Chan knew of a medicine that could solve this skin problem.
Two taels of twenty-year-old *Solanum nigrum* as the main ingredient, plus a few common supplementary herbs, decocted and consumed, could mask the bronze color of the skin.
The key was that the twenty-year-old *Solanum nigrum* could not be a dried herb; it had to be fresh. Therefore, Yang Chan had been waiting these past few days for a fresh delivery.
He had already found out that someone would be delivering *Solanum nigrum* the day after tomorrow. It was coming from the now-exterminated Sanhe Gang in Qinghe County. *Solanum nigrum* was relatively abundant in Qinghe County, and in previous years, the Sanhe Gang had always delivered a large batch. It was late this year precisely because the Sanhe Gang had betrayed the Cyan Yuan Sect, which had delayed the delivery of the fresh herbs.