Chapter 837: Running Away on My Own

Lu Feng stumbled. He had just confidently declared that his classes were perfectly fine, and now these students were coming to withdraw? This was a humiliating slap in the face! "Why?" he asked, clenching his teeth and suppressing his anger.

"Teacher," a student said through gritted teeth, "after attending just one of Master Zhang's lectures, I realized I've been completely wasting and squandering my time learning alchemy all these years. So... we hope you'll grant our request! Even if we withdraw, you will still be our teacher, and we would never dare to show you any disrespect or oppose you!" There was no comparison, so there was no pain.

Only after attending Master Zhang's class did they truly understand what alchemy was. They now realized how many unnecessary detours they had taken over the years while studying under Dean Lu Feng. If they had started learning from Master Zhang earlier, they believed they would already be six-star alchemists, or even higher. Although withdrawing from his class would harm their teacher's reputation, they felt compelled to do it for the sake of their future.

Teachers could choose their students, and students could choose their teachers. As long as they didn't act against their teacher, they were free to withdraw from a class. They were merely auditing students, not direct disciples.

"Wasting time, squandering years..." Lu Feng staggered, a suffocating tightness in his chest making it hard to breathe. He, the esteemed dean, the most formidable grandmaster alchemist in the entire Hongyuan Empire, had his personal lectures described as... a waste of time! *My heart, my lungs...* What on earth did that fellow tell them to make them so utterly captivated and impressed?

"Fine, I'll let you withdraw," Lu Feng said, his face ashen, a drop of blood splattering across several jade tokens. "But you must tell me where Zhang Xuan is!" Students had their choices, and since they had put it so bluntly, he couldn't possibly force them to remain his students; it would be too humiliating.

"Master Zhang went to the Alchemy Tower right after his lecture," the student replied after a moment's thought. "I think he's going to take the six-star alchemist examination!" "The Alchemy Tower?" Lu Feng's eyebrow twitched. He ignored the withdrawing students, turned, and called out, "Let's go take a look!"

The Alchemy Tower was the Alchemy Academy's equivalent of the Physician Tower, where alchemists could socialize, undergo examinations, and even participate in various challenges. Leaving Lu Hui to wait there, Lu Feng and several vice deans rushed to the tower.

Like the Physician Tower, it was a multi-story, imposing landmark of the academy. Upon seeing that the tower was still standing, neither collapsed nor in disarray, everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief. Given Zhang Xuan's notorious tendency to cause collapses wherever he went, even Lu Feng felt a shiver of fear just thinking about it.

Stepping inside, they found the spacious hall remarkably quiet. Those requesting elixirs and those selling them were going about their business as usual, as if nothing had happened. "Could he not have come?" they wondered, exchanging glances.

They had all heard about the Physician Tower incident: wherever Zhang Xuan appeared, something would inevitably collapse. So, if he had really been here, how could there be no commotion at all? It simply didn't make sense!

"I'll go ask," Vice Dean Qi said, hesitating for a moment before stepping forward and stopping a student. "Did anything strange happen here just now?" "Vice Dean Qi..." The student recognized him and was startled, then thought for a moment. "No, nothing happened at all!" "Nothing?" Vice Dean Qi waved his hand. "You may go." "Yes!" the student replied, hurrying away.

"I think our worries are excessive," Vice Dean Qi remarked. "After all, Zhang Xuan is only twenty years old. Even if he's highly knowledgeable about medicine and artifact forging, he can't possibly be equally proficient in alchemy, can he? His earlier success in getting students to withdraw was probably just luck..." After asking a few more people and confirming that nothing unusual had happened, Vice Dean Qi finally relaxed and walked back with a smile.

"Let's hope so," Dean Lu Feng said, nodding. Although nothing had happened, he still harbored an ominous premonition. If this fellow were easy to manage, the entire academy wouldn't be having such headaches because of him.

"Let's go check the six-star alchemist examination hall!" After a moment's thought, the group walked towards the examination area in the Alchemy Tower. It was just as quiet as before, with no changes whatsoever. They then summoned the teacher responsible for managing the hall.

"Has anyone come to take an alchemist examination recently?" Lu Feng asked directly, without beating around the bush. "No, sir! I've been here all morning, and no one has come yet!" replied the teacher, shaking his head, unsure why the dean was asking. "Really no one?" Lu Feng found it hard to believe. The students who had just withdrawn from his class had clearly stated that Zhang Xuan was coming to take the six-star alchemist examination, so how could he not be in the hall?

"No one really did come, Dean. I have the records here; if you don't believe me, you can take a look," the teacher said, quickly producing the records as he noticed the dean's strange expression. After reviewing them and confirming that no one had indeed come that morning, Lu Feng and the vice deans exchanged glances, finally breathing a sigh of relief. It seemed Vice Dean Qi was right: even if this fellow possessed extraordinary talent as a physician, his alchemy skills couldn't possibly be equally formidable! Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses; it would be unbelievable for someone to be exceptional at everything.

"It was a needless worry," Lu Feng said. "Never mind, you can go back and rest. If a young man around twenty comes, be sure to report to me immediately!" "Yes, sir!" the teacher responded, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right, Dean, for the six-star alchemist examination, it seems it's not just conducted here; the Ancestral Hall can also do it, right?"

"The Ancestral Hall? That's impossible!" Lu Feng shook his head. "The Ancestral Hall is reserved for those who wish to undergo the Pill Debate. You know how difficult that is; even I might not pass it. For a mere six-star alchemist examination, who would choose the longer, more troublesome route? Who would deliberately seek trouble?"

There were two methods to be examined as an alchemist. The first was to conventionally refine an elixir of the corresponding grade; for instance, to be examined as a six-star alchemist, one had to refine a Grade-6 elixir. The other method was the Pill Debate.

The Pill Debate took place in the Ancestral Hall, which was connected to the Alchemist Guild headquarters. The six-star alchemists dispatched from there possessed boundless knowledge and a far deeper understanding of alchemy than Lu Feng and his colleagues. To let them pose questions, answer those questions, and do so without error... that was incredibly difficult! Let alone a young man in his twenties; even with Lu Feng's seven or eight centuries of accumulated knowledge, he couldn't do it!

In other words, any cultivator would choose to refine elixirs rather than the far more challenging Pill Debate. "That's true..." the teacher conceded, nodding as he considered the logic.

"Regardless of whether it's possible or not, I think we should still go check the Ancestral Hall," Vice Dean Qi interjected. "Hmm!" Since they were already here, a few more steps wouldn't hurt. Lu Feng once again instructed the teacher to keep an eye on the examination hall, and the group headed towards the Ancestral Hall.

The Ancestral Hall was on the other side of the main hall, not far, and they reached it quickly. Like the previous examination hall, it was very quiet because almost no one came there for examinations, so no one was assigned to guard it. The deans pushed the door open and walked in. The room was brightly lit, largely unchanged from before.

"No change, so no one should have been here," Vice Dean Qi said, breathing a sigh of relief. As long as it hadn't collapsed, there was no problem, indicating that the fellow hadn't been there, and they didn't need to worry excessively.

"Wait, no!" Before he finished speaking, Vice Dean Zhou's eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost. "What's wrong? The communication walls and everything else here are perfectly intact," Vice Dean Qi wondered. Inside the Ancestral Hall, there were ten massive communication walls connected to the headquarters. The walls were intact, with no problems whatsoever, so no one should have been there!

"These communication walls are fine, but... look at the message jade screen ahead!" Vice Dean Zhou exclaimed, pointing forward. Everyone looked forward in unison.

Inside the Ancestral Hall, there were not only communication walls but also a message jade screen. The communication walls could send messages to six-star alchemists at the headquarters, while the message jade screen transmitted messages to seven-star alchemists. At this moment, the message jade screen was glowing, and it seemed to retain some residual warmth, as if someone had just used it.

"Someone used it? Could it be... Zhang Xuan really came, and instead of messaging a six-star alchemist, he directly messaged a seven-star?" "That's impossible! Messaging a seven-star alchemist means starting the seven-star alchemist examination..." "Taking the seven-star alchemist examination through the Pill Debate? That's an impossible feat!" Lu Feng, Vice Dean Qi, and the others shook their heads in unison. The message jade screen was for communicating with seven-star alchemists, meaning it wasn't for a six-star examination, but a seven-star one. How could Zhang Xuan, merely a new student in his twenties, possibly be taking a seven-star alchemist examination?

"He probably sought some Grade-7 elixir formulas!" one of the vice deans suggested after a pause. There were only two reasons to message a seven-star alchemist: either to take the seven-star alchemist examination or to request a Grade-7 elixir formula.

"However, regardless of which it was... to activate this message jade screen, one needs to deposit at least ten Grade-6 elixirs as collateral," the vice dean couldn't help but point out. "Where would this guy get so many elixirs?" Seven-star alchemists were extremely busy, not to be disturbed on a whim. To activate the message jade screen and contact them, a corresponding "payment" was required: Grade-6 elixirs. One had to provide at least ten Grade-6 elixirs to activate the screen, according to the rules. This was why, despite the Alchemy Academy's Ancestral Hall having existed for countless years, very few people ever contacted a seven-star alchemist.

It wasn't because they didn't dare, but because the cost was simply too high! Even if Zhang Xuan possessed unparalleled talent, he was just a young man in his twenties who would struggle to afford a house. How could he possibly produce more than ten Grade-6 elixirs all at once?

"But... these jade screens were activated not long ago," Vice Dean Zhou couldn't help but point out, "which means someone produced ten Grade-6 elixirs and conversed with the seven-star alchemist on the other side..." Although he found it hard to believe, the jade screen in front of them had indeed been activated, which was evident at a glance and couldn't be faked.

"Could it be..." Just as Lu Feng's pupils contracted with a sudden realization and he was about to speak, a figure rushed in. "Dean, Dean, something's wrong!" It was the middle-aged teacher in his forties who managed the academy's elixir dispensary.

"What's wrong?" Lu Feng's eyebrow twitched, and he looked over anxiously. "The elixir dispensary, all the Grade-6 elixirs refined by the deans and teachers, they've all... all..." The middle-aged man's face was ashen as if he'd seen a ghost, his lips trembling uncontrollably. "What about the elixirs?" Vice Dean Qi asked, unable to wait for him to finish.

The middle-aged man looked as if he were about to burst into tears. "They all... ran away on their own!"