Chapter 262: Instructing Mo Yu

"The rewards for each competition are different, but they are all very generous. Most importantly, you gain the attention of the Beast Hall, and might even get a chance to study in a higher kingdom."

Hearing the question, Hall Master Feng quickly said, "The last champion received a course jade token from a three-star master and the secret manual of the Flowing Water Beast Taming Method."

"And you call this generous?" Zhang Xuan was speechless.

He had thought the champion would receive some treasure or something, but a course jade token from a three-star master and a beast taming manual... none of it was useful to him.

After a moment's hesitation, Zhang Xuan asked, "If I win the championship but don't want their rewards, can I exchange them for something else?"

"That depends on what you want to exchange!" Hall Master Feng looked at him strangely.

A course jade token from a three-star master was priceless even to him. Could this fellow still be unsatisfied? Did he want something even more precious?

"Exchange for some cultivation techniques," Zhang Xuan said.

"Cultivation techniques? And 'some'?"

The three beast tamers' faces were full of huge question marks.

Did he think cultivation techniques were like cabbages? Asking for... some at the drop of a hat?

Zhang Xuan nodded. "Yes, for example, cultivation techniques for the Grandmaster realm. The more, the better. Ideally, over a thousand volumes."

"Over a thousand?"

The group staggered.

They had thought 'some' meant a dozen or so at most. Over a thousand... he was trying to ransack the entire Beast Hall.

"What... level?" Hall Master Feng couldn't help asking.

Techniques were graded. High-level ones were hard to come by even singly, let alone over a thousand.

"Oh, no level requirements. Any level will do. I only care about quantity, the more the better."

"This..."

Everyone was stunned.

If he didn't care about level, then... they weren't worth much! In first- and second-rate kingdoms, Grandmaster-level manuals were precious, but in a titled kingdom, they weren't worth much!

As long as you had enough gold coins, you could buy them... This fellow actually wanted to exchange a three-star master's course jade token for them?

Wasn't that a terrible waste!

A three-star master, even in a titled kingdom, was a top-tier figure. Countless people would break their heads to attend his course, yet he wanted to exchange the jade token for some useless techniques?

Didn't that feel like buying the casket and returning the pearl?

After all, a cultivator could only practice one technique. Switching required starting over, which was extremely troublesome.

If he wanted some powerful techniques, that would be one thing. But not caring about level... even if he got a mess of them, he couldn't practice them!

Understanding this, the three beast tamers all looked at him wide-eyed. This Beast Tamer Zhang's taste... was truly peculiar!

"If you don't require a specific level, such techniques are easy to find. It should be possible... provided you win the Beast Taming Competition championship."

After a moment's hesitation, Hall Master Feng nodded.

There had been precedents for exchanging prizes in the Beast Taming Competition. As long as the value didn't exceed too much and they could provide it, it was nothing to win over a beast taming prodigy.

"Alright, I agree!" Zhang Xuan replied.

As his cultivation level increased, techniques became harder to collect. He would eventually go to a titled kingdom, and having someone to guide him was naturally best.

"Great! Then we'll meet in half a year at the Royal City of Xuan!"

Hearing his agreement, the three beast tamers' eyes lit up simultaneously, and they clenched their fists.

Their Xuanluo Mountain Range had always come in last in every competition. With this genius beast tamer joining, perhaps they could make a stunning debut and leave the other Beast Halls dumbfounded.

After discussing the Beast Taming Competition and chatting for a while, the three masters, seeing that they couldn't get anything out of him, gave up.

This fellow, whenever they touched on key points, would play dumb and pretend not to know, making them gnash their teeth in frustration but unable to do anything.

It was one thing if he didn't understand other things.

As the senior disciple of a master and a master apprentice, he should at least know how to assess masters, right? Even if he didn't, he should know how to improve his mental state scale!

But the result... he knew nothing when asked!

Fine, they endured it!

His medical skills were so brilliant, but when asked about some simple pharmacological knowledge... he was completely clueless!

They continued to endure!

But... he was already a two-star beast tamer, yet he didn't even know how to ride a flying beast, and he was unclear about the Beast Hall's departments...

If they could still endure that, then asking about the size of the Beast Forest, how many beast taming apprentices were there, how many a beast tamer could take on...

This act was a bit too much!

If he didn't want to talk to them, he could just say so. Pretending to know nothing and be unable to do anything...

Was that interesting?

Just now, when you were taming beasts, curing illnesses, and refining pills to save face, you were proficient in everything and capable of anything, but now you're like this. Anyone who doesn't understand would think you have a split personality...

After chatting for a while, the three great beast tamers couldn't take it anymore and quickly took their leave.

"Hey, don't rush off... we haven't finished talking!" Zhang Xuan hurriedly called out.

Whoosh!

The three figures flickered, instantly employing their martial techniques, and before their words faded, they had vanished without a trace.

Whoever wants to chat with him can chat with him; I still want to live a bit longer and don't want to die of anger here...

"Chatting for a while has broadened my horizons quite a bit."

Unaware of what the three were thinking, Zhang Xuan sighed with emotion and also stood up.

Hall Master Feng and the others, though only beast tamers, knew extremely clearly about all the surrounding kingdoms and the divisions of power, and could even discuss many professions, truly opening his eyes.

It seemed that this world, though lacking technology and modernization, had a knowledge system that had evolved over countless years, even more profound and solid than his previous life.

He had been transmigrated for less than twenty days in total, still had the mindset of his previous life, and was unclear about many things. Chatting with these old hands who had become seasoned indeed benefited him greatly.

After two consecutive days of travel and an afternoon of fussing at the Beast Hall, Zhang Xuan was also a bit tired. Under the guidance of an apprentice, he headed toward the mansion assigned to him.

Before reaching the entrance, he saw a graceful figure standing outside, as quiet as a painting.

"Mo Yu?"

Zhang Xuan was startled.

It was none other than the talented girl who had been sulking with him all day, the third princess of the Tianwu Kingdom, Mo Yu.

"Beast Tamer Zhang!" Seeing him arrive, Miss Mo Yu looked over.

"Miss, are you waiting for me?" Zhang Xuan looked over in confusion.

After dealing with the matter of the Roaring Heaven Beast, it was almost dark, and then he chatted with the three great masters for an hour or two. Now it was about ten o'clock at night. What was she doing waiting at the door?

"Yes, there's something I simply can't figure out, and I wanted to come and ask in person." Miss Mo Yu gritted her teeth.

"Oh?"

"Today, the furnace had already exploded. How were you certain that the pill inside was already refined?"

Miss Mo Yu looked over.

After returning, she couldn't figure it out no matter how she thought.

As a formal alchemist, she knew that forming a pill was extremely difficult—too early wouldn't work, too late wouldn't work either. To form the pill at the same moment the furnace exploded, even having seen it with her own eyes, she found it hard to believe.

It was almost like a myth.

"Luck!" Zhang Xuan said casually.

With the Heavenly Dao Library monitoring in real time, he knew exactly when the furnace would explode and when the pill would form, but he couldn't say these things, so he had to play dumb.

"Luck?" Miss Mo Yu shook her head. "There's no luck in alchemy! I hope Beast Tamer Zhang can enlighten me. Mo Yu is sincerely grateful."

As a genius who had studied many professions, Mo Yu had a strong thirst for knowledge.

Originally, she didn't care about this Zhang Xuan at all, but after returning and carefully recalling the many steps of alchemy, she was shocked to find that his control over pharmacology and the furnace fire was far inferior even to her teacher!

And her teacher was a peak two-star alchemy grandmaster, a notable figure even in the Tianwu Kingdom.

A guy under twenty, even surpassing her teacher... was that possible?

So... in her view, he must have used some technique.

After thinking back and forth, she simply couldn't figure it out, so she came specifically to ask, hoping to get some insight from him.

"You want to learn?"

He had thought that a few vague words would make her back off, but instead she looked serious. Zhang Xuan was a bit surprised.

"Yes! I really want to know, and I want to learn." Mo Yu looked at him earnestly.

"Hmm."

Seeing her attitude, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but nod.

Without the airs of a princess, willing to admit fault and ask when she didn't understand—no wonder she had so many professions at such a young age. This Miss Mo Yu indeed had exceptional qualities.

"Since you want to learn, I'll tell you about it."

For someone so eager to learn, Zhang Xuan was not stingy. He clasped his hands behind his back and slowly began: "Alchemy, though it involves fusing medicines to better bring out their properties, during the process, you can't just focus on that; you also need to incorporate many other things."

"The furnace that exploded in your case, if I'm not mistaken, was made from refined cold iron from the Cold Gold Mountain in the northwest of Tianwu. It underwent nine processes and was forged for a full forty-nine days. Though not crafted by a formal artifact refiner, it came from the hands of a famous five-stripe craftsman, tempered through a thousand hammers, extremely sturdy. However..."

He changed his tone: "You have used this furnace for alchemy eighteen times, during which there were seven instances of signs of explosion. Though you forcibly suppressed them with great power, it caused significant damage to the furnace itself, with many cracks and lines inside. Even that might be tolerable, but if I'm not mistaken, a month ago, you also used it to refine a [Bingpo Pill]. This thing clashes cold and heat, and the forces collide, greatly affecting the furnace itself."

"Under normal circumstances, you would need true qi protection to prevent damage to the furnace, but you didn't do that. So, this furnace had some inherent problems. Even if it hadn't exploded this time, it wouldn't have lasted much longer."

"After discussing the furnace, let's continue with the environment of the alchemy just now. It's autumn, and it was evening, already a bit cold. When you started alchemy, you didn't properly heat the furnace but directly increased the heat, wanting to show off your control over the flame. Though it looked dazzling, in reality, it was just further damaging the furnace..."

Zhang Xuan smiled as he said this and looked up at the girl before him: "Miss Mo Yu, I wonder if what I said... is correct?"

"This..."

Mo Yu's delicate body trembled, and she was dumbfounded.