But before Xi Yu could react, Professor Li Yaowan had already rushed to Li Yang’s side, his abacus clicking as his beady eyes blinked, his expression unexpectedly sincere.
“Li Yang, join the Alchemy Department. Zhongdu’s future in alchemy needs you!”
The crowd: ???
What the heck?
Was this old man losing his mind?
The professors quickly realized what was happening.
They hurried over to Li Yang’s desk to examine her pill.
Even the assistant instructor was curious, leaning forward to see what was going on.
One professor gasped. “It really is a first-tier high grade!”
Another professor looked up at Li Yang and asked, “Li Yang, did you purify this?”
Li Yang: “Uh, what else would it be?” The question made her feel awkward.
Li Yao Wan shoved aside the clueless colleague with a burst of force, and with a gleam in her eyes, she looked at Li Yang.
“Join the Alchemy Department! I will make sure to nurture you well. Together, as master and disciple, we will undoubtedly dominate the world of alchemy! We will punch through the stars with our pills, kick down the Jiang family’s pharmaceutical empire, and hold the very lifeblood of Chinese alchemy tightly in our hands!”
A few professors, finally realizing what was happening, quickly shifted from Li Yao Wan’s wild promises to more practical offers.
“Li Yang, if you become my disciple, I’ll give you a fourth-tier high-level alchemy furnace worth a thousand merit points!”
“Li Yang, not only will I give you the furnace, but I will also cover your starlight carbon consumption for an entire year!”
One professor, seeming worried she wouldn’t understand the value, explained, “You have little experience in alchemy, so your starlight carbon usage will be quite high. Over a year, you’ll use up at least a thousand merit points’ worth of starlight carbon!”
The last professor clenched his teeth, pulling out his trump card:
“Li Yang, I will provide you with two thousand merit points annually for your studies!”
Two thousand merit points!
That was equivalent to twenty million Chinese Yuan!
If Li Yang had not already resisted the sweet-talking tactics of Shen Binghua, she might have been tempted to kneel and call this professor “Master.”
Meanwhile, the surrounding students were watching in awe, drooling with envy.
One student couldn’t help but whisper, “But Li Yang’s alchemy talent is rated F…”
Li Yao Wan immediately interjected, “The equipment is faulty. I’ll have it recalibrated tomorrow.”
The professors were momentarily taken aback.
Li Yang hadn’t expected that just refining a high-level first-tier pill would excite these alchemy professors so much.
Refining was difficult, wasn’t it?
High-level first-tier was quite common, though.
The process of refining alchemy pills wasn’t something extremely difficult to master, in fact, it was a skill that almost everyone could learn.
In a sense, it could be said that it was something anyone could do.
But it was precisely because it was something everyone could do that it could truly demonstrate one’s talent.
For the associate professors in the classroom, purifying a poor-quality pill would yield at most a high-level first-tier result.
What really got them excited was that Li Yang did it with almost no loss.
This was intriguing.
Li Yang wasn’t just talented—she might have had an extraordinary encounter.
It was highly likely that she was the recipient of the Alchemy Department’s fateful inheritance!
The lower-tier students didn’t understand, but the six-tier peak associate professors knew exactly what that meant.
Even if Li Yang’s talent was truly F-rank, so what?
She was “The Chosen One of Alchemy.”
Just these five words alone were enough to drive them mad with excitement.
Though Li Yang didn’t fully grasp the situation, she had heard her teacher mention the term “Chosen One.”
She vaguely guessed that the professors had misunderstood her.
“Teachers…”
Li Yang spoke up, her voice calm and polite, “Thank you for your kindness, but I have already joined the Agricultural Science Department. I cannot join the Alchemy Department now, so…”
“The transfer process is simple; just sign here,” one of the professors interjected.
Li Yang shook her head, her expression serious.
“I am the direct disciple of Dean Si. I will not betray my master.”
The students, including the Alchemy Department’s teaching assistant, didn’t understand the significance of her words, but the associate professors’ faces darkened in disappointment.
Who was Si Kui?
She was currently the top figure in Zhongdu Military Academy, second only to the principal.
This semi-supreme expert from the Natural Sciences was someone who could defeat even a nine-tier supreme.
Her direct disciple was someone no one could take away.
Li Yao Wan was always a step ahead of others.
Twirling her abacus, she said, “Then how about you become my minor disciple?”
The other professors quickly jumped in, offering their own terms.
“Li Yang, you may not know, but as a minor disciple, you can only learn up to second-tier alchemy, and to learn further, you would have to pay high patent fees…”
Not only Li Yang but everyone else was listening attentively.
Actually, it wasn’t just for minor disciples; even the Alchemy Department’s students had to pay patent fees.
After all, creating new formulas was costly, and without compensation, no one would bother researching anymore.
Of course, patent protections did expire after a while.
Many first and second-tier formulas no longer had restrictions and could be freely used by students.
After introducing the patent fees, one of the professors continued, “Li Yang, if you become my minor disciple, you only need to pay 10% of the patent fees for the formulas under my name!”
The other professors eagerly chimed in, showcasing the number and quality of their formulas…
But only Li Yao Wan didn’t mention these things.
Instead, she narrowed her eyes and focused intently on Li Yang.
“Twenty years ago, I acquired the 716 Research Institute. It was once part of the Agricultural Science Department.”
Li Yang froze.
She looked at the elderly woman, whose face didn’t seem trustworthy at all.
Li Yao Wan didn’t elaborate further, simply asking, “Li Yang, would you be interested in becoming my minor disciple?”
Li Yang stared at her, then slowly smiled.
“It would be a great honor.”
Li Yao Wan didn’t look trustworthy, nor did her actions suggest she was a “good person.”
But one thing was clear: she was clever.
The benefit of being smart was that as long as the interests aligned, things would be easy to resolve.
Li Yang had her own plans in joining the Alchemy Department, and Li Yao Wan had her reasons as well.
As long as their interests didn’t conflict, they could work together for mutual gain.
The other professors were still persistent, but Li Yao Wan had already grabbed Li Yang’s hand and said, “Come with me to my office. I have the contract for minor disciples there.”
And so, Li Yang was led away by her, leaving the group in the examination room staring at each other in confusion.
Among the students who had participated in the exam, one tentatively spoke up.
“Professor, may I join your sect?”
The professor answered, “For minor disciples under me, the fee is 500 merit points per year.”
The student, thrilled, immediately replied, “Professor, I… I…”
The teaching assistant realized the student had misunderstood and smiled while explaining, “This student, if you want to become a minor disciple under Professor Sun, you need to pay 500 merit points per year.”
The student: “???”
In the end, Professor Sun took in Xi Yu, sighing deeply, “A mid-tier first-tier… well, that’s not bad.”
Had he not seen Li Yang’s exceptional purifying efficiency, he would have been pleased to have found a gem in Xi Yu.
…But he could only feel an emptiness inside, his mind occupied with thoughts of:
“How could Li Yang be taken by the Agricultural Science Department? She was clearly the Alchemy Department’s fateful one! Does this mean that the heavens are going to wipe out our Alchemy Department?”
As for Xi Yu, he looked pale and on the verge of collapse, as if he were the pitiful soul who had lost 50 merit points.
His ambition to embarrass Li Yang had been crushed before it even started.
Li Yang, cautious as always, immediately started yelling in her mental space as soon as she was out of everyone’s sight.
“Teacher, teacher, Quinoa calls for teacher!”
The sunflower-like lady responded dismissively, “Quinoa sounds awful. Choose another name.”
Li Yang: “?”
Si Kui spoke up, “How about ‘Little Pear Blossom’?”
Li Yang: “Not bold enough!”
Si Kui suggested, “How about ‘Big Pear Blossom’?”
She almost let her teacher distract her, but quickly brought herself back and asked, “The name doesn’t matter. Whatever you like. But, is Professor Li Yao Wan familiar to you?”
Si Kui responded, “What ‘you’re done for’ professor?”
Li Yang: “Uhh…” She quickly wrote those words in her mental space.
After thinking for a moment, Si Kui finally said, “You mean Li Yao, right?”
“Li Yao?”
Li Yang immediately asked, “Teacher, do you know her?”
Si Kui nodded.
“Hmm, 28 years ago, she was at the frontlines during the war against the Fenglie Clan.”
Li Yang perked up.
“So, is she an enemy or an ally?”
Si Kui thought for a moment and replied, “Neither enemy nor ally. But she cares deeply about the Alchemy Department and won’t act against you under my watch.”
She paused before continuing, “Back then, she volunteered to go to the frontlines because her direct disciple was killed by a seven-tier master from the Fenglie Clan. To avenge her disciple, she self-destructed her own life’s alchemy furnace. Although she killed that seven-tier master, she could never reach the level of master herself.”
Li Yang: “!”
She glanced at the hunched little old woman ahead of her and found it hard to believe that someone so untrustworthy-looking could sacrifice their future for a disciple.
The two had reached the door of a golden office.
On the door, a couplet read:
[ Refining pills is not as good as refining gold;
Saving the world is not as good as saving the market; the horizontal inscription says: Money is family. ]
As they entered the office, Li Yang was almost blinded by the opulence.
Outside, the room was golden, but inside it was the embodiment of jewel-like brilliance.
Li Yao Wan turned to Li Yang with a fiery gaze and asked, “Li Yang, would you mind refining a Star-Attracting Pill for me in front of my eyes?”
Li Yang immediately understood her true intent. It wasn’t the refining process that piqued her curiosity; it was her desire to know more about Li Yang’s “fate.”
Now was the time to discuss terms.
With a smile, Li Yang replied, “Professor Li, why don’t you first show me your 716 Research Institute?”