"Unacceptable!"
"We must protest to the Grand Dean immediately!"
"Who exactly is behind this? Who's taking benefits from Great Zhou?"
A wave of angry voices rose among the academy disciples.
"These people are too cruel. How can they gang up on one innocent, beautiful boy like this?" said Liu Hongfu indignantly.
Tang Xingyu shook her head lightly. "The harder they jump now, the hotter their faces will burn later."
Liu Hongfu blinked in surprise. "Xingyu, you've always been cold to men. Why are you speaking up for one now? Don't tell me your taste is the same as mine—you think he's handsome too?"
Tang Xingyu's eyes curved into a smile. "He is indeed good-looking."
Liu Hongfu's eyes widened.
"Well then, Master Yang," Lu Ben said with a cold smile, "at least you've got the guts to admit it. But since you've confessed it yourself, step down. That spot belongs to a true master—it's not a place you're qualified to stand."
He looked utterly certain of his victory now.
Yang Cheng swept his gaze across the hall. Dozens of angry and suspicious faces glared at him, yet his own expression did not shift in the slightest.
Only when his eyes met Tang Xingyu's did a faint smile flash through them.
"What's that look?" Lu Ben snapped, his anger flaring again. "After being exposed, not only do you show no shame, you still dare mock me? Who's your backer that lets you act so arrogantly?"
"Mock you?" Yang Cheng's tone was calm, cold. "Someone like you—a buzzing fly—doesn't even deserve my mockery."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Yang Cheng continued, unhurried, "It's true, I've never studied Alchemy as you have. But that doesn't mean I don't understand it."
"Haha!" Lu Ben burst out laughing. "You never studied Alchemy, yet you understand it? How ridiculous! Then tell me—how exactly do you understand it?"
"Because," Yang Cheng said, hands clasped behind his back, his tone steady and proud, "I was born knowing it. I am one who understands Alchemy by nature."
He wasn't hiding his arrogance. The system required him to suppress the entire Myriad Phenomena Dao Academy—and he intended to do so utterly.
Rather than defend himself with excuses, he would overwhelm them all with absolute confidence, taking on the air of a peerless prodigy born to know all things.
With the system by his side, his future was destined to defy the heavens. Better to embrace this legend of "born with knowledge" than to let others question him.
"Born knowing it? You were born understanding Alchemy?"
Lu Ben froze for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing so hard he nearly doubled over. "Hahaha! Do you even hear yourself right now?"
"Absurd!"
"He says he's born knowing Alchemy—what, does he think he's some kind of saint?"
"What a joke of a master! Get off that platform before you embarrass us all any further!"
The entire lecture hall erupted in jeers and curses.
Yang Cheng, however, remained perfectly calm.
He reached out toward the window beside him, plucked a blooming peach blossom from the branch outside, and held it in his hand. "Lecturer Lu," he said, "tell me—can this peach blossom be used to refine a pill?"
Lu Ben sneered. "That's an ordinary peach blossom, not even spiritually infused. How could something like that possibly be used for alchemy?"
Yang Cheng said nothing. He simply opened his palm, letting the pink petals rest gently in the center of his hand.
"Peach blossoms in the third month," he said softly, "contain the essence of the eastern green wood. They gather the first breath of spring from heaven and earth. If one were to use it as a medium to draw upon the spring yang energy of the world—what would happen then?"
His words hung in the air, melodic and strange.
Lu Ben frowned slightly. He had to admit, Yang Cheng's explanation sounded reasonable.
But then he snorted. "Nice theory. If you're so capable, prove it. Refine a pill from that blossom right now."
Yang Cheng held his palm level, eyes fixed on the delicate flower.
A faint, expectant murmur spread through the hall.
Could it be… this young master really possessed some special ability?
Even Wang Rou felt a flicker of hope stir in her chest.
Many of the female disciples held their breath, hearts pounding.
They didn't need him to remain a master—if he could just stay at the academy, even as a disciple, that would be enough. At least they'd still be able to see his face from time to time.
But as moments passed, nothing happened.
The peach blossom remained just an ordinary flower. No light, no flame, no energy.
Disappointment swept through the crowd.
Lu Ben let out a sharp laugh. "Pretending to be mysterious again, are you?"
His voice dripped with contempt.
An old man with snow-white hair suddenly spoke in a stern tone. "What are you waiting for?"
The speaker was another master of the Alchemy Hall—Elder Zeng Li, over six hundred years old.
Yang Cheng answered calmly, "I've observed the earthfire under Fire Qilin Mountain. Every day, at noon, it surges restlessly. At that time, the spring yang energy in the heavens merges with the breath of the earthfire below."
Lu Ben sneered. "What kind of nonsense is that supposed to be? Are you saying you don't even need a pill furnace or a pill flame? That heaven and earth themselves will refine your pill for you—"
Before he could finish, the crowd suddenly erupted into gasps.
Sensing something wrong, Lu Ben looked toward Yang Cheng—and his pupils shrank instantly.
The peach blossom in Yang Cheng's hand had changed.
Wisps of fragrant pink energy rose from the petals, mingling with faint threads of red qi that shimmered in the air. The two types of energy twined together above his palm, glowing softly.
After only a few dozen breaths, the energies condensed into a fist-sized cluster of rosy mist.
As it compressed, the peach blossom beneath began to wither rapidly.
By the time the petals had completely dried and turned to ash, the swirling mist had shrunk into a small, pink pill resting quietly in Yang Cheng's hand.
Lu Ben's face froze in disbelief.
Yang Cheng said evenly, "Perhaps I don't understand the so-called classics you mentioned. But I do understand alchemy better than you ever will."
A collective gasp swept through the hall, followed by an uproar of voices.
The disciples of the Alchemy Hall were completely shaken. Their very understanding of alchemy had just been overturned.
So it was possible to refine a pill—without a furnace, without a flame, and even without any precious herbs?
"This pill's aura… it's a Saint-grade pill!" Elder Zeng exclaimed, eyes wide.
Those words hit the crowd like thunder.
A Saint-grade pill—crafted from nothing but an ordinary peach blossom?
If they hadn't witnessed it themselves, none of them would have believed it in a thousand years.
"Impossible!" Lu Ben shouted, his voice trembling. He couldn't accept what he was seeing.
Yang Cheng ignored him and turned to the students with a faint smile. "Let's call this pill the Flower Beauty Pill. It's formed from the merging of spring yang and earthfire energies. It nourishes vitality and enhances one's beauty."
A sparkle appeared in the eyes of nearly every girl present.
"But ordinary peach blossoms," Yang Cheng continued, plucking another from the branch, "can be used for more than just this one kind of pill. When you see a peach blossom, what's the first thing that comes to mind?"
"Peach Blossom Calamity!"
"Peach Blossom Luck!"
Voices rang out from all sides, followed by bursts of laughter.
This time, no one was mocking him—the laughter was genuine amusement.
"Then please, everyone, watch closely."
Yang Cheng lifted the new blossom.
Once again, the air filled with the mingling breath of spring yang and earthfire, but this time, an unseen force—subtle and strange—flowed into the process.
The transformation repeated before everyone's eyes. Energy coiled and condensed—but the result was different.
Instead of a pink pill, a deep red one now hovered in his palm.
"What's going on?"
"It's the same method—how did the pill come out completely different?"
"For some reason, when I look at it, I feel… my mind drifting. It's like it's pulling at my soul."
Murmurs of awe spread through the hall.
Elder Zeng's expression turned grave. "An Emperor-grade pill. Master Yang truly has extraordinary skill."
"What?"
"That's an Emperor-grade pill?"
"Heavens above! He used an ordinary peach blossom to refine an Emperor pill! Has the world gone mad—or have I?"
The lecture hall exploded with noise.
"Master, what exactly is happening here?" someone finally shouted, voice trembling with both fear and excitement.