Chapter 655 - 621: Holy Mountain Peak, Mysterious Gold Welcomer

That was because he’d had higher hopes for Xu Gaocen and the others back then.

It wasn’t until Lü Zhenghai returned to the Cyan Yuan Sect and reported on the situation that he learned of Yang Chan’s progress. He was greatly surprised to hear that Yang Chan could already refine the Five Revolutions Nourishing Organ Pill and was even beginning to attempt the Seven Revolutions Nourishing Organ Pill.

He certainly hadn’t expected to receive news from Gu An shortly thereafter, announcing that Yang Chan had been promoted to Advanced Pharmacist. This development changed Liu Xuan’s mind about letting Gu An and the others stay at the Cyan Yuan Sect for another year or two.

He had originally thought Gu An was doing an excellent job stabilizing the Cyan Yuan Sect and fostering its slow recovery. If they waited another year or two, the Cyan Yuan Sect would be almost fully restored, which would be the perfect time to join the Merak Sacred Land.

But upon learning of Yang Chan’s promotion to Advanced Pharmacist, his plans changed. He arranged for Gu An and the others to join the Merak Sacred Land ahead of schedule because, at that moment, Chiyu Peak truly needed another Advanced Pharmacist.

Although Elder Hua was an Advanced Pharmacist, he was already quite old. As the sole Advanced Pharmacist, he was spread thin and couldn’t provide much help to Chiyu Peak. Adding another one, however, would be a different story.

They had the Merak Saintess’s support, but there was a limit to how much she could help them. After all, many people within the Merak Sacred Land supported her. Of the many Peak Masters, a considerable number were her backers, and Chiyu Peak was just one of them. Naturally, the assistance they could receive was limited.

After all, the Merak Saintess needed their support; it wasn’t her job to help these Peak Masters in return.

Thus, the help Liu Xuan and his people could obtain was limited. Gaining another Advanced Pharmacist would be a great advantage, especially one who could provide them with direct, tangible benefits.

The Merak Saintess’s decision to arrange for two Direct Disciples from Xuanjin Peak to receive them also demonstrated the importance she placed on Yang Chan.

The Merak Saintess had, of course, seen Yang Chan in the Purple Void Secret Realm and had a certain impression of him. At the time, his steady demeanor was a stark contrast to his youthful appearance. However, he had only revealed himself to be an Intermediate Pharmacist, so she naturally didn’t think much of it; the Merak Sacred Land had plenty of Intermediate Pharmacists.

Besides, the skill gap among Intermediate Pharmacists was huge. Some, with only mediocre Alchemy Ability, could still advance based on their extensive knowledge as a Pharmacist. Becoming an Advanced Pharmacist, however, was different. Only those with genuine talent in Alchemy could possibly be promoted.

The hurdle of refining the Seven Revolutions Nourishing Organ Pill trapped countless Intermediate Pharmacists, preventing their advancement. Not everyone could master the required Pill Sense. Many Pharmacists were stuck at this stage for their entire lives, unable to progress until the day they died.

However, upon learning of Yang Chan’s promotion to Advanced Pharmacist, the Merak Saintess began to take him more seriously. That was why she arranged for two Direct Disciples from Xuanjin Peak, who were also her trusted confidants, to act as guides for Yang Chan’s group. The gesture represented her attitude and the level of importance she placed on him.

As for receiving a personal welcome from the Merak Saintess, that was only possible if Yang Chan were about to be promoted to Top Level Pharmacist, or was perhaps one already.

Alternatively, he would have to demonstrate that level of Talent before she would regard him with even greater importance.

Yang Chan was unaware of all this, not that he would have cared much anyway.

Yang Chan already had a plan for his time in the Merak Sacred Land: keep a low profile, replenish his stock of Elixirs, and accumulate Top Level Spiritual Materials. He needed to build up his reserves first. At the very least, he needed enough of a surplus on hand to ensure his daily gain of Potential Points wasn’t affected.

His supply of Bone Marrow Cleansing Level Spirit Pills was running low, so his first priority was naturally to replenish them.

Yang Chan had plenty of Inner Refining Level Spirit Pills, having accumulated more and more at the Cyan Yuan Sect. However, he had no channel for exchanging them for Top Level Spirit Medicine, so he couldn’t effectively build up a stock of Bone Marrow Cleansing Level Spirit Pills. Coming to the Merak Sacred Land, however, would solve this problem.

This was one of the reasons Yang Chan was eager to join the Merak Sacred Land. His reserves of high-end resources were dwindling, and to replenish them quickly, his only option was to join the Holy Land. The Cyan Yuan Sect could no longer provide what he needed.

The only other possibility would be for another large-scale Secret Realm to appear, requiring Yang Chan to personally risk his life to acquire more resources. For him, this was not a good option.

The situation in the Purple Void Secret Realm was a case in point.

At first, it had seemed there was little danger, but the threats that emerged later were beyond everyone’s expectations. It took the combined strength of most of the powerful factions on the Taiyu Divine Continent to completely resolve the problems that had appeared in the Purple Void Secret Realm.

Only because no further problems arose afterward did those who were watching from the sidelines feel relieved.

Otherwise, the longer those Alien Races were allowed to exist, the greater the impact would have been, potentially even endangering the major Imperial Dynasties and affecting all the great Holy Lands.

"We are indebted to the Holy Daughter for her help!"

Gu An first mentioned the Merak Saintess, as she was the most crucial figure in all of this.

"It is our honor to be received by Peak Master Liu and the two Direct Disciples. We thank you for your trouble!"

Gu An was very tactful. He understood the hierarchy among these people, so the order in which he addressed them was very important.

Both his rise through the ranks of the Cyan Yuan Sect and his time as its Sect Master had taught him the importance of such formalities.

Sometimes, speaking out of turn could cause offense.

Conversely, pleasantries could bring people closer together.

Yang Chan knew this as well, but he also knew that while some people required such treatment, others did not.

’All I need to do is be myself.’

"This is an assignment given to us by the Holy Daughter. Everyone, please follow us into the Merak Sacred Land!"

The one who spoke was the Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster of the two Direct Disciples from Xuanjin Peak. With Cultivation at this stage, he was not far behind the likes of a Quasi-Saint Son or a Saintess.

The fact that such a person could be won over by the Merak Saintess was a testament to her methods.

Yang Chan could sense the general situation, but the Black Dragon within the Profound Yin Hanging Bead could see everything with perfect clarity.

"This Super Array is impressive. Its area alone is larger than the Solitary Void Trial Array we saw in the Purple Void Secret Realm, and it’s layered with lethal arrays. It’s quite a formidable Mountain Protection Array."

"The only pity is that it hasn’t birthed an Array Spirit. Its upper limit is that of a Super Array, with no potential to evolve further. Still, in the current Taiyu Divine Continent, it’s a Top Level Grand Array. With a Blood Exchange Martial Saint presiding over it, a single person could easily fight three opponents at once!"

The Black Dragon in the Profound Yin Hanging Bead spoke, its voice echoing in Yang Chan’s mind.

It only spoke so freely because it didn’t sense anyone overly powerful on the Holy Mountain. Otherwise, if it had sensed any danger, the Black Dragon would have long since hidden itself away, remaining perfectly still.

"How many Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmasters are stationed within this Mountain Protection Array?"

Yang Chan mentally replied to the Black Dragon. He certainly wasn’t going to use Soul Emergence to check the situation himself at a time like this.

After all, there were people right beside him, and he couldn’t be certain that someone wasn’t watching him from the shadows.

Under normal circumstances, these people wouldn’t be able to see a Soul Body, but that wasn’t an absolute certainty.

After all, some individuals possessed special abilities and extremely strong perception.

"Within my perception, there are only four Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmasters. Two have just entered the realm, one has undergone one round of Bone Marrow Cleansing, and one has undergone two. However, this Holy Mountain is the entrance to the Merak Sacred Land Grotto Heaven. If trouble starts here, more experts can rush out from within!"

"In terms of defensive measures, it’s in a completely different league from the Cyan Yuan Sect. Invading from the outside would be incredibly difficult unless a problem arises from within!"

Even the Black Dragon had to admit the effectiveness of such a Super Array.

Setting up a Super Array like this was equivalent to gaining several Blood Exchange Level combatants. In the current Taiyu Divine Continent, where Blood Exchange Martial Saints were the peak experts, very few would dare to attack a Sect’s headquarters.

This was nothing like the Cyan Yuan Sect’s headquarters; the level of security was on a completely different plane.

Yang Chan nodded to himself. ’The security is certainly top-notch. Since we’ll be staying in the Merak Sacred Land from now on, we won’t have to worry about external threats!’

A situation like the one where masters broke into the Cyan Yuan Sect, endangering the entire Sect, would never happen in the Merak Sacred Land. That’s because on the entire Taiyu Divine Continent, there were no masters powerful enough to achieve such a feat!