Chapter 367: Mo Hongyi Fell into a Cesspit

"How did it go?"

Master Hongyun came up and couldn't help asking.

"It succeeded..."

Mu Yangfeng looked exhausted, but his eyes burned with intense fervor, especially when he glanced at President Liu not far away, full of admiration.

Only by actually refining pills with him did one realize how profound his understanding of alchemy truly was.

It was definitely not something that could be achieved solely by understanding medicinal properties.

Although they strictly followed the steps, several crises occurred midway.

It wasn't due to mistakes, but because his strength was too poor. In the Tianwu Kingdom, it was passable, but for refining fourth-grade pills, it was insufficient.

Refining pills required true qi to maintain the pill fire and control the furnace temperature.

Several times, due to true qi depletion, he nearly failed. If not for the many qi-restoring pills he had refined over the years, which came in handy at critical moments, he would have been exhausted to death on the spot.

Every time his true qi was insufficient and a crisis arose, President Liu would guide him with methods that were unimaginable yet maximally effective. Just when it seemed impossible to control, he would forcibly salvage the situation, creating miracles.

It was as if he could see the actual conditions inside the furnace and knew how to avoid an explosion.

Truly, how did he learn so much at such an age, possessing such extensive knowledge and alchemy skills!

As Master Hongyun had guessed, through this pill refining, he indeed learned a great deal. Both in knowledge and mentality, he had grown immensely. It was foreseeable that even without guidance, refining third-grade initial or even mid-grade pills would only be a matter of time!

"It succeeded?"

Seeing Mu's adoring gaze, Hongyun and Jiang Chen also looked at President Liu in the distance, utterly stunned.

They hadn't expected him to truly create a miracle—a feat that was hard to accept even when witnessed firsthand!

...

With the Cold Yin Pill successfully refined, there was nothing left to do. After resting a while to recover some strength, Zhang Xuan began to help Mu Xueqing activate the residual medicinal power in her body.

The previous medicinal liquid had been prepared by Mu Dan Master in advance, and she had adjusted to her peak state. Using silver needles, he channeled the Heaven's Path true qi into her body.

Under the pure true qi, the accumulated medicinal power in Mu Xueqing's body ignited like gasoline touched by a spark, burning fiercely. Vast energy surged along her meridians, traveling throughout her body.

Crackle!

Her body sounded like firecrackers, emitting a series of crisp sounds as many acupoints burst open.

After watching for a while, knowing that the medicinal liquid protected her and there would be no danger, Zhang Xuan took his leave from Mu Yangfeng and left the guild.

Finding a secluded spot, he transformed back into Yang Xuan's appearance and headed toward the mansion again.

Returning to the mansion, it was already late. Fortunately, Zhao Ya and the others hadn't slept yet. He handed over the refined Cold Yin Pill and told her to take it as soon as possible.

He also gave away the longsword gifted by the Beast Hall's King Beast Master earlier.

This sword was of a much higher grade than the one he had snapped, and it suited Zhao Ya well.

After handling all this, he felt utterly exhausted. Zhang Xuan lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

To be honest, he had underestimated the difficulty of refining the Cold Yin Pill. If not for the Heaven's Path Library updating content in real time, revealing the flaws in the process, the furnace would have likely exploded.

Even so, the intense mental strain and excessive consumption left him pale and weak.

It seemed he should avoid such over-level tasks in the future, or he might die without knowing how.

...

Waking up, the sun was already high in the sky.

After sufficient rest, Zhang Xuan felt energetic again.

He asked about Zhao Ya, who seemed to be still in seclusion. Instructing Sun Qiang, he left the mansion and headed toward Tianwu Academy.

He hadn't checked on Lu Chong for two days, wondering if he had been practicing properly. Now that he had time, he thought he'd go see.

"Teacher, you're here..."

Just as he reached the classroom, Meng Tao hurriedly came up to him.

"What's wrong?"

Zhang Xuan looked at him.

Meng Tao was usually steady; he wouldn't be waiting outside without reason.

"Teacher, Teacher Sun came looking for you early this morning and has been waiting for over an hour!" Meng Tao said hastily.

"Sun Cheng?"

Zhang Xuan was startled.

Wasn't that Mo Hongyi? Why was he looking for him now?

Pushing open the door and entering the room, he indeed saw Mo Hongyi sitting quietly on a chair by the classroom, calmly sipping tea.

"You're finally here. I've been waiting so long..."

Seeing him enter, Mo Hongyi smiled wryly.

This guy was really exasperating. To pass the two-star master teacher assessment, he practically soaked in the classroom every day, not daring to come out, teaching at least four or five hours a day to build trust with students.

But this guy came and went as he pleased, spending less than half an hour a day—yet his students were utterly devoted and completely admired him!

They even fought for his reputation against "Teacher Zhang's" students...

Comparing people was truly infuriating!

One had to admit defeat.

"Let's talk inside."

With students outside, it wasn't convenient to discuss much. Zhang Xuan gestured and walked with Mo Hongyi into a small room.

"I came for two things."

After exchanging pleasantries, Mo Hongyi began: "First, the dean sent me as a mediator, asking you to arrange a time to meet with Teacher Zhang, have tea and a meal together, to avoid any conflict from the student competition."

"Meet with Teacher Zhang?" Zhang Xuan blinked, amused and exasperated: "I definitely can't agree..."

Arrange a meeting with himself? And have tea and a meal?

How would that work?

If he agreed, he would surely be exposed.

"Who told you to be so high-profile..." Seeing this record-breaker finally at a loss, Mo Hongyi laughed.

If you're going to disguise yourself as an ordinary teacher, then do that. But no, you had to become the president of the Physician Guild, and your students insisted on competing with "Teacher Zhang's" students...

Being so high-profile, it's hard not to attract attention!

This predicament was of his own making.

"Alright, enough of that. I know you won't agree. But judging by the dean's attitude, my persuasion won't work; he'll come personally. Then it'll be hard to refuse!"

Mo Hongyi shook his head, not dwelling on the issue, and said: "Let's talk about the second thing. After these few days, I think my student trust is close to forty. I want to return to the Master Teacher Hall for testing and pass the assessment as soon as possible."

"I see your students trust you a lot too; you've probably already exceeded forty. How about we go together? Once we pass, and outsiders know that Teacher Liu is Teacher Zhang, you can shed this identity, avoid awkwardness, and stop your students from fighting among themselves!"

"Hmm..."

After a moment's hesitation, Zhang Xuan nodded.

The Master Teacher Hall had given them the condition to achieve over forty trust from students within ten days using their disguised identities.

This time frame was just a range; if they reached it early, they could naturally return to the Master Teacher Hall for the final hurdle.

However, if the test failed, the students would know their true identities, and they couldn't continue the disguise, meaning the two-star master teacher assessment would be unsuccessful.

After these days of guidance, not to mention Mu Xueqing and Lu Chong, even Meng Tao and the others almost obeyed him unconditionally. This level of trust, even if not exactly forty, was close enough to complete the assessment.

Seeing him agree, Mo Hongyi smiled: "Then it's settled. Tomorrow morning, we'll go to the Master Teacher Hall together!"

"Alright!" Zhang Xuan replied.

The matter wasn't complicated. After discussing it, Mo Hongyi didn't stay long. He turned and left to continue teaching, making his final push.

Returning to the classroom, Zhang Xuan guided Meng Tao and the others in their cultivation for a while, then asked: "Where's Lu Chong? Why didn't he come to class today?"

"He should be cultivating. I'll go find him..."

Meng Tao replied and turned to leave.

Lu Chong was a student of the academy, so he naturally lived in the student dormitory.

Knowing it would take some time to fetch him, Zhang Xuan wasn't in a hurry. He sat down, instructed everyone to practice according to his guidance, and poured himself a cup of tea.

As he raised the cup to drink, his lips touched the rim, and his brow suddenly furrowed.

"Ground dry powder?"

Although he hadn't been assessed as a poison master, having studied the Poison Hall's books, he already possessed the skills of a two-star peak poison master.

Before even touching the tea, he detected that it contained a potent poison.

Ground dry powder was a two-star peak poison, effective even against Zongshi realm peak experts. Though not lethal, it could cause complete loss of strength, vomiting, and diarrhea, making one miserable.

Who would poison his teacup?

And what were they trying to achieve?

Frowning, he was about to ask who had touched his tea set when he saw Meng Tao, who had just left, rush back in, looking strange and flustered.

"Teacher Liu, something bad!"

"What's wrong? Did something happen to Lu Chong?"

Seeing his expression, Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow.

He had sent him to find Lu Chong, and now he looked like this. Could it be that the kid hadn't followed his cultivation method and caused trouble?

If during the disguise he caused a student to have an accident, go into qi deviation, or even die...

Not only would he fail the two-star alchemist assessment, but he might also be forever barred from becoming a master teacher.

In the past, with the Heaven's Path Library, whether he passed the master teacher assessment or not didn't matter much.

But now, if he didn't reach nine-star master teacher before thirty, the congenital fetal poison would activate. He had to pass the assessment!

Even if there were other ways, he had to find them first...

If he couldn't find them, they were useless. Currently, this was the most reliable path.

For others, this goal was too difficult, almost impossible, but for him, as long as he cultivated properly and quickly found the corresponding cultivation techniques, there was a good chance of success.

"It shouldn't be. I left a strand of Heaven's Path true qi in him to protect his heart meridian, and he got through the hardest part. He couldn't have had an accident, right?"

Before leaving, he had checked. Lu Chong had his true qi inside him, and even the most difficult first hurdle was overcome. His life was basically safe. How could something go wrong?

"It's not Lu Chong!" Meng Tao shook his head, then a strange expression appeared on his face: "It's Teacher Sun Cheng. He, he..."

"What happened to him?" Zhang Xuan looked at him.

Meng Tao said awkwardly: "He, he fell into a cesspit..."