Not long after Yang Chan returned, Han Bingyu, Gu Shitong, Liu Qing, and Fang Yun came over. They knew he was back and wanted to hear his plans.

As Pharmacist’s Assistants, their duty was to follow their Pharmacist, so they naturally came to inquire about his plans.

Yang Chan had just finished airing out his bedding and was now sipping tea.

He had put water on to boil upon his return, and it was now ready.

There was no one else in his courtyard, so he had to do everything himself. ’This won’t do,’ Yang Chan thought. He much preferred handing off such trivial tasks to others.

The trip to White Jade City had made it clear to Yang Chan that he should keep a low profile to avoid attracting attention. However, when it came to time-consuming trivialities, it was still better to leave them to others.

For instance, chores like tidying up his courtyard upon his return could be delegated.

’I should also change how I keep my secrets in the bedroom, maybe by separating it from the study. My courtyard needs a better layout. Besides, I’ll be promoted to Intermediate Pharmacist soon enough, and I’ll be able to enjoy more benefits.’

’The most obvious perk will be easier access to medicinal ingredients, which means I won’t have to drag things out so much.’

He was the youngest Intermediate Pharmacist in the Cyan Yuan Sect, but across the entire Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty, such a feat wasn’t that rare. Princess Lan Yue, for example, was even younger than him but was already an Intermediate Pharmacist with her Martial Arts Cultivation at the External Refining Iron Bone Realm.

There were plenty of geniuses out there. Now that the new year had passed, he was another year older—eighteen. That wasn’t exactly young.

In an ordinary Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty family, people could marry and start a career at fifteen. By eighteen, they often already had heirs. It was by no means young.

He had aged on the road back. Originally, they were supposed to return before the new year, but you can never account for accidents. In their rush to get back to the Cyan Yuan Sect, they paid no attention to the holiday, remaining constantly on guard against ambushes instead.

It felt as if the new year hadn’t happened at all, but that was nothing to Yang Chan. In the memories of his body’s previous owner, he’d once spent the holiday busy gathering herbs in the mountains and had even encountered wild wolves.

Compared to that, this was nothing.

A place like this Imperial Dynasty wasn’t as safe as his old world. He had to get used to it.

"Greetings, Pharmacist Yang."

The four of them arrived in Yang Chan’s courtyard and, upon seeing him, bowed with clasped fists.

"Yes, there are seats over here. Please, sit."

Yang Chan said, gesturing to a few empty seats nearby.

Once they were seated, Yang Chan continued slowly,

"Now that I’m back, I’m going to rest for ten days. After that, I’ll go to the Medicine Preparation Institute to prepare Cold Fragrance Essence Refining Powder, which is beneficial for External Refining. During these next few days, you should review the ingredients required, find their locations in the Pharmacy, and get a sense of the quantities we’ll need."

"I want everyone to have a clear understanding of the process. I don’t want any fumbling around when the time comes."

Yang Chan said, looking at the four of them.

Before returning to his courtyard, Yang Chan had already spoken with Gu An, the Medicine Hall Master, about his plans for the near future. He explained that he didn’t want to be too busy and intended to take some time off to rest. He also wanted to process what he’d learned from the Pharmacist Alliance in White Jade City, internalizing the new knowledge.

That was what he had told Gu An, and the Hall Master naturally had no objections.

In truth, Yang Chan wasn’t the only one. The others who had returned from White Jade City didn’t want to accept any missions for a while, either. They all wanted to rest. After all, they had been on tenterhooks in White Jade City and extremely vigilant on the road home. It had hardly been a peaceful time. Now that they were back in the Cyan Yuan Sect, they naturally needed time to recover.

As for Elder Yan and Qi Yuansheng, their fate was not something Yang Chan and the others could manage; the matter was left for the Cyan Yuan Sect to handle.

The two men had left before Yang Chan and the others. Their failure to return could hardly be blamed on the ones they left behind.

In a sense, the two men had abandoned them. After all, two Inner Master experts had fled for their lives, while Yang Chan and the others could only remain in White Jade City to face countless dangers.

They had survived various attacks afterward thanks to the efforts of many, but it was mostly due to their own hard work. It had little to do with Elder Yan or Qi Yuansheng.

So, with the two now missing without a trace, no blame could be laid at their feet.

The mission rewards would be distributed as usual, but they likely wouldn’t be as great as anticipated. After all, the Cultivation Resources they should have obtained from the Pharmacist Alliance were never brought back. Furthermore, Elder Yan, an Advanced Pharmacist, was missing, along with the Hall Master of the Artifact Refining Hall. Many other disciples had also failed to return. The losses were truly devastating. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Of course, having suffered such a heavy loss, the Cyan Yuan Sect would surely seek to recoup it from the Great Zhou Imperial Family and the Pharmacist Alliance. They might even unite with other Sects to stir up trouble.

When it came to matters of profit, the various Sects were of one mind. Of course, this had nothing to do with Yang Chan, and he paid it no attention.

After explaining his plans, Yang Chan sent Gu Shitong, Liu Qing, and Fang Yun back to prepare. Han Bingyu, however, stayed behind in the courtyard to help him with various tasks.

’Since she’s proven herself capable, I certainly won’t let her talent go to waste,’ Yang Chan thought.

Information on what had happened at the Cyan Yuan Sect in his absence was also delivered to Yang Chan. Some of it concerned Elder Yan and Qi Yuansheng, while other parts covered events in other prefectures.

Han Bingyu had gathered some of it from within the Sect, and some from her family, the Han Family. All of it was then delivered to Yang Chan.

With these intelligence reports before him, Yang Chan naturally took some time to look through them to see if anything major had happened.

While he was away, the Cyan Yuan Sect had promoted two new Basic Level Pharmacists. Yang Chan recognized them from a previous pharmacist training session but didn’t know them well. They had built up considerable experience and had now finally passed the assessment to become Basic Level Pharmacists, significantly elevating their status.

Yang Chan gave the news a passing glance and paid it no further mind.

The second piece of news was that many people within the Cyan Yuan Sect had recently been sending back medicinal supplies. The ingredients being returned were all extremely rare materials. Han Bingyu had been unable to trace their specific origins, and seeing this, Yang Chan told her not to dig any deeper.

’This is probably a Sect secret, one they’re still keeping hidden. Investigating further would just be asking for trouble, and I don’t want any of that. If I were qualified to know, Gu An would have told me. So, I’m not in a hurry to investigate.’

The third piece of news was that the Cyan Yuan Sect had another new Inner Master. Yang Chan had originally thought it was the Young Sect Leader, Liu Shengyu, but he later found out it wasn’t. It was a Direct Disciple with a deep foundation, one who was naturally older than Liu Shengyu, so he didn’t usurp the latter’s title of youngest Inner Master.

’Of course,’ Yang Chan knew, ’that record has already been broken.’ He had no intention of revealing that, however. He was content to let the Young Sect Leader, Liu Shengyu, keep the title.

These were the three most significant events that had occurred at the Cyan Yuan Sect. There were, of course, many other minor matters as well.