Chapter 182: Hongyun Dan Master

"Has he appeared?" Lu Xun turned to his friend.

"Yes, Master Liu and others happened to visit today. Emperor Shen Zhui also came with them. Not long after they entered the courtyard, Master San came out, showing great respect. It seems this Master Yang is definitely a renowned master, and his rank is no lower, perhaps even higher, than Master Liu's..." Wang Chao relayed the information he knew.

"Higher than Master Liu... wouldn't that make him a Two-star Master Teacher?" Lu Xun's eyes lit up. "Quickly, let's get ready. We should go visit him too..." He had been waiting for this opportunity; if he could gain Master Yang's favor, he would surely soar to great heights.

"Right!" Wang Chao nodded, then his face fell. "With this news spreading, countless people will want to visit Master Yang. I'm afraid we won't even get a turn!" He continued, "And you must have heard Master Yang's rule: to request an audience, you first need to pay three million gold coins. Otherwise, you can't even get through the door... Our family patriarch might be able to afford that much, but for us..." Even as star teachers, their monthly salary was only two to three thousand gold coins. Coming up with three million would be a pipe dream. Forget visiting; this single condition completely blocked them.

"Don't worry, I've already thought this through!" Lu Xun revealed a confident smile. "Paying three million gold coins to visit is an explicit rule, but people are concerned about their reputation, so they definitely won't pay openly. This means... as long as we don't mention it, it shouldn't be exposed!"

"You mean... we should try to sneak in and blend with the crowd? That doesn't seem right... He's not stupid; if we haven't paid, we probably won't even get past the door!" Hearing his friend's suggestion, Wang Chao was stunned.

"Not sneak in, but... use our status as star teachers to bypass that requirement. Who in the kingdom wouldn't show us a little respect, given that there are two of us? As long as we find the right person to submit our credentials, the rest will be easy!" He continued, "Master Teachers also want to take on apprentices. We are well-known teachers throughout Tianxuan Royal City and fully meet the criteria. If we just write a proper formal request and show him our teaching achievements, perhaps he'll be pleased and agree to take us on, rendering the three million gold coins irrelevant. Our goal is to find a way to submit our request. As for the gold coins, it doesn't matter if we don't gather them for now!"

"This..." Wang Chao blinked.

"To become a Master Teacher, it's not just about personal strength; most importantly, it's about the ability to educate students. We have so many students, and with such excellent résumés, there's definitely no problem." Lu Xun's eyes gleamed with excitement as he spoke. "If all else fails, we can invite him to watch the Master Teacher evaluation in a few days and see how I crush Zhang Xuan. When he sees such excellence, perhaps he'll be happy to take me on as an apprentice..."

"That makes sense... With our status as star teachers, submitting a résumé should be easy, and maybe we won't even need to pay!" Wang Chao finally realized.

The upcoming Master Teacher evaluation was a great opportunity. If this Master Teacher Yang Xuan came, he would certainly be impressed by Lu Xun and take him on as an apprentice. As long as Lu Xun succeeded, Wang Chao would have hope too.

"That's it then. Let's get ready and go visit him..." Lu Xun acted on his thoughts immediately, saying no more and making arrangements.

***

The Alchemist Guild. President Ouyang, Alchemist Chen Xiao, Alchemist Bai Ming, and more than ten other alchemists stood side by side in the courtyard, their attitudes respectful.

With a fierce whistling wind, a massive flying savage beast slowly descended from the sky. An old man stood atop it. Before the beast even reached the ground, the old man lightly stepped down, landing steadily.

"Greetings, Alchemist Hongyun!" President Ouyang and the others stepped forward. Alchemist Hongyun was a renowned Two-star Alchemist within the kingdom.

"Hmm!" Alchemist Hongyun nodded, raising an eyebrow. "Where is that Zhang Xuan?"

"Alchemist Zhang... should not be in the Royal City, so he hasn't come..." President Ouyang's face was full of embarrassment. Zhang Xuan had been staying in the Royal Library for the past few days, and after leaving, he had changed his appearance and gone to a residence. Not only could President Ouyang not find him, but even Zhao Ya and the others might not be able to.

"Nonsense!" Alchemist Hongyun waved his hand, his face ashen, exuding an intimidating aura without needing to raise his voice. "While the method of becoming an alchemist through a pill debate has been passed down since ancient times, it has unique rules. This time, besides delivering the 'Yin-Breaking Pills' and 'Giant Rhinoceros Beast blood' you wished to purchase, I am also here to re-examine this Zhang Xuan. If he doesn't meet the requirements, his qualification will be immediately revoked."

"Yes, sir!" President Ouyang nodded.

"Bring me the recording jade crystal from that day. If I discover any favoritism or fraud, everyone involved in that pill debate will be punished!" Alchemist Hongyun's eyebrows arched, his voice carrying an unquestionable authority.

"Yes, Alchemist Hongyun, this way please..." President Ouyang hurriedly led the way. Soon, they arrived at the location of the previous pill debate, and he took out the recording jade crystal.

"Activate it!" Sitting down and picking up the freshly poured tea, Alchemist Hongyun glanced over.

President Ouyang said no more, channeling his true qi into the recording jade crystal. Instantly, the jade crystal glowed, and the previously recorded content reappeared. It was the image of Zhang Xuan entering the room.

"This is Zhang Xuan? President Ouyang, you're an old hand at the Guild; how could you be so muddled? He's so young, how could he possibly succeed in a pill debate?" Seeing Zhang Xuan's appearance, who was less than twenty years old, Alchemist Hongyun raised an eyebrow. Anyone brave enough to participate in a pill debate would have studied alchemy for decades, at least being fifty or sixty years old. Yet, this one was under twenty... What could he possibly know? It was clearly a setup by the other alchemists, intentional favoritism!

"How about this: any alchemist present, as long as they dare to refine pills in front of me, no matter what technique they use, I can point out the name of the technique and any errors during the refinement. If anyone here thinks my identified errors are incorrect, I will immediately concede defeat..." Zhang Xuan's voice echoed from the recording crystal.

"Arrogant!" Alchemist Hongyun sneered. "I wouldn't even dare to guarantee I could spot errors in a One-star Alchemist's refinement. He, an apprentice, thinks he can? What a joke... He truly doesn't know his place!"

The recording jade crystal continued to play, soon showing Alchemist Meng Yan refining pills. Zhang Xuan pointed out that Meng Yan had a murderous intent in his heart, making the Tranquil Heart Pill difficult to be effective.

"When Alchemist Meng Yan was refining, his mind was restless and agitated, not calm and composed. It's not uncommon to spot that..." Seeing this, Alchemist Hongyun hesitated. As a Two-star Alchemist, his discernment was naturally superior to President Ouyang's and the others'. It wasn't difficult to see that Alchemist Meng Yan's state of mind was unstable and he was agitated while refining the Tranquil Heart Pill, leading to a failed product.

Next, Alchemist Chen Xiao began. "Death aura? This... Alchemist Chen Xiao was too quiet during his refinement. I could only sense something was off, but not that he was close to death..." Alchemist Hongyun was somewhat puzzled. Other One-star Alchemists might have thought Zhang Xuan had investigated everyone beforehand to deduce his conclusions. But Alchemist Hongyun was different; as a Two-star Alchemist, his insight was extremely keen. Although not as precise as Zhang Xuan's, he could still discern some aspects of Alchemists Meng Yan and Chen Xiao's states during their refinements.

Then came Cheng Jiang. And after that, Bai Ming.

"This cauldron is seven feet three inches high and three feet two inches wide. It was crafted by the three artisans of Shijing Workshop seven years and three months ago..." "This cauldron's wall is over an inch thick; for heat to fully permeate, it requires the time of one stick of incense plus thirty-four breaths..." In the recording jade crystal, Zhang Xuan spoke confidently and wisely.

"This..." Alchemist Hongyun's previous anger was gone. Instead, his eyes widened, fixed on the jade crystal. As a Two-star Alchemist, he had access to higher-ranked alchemists and had heard their discussions. It seemed that before refining, one had to know the exact specifications of the cauldron to use the corresponding methods and produce higher-quality medicine. He had always felt these things were far beyond his reach, and he never dreamed an apprentice would casually state them, and with such clarity.

"Reporting to Alchemist Hongyun, afterwards, I specifically retrieved the records for this cauldron and meticulously verified and compared them. Whether it was the cauldron's height, weight, wall thickness, crafting time, number of movements, or what kind of pills had been refined... Alchemist Zhang Xuan's statements were perfectly accurate, without any errors!" "We also specifically experimented; the heat permeation indeed required the time of one stick of incense plus thirty-four breaths, exactly as he said..." President Ouyang explained from the side.

In truth, he didn't need to explain. Alchemist Hongyun, who refined pills daily, had a general idea and knew that what Zhang Xuan said was accurate.

"...resulting in a 13% loss of medicinal efficacy, failed!" "The medicinal efficacy wasn't fully utilized, resulting in a 14% loss, failed!" "This... this... impossible!" Hearing Zhang Xuan's series of "failures," Alchemist Hongyun froze, his fists clenching involuntarily.

"Following the sequence Zhang Xuan described, we later conducted tests. The loss percentages he stated were perfectly accurate, no more, no less. Here are our test records; Alchemist, you may examine them..." President Ouyang took out a notebook and handed it over. Since it was a pill debate, it naturally couldn't end so simply. After Zhang Xuan left, President Ouyang and several alchemists worked overtime through the night, testing all the data he had mentioned. The results left them dumbfounded: everything was identical, without a single error.

"This..." Flipping through the records, Alchemist Hongyun felt a little crazy. The records bore the signatures of alchemists, and the time for each step was clearly noted, making falsification impossible. Remembering the forty-seven types of medicinal ingredients' dispensing steps, the reaction each would produce, and the lost efficacy, all after just one glance... *Is this even human?* Alchemist Hongyun pondered it himself, then shook his head. Even at his level, he couldn't achieve this.

Continuing to watch, the recording then showed the normal pill debate process, with the alchemists asking questions.

"...Coincidentally, our Guild's elementary library has it, on the upper left side of the twenty-seventh row..." On the recording jade crystal, Zhang Xuan smiled faintly, waved his hand, and stated the book's title and location.

"These books... I seem to have read them all, and they're exactly as he described..." Alchemist Hongyun's breathing quickened. If Zhang Xuan's previous statements couldn't be fully confirmed, when it came to alchemy books, Alchemist Hongyun's knowledge was far superior to President Ouyang's and the others'. He had read many of the books Zhang Xuan mentioned, and their content was... identical, without any errors.

To be honest, upon hearing that the Tianxuan Kingdom Alchemist Guild had allowed someone under twenty to become an official alchemist through a pill debate, he had been furious. He believed that Ouyang Cheng and the others must have been extremely lenient. This was precisely why headquarters had sent him to re-examine the case. On the way, he had already planned how to find flaws, identify problems, and then re-evaluate, ensuring Zhang Xuan would fail and have his alchemist qualification revoked. He never expected to be utterly bewildered before even finishing the recording crystal. If the content on the crystal wasn't an act but truly happened... then this Zhang Xuan knew far too much about alchemy...

"...Alchemist Wu Xiao's 'Cauldron Maintenance,' Alchemist Zhao Qian's 'Important Matters in Alchemy,' Alchemist Niu Xuan's 'Detailed Account of Sundry Matters,' Alchemist Pang Bo's 'New Cauldron Maintenance'..." On the recording jade crystal, Zhang Xuan continued to speak, carrying an air of elegance in his every movement.

"I've read these books too, and what he said is completely... correct!" "...Correct!" "...Correct!" Alchemist Hongyun's knuckles turned white, and his lips trembled incessantly. He had initially intended to penalize Zhang Xuan, but before even finishing the crystal, he found himself unable to find a single valid reason...

"President Ouyang, Alchemist Zhang Xuan is requesting an audience outside..." an apprentice said.

*Clang!* Startled, Alchemist Hongyun dropped the teacup in his hand, shattering it on the floor. He turned his head and then saw a disheveled man with bloodshot eyes, drooping bags under them, and a listless expression walk in.