Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Assessment Doubts, Doubting Life

Even after reaching Tier Four, Yang Chan’s Ox Demon’s Mighty Fist could still be upgraded; it hadn’t reached its limit. However, it consumed a lot of Potential Points, so he stopped after reaching five percent progress.

Further upgrades would only temper his skin, flesh, and fascia, offering little improvement to his overall power. Although it would make his foundation more solid, Yang Chan was more interested in advancing his Martial Arts Cultivation; that was the key.

Once his Cultivation was high enough, it wouldn’t be too late to go back and deepen his foundation.

Besides, cultivators typically stopped focusing on the Ox Demon’s Mighty Fist after reaching External Refining of Tendons and Bones Perfection.

A Tier Four Ox Demon’s Mighty Fist was already enough for Yang Chan to use the Ox Demon Martial Seal. Once his Ox Demon Martial Seal reached Tier Three Mastery, he would be able to unleash the Nine Oxen’s Strength.

And though his Tiger Demon Martial Seal had reached Tier One Initial Glimpse, this was still not enough for him to project the Ox Demon Martial Seal externally.

Even so, his current Combat Power was worlds apart from what it had been when he first descended the mountain.

In the morning, Yang Chan opened his door and waited for the sun to rise.

He began to practice following the method of the Purple Qi Body Cultivation Skill. As the sun rose, a hazy, ethereal energy suffused the air, and a wisp of Purple Qi hidden within was slowly absorbed by Yang Chan. A look of satisfaction spread across his face. When his cultivation of the Purple Qi Body Cultivation Skill was complete, Yang Chan saw its proficiency on his panel increase by one.

’The progress is significant, but the cultivation requirements are very strict. Otherwise, many people in the Cyan Yuan Sect would surely be practicing it.’

This reminded Yang Chan of a method someone in his previous life had proposed for collecting the ethereal Purple Qi: fly a plane around the Earth, land wherever the sun was rising, absorb a wisp of Purple Qi, and then take off again to find the next sunrise.

’If that were possible, it probably wouldn’t take much time to cultivate the Purple Qi Body Cultivation Skill to Perfection.’

It was just a thought, of course. Yang Chan couldn’t do anything of the sort. He did, however, have a better method: adding points.

After finishing his cultivation, Yang Chan headed toward the Medicine Hall’s examination area. Three Pharmacist’s Assistant examinations were scheduled for today. Unlike before, however, he was now the one conducting the test. Only those he deemed suitable would become his Pharmacist’s Assistant.

The examination would only cover the 1,253 commonly used herbs, as well as some relatively simple knowledge—pharmacology, identifying medicinal properties, analyzing effects, determining the age of ingredients, and classifying them by school, among other related topics.

Yes, all quite simple.

It was all knowledge that required a massive amount of time to master.

He recalled how his own knowledge far surpassed that of the average Pharmacist’s Assistant, which was why the sharp-eyed Xu Gaocen had picked him. But it was precisely because he was so outstanding that all that trouble had followed.

This time, he wouldn’t pick a Pharmacist’s Assistant as brilliant as he had been. He would choose someone relatively mediocre, someone who wouldn’t draw any unwanted attention.

Full of confidence, Yang Chan walked into the Medicine Hall’s examination area. After greeting the Medicine Hall staff, he began the Pharmacist’s Assistant examinations.

By noon, when Yang Chan walked out of the Medicine Hall’s examination area, he was starting to suspect that his standards might be a little too high. Or perhaps his definition of the word “mediocre” was flawed.

The three Official Disciples who took the test didn’t even have a detailed familiarity with the 1,253 common herbs. They took ages to think before answering, and their final responses left him deeply unsatisfied.

Out of the 1,253 herbs, he had only quizzed them on a little over a hundred. This was far fewer than what Xu Gaocen had asked him back in the day; after all, he had correctly identified 378 common medicinal ingredients. He had already lowered the bar to about a third of what he had faced.

He had thought that any Pharmacist’s Assistant chosen by this standard would surely be mediocre enough. He never expected that he had still overestimated the three candidates.

And as for the questions on pharmacology, medicinal properties, effects, age determination, and ingredient schools, their answers left him utterly baffled.

He felt his standards weren’t even that high—he had already lowered them considerably. But these disciples taking the test had shown him that rock bottom was even lower than he’d anticipated.

Back in the Pharmacy, while treating an injured disciple, Yang Chan still couldn’t figure out where things had gone wrong.

“Pharmacist Yang, is something troubling you today?”

During a break, the nearby Pharmacist, Zhao Yi, noticed Yang Chan frowning instead of reading the borrowed pharmacy texts and casually asked.

Zhao Yi was usually quite fond of chatting and would exchange a few words with the new pharmacist, Yang Chan. He was the type to warm up to people quickly.

“Pharmacist Zhao, I actually have a question for you. Are there any standards for the Pharmacist’s Assistant examination?”

After asking, Yang Chan explained what had happened during the examinations that morning and shared his confusion.

“Haha, that’s an easy one. I know why.”

“It’s not your problem; it’s a problem with the ones taking the test. Whenever a new Pharmacist is choosing an assistant, some Official Disciples will take a shot at the exam. If the new Pharmacist has low standards, they might just get lucky and pass.”

“That’s actually pretty common here in the Medicine Hall.”

Zhao Yi finished his explanation with a smile.

As he listened, it dawned on Yang Chan. He really had been overthinking it.

…

「Near the Medicine Hall’s Collection Pavilion.」

“Xu Yu, how did the Pharmacist exam go for you guys today?”

As the three who had taken the Medicine Hall’s Pharmacist’s Assistant exam walked near the Collection Pavilion, several Official Disciples reading the *Medicine Scripture* couldn’t resist coming over to ask how it went.

“We didn’t pass. The new Pharmacist’s requirements are incredibly high. He didn’t just ask about the 1,253 common herbs from the *Medicine Scripture*; he asked in extreme detail. He questioned me on 125 of them, and my brain is completely fried!”

“Then he grilled me on all sorts of knowledge about pharmacology, medicinal properties, effects, and ingredient schools… My head’s still spinning. It made me wonder if I’d even been reading the *Medicine Scripture* lately. I’m having a full-blown existential crisis, questioning if I even have what it takes to be a Pharmacist.”

Xu Yu said with a wry smile.

In truth, when he was first asked about the 125 common herbs, he had felt it was normal. Yang Chan’s questions were detailed, but still perfectly reasonable.

But when the questions turned to the knowledge of pharmacology, medicinal properties, effects, and ingredient schools, he was left completely stunned. In other Pharmacist’s Assistant exams he’d taken, the questions had never been this specific. He remembered the way Yang Chan’s expression had darkened, and at that moment, he felt utterly unqualified to be a Pharmacist’s Assistant.

“I’m fried, too. I don’t even want to touch the *Medicine Scripture* for a while. I’m going to go try some other missions, see if I can break through to External Refining Copper Skin. I feel like that path is a better fit for me.”

The other candidate who had taken the Pharmacist exam had already given up, deciding to return to the path of Martial Arts cultivation, which he felt suited him better.

Yang Chan, for his part, was completely unaware of any of this.

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