Inside the Earth Fire Institute, Princess Lan Yue watched Yang Chan’s exquisite technique, her eyes wide with astonishment.
"The pill is formed!"
Yang Chan announced slowly.
He opened the Pill Furnace, and a rich medicinal aroma wafted out. Just from the scent, he knew the alchemy had been a success.
The aroma matched the descriptions he had read. Besides, as a Pharmacist, his professional skills were formidable.
They even far surpassed those of an ordinary Pharmacist.
When his Pharmacist profession reached Tier Four Masterful and he was promoted to Advanced Pharmacist, he had gained far more confidence than he’d expected—even more than a typical Advanced Pharmacist would.
This wasn’t just limited to alchemy, but a comprehensive improvement across all his Pharmacist-related abilities.
Now, refining the Essence Condensing and Organ Refining Pill was a practical application, and succeeding on the first try was beyond his expectations.
Yang Chan had been prepared to fail once or twice; after all, problems always crop up during the practical process.
You might know how to handle many things, but small accidents can still happen during the process. This time, however, Yang Chan encountered none. Or, to be more precise, his vast experience allowed him to instinctively avoid them.
Any potential issues were nipped in the bud, so the refining process went exceptionally smoothly.
"He really succeeded!"
Princess Lan Yue watched as Yang Chan took out the dark green Essence Condensing and Organ Refining Pill. The aura it emitted was very familiar to her. She had studied most of the Pill Formulas in her mind, observing their medicinal effects and properties.
This was her way of preparing and heightening her sense for medicines and pills before attempting alchemy.
So naturally, she recognized the elixir Yang Chan had refined.
Although it wasn’t Top Quality Level, it was definitely a qualified product. In fact, it hovered right on the edge between qualified and Top Quality. With just a tiny bit more improvement, it would have reached the Top Quality Level.
For Yang Chan to succeed on his first try also meant one thing: his success rate for refining the Five Revolutions Nourishing Organ Pill had likely reached around eighty percent, if not higher. Only then could he succeed with this new pill on the first attempt.
She wondered if Yang Chan had refined it before, but his initial movements had been somewhat stiff, which didn’t look like he had prior experience.
Besides, Yang Chan shouldn’t have had the time or opportunity to refine it.
This made Princess Lan Yue look at Yang Chan with deep envy. The Alchemy Ability she had always been so proud of was truly not worth mentioning in front of him.
When she had previously witnessed the speed of Yang Chan’s progress in alchemy, she’d felt he was much better than her. Only now did she realize she had still underestimated him back then. He had far, far surpassed her—to the point where she might not even be able to see his back as he pulled away.
With such an Alchemy Ability, Yang Chan’s potential was truly limitless.
Before, she had felt that the Old Emperor of the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty was overwhelmingly powerful. Now she realized that, given enough time, it was only a matter of time before Yang Chan surpassed him.
"It seems my experience is too shallow. For a Celestial Pride Level figure like you, difficulties exist only to be broken. Before long, you’ll surely become the youngest Advanced Pharmacist in history!"
Princess Lan Yue’s face was filled with emotion. Her intended words of comfort had turned into words of celebration.
She had originally thought that if Yang Chan failed, she could offer a few words of comfort and grow closer to him. It seemed she had underestimated him yet again.
"If you want to improve your Alchemy Ability, you need to make more attempts!"
Yang Chan said with a smile.
He was already an Advanced Pharmacist. Compared to traditional ones, all he needed was to familiarize himself with the alchemy process for elixirs that supported the Inner Refining of the Five Viscera, and he would be officially recognized.
This included the Seven Revolutions Nourishing Organ Pill, the standard for promotion, which he would try refining next to increase his daily income of Potential Points.
It would also allow him to advance his Martial Arts Cultivation faster and reach the Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster Realm sooner.
If he had reached the Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster Realm earlier, back before the competition, he could have avoided some dangers and troubles—like the trouble with the Taiyin Saintess. If he had been a Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster then, he would have had a much greater chance of success when he acted against her.
Even if she had a hidden ace, he could have used absolute strength to forcibly eliminate her and solve the problem.
For now, the Taiyin Saintess wouldn’t cause any trouble, but that wasn’t a guarantee. To him, she was a lingering threat that he should eliminate when the opportunity arose.
"More attempts? Perhaps!"
Princess Lan Yue was taken aback for a moment, then gave a bitter smile.
For her, the margin for failure was not large. A portion of the elixirs refined from these Spirit Medicines had to be given to Yang Chan. While she received a fair number of elixirs herself, she used them all to trade for elixirs that would advance her cultivation.
With Yang Chan having been gone for so long, her supply of elixirs was nearly depleted. Only by accumulating more could she feel secure.
Her cultivation was now getting closer and closer to the Inner Master realm, so she naturally didn’t want to spend this time trying to refine elixirs like the Essence Condensing and Organ Refining Pill. Instead, she wanted to accumulate more elixirs to prepare for her breakthrough to the Inner Refining Grandmaster Realm.
"Since you’re in a hurry to advance your cultivation, you should continue refining elixirs as you usually do to maintain your feel for alchemy. When the time is right, you can try refining something new. You might have an unexpected breakthrough."
"You watched my entire refining process, so you should be very familiar with it now. That will be very beneficial to your own alchemy."
Yang Chan hadn’t hidden anything during his alchemy, demonstrating it openly in front of Princess Lan Yue in the hopes of improving her Alchemy Ability.
Here in the Cyan Yuan Sect, Princess Lan Yue’s Alchemy Ability was sufficient and brought him considerable returns. But after they went to the Merak Sacred Land and his cultivation advanced to the Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster Realm, those returns would diminish significantly.
The natural solution to this problem was to help Princess Lan Yue improve her Alchemy Ability.
Although Princess Lan Yue’s Alchemy Ability couldn’t compare to his, her potential was quite good. Otherwise, a Top Level Pharmacist like Xu Chuan, the Vice Alliance Leader of the Pharmacist Alliance, would never have taken her as a disciple; it was a testament to her excellent potential.
Among her peers, Princess Lan Yue was a standout, surpassing most people of her generation.
Of course, Yang Chan was not included in that comparison. He was on another level entirely—one that was almost impossible to surmount.
Without his Potential Points, it would have taken him a significant amount of time. This was a benefit borrowed from his status panel.
His talent for alchemy was high, but it was supplemented by other abilities to reach his current level.
If he relied on talent alone, it would have taken much longer.
However, since it was his, it naturally counted as part of his talent.
It was like how some people could take medicine to advance their Martial Arts Cultivation, while others could only rely on food. The cultivation bonuses they received were different, but did taking medicine not count as an ability?
After all, "pay-to-win" was a type of power in itself.
To have an advantage and not use it, instead insisting on improving just with food like everyone else, would be sheer stupidity.
People are not born equal. The environments they are in are different, and the help they can receive is also different.
Therefore, relying on one’s family was also a kind of skill.
Those with no one else to rely on could only rely on themselves.
Yang Chan himself had no one else to rely on and had gotten this far on his own. He was just a little luckier than others, having a bit of external help—a fact not worth mentioning to outsiders.
When you have an advantage, you should digest it slowly and quietly. There’s no need to be too ostentatious and show it off.
"Thank you, Pharmacist Yang. I understand what you mean. I won’t give up on improving my Pharmacist Ability!"
"Even though I’m still just an Intermediate Pharmacist, I will keep working hard to improve."
"After all, my master once said I have the potential to become at least a Top Level Pharmacist, and even have a chance of becoming a King-level Pharmacist."
Princess Lan Yue revealed some of her own capabilities, showcasing her potential to Yang Chan.
While she might have needed to hide some things at the beginning, after seeing Yang Chan’s incredible talent as a Pharmacist, it was completely unnecessary.
Being secretive in front of a peerless genius of alchemy would only make him look down on her more.
Princess Lan Yue had been thinking this for a while, intending to tell Yang Chan about her potential and the evaluations from other Top Level Pharmacists.
An outsider’s evaluation is always more objective.
"Good. I’m very optimistic about you too!"
Yang Chan nodded slightly.
He said this because he genuinely saw potential in Princess Lan Yue, so he offered a few words of guidance. The whole process cost him nothing.
It seemed he was slowly learning the ways of those in superior positions. Or perhaps, having unknowingly been in a superior position for a long time, his mindset had gradually changed, allowing him to naturally master such abilities.
He now used this ability naturally, motivating Princess Lan Yue at the same time. Seeing her invigorated expression, he knew his words had had the desired effect.
"There are still plenty of Spirit Medicines here. You should start refining as well!"
"We still have some time before we head to the Merak Sacred Land. We should prepare more elixirs. After all, the Merak Sacred Land is still a relatively unfamiliar place to us, and it might not be as convenient to perform alchemy there."
"So, let’s prepare some extra elixirs to have on hand!"
"Besides, your cultivation is advancing quickly. I imagine it won’t be long before you reach the Inner Refining Grandmaster Realm!"
"If you can reach the Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster Realm, you’ll be able to directly resolve the Three Flower Insect Divine Pill in your body and absorb its power, which would also benefit your Martial Arts Cultivation."
"I can promise you again: once your cultivation reaches the Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster Realm, I will definitely not use any other restrictive measures on you."
"So, while improving your Pharmacist Ability, don’t neglect the advancement of your Martial Arts Cultivation."
Yang Chan kept dangling a carrot in front of Princess Lan Yue—a carrot with visible benefits. However, reaching that stage would take a very long time.
Given the abilities Princess Lan Yue had shown so far, advancing to the Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster Realm would take her several decades at least. By then, he really wouldn’t need a tool like her anymore.
As for the trouble associated with Princess Lan Yue, by that time, it would be nothing to him at all.