Leadership Observation

"Ah!"

"Boom!"

At that moment, a female student with long black hair tied in a single ponytail suddenly blew up her alchemy furnace while refining pills.

"Are you all right?" Zhong Kui walked over.

"Teacher, I'm sorry. I failed."

The girl said so, but she actually felt awkward inside.

She believed that since she had failed at pill refinement, she should indeed accept punishment if it came to that.

But the problem was that Zhong Kui was not much older than she was.

When the time came... it would really be embarrassing.

"It's fine. Hurry and get some medicine to treat your injuries. If you feel stressed, take a proper rest first. It doesn't matter if you fail at pill refinement once.

Teacher failed several times when I was learning alchemy too. Don't assume that just because I became a Soul Emperor at a young age, I must be some genius.

The truth is, even geniuses only succeed after failing countless times. People fail all the time. There's no need to think you're useless or that you deserve punishment because of it."

"Teacher failed before too? I thought that since you became a Soul Emperor at such a young age, you had to be a master in alchemy as well—a genius who had succeeded easily countless times.

"So Teacher failed before too?" The girl was speaking honestly. She truly had not expected it. She had genuinely believed that Zhong Kui must be a genius for becoming a Soul Emperor so young. How could he possibly fail? But after hearing him say that, she understood that even geniuses could fail.

"Of course. Geniuses fail too. That's perfectly normal.

"If you're tired, you can rest first. It's all right."

"No, I want to keep refining pills. If Teacher succeeded through countless failures before, then I definitely can too."

The little girl then continued refining pills.

It seemed this approach was right. Students should be treated in a proper, gentle way.

Watching the girl's spirited appearance, Zhong Kui truly felt that this method was right, even though her physical age was close to his own.

Thinking back to the teachers he had encountered before, some had treated him fairly, but most had not.

The time passed quickly. Though it had only been an hour or two, it still felt rather long.

"All right, class is over. Take a break. You learned a great deal about pill refinement today and also understood some methods of preparing medicinal ingredients. Rest for half an hour, then come back and continue the lesson.

"If anyone feels unwell and needs sick leave, or if something urgent comes up at home and you need to leave temporarily, that's fine. Tell Teacher, and I'll write you a leave slip."

Zhong Kui treated his students so gently because he remembered his own time in school.

There had been so many complaints about how strict school education was. So now that Zhong Kui was a teacher himself, he chose to be more lenient with his students. Of course, standards still had to be strict, but if students were truly exhausted, they could rest.

For example, if someone was genuinely hungry, the school Zhong Kui had attended had been extremely harsh. It was understandable that students were not allowed to eat during class, but they were not even allowed to drink water when thirsty. That was truly excessive.

Some students even had special medical conditions. When they had an episode or began feeling unwell and needed medicine, the teachers would still make sarcastic remarks.

That was why Zhong Kui was gentler with these students in his own way. If any special circumstances arose, he would make exceptions for them.

(Note: Let me explain something here. The author studied abroad, but also attended school in China in the past.

When I was young in China, it was indeed forbidden to eat during class if you were hungry, which was understandable. But if you were thirsty, teachers did allow you to drink water.

And if someone had a special physical condition, such as needing medicine, that was understandable too.

The author's former school was relatively lenient.

The school mentioned here for the protagonist was based on a friend's former school as a negative example.

The author often heard friends complain about how strict and inhumane their old schools had been.

So it is being used here as a negative example.)

Afterward, the students were dismissed.

"Jingjing, that alchemy teacher is around your age, isn't he? I've already heard some things about him. How does he treat you?"

"Luoluo, let me tell you, this teacher is so good to us. He's very gentle too. When we fail at refining pills, he encourages us to start again instead of imposing some strict form of education.

"He doesn't use corporal punishment either. He treats us really well."

Before long, word of Zhong Kui's alchemy classes and teaching methods spread.

Jing Hongchen soon heard about Zhong Kui's teaching style as well and felt that there was nothing wrong with it.

"Young people naturally sympathize with children around their own age. It's understandable that he isn't overly strict and is gentler with them."

As Jing Hongchen looked at the evaluations from those studying alchemy, he approved of Zhong Kui. Though Zhong Kui was not a strict teacher, he was still a qualified one who treated his students responsibly and gently.

"I should go observe one of his lessons sometime."

Soon, it was time for alchemy again, and Zhong Kui began teaching everyone.

"Everyone, do you know about Alchemy Cauldrons? According to the Alchemists recorded in ancient ruins, they generally held high regard for particularly good Alchemy Cauldrons.

"These Alchemy Cauldrons can be very helpful for pill refinement. Some can even be used in battle."

"??? An Alchemy Cauldron can even be used for battle???"

The students were quite bewildered. Meanwhile, Hall Master Hongchen and Jing Hongchen had also quietly entered the classroom to listen in on the lesson and see how Zhong Kui taught his students.

"Alchemy Cauldrons can be used in battle?"

Hall Master Hongchen found it hard to believe when he heard that.

"I'll demonstrate it for you. Some can be used in battle, while others cannot, though they can provide certain supportive effects.

"Let me show you. Clear out an area for the demonstration."

Zhong Kui recalled that Battle Through the Heavens had indeed mentioned that some Alchemy Cauldrons could be used in battle, though they were not especially useful, while some could assist in combat.

Zhong Kui then took out an Alchemy Cauldron.

After quickly infusing it with Beast Fire, he placed the Beast Fire-infused Alchemy Cauldron on the ground. Soon, something like a barrier appeared in the cleared area, formed from Beast Fire.