Chapter 751: A True Pharmacist Genius, a Helpless Choice

‘The next few days should be quite busy, but I just need to interact normally with the people from the Pill Pavilion. I have the backing of the Merak Saintess—that’s the crucial point I need to keep in mind. As long as I don’t jeopardize that, I’ll be safe and won’t have any other problems.’

‘Besides, the Merak Saintess should be summoning me soon. She’ll give me some benefits, but she’ll also make grand promises to at least keep me on her side.’

‘And as for me, I don’t need to play too big a role. I’ll just accept the benefits, pocket the promises, and proceed with my plans step by step.’

‘At the same time, I’ll use the Top Quality Nourishing Vein and Bone Marrow Cleansing Pills to accumulate more Spiritual Materials, preparing for refining the Qingli Nourishing Marrow Pill, which aids with the Second Bone Marrow Cleansing!’

‘Based on my current progress in upgrading my Pharmacist profession with Potential Points, plus the feedback from my abilities, I estimate I’ll soon be able to refine the Qingli Nourishing Marrow Pill. When that happens, my Daily Potential Point Collection will increase, but my consumption of Spirit Medicine will also rise again. I’ll need to accumulate even more Spirit Medicine!’

‘In a little while, it will be reasonable for me to reveal my ability to refine a Bone Marrow Cleansing Elixir that aids the first cleansing. By then, I should be able to cover the Spiritual Materials cost for the Second Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill!’

Yang Chan silently mapped out his future arrangements in his mind. He had already made some plans before, but now that the results of the Pill Battle were out, he needed to lay out a more detailed strategy.

Especially with so much attention on him, he had to be even more careful. His step-by-step, steady improvement needed to appear relatively plausible.

‘At the same time, I also need to use my Contribution Points to exchange for a Protective Array.’

‘Although there shouldn’t be anyone in the Pill Pavilion foolish enough to cause trouble, I still have to be on guard.’

‘After all, whether it’s Quasi-Saint Son Gongye Zhe, Saint Son Baili Xi, or any of the Merak Saintess’s other enemies, none of them want to see me grow stronger. They might target me at some point.’

‘So, it’s better to prepare more protective measures. I can’t just entrust my safety to others; that’s not reliable at all.’

Yang Chan was also considering the issue of his personal safety.

Here in the Merak Sacred Land, it seemed safe, but the struggle between the Merak Saintess and the Merak Saint Son for the position of Saint Master had already claimed many lives. Although the deceased were of low status, there was no guarantee that some desperate people, driven to the brink, wouldn’t decide a Pharmacist like him was an easy target and try to kill him, striking at the root of the problem.

The possibility was small—after all, the death of a genius Third Level Alchemist would not be a minor incident—but Yang Chan preferred to act cautiously.

Furthermore, Yang Chan didn’t want to expose his Martial Arts Cultivation. He was already at the Second Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm, but within the Merak Sacred Land, he was far from the strongest.

Those at the Third Bone Marrow Cleansing and the Blood Exchange Martial Saints were all stronger than him, so it was best not to reveal his Martial Arts Cultivation.

And to avoid exposing his Martial Arts Cultivation, he would naturally have to rely on external forces. Protective Arrays were an excellent method, and one that could be displayed openly.

As for things like Hidden Weapons and secret tunnels, those were his backup measures—methods for self-preservation in case his other defenses failed.

Previously, in the Purple Void Secret Realm, he had obtained a Famous Weapon-Level Hidden Weapon, which could injure a Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster. Combined with the Poison he concocted, even a Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster could fall if hit.

As for a Blood Exchange Martial Saint, if an expert of that Level attacked, Yang Chan’s other methods would be useless. He would have no choice but to expose his Martial Arts Cultivation and join forces with the Black Dragon from the Profound Yin Hanging Bead to deal with the threat.

An expert at the Blood Exchange Martial Saint Level was still a bit too powerful for Yang Chan; he didn’t have many ways to counter them, but there was no other choice.

‘If a Blood Exchange Martial Saint really makes a move, then I’ll have to rely on my secret tunnels. But under normal circumstances, I shouldn’t provoke an existence of that Level!’

‘An expert of this Level wouldn’t specifically target a mere Third Level Alchemist like me, unless they were from a rival Sect. And given the situation in the Merak Sacred Land, it’s unlikely that an expert at the Blood Exchange Martial Saint Level is lying in wait here.’

‘After all, you don’t just find spies who’ve spent thirty years after thirty years, and then another thirty years, to work their way up to the Blood Exchange Martial Saint Level! The possibility is so small it’s basically negligible.’

‘Besides, even if a spy of that Level were hidden in the Merak Sacred Land, they wouldn’t choose to expose themselves over a Third Level Alchemist like me.’

Yang Chan was mentally analyzing the likelihood of an expert at the Blood Exchange Martial Saint Level posing a threat to him.

Overall, the risk was negligible. An existence of that Level wouldn’t get involved in the conflict between the Merak Saintess and the Merak Saint Son. Even if they did, they wouldn’t target him; they would go directly after the Merak Saint Son and Merak Saintess themselves.

‘The other two Stewards from the Spirit Medicine Tower, Qiu Feizhang and Yuwen Ze, both came to watch the Pill Battle today. Those two both want to gain true control over the Spirit Medicine Tower, and they’re the ones most likely to target me. I’ll have Han Bingyu keep an eye on them. If they make any moves, I’ll know immediately instead of being caught off guard.’

Refining the Nourishing Vein and Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill wasn’t very stressful for Yang Chan. After all, he had reached the point where he could even control the quality of the Pill Formation. So, while refining the pill, he had also been paying attention to the situation below the Pill Battle Platform.

He paid particular attention to Qiu Feizhang and Yuwen Ze. They were competitors, after all. If any conflict were to arise, it would likely start with those two.

And today, their various complex expressions had naturally not escaped Yang Chan’s notice.

Although Qiu Feizhang was one of the Pill Pavilion Master Bai Keyi’s people and normally wouldn’t get involved in the struggle between the Merak Saint Son and the Merak Saintess, it was entirely possible for him to participate when certain interests were at stake.

After all, when the benefits were great enough, people would overlook many problems and take desperate risks.

Yuwen Ze, on the other hand, was one of the Merak Saint Son’s men, so it would be perfectly normal for him to act against Yang Chan.

The fact that he hadn’t made a move before and had instead coexisted peacefully with him was, in fact, the abnormal part.

Now that Yang Chan had demonstrated such formidable talent in Alchemy, perhaps the Merak Saint Son would arrange for Yuwen Ze to interfere with his progress. After all, the Merak Saint Son did not want to see the Merak Saintess’s faction continue to grow stronger. At the very least, he would arrange for someone to restrain him.

Once one reached a certain status, such problems were unavoidable.

Today’s Pill Battle had merely brought these issues to the surface sooner and more clearly. Even without it, the Merak Saint Son would likely have already arranged a way to deal with him.

Yang Chan was well aware of all this.

‘Lu Feng should be fine for the time being. The Saintess should at least make a move to prevent Gongye Zhe from acting. Otherwise, I’d have to start doubting the Merak Saintess’s competence!’

‘The power dynamics within the Alchemy Pavilion are convoluted and hard for me to see clearly. I can only have Han Bingyu keep an eye on it.’

When Yang Chan arrived at the Alchemy Pavilion today, someone from the Merak Saintess’s side had come to inform him of Lu Feng’s location.

Furthermore, the detailed report on Lu Feng’s Alchemy activities in the Alchemy Pavilion that was delivered to him was excellent proof of the Merak Saintess’s influence there.

The power structure there was even more complex than in the Spirit Medicine Tower. It wasn’t just supporters of the Merak Saintess and the Merak Saint Son; there were also supporters of Quasi-Saint Sons and Quasi-Saintesses, and even people from other factions. All these powers were interwoven within the Alchemy Pavilion, crisscrossing in a truly tangled web that was difficult to sort out.

Therefore, Yang Chan could only arrange for people to monitor the situation. In his eyes, it was a lower priority than the Spirit Medicine Tower. At least for now, he had no direct conflict of interest with the Alchemy Pavilion, which meant he wouldn’t be their primary target.

Of course, this was just the normal situation, not an absolute certainty. That’s why Yang Chan only lowered its priority by one level, rather than ignoring it completely.

‘As for the Pill Battle organizers, I probably don’t need to worry about them.’

‘Whether it’s the Top Level Pharmacist Shen Mingxiu, who is the Pill Battle Steward, or the other Deputy Stewards, none of them have any conflict of interest with me. Under normal circumstances, they won’t target me, so I don’t need to pay them any mind for now.’

Yang Chan knew that Han Bingyu’s intelligence network was still developing slowly, so there wasn’t much he could ask of her. He could only choose the most important matters for her to focus on; he couldn’t possibly have Han Bingyu keep an eye on everything.

Otherwise, the situation might only get worse. This was Yang Chan’s conclusion after returning from the Alchemy Pavilion.