Let's See Him Make a Fool of Himself-Holy Crap

"Young Sect Master, what brings you to the Alchemy Hall?"

"Please, have a seat!"

The elder who had been scolding Lin Cheng suddenly broke into a smile and hurried over to fuss over Meng Tangtang. 🤚👌 ➅➈ 🐟🎉

The difference in treatment was like night and day.

Seeing this, Meng Tangtang waved her hands repeatedly and offered a couple of perfunctory replies before turning her big eyes toward Lin Cheng.

"Junior Brother, what are you doing here?"

Junior Brother?

At the sound of that, everyone looked puzzled, unable to make heads or tails of it.

If they were going by seniority, she should have called him Senior Brother.

If she was speaking as the Young Sect Master, it was even more bewildering.

It seemed that people only addressed each other that way when they shared the same master.

Most importantly, their Young Sect Master seemed awfully concerned about Lin Cheng, an outer-sect servant.

For a moment, everyone fell into thought.

"Nothing much. I just came to take the alchemist certification exam, and a little mishap happened."

Lin Cheng explained directly.

The elders beside him stiffened at his words. Meng Tangtang waved a hand and said, "I heard what you were saying just now. Since you're confident, Junior Brother, just take the test. It's only an attempt. It won't matter if you fail."

"But, Young Sect Master..."

Meng Tangtang cut him off. "Elder, there's no need to say more. If my Junior Brother's talent is unprecedented, why shouldn't he be able to create a few miracles? Don't judge a genius by the standards of ordinary people."

At those words, the elders fell silent.

On second thought, she seemed to have a point.

They had no choice but to humor her. Though the elder who had scolded Lin Cheng still didn't think much of him, he sighed and said, "Very well. The Young Sect Master has spoken, so let him try."

Then he gave Lin Cheng a long look.

"Young man, confidence is a good thing, but you must also know your own limits. I hope you don't squander that fine talent of yours."

With the elder's approval, the matter was settled.

"Then thank you, Elder. Please set the test."

Lin Cheng didn't waste time and got straight to the point.

The elders exchanged glances and spoke quietly among themselves. After a moment, one stepped forward and said, "Here is a Qi-Replenishing Pill formula. It's a low-grade pill. If you can refine it within two hours, with no more than fifty percent impurities, you'll pass."

Meng Tangtang's lips moved as if she wanted to say something.

Though the Qi-Replenishing Pill was one of the most common low-grade pills, it accelerated the recovery of inner strength and was only useful below the Fifth Grade Realm.

It was no easy pill to refine.

Among low-grade pills, it ranked in the middle in terms of difficulty.

And refining pills inevitably produced impurities. Even a Yellow-Grade Alchemist would face the same issue.

For ordinary pills, aside from failed ones, keeping the impurities below seventy percent was enough to pass.

Below fifty percent was considered quite good.

Usually, only low-grade alchemists with years of experience could consistently achieve that quality.

For a newcomer who knew nothing, the requirement was far too harsh.

"Elder, isn't that a little too difficult?" Meng Tangtang said, displeased.

The elder shook his head.

"Young Sect Master, you're mistaken. At an ordinary sect, I would count someone as having passed if they could produce a pill with just seventy percent impurities."

"But the Jingyun Sect is no small sect. We are one of the Southern Region's ten great sects."

"Our standards for alchemists must naturally be the best of the best. How can we treat this like child's play? Otherwise, won't people laugh at us if word gets out?"

Everyone present heard him out and nodded to themselves, finding his reasoning sound.

The elder wasn't deliberately making things difficult for Lin Cheng. This was simply how things were.

At that moment, many people stared at Lin Cheng strangely, as if waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

Given his talent, he was destined to shine. They could never hope to catch up with him in this lifetime.

But now that he was acting so arrogantly, they could sit back and enjoy the show. That was a rare pleasure in life.

Some even believed that before long, news of what had happened here would spread far and wide. Then the entire Jingyun Sect would hear about the scandal of this alchemy prodigy.

The thought was rather exciting.

"Dis—Senior Sister, you don't need to say more. How could a mere test stump me?"

Lin Cheng stepped forward under everyone's gaze. A spark of anger flared in him, and he resolved to put on a good show.

He had a system. How could he let anyone look down on him?

He got right to it.

Lin Cheng glanced at the formula, and a wealth of related knowledge surfaced in his mind. Every refining technique and precaution swept past like a cascading waterfall.

Half an incense stick later.

Just as the crowd was growing impatient, Lin Cheng finally got moving.

He went straight to the alchemy furnace reserved for examinations. First, he carefully checked its quality and familiarized himself with its design.

Watching Lin Cheng pat and tap the furnace over and over, the onlookers grew confused. Quite a few even snickered.

"Could this guy really be some bumpkin who got lucky, someone who's never even seen an alchemy furnace?"

"Wouldn't surprise me..."

"Quiet! What are you making all that noise for?"

Meng Tangtang turned and glared at them. They immediately fell silent, though their eyes still clearly showed their resentment.

Could Junior Brother really know nothing?

As Meng Tangtang watched Lin Cheng bustle about, she, too, felt uncertain.

Though she had spoken confidently, she also thought Lin Cheng had little chance of passing.

If he botched it, she wouldn't know how to explain things to the elders.

At the thought, she stole a glance at them. To her confusion, the contempt and mockery she had expected were nowhere to be seen.

Instead, their faces were filled with astonishment and shock.

In particular, as time passed, the contempt that had been there at first vanished, replaced by deep admiration and even awe.

"What deft technique! Simply perfect!"

"This kid really does know alchemy. I've never even heard of this method for checking a furnace... Huh? Why is he doing this here? Tsk! I see now! I understand!" Watching Lin Cheng's movements, the elder suddenly had a revelation.

"This is the long-lost Mountain-Piercing Ox Strike! Just this one move has completely changed the furnace's overall balance, raising the chances of successfully refining a pill by at least thirty percent before the process has even begun!"

"So my technique was wrong all along. No wonder my pill quality was always poor. I was missing a step this whole time."

"Brilliant! Simply brilliant!"

"Where did he learn so many long-lost techniques...?"

The other elders were in much the same state.

First they had paid little attention. Then they were surprised. Finally, they were dazzled.

Now they were staring at Lin Cheng without blinking. They could no longer make sense of his movements; every detail seemed profound, worthy of study.

They even felt that some of the problems they had accumulated over the years had suddenly become clear.

Their minds had opened up.

Before Lin Cheng had even begun refining a pill, his dazzling warm-up performance had already won them over!