It turned out that Bu Wuchen had arranged all of this in advance!
The moment he, Xia Nuoyi, and Song Hechuan entered the academy gates, they split up-
Bu Wuchen timed things carefully and appeared outside the Pill Hall at just the right moment.
Then, using himself as bait, he lured Lin Taoshu into getting carried away and spouting outrageous remarks;
Lin Taoshu laid bare everything about how he had deliberately made things difficult for Bu Wuchen.
At that very moment, Song Hechuan successfully brought Dean Zhou outside the Pill Hall under the pretext of "paying a visit to the alchemical prodigy Bu Wuchen";
He deliberately let the dean witness the entire "show" with his own eyes!
Judging by the situation so far, this act of revenge had gone quite smoothly.
While Lin Taoshu, still in the dark, was secretly bewildered and suspicious, Song Hechuan had already clasped Bu Wuchen's hand.
His face brimming with excitement, he said, "Master Bu, you really are a student of Blood Dragon City Academy?"
"When I first heard the news, I was completely stunned."
"Who would believe that a student still studying in Blood Dragon City Academy's Pill Hall could possess such astonishing pill-refining skills?"
"To tell you the truth, I came today specifically to confirm this with Dean Zhou."
"Who would have thought you really were a student of this Pill Hall!"
With that, Song Hechuan turned toward Dean Zhou beside him and said with heartfelt admiration, "Your academy truly is a place of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. Most impressive!"
Lin Taoshu simply could not bear to listen any longer. Frowning, he said, "Boss Song, you've been thoroughly duped!"
"Ever since this Bu Wuchen entered the academy, his cultivation realm has been sliding downhill;"
"Not long ago, he even dropped rank after rank until he fell into the 'beginner class'!"
"How could trash like him possibly have anything to do with this 'alchemical master' you speak of?"
At those words, Song Hechuan's previously radiant face immediately darkened.
He looked furiously at Lin Taoshu and rebuked him. "Master Lin, why would you say such a thing?"
"Could it be that your student is so outstanding that he has eclipsed you, his teacher, and you are maliciously belittling him for it?"
"Isn't such behavior utterly despicable?"
"What? I..."
The other man's rebukes left Lin Taoshu utterly stunned. He felt as though his brain could no longer keep up!
Just then, Bu Wuchen gave a bitter smile. "Heh, Boss Song, you've misunderstood."
"With my meager abilities, how could I be worthy of entering Blood Dragon City Academy's Pill Hall?"
"How would I dare call myself 'a member of the hallowed Pill Hall'!"
Song Hechuan feigned astonishment and obligingly asked, "Huh? W-why is that?"
Bu Wuchen curled his lips. "Heh, because this Master Lin standing before us, whose arrogance towers to the heavens, said that as long as he remained the Pill Hall's 'chief master,' he would never let trash like me pass the entrance examination!"
"But it's no big deal."
"Since Blood Dragon City Academy's Pill Hall won't accept me, I'll just try my luck in another town."
With that, Bu Wuchen turned and strode away with casual grace, looking so resolute that even ten oxen could not drag him back!
Just as he passed Dean Zhou, a strong, withered hand suddenly caught his arm.
"Young man, don't be in such a hurry to leave."
"It's true that Lin Taoshu is the Pill Hall's 'chief master';"
"But he alone cannot decide Blood Dragon City Academy's stance!"
Thanks to Bu Wuchen's deliberate arrangements, Zhou Wan'en had heard most of the arrogant remarks Lin Taoshu had blurted out earlier while carried away with himself.
The dean had already been seething!
Moreover, when Song Hechuan visited him, he had followed Bu Wuchen's instructions and specifically brought along the high-grade mystic pills Bu Wuchen had refined just yesterday.
As the only alchemical master in Blood Dragon City whose mystic pill-refining skills had reached the "Mystic Realm," Zhou Wan'en naturally recognized at a glance that every mystic pill Song Hechuan had brought was a perfect-grade treasure!
Could some pill refiner have broken past the peak of the Mortal Realm and reached the Mystic Realm?
Zhou Wan'en's thoughts stirred. But that doesn't make sense...
In Blood Dragon City, aside from me, Lin Taoshu has the highest level of pill-refining skill.
With his temperament, if he really had become a Mystic Realm pill refiner, he would certainly have made sure the entire city knew at once!
Besides, Song Hechuan knows Lin Taoshu. When it comes to mystic pill refiners of any renown in Blood Dragon City, Song Hechuan knows no fewer of them than I do.
Could this alchemical master be an outsider?
While Zhou Wan'en was pondering this, he heard Song Hechuan say that this master's surname was Bu, and his full name was Bu Wuchen.
He also said that he had learned the man was a student at Blood Dragon City Academy!
That was why Song Hechuan had made a special trip to see him, saying he hoped Dean Zhou could act as a bridge and help him establish a good relationship with this genius pill refiner;
If he could get the young man to cooperate with his Song Clan Pill Workshop, all the better!
Song Hechuan's motives were quite reasonable.
Thus, after hearing him out at the time, Zhou Wan'en had suspected nothing;
Instead, he had become too excited to sit still!
He thought, An alchemical genius like this must have already been specially recruited into the academy's Pill Hall, right?
I wonder which attendant from the three great lineages recruited him?
Such wonderful news, yet they haven't even breathed a word of it to their dean!
Mm, I see. Those three old rascals must still be fighting over the credit;
They must be planning to tell me once the dust has settled, right?
The more Zhou Wan'en thought about it, the more excited he became-
He would certainly gather every resource at his disposal to vigorously nurture such an alchemical prodigy!
Whether Blood Dragon City Academy could achieve outstanding results in this year's "Hundred Schools League" would depend on this young genius...
Thus, without a moment's delay, Dean Zhou brought Song Hechuan along to the Pill Hall to meet him.
Who could have imagined that what he would see was Lin Taoshu making things difficult for that young genius at every turn?!
Zhou Wan'en soon worked out what was going on-
I heard that a student named Bu Wuchen defeated and killed a young master from a collateral branch of the Lin Lineage in the wager arena. That young man was also a student in Blood Dragon City's advanced class.
No wonder Lin Taoshu is deliberately targeting him like this...
But the point is, a fair wager duel in the academy's martial arena-especially a life-and-death duel sealed with a blood contract-leaves life and death to fate!
Afterward, I spoke with the instructor who refereed the match. Bu Wuchen had broken no rules or prohibitions whatsoever;
It was your Lin Lineage's people who flouted the rules, both during and after the match!
Originally, considering that your Lin Lineage had lost a collateral-branch genius, and that nothing disastrous had ultimately happened that day, I turned a blind eye and let the matter go.
Who could have imagined that your Lin Lineage would take an inch and demand a mile?
What utter bastards!!
For a moment, the old dean's fury toward Lin Taoshu reached its peak. He sneered, "Heh, Vice Dean Xia was right;"
"You certainly wield tremendous authority, Lin Taoshu!"
"With a single sentence, you arbitrarily stripped a student of his right to take the alchemy examination?!"
Buzzz~
As he spoke, Zhou Wan'en, now truly enraged, unleashed the full pressure of his mystic power without holding anything back!
The terrifying pressure of the Divine Communion Realm surged toward Lin Taoshu alone from every direction, crushing him straight to the ground in a seated heap...