"Chu Feng, don't step down yet. Stay right here with your test paper in hand. Let the entire class see your disastrously bad score!"
"Dead last in the entire grade—what an honor you've brought me!"
"Even the Dean personally mentioned your name!"
Xie Bing grew angrier the more she spoke, her expression becoming colder by the second.
"Tell me, besides gossiping behind people's backs, is there anything you're good at?"
Just thinking about how Chu Feng had almost exposed the yellow-brown stain on her pants not long ago made Xie Bing want to strangle this infuriating fellow.
He was useless at anything proper but adept at all sorts of underhanded tricks.
She was conducting an alchemy experiment when she accidentally soiled her pants, but her full focus was on the alchemy process at the time. Later, she had rushed to class without even realizing her pants were dirty.
"Teacher, I wasn't gossiping; I was just speaking the truth..." Chu Feng protested, his lips pouting in defiance.
The dignified Alchemy Venerate would never talk nonsense lightly. In fact, he had been considerate enough to leave her some dignity earlier; otherwise, he could have said much more.
"Still daring to argue... Do you believe I'll kick you out of here with one kick?" Xie Bing gritted her silver teeth in fury. She had never encountered such a bold and unruly student before. Among the boys, none had the nerve to talk back to her besides this one with abysmally poor grades.
Not a single one.
With just one cold glare, they would instantly cower like cats meeting a tiger, trembling in fear and behaving obediently.
"You—stand there and hold up your pathetic test paper with its mere score of five. Utter one more word and get ready to roll out of this classroom!"
Xie Bing was fuming with rage.
Chu Feng settled down this time, holding the test paper up in front of his chest with a smug grin, totally unbothered by the public humiliation.
"Such simple questions, and yet he still managed to mess them up—and not just a few but loads! His previous self really was embarrassingly bad!" He glanced at the paper, finding the questions laughably easy.
To him, they were akin to elementary school questions.
Or perhaps even preschool ones.
For someone like him, an Alchemy Venerate, he could ace them blindfolded.
As Teacher Xie began calling out names one by one, each student took their test paper and stepped down from the podium. Even those who only scored ten points strutted in front of Chu Feng, full of superiority.
One by one, they shot him looks of disdain.
"Lin Yuxin, 98 points!"
The classroom fell silent for a moment, followed by a wave of exclamations and admiration. All eyes honed in on the stunning class belle, Lin Yuxin, who stood tall and radiant like a fairy.
Chu Feng couldn't help but glance at her as well. This was the girl his previous self had secretly admired.
His eyes lit up instantly. She had a graceful figure, fair skin, and striking beauty, with her silky black hair draping over her shoulders. Her sparkling eyes seemed as though they could steal one's soul.
"She does have a few charms!"
But as someone who had been an Alchemy Venerate in his past life and had seen countless beauties, the most enchanting of all being the treacherous Chang'e—
He had developed strong immunity to women of beauty.
He merely cast Lin Yuxin a few appreciating glimpses, indifferent, and then withdrew his gaze.
Lin Yuxin felt a ripple of astonishment in her heart. She was surprised by Chu Feng's behavior.
Previously, Chu Feng's gaze toward her had been utterly infatuated.
Whenever she appeared, his eyes were filled with her, leaving no space for anything else.
But today, even though she passed right by him at such close proximity, he merely gave her a fleeting and casual glance.
"Could it be that I didn't do my makeup right today?"
Normally brimming with confidence, Lin Yuxin instinctively raised her slender jade-like hand to tuck back her glossy black hair and touched her delicate earlobe adorned with dazzling crystal earrings.
She maintained her usual aloof demeanor as she accepted her test paper.
"Lin Yuxin, you scored ninth in the entire grade this time—excellent work! Keep at it and aim for full marks next time to secure first place in the whole grade and bring glory to our class!"
Teacher Xie smiled and praised Lin Yuxin.
"The difference in treatment between a failing student and a top student is truly staggering!" Chu Feng muttered in displeasure.
Teacher Xie directed her icy glare at him, her face stern as a winter frost. In contrast, she was gentle and warm, cracking smiles for academically outstanding students like Liu Ping and Lin Yuxin.
"Then strive to become a top student and stop whining!" Teacher Xie scolded Chu Feng, fixing him with a glare.
"Come on, you two, hold your test papers up for the class to see what a stark contrast there is!" Teacher Xie made Lin Yuxin and Chu Feng stand side by side, holding up their respective test papers—one scored ninety-eight, the other five.
Her intent was to shame Chu Feng by highlighting the glaring disparity between them.
The entire class gazed at Chu Feng with derision, some pointing and others openly mocking him.
To everyone's shock, Chu Feng wasn't the least bit embarrassed; instead, he glanced at Lin Yuxin's paper and muttered, "Teacher, I've never heard of 'a stark contrast.' I've only heard of 'a match made in heaven!'"
Boom!
Ha-ha-ha...
The entire class erupted with laughter. Lin Yuxin's delicate face flushed red, a mix of shyness and irritation. "Who's paired with you?" She shot an angry glare at Chu Feng and moved a bit farther away.
"You—you ... utterly incorrigible! Sit down this instant!"
Teacher Xie was trembling with rage, her chest heaving. Initially, she had hoped to shame Chu Feng into feeling the urge to improve his studies.
But this rascal's quick tongue was undoubtedly second to none.
"A mere little girl, thinking she could disgrace this Alchemy Venerate? She's asking to be schooled!" Chu Feng smirked triumphantly. As he passed by Lin Yuxin, he casually remarked, "When refining Meridian Expansion Elixirs with Iron Armor Rhinoceros Horn as the main ingredient, adding White Phosphorus Powder will cause the furnace to explode."
With that, he strode back to his seat.
Lin Yuxin's beautiful face showed a hint of surprise; he had just given the exact correction to the answer she had gotten wrong.
This was from a fill-in-the-blank question she'd missed.
The question had been: When refining a first-tier Meridian Expansion Pill, with Iron Armor Rhinoceros Horn as one of the ingredients, using regular firewood, what auxiliary medicine should be added to refine it?
She had written White Scale Powder.
White Phosphorus Powder, often used in alchemy, combusts automatically at temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, momentarily generating heat surpassing 1,000 degrees. That temperature is just right for refining Iron Armor Rhinoceros Horn.
Lin Yuxin thought herself highly knowledgeable about the properties of various ingredients and auxiliary alchemical substances.
She couldn't figure out where she'd gone wrong on this question.
"Iron Armor Rhinoceros Horn combined with White Phosphorus Powder can't possibly cause an explosion! This failing student must be spinning nonsense to attract my attention!" Lin Yuxin thought pridefully.
How could a student who scored only five points on an exam get a question correct that she herself had answered incorrectly?
Her face flashed with disdain and cold arrogance, so much so that she didn't even glance at Chu Feng again.
...
After handing out all the test papers, Teacher Xie began explaining the answers to the students' wrong answers.
"Class, there's one question that everyone got wrong. It's not your fault; it means I didn't teach it well!"
"Please look at this fill-in-the-blank question. When refining a Meridian Expansion Pill with Iron Armor Rhinoceros Horn, using only regular firewood, how can we refine it?"
Every student straightened up and listened attentively to Teacher Xie's explanation.
Everyone except one person—the last-place student, who was slumped over sound asleep.
"The correct answer to this question is anthracite coal!"
The entire class erupted in commotion, crying foul. They had all been misled into thinking it was something to be added inside the pill furnace, never considering it could be something added outside.
Anthracite coal, when burned with firewood, can achieve temperatures of around 1,500 degrees—more than sufficient to refine Iron Armor Rhinoceros Horn.
"Most of you answered with White Phosphorus Powder. While it can indeed refine the horn, it will cause the furnace to explode. Do you know why?"
Even Teacher Xie had struggled to understand at first why White Phosphorus Powder couldn't be used.
Only after consulting the Academy's training director did she learn the reason.
Most of the students shook their heads, but one person nodded—none other than Chu Feng. Although he slumbered, his head kept dipping as if nodding in agreement, just like he was fishing.