Yang Chen's words instantly set the whole crowd laughing. Many felt that he was merely grandstanding. This was hardly the first time Yang Chen had done something like this, but in the end, every outcome had proven that he was nothing more than a clown hopping about on a stage.
Yang Heng sat below the platform, sneering repeatedly. Before long, his expression turned stern as he said, "Yang Chen, Second Master's class does not permit you to run wild and cause trouble. You are wasting our time and Second Master's time."
"Weren't you all wasting Second Master's time just now?" Yang Chen said slowly.
"How could we possibly be the same as you!" Hearing this, Yang Heng shouted, "Everyone knows that you lost three hundred spirit stones to the Wang family. Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?"
Yang Chen raised a brow. "Oh? So you mean you also want everyone to know about the person you lost spirit stones to?"
Yang Heng's expression changed abruptly. "Yang Chen, don't spout bloody slander!"
"I haven't even said how you lost those spirit stones. Why are you so nervous?" Yang Chen grinned happily.
Yang Heng's tiger eyes widened round. "Yang Chen, fine. You've got guts!"
Yang Chen rolled his neck. He was not afraid of Yang Heng's threats, nor did he take Yang Heng's words to heart. If Yang Heng truly wanted to trouble him, he would not mind exposing the matter of Yang Heng losing three hundred spirit stones to him. He was rather curious how Yang Heng could still dance about so merrily after losing to him.
Second Master Yang said expressionlessly at this moment, "Yang Chen, Yang Heng's words may have been somewhat excessive. However, if you truly came here hoping that a blind cat might stumble upon a dead mouse, then don't come to try your luck."
It was no wonder he looked down on Yang Chen. Yang Chen's reputation was simply too foul, so foul that no one in the Yang family was unaware of it.
Yang Chen bowed respectfully. "Second Master, when I observed you refining pills earlier, you put in the ingredients first, then only lit the fire after roughly a minute. During that minute, you did many things inside the pill furnace. From what I observed, it seemed that you were arranging the ingredients in positions within the furnace..."
"Yang Chen, what nonsense are you talking about? What does arranging positions have to do with pill refining—"
"Shut up." Second Master Yang could not help flying into a rage.
He looked at Yang Chen in delight, his beard trembling. "Yang Chen, continue. All of you, quiet down."
What a strange thing, what a strange thing.
His unusual excitement was hardly without reason. Yang Chen's words had finally given him the answer he wanted. Had he not painstakingly slowed his pace on purpose so that those below could comprehend the details of his pill refinement?
Yang Chen continued neither servile nor overbearing, "Yang Chen's knowledge of pill refinement is truly shallow, so I do not know the painstaking intent behind Second Master's method. However, when I watched Second Master control the fire, you deliberately made the flames move around the center. From this, it could be seen that the ingredients placed in the middle of the pill furnace had to be tempered with fierce fire, while those at the sides only needed a gentle flame. Thus, although tempering and fire control are two stages, fire control is also part of tempering."
"Good!"
Second Master Yang was beside himself with delight. He burst into hearty laughter. "Yang Chen, well said. You have greatly gratified this old man. Yes, tempering and fire control are two stages and steps, but who could comprehend that fire control is also part of tempering? I only wonder how much of this old man's pill-refining techniques and details you have understood?"
"After thinking it over, Yang Chen should have understood roughly fifty percent." Yang Chen scratched his head. "I think that if Second Master refines once more, I will be able to understand it completely."
Naturally, those words went against his true feelings.
He understood the principles behind Second Master Yang's shallow Alchemy techniques after watching them just once.
His starting point was simply too high. Back then, he had been called the Number One Genius in alchemy. Let alone the foremost pill refiner in a remote backwater like this, he did not even regard the pill refiners of the entire North Mountain County as worthy of his attention. If he could not even learn Second Master Yang's Alchemy techniques, then he could forget the words Alchemy Genius altogether.
Since he had been called a genius, let alone Second Master Yang's Alchemy techniques, he could learn techniques millions upon millions of times more profound after watching them once, grasping seven or eight parts out of ten.
Saying he had learned fifty percent was merely because he feared shocking everyone too much.
Yet he had still underestimated just how remote the Great Wilderness Hundred Clans were. Even though he claimed to have understood only fifty percent, Second Master Yang's eyes still widened as round as saucers, as though he had seen a ghost.
"Is that true?" Second Master Yang asked, his face full of shock.
"Second Master, don't listen to his nonsense. He is only grandstanding!" Seeing Yang Chen steal his limelight, Yang Heng immediately became displeased.
How could this be?
How could Yang Chen win Second Master Yang's favor?
"If you think I am boasting, why don't you come up and try?" Yang Chen said expressionlessly.
Even a clay Buddha had three parts of fiery temper. Yang Heng was playing with fire.
Hearing Yang Chen's words, Yang Heng immediately wilted. Yet making him let the matter rest was clearly not so easy. He gritted his teeth and said, "Second Master, Yang Chen was humiliated by the Wang family not long ago. He even lost the Purple Show Pill Furnace passed down through his family, and nearly hanged himself. How can the words of such a coward be believed?"
Do not slap a man in the face; do not expose a man's shortcomings.
Yang Heng had even exposed Yang Chen's shortcomings. Clearly, he had already decided to tear all civility apart.
This made Second Master Yang's face darken. He was deeply dissatisfied with Yang Heng's narrow-mindedness.
Yang Chen's expression also turned solemn. He cupped his hands and said, "Second Master, everything Yang Heng said is indeed true. I, Yang Chen, was humiliated by the Wang family, and I was once so disheartened that I wished only to die. But Yang Chen believes that among all the myriad affairs of this world, so long as I, a dignified man, walk upright and sit straight, it is never too late to repent. How can one judge a hero by a single moment of success or failure?"
"When I sought to end my life, I had already awakened completely. I even came to understand many principles that had once escaped me. In my heart, I secretly swore that I would never again live the life of a wastrel as I had before. Yet Yang Heng presses me step by step every time. Let me ask: if heroes are truly judged by a single moment of success or failure, then who among those present has never made a mistake? Must an entire life be judged by the mistakes made at that time?"
Yang Chen did not expose the matter of Yang Heng losing three hundred spirit stones.
At the root of it all, he simply did not wish to bully Yang Heng.
Moreover, if he exposed Yang Heng's old secrets now, Second Master Yang would inevitably think less of him.
His words struck exactly where they should. Second Master Yang was undoubtedly overjoyed. He suddenly slapped the table, making it shake with a loud clang, and declared with tremendous force, "Yang Chen, well said. Do not judge a hero by a single moment of success or failure. Good, good, good. I know a little about your past, but today I see that you truly possess the intent to awaken completely. When a prodigal son turns back, why fear that the road ahead will lack light? Yang Heng, on the other hand, you are both members of the Yang family, yet you press him so relentlessly. What sort of conduct is that?"
"When this old man was in the Yang family, I was not the most outstanding pill refiner either. There were many stronger than me. But what about now? This old man is the Yang family's banner of pill refinement. In the Yang family, who dares claim to refine pills better than I do? Yang Heng, you may indeed be the Yang family's Number One Genius in pill refinement now, but with a mindset like yours, how can you become a great vessel? In this regard, you should learn more from Yang Chen."
Second Master Yang's rebuke undoubtedly sent Yang Heng plunging from heaven into the depths below.
His body trembled. His gaze toward Yang Chen was filled with venom, and the seed of hatred was planted deep within his heart.
Yang Chen paid no mind whatsoever to Yang Heng's hatred. He merely said, "That Second Master can understand Yang Chen truly fills Yang Chen's heart with gratitude."
"Yang Chen, you are being too polite. This old man also harbored misgivings toward you earlier and made you stand while listening to my lesson. After hearing your words, this old man feels ashamed. Go sit with them and listen. I will refine another Clear Fire Pill for you. If you can understand it all, this old man will grant you whatever you want!" Second Master Yang promised grandly.
This filled Yang Chen with joy. Every young disciple of the Yang family wished to gain Second Master Yang's favor, and was that not precisely what he had come here to do today?
He hurriedly said respectfully, "Many thanks, Second Master. Yang Chen will certainly not disappoint Second Master's expectations!"
Quite a few people nearby looked at Yang Chen with both envy and jealousy. They had no idea what damned luck Yang Chen had stumbled into. Could it be that after being humiliated by the Wang family, Yang Chen's brain had been humiliated into opening up?
Most importantly, Second Master Yang had made himself perfectly clear.
"I will refine another Clear Fire Pill for you."
Yes, it was for Yang Chen alone, not for them!
The meaning was simple. Originally, Second Master Yang had not planned to refine a second Clear Fire Pill, but for Yang Chen's sake, he had made an exception.
What damned luck.
The crowd seethed with jealousy, yet they did not dare say it outright. At most, they could only cast cold looks at Yang Chen.
Yang Chen had long guessed that he would become the target of public criticism. He did not care, and continued carefully observing Second Master Yang's Alchemy techniques.
This time, Second Master Yang slowed his pace even further so that Yang Chen could study properly. After nearly half a shichen, the pill refinement ended. This time, Second Master Yang finished with delight in his heart, and the number of finished pills astonishingly reached three.
This delighted Second Master Yang beyond measure. He attributed the reason he had refined three Clear Fire Pills entirely to Yang Chen. Had he not seen such a fine seedling as Yang Chen, how could he have refined pills with such joy in his heart? If there were no joy in his heart and his emotions were mixed into the process, he would have refined at most two pills.
Yes, the results of pill refinement were closely linked to the pill refiner's emotions in many ways.
At this moment, Second Master Yang pinched the three Clear Fire Pills between his fingers, clasped his hands behind his back, and said, "Yang Chen, how much did you understand this time?"
Yang Chen immediately rose to his feet and said respectfully, "Fortunately, I have not failed my mission. Yang Chen believes that barring any mishap, I should have completely understood Second Master's Alchemy techniques and details."
"Oh? Good, tell me." Second Master Yang said nervously.
Yang Chen explained Second Master Yang's pill-refining steps and techniques in meticulous detail. He infused them with his own understanding, trying not to appear too astonishing while still satisfying Second Master Yang.
As Second Master Yang listened to Yang Chen, he grew increasingly delighted. His beard even seemed ready to leap with his excitement.
He clenched his fists and said excitedly, "Good, good, good! Well said! Yang Chen, from now on, this old man's Alchemy Room will be your home. Others may only come when I hold classes, but you are different. You may come to this Alchemy Room whenever you wish. From now on, this old man will teach you personally."
What a joke.
The Great Wilderness was a remote place. Though the hundred clans stood side by side, compared with the geniuses of the outside world, the so-called geniuses of the Great Wilderness Hundred Clans were little different from trash. He had once visited a prosperous city beyond the Great Wilderness and learned that there were Alchemy Geniuses there who needed only watch a pill refiner refine pills three to five times to grasp the techniques.
Those astonishing techniques had already left him utterly shaken, making him understand that the Great Wilderness Hundred Clans were completely out of place beside them and far, far inferior.
But what about Yang Chen?
After merely two viewings, he had understood everything. He had even further analyzed the principles behind Second Master Yang's Alchemy techniques and more. Such an Alchemy Genius had actually been born in their Yang family.
What a pity. Yang Chen had once lived the life of a wastrel, and no one had discovered such talent.
If Yang Chen had awakened to life's truths earlier, how could his achievements now be inferior to Yang Heng's?
Of course!
A prodigal son's return was worth more than gold. It was not too late, not too late!
Before you continue