Chapter 30 – The wise learn from the teachings
"Has Terra Su gone mad? Or is he drunk and spouting nonsense?"
"It's fine if he offends the Alchemist himself, but he better not drag our Jiang Family into this!"
Robert Jiang's face turned ashen. He never imagined that Terra Su would say something like this. With a dark expression, he looked towards Terra Su and said, "Terra Su, I invited you to this banquet, not to let you go crazy. By the looks of it, you don't intend to respect our Jiang Family, do you?"
"Third Brother!" Sophia Xu also stood up and said, "Little Terra must have his reasons for saying what he did. Why not let him finish?"
Robert Jiang's face remained grim as he replied, "Let him finish? Did you hear what he said? He's trying to get our Jiang Family to offend Lord Qian!"
As he spoke, Robert Jiang walked towards Terra Su, saying, "Terra Su, don't blame me for this. With your reckless mouth, who knows how many people you'll offend in the future. Rather than that, it's better I give you a lesson now to make you remember."
With that, Robert Jiang prepared to personally teach Terra Su a lesson in front of everyone.
At that moment.
"Hold on!" Alchemist Qian suddenly spoke, interrupting Robert Jiang's actions.
Alchemist Qian then slowly walked over to Terra Su, scrutinizing him with a keen eye, and asked, "Young man, are you saying that what I just said was incorrect?"
Terra Su chuckled lightly, not even raising his head as he replied, "Whether it's right or wrong, you should know very well yourself. Teaching with an incorrect answer, should I call you a misleader of the youth?"
As soon as he said this, Alchemist Qian's face changed dramatically, his facial muscles twitching uncontrollably as he looked at Terra Su in disbelief.
Timothy Jiang couldn't help but gasp, immediately rebuking, "Terra Su! How dare you be so disrespectful to my teacher!"
Just as he finished speaking, Alchemist Qian suddenly turned and scolded Timothy Jiang, "Shut up!"
Timothy Jiang was taken aback, incredulous, "Teacher, he was disrespectful to you, why are you telling me to shut up?"
"When I tell you to shut up, you shut up. Why ask so many questions?" Alchemist Qian's face was extremely serious. After saying this, he ignored Timothy Jiang and turned to Terra Su, bowing respectfully, "The master was absolutely right in his reprimand! I was blind to not recognize a great master. Please, forgive my ignorance!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire banquet hall fell into an eerie silence!
Timothy Jiang blinked, almost thinking he was dreaming, while everyone else present looked at each other in disbelief.
Alchemist Qian actually addressed Terra Su as a great master?
Is the world falling apart?
Ignoring the crowd's shock, Alchemist Qian earnestly asked Terra Su, "Regarding the question about the Eight-Leaf Root and the Blue Stool, could the master enlighten me as to why my answer was incorrect?"
Seeing Alchemist Qian's respectful demeanor towards Terra Su, Otto Jiang and Robert Jiang found it hard to accept. Who was Alchemist Qian? He was second only to Master Mo in the Alchemy Guild of Clear River City. If anyone could command such respect from Alchemist Qian, it would be Master Mo, right?
And now, the high and mighty Alchemist Qian was showing such respect to the fifteen-year-old Terra Su, even calling him "master," clearly treating him as an equal to Master Mo.
Why? Just because of what Terra Su said earlier?
Otto Jiang and Robert Jiang stared at Terra Su with complicated feelings, but Terra Su seemed oblivious to their gazes. He calmly said to Alchemist Qian, "So you know there was a problem with the answer?"
Alchemist Qian nodded heavily, "I certainly know. In fact, I've had doubts about that answer for a long time. Every time I use Eight-Leaf Root to refine the Divine Transformation Elixir, the slight toxicity in the Divine Transformation Herb is never fully neutralized, resulting in mediocre quality elixirs. So, I've always suspected that adding Eight-Leaf Root to the Divine Transformation Elixir might not be the best choice."
This issue had troubled Alchemist Qian for nearly ten years. He had consulted numerous texts, but every alchemy book listed Eight-Leaf Root as an ingredient in the Divine Transformation Elixir, not Blue Stool or any other material.
Only in a very ancient book did Alchemist Qian find a different account. That book stated that adding Eight-Leaf Root to the Divine Transformation Elixir was not the optimal choice!
Unfortunately, the ancient book did not explain why, nor did it specify what the best material was. Moreover, very few people had read that book, and most modern alchemists believed that Eight-Leaf Root should be added to the Divine Transformation Elixir. Over time, Eight-Leaf Root became the standard answer.
Only a meticulous alchemist like Alchemist Qian continued to harbor doubts about Eight-Leaf Root.
Because Alchemist Qian pondered this issue daily, he unconsciously brought it up while testing Timothy Jiang earlier.
And Terra Su had firmly stated that adding Eight-Leaf Root to the Divine Transformation Elixir was wrong, exactly matching the ancient book's viewpoint!
This made Alchemist Qian realize that Terra Su's alchemical knowledge must be extraordinary!
Thus, he immediately paid his respects to Terra Su, addressing him as a master!
Alchemist Qian was utterly astonished, never expecting that the Jiang Family harbored such a hidden alchemy expert!
Suppressing his shock, Alchemist Qian looked at Terra Su with hopeful eyes, eager for his guidance.
"Do you know what's wrong with Eight-Leaf Root?" Terra Su asked.
Alchemist Qian immediately composed himself and said, "Please, master, enlighten me."
Terra Su replied, "The reason is simple, as you mentioned, Eight-Leaf Root's ability to neutralize toxins is insufficient, resulting in mediocre quality Divine Transformation Elixirs. If you use Blue Stool instead, this problem won't occur."
"But, using Blue Stool makes it difficult to condense the elixir, doesn't it?" Alchemist Qian's face showed a hint of disappointment. He had hoped Terra Su would provide a groundbreaking insight, but it seemed like the same old argument. Blue Stool had long been proven unsuitable for refining the Divine Transformation Elixir, having been tested many times.
However, just as Alchemist Qian was feeling disappointed, he heard Terra Su say calmly, "Blue Stool indeed makes it difficult to condense the elixir, but that's because mature Blue Stool contains a special substance that conflicts with the properties of Little Jade Grass."
"But, if you use immature Blue Stool, this problem won't exist."
As soon as Terra Su said this, Alchemist Qian was stunned.
Using immature Blue Stool?
Why hadn't he thought of that?
Alchemist Qian quickly calculated in his mind, "Immature Blue Stool doesn't release that special substance, so it won't conflict with Little Jade Grass. Yet, immature Blue Stool still retains the ability to neutralize the toxicity of Divine Transformation Herb, so..."
Various refining processes flashed rapidly through Alchemist Qian's mind, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter. Finally, he slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Yes! How could I have been so foolish! Using immature Blue Stool will solve the problem!"