Seeing that Chu Fan remained silent, Lin Anlan lowered her head in shame.
“I… I’m sorry, Teacher… I will work harder…”
“Hahahaha, hahahahaha!”
Heartless mocking laughter erupted from the crowd.
“Shut up!”
Chu Fan roared.
He then held up the pill in his hand for everyone to see.
“This is a Three-Pattern Marrow Cleansing Pill. Even among Grade 3 pills, it is considered top-grade. In a large enough auction house, it could fetch 100 silver taels! What is so funny?!”
A girl with a pretty face in the crowd curled her lip in disdain.
“Tch, only 100 taels? The money that falls out of my clothes is more than that.”
“Is that so? Then come out here and let me see it fall.”
“What?”
The girl looked like she couldn’t believe her ears.
“I said, get over here right now. I want to see if 100 silver taels can actually fall out of your clothes!”
“You—what are you being so mean for?! What right do you have to speak to me like that? Do you even know who my father is?!”
“I don’t care who your father is. Get out here!”
The girl’s eyes clouded with tears of grievance.
She clenched her fists and glared at Chu Fan with dissatisfaction.
A moment later, she turned and ran out of the pill room.
Two or three of her friends followed after her.
“Hey! Xiaoya!”
Several people chased after her.
Chu Fan did not stop them, allowing them to leave.
As the saying goes, ‘rotten wood cannot be carved.’
In the outer sect, the only one Chu Fan had seen so far worth cultivating was Lin Anlan.
He turned and led Lin Anlan to the side, whispering, “Anlan, you did very well. As for this Marrow Cleansing Pill, can you sell it to me?”
“Ah… no… no…”
“Is that a no?”
“You don’t need to buy it, Teacher. I’ll just give it to you.”
“That won’t do. Here is a gold ingot. Keep it safe, and don’t let anyone with bad intentions see it.”
Chu Fan pressed a piece of gold into Lin Anlan’s hand.
“This isn’t right! This is too much, Teacher! I can’t take this!”
Lin Anlan was keenly aware.
‘Teacher isn’t buying this Marrow Cleansing Pill because he needs it. He saw the hardship of my life and wanted an excuse to give me money.’
After all, he was an alchemist who possessed the Heavenly Sun Flame.
With his strength, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he could easily refine ten Three-Pattern Marrow Cleansing Pills at will.
‘As for his character, it has been personally certified by the Heavenly Flame. There is no doubt about it; he must be doing this to help me.’
Lin Anlan felt certain of this.
“The upcoming lessons will be very expensive, and I won’t be providing materials for the students. Do you plan to be absent? Or just stand there and watch?”
“I…”
“Hmm?”
“Then… thank you, Teacher… I will study hard and not let you down!”
Lin Anlan bowed deeply to Chu Fan.
Seeing this, Chu Fan reached out and placed his hand gently on her head, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the three girls watched this scene with varying reactions.
It could best be described by a single sentence from Su Xiaotang.
Su Xiaotang looked at the two of them, whose chests were heaving with heavy breaths, and asked with concern, “Sisters? Is there something wrong with both of you?”
As for Chu Lingshuang, she reached out toward the scene with both hands as if she were seeing her former self.
Yet, it felt so far away.
Even if she reached out as far as she could, she couldn’t touch even a sliver of it.
Tears blurred her vision, and she let out two bitter chuckles.
Chu Fan walked back to the front of the crowd and said with satisfaction, “Good. Class dismissed. For the next lesson, gather at the Equipment Room!”
“Yes, Teacher!”
…..
Chu Fan led Shen Yuying and the other two to the pavilion where he had eaten with Su Xiaotang last time.
He found this place much better than being indoors.
The air was good, the wind was light, and most importantly, it was spacious.
“The next class will start soon. Let’s wait here for a bit.”
As he spoke, Chu Fan took out a heap of snacks and tea from his interspatial ring and placed them on the table.
“Yes, Master.”
“Yes, Master.”
“You got it, Master!”
…..
Inside the Equipment Room, Chu Fan stood before the crowd and sensed something was off.
A red patch had mysteriously appeared on Lin Anlan’s left cheek, and her timid expression was even more pronounced than in the previous class.
Forget it, he decided not to think about that for now.
“I’ll ask the same question. Does anyone know, or has anyone studied, equipment forging?”
Chu Fan secretly glanced toward Lin Anlan with a bit of bias.
She also saw Chu Fan.
However, the moment their eyes met, Lin Anlan lowered her head.
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and tightly hugged the parchment book.
Her head stayed down, and her gaze flickered indecisively, but she simply would not look at Chu Fan, as if she didn’t dare to.
Seeing this, Chu Fan frowned slightly.
He turned and pointed into the crowd at Su Xiaotang, who had a steamed bun in her left hand and a meat skewer in her right.
“Then you. You tell us.”
Su Xiaotang’s mouth was stuffed full like a hamster’s, making her voice muffled.
“Huh? Why me again?”
“Since you dare to eat during class, you must be very confident in your abilities.”
“I… what abilities… Master, don’t you already know… It’s not that I’m confident in my abilities… I’m just confident in my appetite…”
“Get out here!”
“Oh…”
Su Xiaotang walked reluctantly to Chu Fan’s side.
“Throw that stuff away.”
Su Xiaotang looked at the food in her hands with a pained expression.
Then, she stuffed everything into her mouth at once.
“…”
Chu Fan’s expression looked more bitter than if he had eaten a bitter melon.
“Alright, speak.”
“Uh… anyway… forging is… cough cough, like this and that, then like that and this…”
Su Xiaotang began gesturing wildly in the air.
“And then the equipment is finished. Yeah, just like that. As for the specifics, you can ask my master!”
Su Xiaotang proudly threw an arm over Chu Fan’s shoulder.
“Don’t judge my master by his looks; he’s the world’s number one forging master!”
“Whoa—” A sound of amazement rose from the crowd.
Chu Fan could only cover his face in embarrassment while listening, until an old man’s voice rang out from the other side of the room.
“Who is it that speaks so boastfully so early in the morning?”
Chu Fan turned his head.
It was a thin figure.
Looking closely, a face covered in wrinkles but with eyes that were exceptionally firm appeared before him.
The old man wore a grayish-white Daoist robe and walked over with light steps, his hands tucked behind his back.
“Child, is this young friend your master?” the old man asked Su Xiaotang.
Su Xiaotang didn’t answer.
Instead, she covered her nose with her finger in a somewhat disgusted manner.
“Uh, child? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t come any closer. You smell like an old man. Master, hurry and spray him with that thing you call… what was it? Perfume.”
“Oh.”
With a thought, Chu Fan manifested a modern spray bottle he had personally crafted from his interspatial ring.
Psst, psst.
He sprayed the secret spiced liquid onto the old man.
At first, the old man tried to block it with his hands until he smelled the fragrance.
His expression instantly softened.
“Mmm… refreshing to the soul. What is this?”
“Perfume. I made it myself,” Chu Fan said calmly.
“I see. No wonder this child praised you so.”
“Alright, what were you asking me just now?” Su Xiaotang asked.
“Is this fellow Daoist your master? The strongest forging master you mentioned?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“I have been obsessed with the path of forging for 100 years. I wonder if I might have a match with your master?”
“A match? Sure, bring it on. Who’s afraid of— Ow!”
Su Xiaotang felt a smack on the back of her head.
After hitting Su Xiaotang, Chu Fan clasped his hands and bowed.
“Senior, my lowly disciple is young and lacks manners. I hope you will not take offense.”
“Oh, not at all, not at all. It’s normal for children.”
“I have never considered myself an exceptional master. I have only come to this sect to teach as a favor to a friend, nothing more.”
“I see. Then, how about this.”
“Please speak, Senior.”
“I am very fond of that perfume of yours. It should be a product of combining alchemy and forging, yes?”
“Senior has a keen eye.”
“I also have a bottle of something here.”
The old man took a small transparent vial from his sleeve.
“This is?”
“Five drops of venom from the stinger of a Thousand-Foot Scorpion.”
“What!?”
“I observed your previous class from a distance. As a top-tier alchemist, you should understand the value of these five drops.”
Chu Fan understood perfectly.
The venom of a Thousand-Foot Scorpion was less of a poison and more of a supreme coating material.
As a poison, its toxicity was negligible; the amount in a single drop would struggle to kill even a Golden Core Stage cultivator.
However, if used as a coating to reinforce armor, it could increase defense by over a thousandfold.
As for the quantity, if smelted properly, a single drop could be transformed into 100 catties of scorpion toxin.
These five drops were more than enough to evolve Shen Yuying’s soft armor into a sturdier poison armor—not only would its defense increase several times over, but it could even reflect damage and inflict lethal poison.
Chu Fan had a thousand ways to turn this negligible poison into a lethal toxin where a single drop could kill.
Therefore, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say these five drops of scorpion venom were priceless to him.
“I naturally understand, but Senior, I have nothing of equal value to use as a stake for the bet.”
“Ah, you are mistaken, young friend.”
The old man patted Chu Fan on the shoulder.
“I understand nothing of alchemy. This scorpion venom was merely a chance acquisition from an old friend. To me, it is no different from common weeds.”
“However, I am currently very curious about that thing in your hand called perfume. I believe that is a fair stake, is it not?”
“Does Senior truly think this is enough?”
Chu Fan asked, holding the perfume.
“Of course.”
“Fine. Then tell me, Senior, how shall we compete?”
“We shall begin forging right here. You decide the item. Whoever can use lower-grade materials to craft a higher-grade item wins. How does that sound?”
“Very well. We shall do as you say, Senior.”
“In that case, what does my young friend wish to forge?”
Chu Fan rested his chin in his hand, thinking.
After looking left and right, he noticed the extra cracks on the lenses of Lin Anlan’s glasses—cracks that hadn’t been there during the last class.
“I would like to forge a pair of glazed spectacles.”
“Glasses? Very well.”
With that, the old man waved his sleeve, and a giant green cauldron materialized.