Chapter 818: Ran Away on Its Own

Lu Feng was stunned.

He had just confidently declared that his class was fine, and now these guys came to drop it—wasn't this slapping him in the face?

"Why?"

Suppressing his rage, he gritted his teeth and looked over.

"To answer you, teacher, after attending Master Zhang's lecture, we felt that all these years of studying alchemy had been wasted time, idling away our days. So... we hope you will grant our request! Though we drop the class, you remain our teacher; we dare not show any disrespect or oppose you!"

A student said through gritted teeth.

Without comparison, there is no harm.

Only after hearing Master Zhang's lecture did they know what alchemy truly was, and realize that all these years studying under Dean Lu Feng, they had taken many detours!

If they had studied under Master Zhang earlier, they would probably already be six-star alchemists, or even higher.

Though dropping the class would damage the teacher's reputation, for the sake of their future, they had to give up.

Teachers can choose students, and students can choose teachers. As long as they don't act against the teacher, they are free to drop the class and just audit; it's not a direct apprenticeship.

"Wasted time, idling away our days..."

Staggering, Lu Feng felt a tightness in his chest, as if he could barely breathe.

He, the dignified dean, the greatest alchemy grandmaster in the entire Hongyuan Empire, was personally teaching, yet was accused of... wasting time!

My heart, my lungs...

What exactly did that guy tell you, to make you so infatuated and so impressed?

"Fine, I'll drop you from the class, but you must tell me where Zhang Xuan is!"

His face ashen, Lu Feng dripped a drop of blood onto each of the jade talismans and said.

Students have their own choices; since they had put it that way, forcing them to remain his students would be beneath his dignity!

"Master Zhang finished his lecture and went to the Alchemy Tower... He seemed to be taking the six-star alchemist exam!" said the student who had spoken, after a moment's thought.

"Alchemy Tower?" His brows jumped. Ignoring the students who had dropped the class, he turned and called out, "Let's go check it out!"

The Alchemy Tower was a place in the Alchemy Academy similar to the Physician Tower, where alchemists could exchange ideas, take exams, and even engage in various challenges.

Leaving Lu Hui to wait there, Lu Feng, accompanied by several vice deans, hurried over.

Like the Physician Tower, it had several stories, towering and majestic, a landmark of the academy.

At first glance, the tower was still standing, not collapsed, and there was no chaos. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Given Zhang Xuan's past tendencies, wherever he went, things collapsed. Even Lu Feng was a bit scared thinking about it.

They entered. The spacious hall was very quiet. Those seeking pills and selling pills were going about as usual, as if nothing had happened.

"Did he not come?"

They exchanged glances.

They had all heard about the Physician Tower incident. Whenever Zhang Xuan appeared, something always collapsed. Since he had been here, why was there no commotion?

It was unscientific!

"Let me ask!"

After a moment's hesitation, Vice Dean Qi stepped forward and pulled aside a student: "Did anything... strange happen here just now?"

"Dean Qi..."

Recognizing him, the student was startled, then thought for a moment: "No, nothing happened!"

"Nothing happened?"

Vice Dean Qi waved his hand: "You may go."

"Yes!" The student hurried away.

"I think we were worrying too much. This Zhang Xuan, no matter what, is only twenty years old. Even if he knows a lot about medicine and artifact forging, he can't possibly be an expert in alchemy too! The students dropping the class earlier was probably just luck..."

After asking a few more people and indeed finding nothing unusual, Vice Dean Qi breathed a sigh of relief and walked back with a smile.

"Let's hope so."

Dean Lu Feng nodded. Though nothing had happened, he still had a bad feeling.

If that guy were easy to deal with, the whole academy wouldn't be so troubled by him.

"Let's go check the six-star alchemist exam room!" After a moment's thought, they walked toward the exam area of the Alchemy Tower. It was as quiet as before, with no changes.

They called over the teacher in charge of the exam room.

"Has anyone come to take the alchemist exam?" Lu Feng got straight to the point.

"No! I've been here since morning, and no one has come!" Not knowing why the dean was asking, the teacher shook his head.

"Really no one came?" Lu Feng found it hard to believe.

The students who dropped the class had clearly said he came to take the six-star alchemist exam. Why hadn't he come to the exam room?

"Really no one came. I have records here. If you don't believe me, Dean, you can take a look..." Seeing the dean's strange expression, the teacher quickly brought out the records.

After flipping through and confirming that no one had come in the morning, Lu Feng exchanged glances with the vice deans and breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed Vice Dean Qi was right. Even if that guy had strong medical talent, his alchemy skills couldn't be equally impressive, could they?

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. If he were exceptional in everything, it would be unbelievable.

"A false alarm... It's fine. You can go rest now. If a young man in his twenties comes, report to me immediately!"

Lu Feng instructed.

"Yes!" The teacher responded, then suddenly remembered something: "Oh, Dean, for the six-star alchemist exam, it's not just here; the Ancestral Hall is also an option, right?"

"The Ancestral Hall? That's impossible! The Ancestral Hall is for those preparing for the Pill Debate. You know how difficult the Pill Debate is. Even I might not pass it. Who would go out of their way to take a six-star alchemist exam and cause themselves trouble?"

Lu Feng shook his head.

There were two ways to take the alchemist exam. The first was to conventionally refine a pill of the corresponding grade.

For example, to become a six-star alchemist, one had to refine a sixth-grade pill.

The other way was the Pill Debate!

The Pill Debate required going to the Ancestral Hall, which was connected to the Alchemist Headquarters. The six-star alchemists sent there had vast knowledge and a much deeper understanding of alchemy than people like them. To answer their questions without error... was difficult!

Not to mention a twenty-year-old kid; even with his seven or eight hundred years of accumulation, he couldn't do it!

In other words, any cultivator would choose to refine pills rather than the more difficult Pill Debate.

"That's true..."

The teacher thought it made sense and nodded.

"Whether it's possible or not, I think we should still check the Ancestral Hall..."

Vice Dean Qi interjected.

"Mm." Since they were already here, a few more steps didn't matter. Lu Feng again instructed the teacher to watch the exam room, and they headed toward the Ancestral Hall.

The Ancestral Hall was on the other side of the hall, not far away. They arrived shortly.

Like the exam room earlier, it was very quiet. Since almost no one came to take exams here, there was no guard.

The deans pushed open the door and entered. The room was brightly lit, with little change from before.

"No changes, so probably no one has been here..."

Vice Dean Qi breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as nothing had collapsed, there was no problem. It meant that guy hadn't come, so no need to worry too much.

"No!"

Before he finished speaking, Vice Dean Zhou's eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost.

"What's wrong? The communication walls here are all intact..." Vice Dean Qi was puzzled.

In the Ancestral Hall, there were ten huge communication walls connecting to the headquarters. The walls were intact, with no issues. It seemed no one had been here!

"The communication walls are fine, but... look at the communication jade screen up front!"

Vice Dean Zhou pointed forward.

Everyone looked forward in unison.

Inside the Ancestral Hall, there were not only communication walls but also a communication jade screen. The former was used to communicate with six-star alchemists at headquarters, while the latter was used to send messages to seven-star alchemists.

At that moment, the communication jade screen was glowing with light, still warm, as if someone had just used it.

"Someone used it? Could it be... this Zhang Xuan really came, and instead of contacting a six-star alchemist, he directly contacted a seven-star?"

"That's impossible! Contacting a seven-star alchemist means starting the seven-star alchemist exam..."

"Taking the seven-star alchemist exam through the Pill Debate? That's impossible to accomplish..."

Lu Feng, Vice Dean Qi, and the others shook their heads simultaneously.

The communication jade screen was for contacting seven-star alchemists, not for six-star exams but for seven-star. This Zhang Xuan was just a new student of the academy, a twenty-year-old kid. How could he possibly take the seven-star alchemist exam?

"Maybe he was requesting some seventh-grade pill formulas."

After a pause, a vice dean said.

Contacting a seven-star alchemist had only two possibilities: one, taking the seven-star alchemist exam; two, requesting seventh-grade pill formulas from a seven-star alchemist.

"But either way... to activate this communication jade screen, you need at least ten sixth-grade pills as collateral... Where did that guy get so many pills?"

The vice dean couldn't help but say.

Seven-star alchemists were busy; you couldn't just disturb them.

To activate the communication jade screen and contact them, you had to provide a corresponding 'reward,' which was sixth-grade pills!

Only by first offering ten or more sixth-grade pills could you activate the screen. That was the rule. For this reason, the Ancestral Hall of the Alchemy Academy had been established for who knows how many years, yet few had communicated with seven-star alchemists.

Not because they didn't dare, but because... the cost was too high!

This Zhang Xuan, even if he had unparalleled talent, was just a young man around twenty. He could barely afford a house. How could he produce ten or more sixth-grade pills at once?

"But... this jade screen was activated not long ago, meaning someone took out ten sixth-grade pills and conversed with a seven-star alchemist..."

Vice Dean Zhou couldn't help but say.

Though they didn't believe it, the jade screen before them had clearly been activated; it was obvious and couldn't be faked.

"Could it be..."

Suddenly thinking of something, Lu Feng's pupils contracted. Just as he was about to speak, a figure rushed in hurriedly.

"Dean, Dean, something terrible!"

It was a middle-aged man in his forties, a teacher in charge of the academy's pill storage.

"What's wrong?" Lu Feng's brows jumped as he quickly looked over.

"The sixth-grade pills refined by the deans and teachers in the pill storage, they all, they all..." The middle-aged man looked as if he had seen a ghost, his lips trembling.

"What about the pills?" Seeing him unable to speak, Vice Dean Qi asked.

The middle-aged man looked on the verge of tears: "They all... ran away on their own!"