Many people in the Medicine Hall wanted to become Pharmacists.
Any Official Disciple who could memorize the first three volumes of the Medicine Scripture could become a Pharmacist's Assistant and take on the tasks in the Medicine Hall most likely to lead to becoming a Pharmacist.
When a Pharmacist compounded medicine, they would always offer a few pointers and share knowledge about utilizing Medicinal Properties—all of which was invaluable.
This was knowledge not recorded in books, attainable only through accumulated experience from using and testing medicines countless times. Receiving a few words of guidance could naturally save a great deal of time.
The Medicine Scripture was a collection of texts compiled by the Medicine Hall, a culmination of various medical-related books from all over Qing State, including medical treatises, Pharmacopoeias, and Alchemy Scriptures. Its contents were incredibly vast.
In total, there were fifteen volumes, each one incredibly thick. Just opening one was enough to give you a headache, as they were filled with knowledge about all sorts of medicinal herbs and their uses.
The first three volumes contained detailed illustrations of various medicines, along with the characteristics and functions of different herbs.
The latter twelve volumes covered knowledge related to the application of medicine—such as various herb combinations, administration techniques, and medication records—and were extremely complex.
Previously, one could become a Pharmacist's Assistant just by memorizing the first three volumes. After mastering the latter twelve and passing the Pharmacist examination, one could become an official Pharmacist of the Medicine Hall.
When Yang Chan saw the imposing thickness of the first three volumes of the Medicine Scripture in the Medicine Hall's library, he felt a headache coming on. The amount of content was immense. Someone had previously calculated that the first three volumes recorded 7,632 types of medicinal ingredients, some of which were so similar they were difficult to tell apart.
Memorizing so many ingredients would take a considerable amount of time, and this was just to become a Pharmacist's Assistant.
The sight of the thick books was enough to scare off a large number of people, filling the Official Disciples who envied Pharmacists with a sense of awe.
Because of this, the Medicine Hall couldn't find any Pharmacist's Assistants, so they lowered the requirement: one only had to memorize the 1,253 most commonly used medicinal ingredients.
But even with the lowered requirement, not many people wanted to become a Pharmacist's Assistant. The key was becoming a full-fledged Pharmacist, which meant memorizing all fifteen volumes of the Medicine Scripture, along with other medical treatises and Pharmacopoeias, and also having practical experience. It was naturally a very complicated process.
None of these steps could be skipped, making it extremely difficult and time-consuming.
Of course, there were still people willing to spend time on the Medicine Scripture. Most of them were either individuals with average Talent or those genuinely interested in medicinal herbs.
Martial Arts Cultivation inevitably involved dealing with these ingredients. It would be incredibly regrettable to encounter a precious herb while out and about and not even recognize it.
'Time to start cramming like I'm prepping for college entrance exams again.'
After seeing the books, Yang Chan let out a long sigh, a look of determination in his eyes.
'It's just a few books. I'll memorize them all sooner or later.'
'If it comes to it, I still have Potential Points!'
After discovering that the Medicine Scripture contained many uncommon characters, Yang Chan started attending classes at the Mongolian Academy within the Medicine Hall.
Although he was literate, he didn't know every character. The Mongolian Academy was the perfect place to learn the ones he didn't understand.
After becoming an Official Disciple, Yang Chan's life surprisingly became a path of scholarly pursuit. He spent a significant amount of time studying diligently every day, which made him feel like he was back to the hardworking, painstaking life he led before his college entrance exams.
It was arduous but fulfilling. At night, he would go to the Medicine Hall's training grounds to practice the Ox Demon's Mighty Fist, Tai Chi Health Cultivation Skill, and Turtle Breath Body Cultivation Skill.
By training them all, he improved every day.
At the same time, after inquiring about the situation among the Official Disciples in the Medicine Hall, he followed Shi Gaoshun and joined the sixth small organization, becoming one of its mutually supportive members. Other than spending half a tael of silver each month as a membership fee to receive pointers once a month from someone accomplished in the Wild Ox Force, nothing else changed.
Among the six small organizations, two were led by women. One was so burly she hardly looked like a woman. The other was quite beautiful, with a figure so buxom she couldn't see her own feet, which was naturally alluring. She was always surrounded by a crowd of followers, their intentions obvious. Yang Chan, adhering to his belief that beautiful women were a source of trouble, stayed far away from her.
'As long as I'm not near the source of trouble, trouble won't come looking for me.'
「A month passed quietly.」
Yang Chan went from being a new disciple to an old-timer. Within that month, a new batch of Official Disciples joined, becoming the new "newbies" and the main targets for Shi Gaoshun and the others to fleece.
Some of them were promoted from Servant Disciples who had comprehended the Wild Ox Force, while others were Noble Family Descendants from under the Cyan Yuan Sect who got in through connections. Of course, they still practiced the Cyan Yuan Sect's Ox Demon's Mighty Fist.
During this month, all the Servant Disciples who had been on the mountain for more than two years were dismissed and sent down. Yang Chan heard that the total number exceeded ten thousand people.
Sometime during this period, Wang Sheng somehow found Yang Chan and begged him for a serving of Qi Nourishing Soup, promising to pay him back double after his breakthrough.
Yang Chan decisively rejected this request. The two of them were never on good terms to begin with. The fact that he, now an Official Disciple, didn't seek revenge was already magnanimous. For Wang Sheng to ask him for a Qi Nourishing Soup—he really had some nerve.
Seeing the venomous look in the other's eyes as he left, Yang Chan contemplated whether he should just get rid of the man for good.
But then he thought about how difficult it would be for the man to survive after leaving the Cyan Yuan Sect. Besides, with his abysmal Talent, he would likely never amount to anything in his life, so Yang Chan gave up the idea.
'Actually, the main reason is that doing so would be bad for my reputation.'
'Killing someone right after becoming an Official Disciple would likely give people the impression that I'm arrogant and letting success go to my head. That conflicts with my plan to keep a low profile.'
'Wang Sheng isn't worth it. Besides, I know where his family lives. If he becomes a problem, I can deal with him personally without causing any ripples here.'
His mindset was a bit ruthless, but in these chaotic times, only the decisive could live long.
His studies at the Medicine Hall went smoothly. He quickly mastered all the uncommon characters; it didn't take him long at all.
He had already finished reading the first three volumes of the Medicine Scripture. In that time, he had memorized not only the 1,253 common medicines but also the 6,379 uncommon ones—all 7,632 medicines in total. All their recorded effects and Medicinal Properties were imprinted in his mind.
Besides his own hard work, he had also used one Potential Point.
This caused the Pharmacist entry under the Mastered Professions section of his panel to advance from Beginner to Tier One. In an instant, a flood of Pharmacist-related memories poured into his mind. There was so much information that it took Yang Chan a moment to process it all.
Afterward, not only were all the ingredients from the first three volumes of the Medicine Scripture imprinted in his mind, but he also gained knowledge of an additional 1,245 medicinal ingredients not recorded in the scripture, all of which were herbs not commonly used in Qing State.
This was an unexpected bonus. Basic knowledge related to being a Physician, pharmacology, and more also flooded his mind. The amount of information was far greater than he had anticipated.