Chapter 179: Chapter 179: Cultivation Technique Improvement, Hard Work Does Not Guarantee Success

’My Demon Suppressing Swordsmanship and Wind-Stepping Technique have both been raised to Tier Three. The power of my Swordsmanship and the speed of my Body Technique have improved quite a bit.’

The matter with Gao Yuanlong was just a small interlude for Yang Chan, and he soon put it out of his mind. He was constantly focused on improving his Martial Arts Cultivation and various self-preservation methods.

He had successively raised his Wind-Stepping Technique and Demon Suppressing Swordsmanship to Tier Three, and the effects were obvious. The power of his Demon Suppressing Swordsmanship had increased significantly, but unfortunately, he still hadn’t grasped the Sword Intent he desired.

’If I could grasp Sword Intent from this, my Spiritual Power would definitely see a major boost.’ But alas, it didn’t happen. He figured that comprehending Sword Intent probably required cultivating to a higher level, or perhaps an even more exquisite Swordsmanship.

Of course, while Yang Chan felt it was a bit of a pity, it wasn’t a major setback. After all, very few people ever managed to comprehend Sword Intent.

He had heard that someone in the Cyan Yuan Sect had comprehended it, but he had never met them. From this, he could infer that the requirements must be extremely demanding.

He hadn’t succeeded now, but he could just keep improving in the future.

After raising his Wind-Stepping Technique and Demon Suppressing Swordsmanship to Tier Three, he had tried adding more points, but the effect was much weaker. To reach Tier Four at the current rate would take several months.

Therefore, Yang Chan’s focus remained on improving his Flood Dragon Demon Martial Seal, followed by his Martial Arts Cultivation, which was his foundation. After that came his Health Cultivation Techniques like the Tai Chi Health Cultivation Skill, as well as his two self-preservation methods.

Of course, besides adding points, his daily Cultivation was uninterrupted. He practiced all his Cultivation Techniques in an orderly fashion, neglecting none of them.

Among his Health Cultivation Techniques, he also planned to raise his Turtle Breath Body Cultivation Skill to Tier Three. It was already at 50% of the Tier Two Entering the Hall stage, so Tier Three wasn’t far off. At that point, besides his Lifespan and Talent, his Essence Qi and Qi and Blood would also increase.

This would also indirectly boost his strength, which was very effective for him.

Once Yang Chan had his Martial Arts Cultivation plan set, he followed it to improve himself, and the results were remarkable.

...

「Medicine Hall and Pharmacy」

"Pharmacist Yang, I need your guidance on refining the Lantian Jade Refining Pill! I tried refining it again, and I still failed."

Yang Chan had just reached the entrance of the Medicine Hall and Pharmacy when Zhao Yi’s voice called out.

Clearly, he had failed yet again.

Initially, he hadn’t planned to try refining an Elixir like the Lantian Jade Refining Pill so soon. But after seeing Yang Chan succeed time and time again, he abandoned the idea of waiting until he became an Intermediate Pharmacist.

It was like seeing someone exceptional beside you and wanting to learn from them, to become the next exceptional person.

The thought was a fine one, but reality was often cruel.

You don’t become exceptional just by trying to copy someone, just as you don’t succeed in Alchemy simply by following another’s lead.

Zhao Yi was a prime example. He had failed to refine the Lantian Jade Refining Pill several times, each for a different reason. And with every failure, his losses were considerable.

For instance, he was currently at the Third Layer Ancient Bronze Level of External Refining Copper Skin but still hadn’t broken through to the External Refining Steel Realm. Part of the reason for this was a lack of Cultivation Resources.

He had hoped that by successfully refining and consuming the Lantian Jade Refining Pill, he could advance to the External Refining Steel Realm more quickly. It was a good plan, but unfortunately, his repeated attempts at refining the pill had all ended in failure.

He had asked Yang Chan for advice many times, but he still failed. This showed just how difficult it was to refine the Lantian Jade Refining Pill. It was no wonder the Han Family was trying so hard to cooperate with Yang Chan, all for the sake of obtaining a portion of the pills.

Later, they had even set their sights on the First Revolution Nourishing Viscera Pill. After being refused, they never brought it up again, yet they continued to send all sorts of rare medicinal herbs as if nothing had happened.

"Pharmacist Zhao, don’t be anxious. Let’s go inside first. You can tell me everything slowly, and I’ll help you analyze the reasons for your failure."

Yang Chan said calmly, his expression unchanging.

’Zhao Yi isn’t in the right state of mind right now. It’s better to wait for him to calm down. In any case, he’s someone I can talk to, and lending a hand is no trouble at all.’

At the same time, he could also get some information from him, like secrets about the other Intermediate Pharmacists. Zhao Yi knew much more about these things, and his knowledge was more covert than what Han Bingyu had managed to gather.

Yang Chan also wanted to know who would be attending the Pharmacist Exchange Conference in White Jade City. This would allow him to analyze if anyone might push him out of a spot. If so, that would be perfect.

"You’re right, Pharmacist Yang. I was too anxious."

After hearing this, Zhao Yi quickly nodded and followed Yang Chan into the Medicine Hall and Pharmacy, where they found an empty spot.

"Pharmacist Yang, the refining process this time was the same as last time. I started by placing..."

Once he had calmed down a bit, Zhao Yi slowly recounted the entire process of refining the Lantian Jade Refining Pill to Yang Chan. He had attempted it three times. During one attempt, the Earth Fire had surged, causing a massive fluctuation in the heat and leading to failure.

This was an accident, so he only mentioned it in passing, as there was no need to analyze it.

When encountering a fluctuation in the Earth Fire, most refining attempts would fail. This was very normal.

During the second attempt, a problem occurred midway through. There seemed to be an issue with the fusion of the medicinal ingredients, causing their Medicinal Properties to fail to merge. This led to the subsequent failure of the process, and it was the part that baffled Zhao Yi the most, so he specifically asked Yang Chan about it.

The third failure happened near the very end of the refining process, when he didn’t add enough water, causing the attempt to fail.

It was for these last two failures that he sought Yang Chan’s insight, as he believed they held the key to successfully refining the Lantian Jade Refining Pill.

He now felt he was just a single step away from success, so close that he was becoming a bit obsessed.

This was the result of wanting to refine the Lantian Jade Refining Pill too desperately.

Seeing this, Yang Chan first analyzed the situation for him. Since he hadn’t witnessed the failures himself, he could only speculate on a few possible reasons for failure. He also offered some reasonable advice, which was the extent of the help he could provide.

Toward the end, he suggested that Zhao Yi stop rushing to refine the Elixir and instead take some time to record his insights from his Alchemy attempts and relax for a while. This was also part of the advice he could offer.

As for going into deeper detail, there was no need. Their friendship wasn’t that profound. ’Giving deep counsel to a casual acquaintance is a major taboo at times like this.’ Yang Chan understood this point clearly and naturally wouldn’t make such a mistake.

Afterward, Yang Chan changed the subject, deliberately bringing up the top Intermediate Pharmacists in the Cyan Yuan Sect. As expected, he got the information he wanted from Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi was quite knowledgeable about the situations of these Intermediate Pharmacists, especially concerning the triennial Pharmacist Exchange Conference.

Among them, Xu Gaocen, the Intermediate Pharmacist who had previously mentored Yang Chan, was the one who had attended the most times. His Alchemy skills were also the best. According to Zhao Yi’s analysis, Xu Gaocen was still highly likely to secure a spot at this year’s Pharmacist Exchange Conference.