NOVEL WEB Chapter 341: Scamming Fellow Students
"The Jade Vitality Pill focuses on accelerating qi regeneration and replenishing stamina. It's best suited for post-battle recovery. Meanwhile…"
He tapped the second.
"…The Emerald Blood-Recovery Pill targets physical injury. It boosts clotting, encourages cell growth, and heals torn tissue. It's used mostly by martial practitioners who rely heavily on their bodies."
The disciples nodded, writing notes fervently.
"But how?" asked one of them. "If the herbs are the same…"
"Ah," Han Yu said, eyes gleaming, "that's the whole lesson."
He adjusted the illusion. New highlights appeared around two ingredients: Firecloud Bark and Crystalline Ginger.
"These two are the game changers. In the Jade Vitality Pill, Firecloud Bark is purified using direct extraction over high flame, emphasizing its warmth. The Ginger is added late, condensed directly into the pill core.
But in the Emerald Blood-Recovery Pill, the Bark is roasted, then added later to soften its heat, while the Ginger is infused early to let its warming nature spread through the entire pill. Timing and temperature make all the difference."
Gasps and impressed murmurs followed.
Han Yu smirked.
"The blood pill uses the same tools but crafts a different structure inside the pill matrix. That's why two recipes with identical inputs can yield divergent results. Flame control, sequence of addition, and spiritual compression all change the final pill."
One of the inner court disciples raised his hand. "Can we see a temperature-phase diagram?"
Han Yu nodded, pressing a sigil on the table. A graph unfurled in midair showing stages of the refining process, with red peaks, blue valleys, and pulsing annotations.
"I've plotted both flame curves here," he explained. "The Jade Vitality Pill maintains a higher median temperature with bursts of intense heat for ingredient purification. The Emerald Blood-Recovery Pill features a gentle rise and slow cooldown to allow for deeper infusion and herb interaction."
He paused for effect. "Now imagine how this could be applied to more advanced recipes. This isn't just a lesson for this assignment—it's foundational to understanding alchemy."
The disciples stared in awe.
Even the more skeptical among them now looked utterly convinced.
When the lesson ended nearly two hours later, no one had touched their spirit teas or snacks. They were too focused on the pages of notes they'd scribbled down, the diagrams they'd sketched from Han Yu's illusions, and the new ideas brewing in their heads.
"That was… incredible," one disciple said.
"I feel like I actually understand the difference now," another said, eyes wide.
"And for only a thousand merit points," said one of the inner court disciples. "If we tried to request a breakdown like that from a senior alchemist, it'd be at least five thousand—if they even had the time."
Han Yu smiled beatifically, hiding the inner voice that was still cackling with glee.
'Scammed? Pfft~ I gave them their money's worth. If anything, I should be charging more.'
After they thanked him and departed—one even asking if he did private tutoring—Han Yu leaned back in the chair and folded his hands behind his head.
'This was easier than cheating at dice.'
Unbeknownst to him, a pair of instructors walking past the room outside had paused to listen through the open sliver of the door. One of them, an older woman with silver streaks in her hair, looked thoughtful.
"Isn't that one of Instructor Gai Qing's new students?" she asked.
The other, a shorter man with a soft beard, nodded. "Yes. Han Yu, I believe. Joined the peak just recently."
"…He's sharp," she murmured. "Maybe a little too clever for his own good. But the way he taught them was… clear. It wasn't just showboating."
The other instructor shrugged. "Well, if he keeps this up, we'll be seeing him among the ranked alchemists within the year."
Back in the study room, Han Yu stretched his legs and cleaned up the table, pleased with himself. He had not only finished his assignment but also made 6,000 merit points in "consulting fees" and boosted his standing among the outer court disciples.
'This alchemy business… I might just end up liking it more than scamming merchants or the odd mercenary.'
And for the first time since arriving at the sect, he didn't just feel like a cultivator scraping by on borrowed schemes.
He felt like a professional.
The week allotted for the assignment hadn't even reached its halfway mark when seven disciples submitted their completed work.
Instructor Gai Qing stood at the front of the class, glancing down at the stack of jade slips and parchment scrolls handed in during the morning check-in. His usually bland face creased, not in a scowl, but in mild, genuine surprise.
He turned to the rest of the class and spoke in his usual slow, toneless voice.
"Seven submissions... one day after the assignment was given."
He looked at the stack again. "Hmm."
The rest of the students blinked. Whispers rippled like tiny waves through the hall.
"Already? That's impossible!"
"They didn't even have time to go through the whole library."
"Did they just write nonsense and hand it in?"
"Who the hell does homework early?"
Gai Qing raised a hand, silencing the class with barely a motion.
"We will verify them now. Anyone who submitted the assignment today, step forward."
Han Yu stood immediately, calm and composed, and six others hesitantly followed him.
All of them looked a little sheepish, save for Han Yu, who looked like he was about to host an auction rather than present a report. He walked toward the front as if the classroom were his personal showroom.
Gai Qing looked at the group and then settled his eyes on Han Yu.
"You may present first."
Han Yu clasped his hands behind his back and nodded respectfully. "Thank you, Instructor Gai."
Then he turned toward the class and activated the diagram table again.
With a wave of his spirit sense, he reactivated the same illusion he had used to tutor the others: twin cauldrons, two sets of herbal flows, with heat-phase graphs circling above like ethereal rings.