Eternal Life Starts from Tai Chi-Chapter 83: The Top Has Policies, The Bottom Has Countermeasures
"What? I’m being sent down the mountain for a mission to exterminate the No-Life Evil Cult in Tan City?"
Yang Chan stared blankly at the disciple from the Foreign Affairs Hall. He hadn’t accepted any mission to leave the mountain. ’Where did this suddenly come from?’
He’d heard about the No-Life Evil Cult appearing in Tan City before, but an Elder had already been sent to exterminate them. ’How are they back again?’
"The No-Life Evil Cult has resurfaced in Tan City. Elder Lü Zhenghai and Elder Luo Zhenhai are going down the mountain to exterminate the Evil Cult, and they require a Pharmacist to accompany them."
"Pharmacist Yang, Elder Lü personally assigned you to this mission. Two other Pharmacists will be accompanying you."
The Foreign Affairs Hall disciple carefully explained the reason to Yang Chan.
"I don’t even have a Pharmacist’s Assistant. It would be very inconvenient for me to go on a mission down the mountain!"
Yang Chan hadn’t expected Lü Zhenghai to be behind this again. Still, he offered a reasonable excuse, as he really didn’t want to leave the mountain.
Once he left the mountain, especially during the journey, his opportunities to gain Potential Points would plummet. That was definitely not a good thing for him.
"The Sect mission has been issued. I’m just here to deliver the notice. If you have any objections, Pharmacist Yang, please take them up with Elder Lü directly."
The Foreign Affairs Hall disciple gave a pleasant smile, then turned and left.
He had no authority in the matter, after all; he was just following orders.
"Fuck!"
Yang Chan cursed under his breath as he watched the disciple leave.
’What the hell did Lü Zhenghai and Luo Zhenhai’s mission have to do with him? How did he get dragged into this again?’
He’d only had six months of peace in the Cyan Yuan Sect. ’Why is so much happening all of a sudden?’
Especially that Lü Zhenghai. Yang Chan had been keeping such a low profile, staying out of his sight and avoiding anyone connected to him. ’So why is he targeting me again? I must have the worst luck in the world.’
’If I’d known this would happen, I never would have picked Lü Zhenghai’s side in that whole affair with Zhao Qiyang. Then I wouldn’t have all this trouble now.’
Once a Sect mission was issued, it was basically set in stone. The only way out was a serious injury, an accident, or something of that nature.
Yang Chan thought for a moment, and an idea suddenly struck him.
Three days ago, he had tried to refine a Lantian Jade Refining Pill and failed. It was an elixir that only an Intermediate Pharmacist could successfully create, so failure was perfectly normal.
However, he hadn’t thrown away the failed concoction. He was still trying to analyze the dregs to figure out what went wrong.
Refining the Lantian Jade Refining Pill required Earth Fire, and it was easy to fail without precise heat control. The ingredients were expensive, so he hadn’t spent much silver trying. His only option was to analyze the dregs to find the cause of his failure.
For a Pharmacist, tasting the dregs to analyze an Alchemy failure was a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
The toxicity in those dregs was enough to knock him out for a few days, which would conveniently get him past the departure date for Lü Zhenghai’s group.
And if something happened to him, they would have to choose another Pharmacist for the mission.
He couldn’t use this trick too often, but it should be fine just this once. After all, he was just a rookie Pharmacist, promoted a little over six months ago. Plus, everyone knew he was diligently studying how to refine the Lantian Jade Refining Pill in his quest to become an Intermediate Pharmacist.
With this in mind, Yang Chan began to formulate his plan. It couldn’t look too deliberate, but he had to make sure others knew he had "accidentally" ingested the dregs.
...
In the Medicine Hall and Pharmacy.
"Pharmacist Zhao, have you ever tried refining a Lantian Jade Refining Pill?"
Yang Chan asked, approaching Zhao Yi, who was reading the *Medicine Scripture* off to the side.
He knew Zhao Yi had an outgoing personality; striking up a conversation was sure to get him talking.
"Of course. But that Earth Fire is incredibly difficult to control. It’s so erratic. If you mess up the control, all your precious ingredients turn to useless dregs."
Zhao Yi had become a Basic Level Pharmacist before Yang Chan, so he had naturally tried his hand at refining the Lantian Jade Refining Pill. The elixir was extremely effective for External Cultivation. Successfully refining one would bring him a step closer to becoming an Intermediate Pharmacist.
Furthermore, successfully refining such an elixir meant great wealth.
The Lantian Jade Refining Pill was extremely popular among the Elite Disciples of the Cyan Yuan Sect, and one could earn a fair amount of silver coins from it.
The Cyan Yuan Sect didn’t mind if you spent your own money to buy ingredients for private alchemy, as long as you didn’t take it too far.
"I know, right? I tried again not long ago and failed. I still can’t figure out where I went wrong."
Yang Chan took out the dregs from his own failed attempt, a troubled expression on his face as if he were wracking his brain for a solution.
"According to the advice from Intermediate Pharmacists, you either keep improving your Pharmacist Ability or you keep practicing the refinement over and over. Doing both at once is even better, of course."
Zhao Yi said, though he knew neither method would yield results in a short time.
"Improving my Pharmacist Ability won’t happen overnight, and the ingredients for the Lantian Jade Refining Pill are too expensive to keep practicing with."
Yang Chan said with a grimace, making it seem like a truly difficult problem.
"Well, there is one faster way, which I’ve mentioned before: personally testing the medicine. By experiencing the changes in the Medicinal Properties yourself, you can more quickly identify where you went wrong in the refining process."
Zhao Yi said with a resigned sigh. Personally testing the concoction was risky, but it allowed a Pharmacist to quickly understand where they had made a mistake.
For instance, they could learn exactly how to manage the heat to avoid issues during the alchemy.
"That sounds a little risky."
Yang Chan said with a frown.
This wasn’t the first time Zhao Yi had suggested it, but Yang Chan hadn’t been in a rush, so he’d never tried it before.
"If you want to get better fast, you have to take risks. Otherwise, you either grind it out over time or burn through silver to build experience."
Zhao Yi said with a smile.
The path of a Pharmacist was clear. If you wanted to improve quickly, those were your only options.
"My latest batch of Lantian Jade Refining Pills may have failed, but I don’t think the toxicity is very high. How about you give it a try, Pharmacist Zhao?"
Yang Chan asked, looking at Zhao Yi tentatively.
"What’s the point of me trying an elixir *you* failed to refine? You have to test it yourself to learn anything."
Zhao Yi immediately waved his hands in refusal. He had no desire to ingest someone else’s failed elixir. It was all pain and no gain for him.
"Then... I guess I’ll try it."
After a moment of feigned hesitation, Yang Chan directly ingested the medicine.
As the dregs of the Lantian Jade Refining Pill entered his system, Yang Chan could clearly feel the toxicity spreading through his body. At the same time, he could also clearly perceive the issues with heat control during the refining process.
For instance, he had added the Shanzhi, Bo Jie, and Shandan too early, causing the Earth Fire to burn away their Medicinal Properties and unbalancing the elixir.
He had also added the Ercha and Guandan too late, creating a gap in the sequence of medicinal effects. These were details that were difficult to discern through simple observation.
His overall heat management was also poorly timed.
This information flooded Yang Chan’s mind, and he committed it to memory. It would be a great help for his next attempt.
Then, the toxicity in the dregs erupted. In front of Zhao Yi, Yang Chan grabbed a prepared Antitoxic Pill and swallowed it. But his brow remained tightly furrowed, and after a moment, he collapsed, unconscious.
As he passed out, Yang Chan could hear Zhao Yi’s panicked voice.
