Chapter 685 - 636: A Single Action Affects Everything, the Contest for the Spirit Medicine Tower Steward

He, on the other hand, had never inquired about his job assignment in the Pill Pavilion.

Yang Chan knew that the final arrangement was not up to him, so there was no need to pay it too much mind. Someone would naturally inform him of the final result, so there was no reason to be anxious.

With that in mind, Yang Chan continued to feel the transformation of his body. His strength had increased significantly.

After completing the Second Bone Marrow Cleansing, his combat power had at least tripled. This was a comprehensive improvement and an instantaneous boost that came with the breakthrough.

Each Bone Marrow Cleansing and Tempering was a transformation, and the resulting combat power was on a completely different level. For Yang Chan, this strength was the source of his peace of mind.

The stronger he became, the fewer people could threaten him. Furthermore, his revealed cultivation was only at the External Iron Bone Realm, and he hadn’t broken through to it that long ago. If anyone were to target him, their strength likely wouldn’t be very high.

Whether in the Merak Sacred Land or on Chiyu Peak, almost no one was in a position to attack and threaten him. But this didn’t diminish the joy he felt from increasing his strength—the joy of feeling secure.

Strength was something you either had or you didn’t; you couldn’t borrow it. External forces were useful, but true longevity and freedom could only be protected by one’s own power.

’It’s getting late tonight. My cultivation has broken through as I hoped, and I’ve used up all my Potential Points!’

’I’ll take a quick rinse and then head straight to bed!’

Yang Chan felt some filth on his body. Every time his body transformed, it seemed to expel all impurities, but after a breakthrough, some would still appear on his skin.

These impurities were the ones that had seeped out from his bone marrow and manifested on his body.

Yang Chan guessed it would be the same when his cultivation broke through to the Blood Exchange Martial Saint realm.

...

「Pill Pavilion.」

In a large hall, eight Top Level Pharmacists were currently seated around a large table made of Spirit Wood.

One of them was Zhao Yu, the Top Level Pharmacist Yang Chan had seen before. The rest were unfamiliar faces.

"The Steward position at the Spirit Medicine Tower is too important. It can’t be given to someone who just joined the Holy Land. It should be given to a Pharmacist from within the Holy Land!"

"Gu Gaoxuan is an Advanced Pharmacist personally nurtured by the Holy Land. He has lived in the Holy Land for over seventy years and is qualified to take over the position of Spirit Medicine Tower Steward!"

Vice Pavilion Master Ji Yu spoke up, directly rejecting the previous proposal.

Someone had proposed that Yang Chan become a Steward of the Spirit Medicine Tower, in charge of collecting and preserving Spirit Medicines, which was an extremely important matter in the Pill Pavilion.

The affairs of the Pill Pavilion were all controlled by Pharmacists, and as the central repository for the Merak Sacred Land’s Spirit Medicines, the importance of the Spirit Medicine Tower was self-evident.

There were even three Stewards assigned to it, which showed how highly it was valued. Above them, Pavilion Master Bai Keyi was in personal command. Any large withdrawal of Spirit Medicines required the Pavilion Master’s approval.

Even so, countless people coveted this position.

If not for the fact that the previous Steward—one of the three great Stewards of the Spirit Medicine Tower—had recently died of old age, this position would never have become available.

It could be said that once someone had this position, they would hold it until they died or made a grave mistake.

Of course, there was one other possibility: if one was promoted to Top Level Pharmacist, they could potentially become the true master of the Spirit Medicine Tower.

After all, Pavilion Master Bai Keyi was currently responsible for many things. If a Top Level Pharmacist were to emerge from within the Spirit Medicine Tower’s ranks, there was a high probability they would be put in charge of its affairs.

This had been the case with several previous Vice Pavilion Masters. The exceptions were two who refused any official duties, serving as Vice Pavilion Masters in name only. They were a special case in the Pill Pavilion, as they had turned down their responsibilities to devote all their time to elixir research.

They researched topics like Pill Formulas, elixir reconstruction, and how to advance to the rank of Top Level Pharmacist.

Having been summoned to the hall, they paid no mind to the others present. One could even say they didn’t care about the Pill Pavilion’s affairs at all. In the eyes of people like them, only elixirs mattered.

They completely ignored Ji Yu’s words.

"Vice Pavilion Master Ji, you are mistaken!"

"While it’s true that Yang Chan was not personally nurtured by the Merak Sacred Land, he comes from one of its affiliated forces—a force established by a disciple of our Holy Land. Moreover, his entire sect has practically joined the Holy Land and established Chiyu Peak."

"A background like that is not much different from a Pharmacist nurtured within the Holy Land itself!"

"Besides, all of you should be aware of Yang Chan’s full background. He is a good disciple, loyal to his sect, and made many contributions to the Cyan Yuan Sect. Plus, he is only twenty years old, yet he can refine a Top Quality Seven Revolutions Nourishing Organ Pill. That kind of ability is not something an ordinary person can achieve!"

"Even in the Holy Land, someone this talented deserves to be cultivated!"

"If Yang Chan is allowed to grow, the Holy Land could have another Top Level Pharmacist in just a dozen years, a few decades at most!"

"All of you know how great a contribution that would be to the Holy Land!"

"Yang Chan managed to become an Advanced Pharmacist in a small place like the Cyan Yuan Sect. Now, in the Holy Land, with the support of our abundant resources and the insights of our predecessors, his improvement should be immense!"

"His potential is so great, not in the least bit inferior to the genius Pharmacist Yuwen Ze. Since Yuwen Ze was previously assigned to the Spirit Medicine Tower, how can Yang Chan’s assignment be too shabby?"

"Besides, having both of these genius Pharmacists in the Spirit Medicine Tower would create competition. Perhaps it would produce two Top Level Pharmacists even sooner. What a wonderful story that would be!"

Shen Changfeng retorted directly.

He was the one who had proposed making Yang Chan a Steward of the Spirit Medicine Tower.

The Merak Saintess had sent a letter to the Pill Pavilion, which ended up in his hands. She had even used a favor, all to ensure Yang Chan secured the position of Steward in the Spirit Medicine Tower.

Most of the Spirit Medicines in the Pill Pavilion came from the Spirit Medicine Tower. Thus, to acquire any, one had to first submit an application, after which the tower would arrange for the delivery of the corresponding Spirit Medicines.

It wasn’t possible to just go and get them; there was a time lag. The exact length of the delay was determined by the Spirit Medicine Tower.

As long as the medicines were dispensed within the time frame stipulated by the Sect, it was fine. This naturally allowed one to obstruct the delivery of certain Spirit Medicines, or at least delay their arrival.

There was another possible scenario: when the quantity of a needed Spirit Medicine was small, enough for only one person’s request, and multiple parties wanted it. In such cases, the Spirit Medicine Tower’s Steward could arrange for the medicine to be allocated to their own supporters. This was all within the rules and not a problem, because with limited Spirit Medicine, only one person could receive it anyway.

These were just a few of the subtle, perfectly legitimate arrangements one could make.

But such things were infuriating to be on the receiving end of, which was why the position of Spirit Medicine Tower Steward was almost never abandoned. The previous Steward had died of old age while still in office.

Within the Merak Sacred Land, the most intense struggle for the position of Saint Master was between the Saint Son and the Saintess. However, there were others—the Quasi-Saint Sons and Quasi-Saintesses—all waiting in the wings, each with their own backers. Although their struggles were on a smaller scale than the main two, it didn’t mean they didn’t exist.

And naturally, this struggle also affected the Pill Pavilion.

Among these eight Top Level Pharmacists, the Pavilion Masters were unaffected, but those who had not yet reached that level were still subject to these influences.

Without transcendent ability, one could only integrate into such an environment.

"How can Yang Chan be compared to Yuwen Ze? Yuwen Ze became an Advanced Pharmacist at nineteen—a full year younger than Yang Chan!"

Ji Yu quickly retorted. He, too, had received a request from the Merak Saint Son.

He owed the Merak Saint Son a favor and needed to do his best to help get Gu Gaoxuan appointed to the position of Spirit Medicine Tower Steward.

As a Top Level Pharmacist, even with his transcendent status, he was still subject to certain influences.

Although he didn’t need to pledge allegiance to the Merak Saint Son—and in fact, his status was somewhat higher—some things he needed could only be obtained through the Saint Son’s channels. This was the reason he owed him a favor.

Good things were extremely rare and highly contested. When such items fell into the hands of major figures, they would not be brought out easily but would be hidden away for use at a critical moment.

The Merak Saint Son was one such figure, which was why Ji Yu owed him a favor. Now, it was time to repay it.