Nightwatcher

# 91. Splits in the Middle of the Room

*Master Xu…*

Faced with this unfamiliar title, Wei Yuan and the rest instinctively searched through the Sitianjian member list, looking through the existing five direct disciples of the Jianzheng.

*Wait, the white-robed man said "Master Xu" rather than "Senior Brother Xu". This means that the lecturer isn't a disciple of the Sitianjian, but is rather an outsider.*

The eldest princess boldly guessed the identity of this "Master Xu", and she couldn't wait to verify if it was correct.

At the same time, Wei Yuan's eyes showed a look, as he came to a certain guess.

Song Qing had once told him that Xu Qi'an was a prodigy in alchemy. Wei Yuan hadn't paid too much attention at that time. After all, Song Qing was the number one alchemist in the Sitianjian.

Even if he was a prodigy with outstanding talent in alchemy, he surely couldn't stand shoulder to shoulder with the first alchemist in Sitianjian, and even be honoured as "Master".

Wei Yuan glanced at his two adoptive sons, whose faces showed the same look of confusion and bewilderment. They didn't link Xu Qi'an and that Master Xu, and forgot what Song Qing had said that day.

"Father, Since when did Sitianjian have someone surnamed Xu?" Nangong Qianrou was in charge of intelligence and torture, so he was extremely suspicious of this new character.

Yang Yan, who didn't like talking, turned his head slightly toward Wei Yuan as if asking him to confirm his guess.

Wei Yuan smiled, "Let's go upstairs and take a look."

The eldest princess had already lifted her skirt and was climbing the stairs gracefully, with elegance. She was tall and slender, and had an excellent figure, Her back view alone was stunning.

You didn't need to look at her face to know that she was a magnificent beauty.

…

"The essence of alchemy is *Equivalent Exchange*"

Some clever white cloak answered Xu Qi'an's questions with his own words.

"It is extracting the essence of things to transform waste to treasure." Some alchemists gave an answer based on their own experiences.

Arcanists below the sixth rank didn't answer and just listened intently, while the sixth-rank Masters of Alchemy spoke one after another, speaking of their understanding.

*Most of their answers were narrow and were given based on their own experience. As for the guy who copied my words, he is only aware of one aspect while being unaware of the others. The theoretical knowledge in Sitianjian is truly lacking.*

Xu Qi'an listened to them patiently, without agreement or objection.

After saying their own words, the white cloaks all looked toward Song Qing in unison.

Song Qing was the Jianzheng's direct disciple and was also recognized as the number one master of alchemy in the Sitianjian. He was so immersed in alchemy that he refused to be promoted. He was only fascinated by alchemy and was quite dismissive of higher ranks.

The other fourth-rank and fifth-rank senior brothers weren't his match when it came to the topic of alchemy.

Song Qing shook his head, letting out a sigh.

*What does Senior Brother Song mean by this?* As the white-cloaked arcanists were puzzled by his action, Xu Qi'an clapped his hands.

Everyone's eyes immediately turned to the Alchemy Prodigy.

Xu Qi'an met everyone's gaze and sighed, "In the entire Sitianjian, only Senior Brother Song can make me admire him in the field of alchemy."

Sitianjian's White cloaks stood in respect of Song Qing.

Song Qing smiled slightly, and quietly straightened his waist.

Xu Qi'an continued speaking, "Senior Brother Song meant that everyone here was correct, but they weren't comprehensive enough, so they were incorrect."

Everyone showed a thoughtful expression.

Xu Qi'an talked eloquently, "Alchemy is a very broad field. You may have some understanding of it in your mind, but I'm sure it's rather vague or general. Originally, I only promised Senior Brother Song Qing to impart a lesson to you. However, Brother Song Qing insisted that I pay back the principal with interest, so I will talk a little bit more, expand on the topic, and explain it in full."

As soon as he finished these words, the eyes of the arcanists in white started to become hot.

"Thank You, Senior Brother Song. Thank You, Young Master Xu."

"Master Xu, start quickly. I'm becoming impatient by the minute."

The sounds suddenly loudened, and they happened to reach the ears of the eldest princess, who was on the seventh floor. She stopped in her tracks. However, she didn't enter immediately, instead hiding to take a look at the young man who had made the arcanists so worked up.

*Xu Qi'an! It was him.*

Wei Yuan paused at the same time, and he stalled upon seeing Xu Qi'an, soon returning to a normal pace.

At the same time, when Wei Yuan stalled, the feminine Nangong Qianrou and the paralyzed Yang Yan also looked over the shoulders of the eldest princess and Wei Yuan to vaguely see Xu Qi'an.

*It turned out that Jiang Lyuzhong was speaking the truth.* Yang Yan stared at Xu Qi'an for a moment, before making a small nod.

This bronze gong can only be under his command, no one else can snatch him.

Nangong Qianrou originally wanted to go in and listen, to see what kind of lecture the young man could speak about. However, upon realizing that neither the eldest princess nor his adoptive father wanted to disturb Xu Qi’an, he endured his urge and stood in place.

Xu Qi'an said, “The essence of alchemy is *Equivalent Exchange*. This is an outline of the principal, but it isn't so vivid. Only a master alchemist like Senior Brother Song Qing could get the meaning of this sentence. Today, everyone can listen to me elaborate on it slowly.

"Upon hearing of alchemy, Usually, what comes to mind of laymen are elixir and potions. For those who know a little bit about the topic, This must be what they have in mind." Xu Qi'an said this while pointing to the simple jewellery in Chu Caiwei's black hair, "Metal!"

The white-cloaked arcanists made slight nods.

"What I want to tell you is that there are just two fields of alchemy. I classify them as Medicine and Minerals. Most alchemists only study these two fields, and occasionally jump to other fields. But I've only seen Senior Brother Song Qing have his eyes on another field."

The white-cloaked arcanists immediately looked at Song Qing. Song Qing also became startled, as if he had found a fellow daoist, and his eyes became hot.

He knew that Xu Qi'an was going to speak of his field of grafting creatures.

Perhaps, this lecture will allow him to step into new levels of alchemy.

Thinking of this, Song Qing started breathing heavily.

Outside, the eldest princess and Wei Yuan couldn't help taking a look at Song Qing, the wonder disciple of the Jianzheng. They weren't strangers to each other.

They knew that he had fiddled with some horrific kind of alchemy, and was even imprisoned for it.

Was Xu Qi'an's alchemy really that advanced? Could he give Song Qing some advice?

"Senior Brother Song Qing's research direction is the field of Living creatures." Xu Qi'an said, "That's correct. Alchemy is not only for dead things, living things are also in the scope of alchemy."

A white-cloaked arcanist got up and said deeply, "Master Xu, Teacher Jianzheng had said that life is not within the scope of alchemy."

Although he admired Xu Qi'an's accomplishments in alchemy, his words violated the admonitions of Teacher Jianzheng, and also went against his thoughts.

The other white-cloaked arcanists present also looked suspicious and dissatisfied.

The eldest princess turned her head to Wei Yuan as if she wanted to consult something. the latter smiled and said softly, "I agree with the Jianzheng."

The eldest princess nodded and continued to look at Xu Qi'an.

*Let's see what he says.*

"That's because Song Qing's earlier methods were wrong. So, Master Jianzheng criticized him. But the research direction itself isn't wrong." Xu Qi'an said.

Of course, he wouldn't argue with the Jianzheng's words. Even if he won the debate, what if the old Jianzheng became angry and couldn't be pacified? He could slap him to death and he couldn't find someone to cry about his grievances.

Song Qing was unconvinced by his words, but he didn't refute and listened patiently to what he said next.

"Everyone may recall that we can extract metals from ores, harder metals from metals, and elixirs from medicinal materials. But, we can't extract elixirs from ores, and we can't refine metals from medicinal materials." Xu Qi'an asked, "Why?"

"Medicinal Materials are Medicinal Materials, and Ores are Ores. Master Xu's question is quite strange."

"Haha, If metals can be extracted from medicinal materials, can't we extract gold and silver from white rice?"

In the eyes of the white-cloaked arcanists, Xu Qi'an's question was the same as asking: *Why does the sun rise from the east? Why do people starve to death if they don't eat? Why are there twelve hours in a day?...*

The white-cloaked arcanists whispered to each other, but Song Qing vaguely felt something. The white-cloaked juniors' talks made his mind muddled, so he couldn't calm down to think about it.

"Bang!"

Song Qing slapped the table and stood up, "Shut up!"

After yelling, his face was red and his breaths became short. Then, He stared at Xu Qi'an inquiringly, "Say it, Say it fast!"

The white-cloaked arcanists stopped talking, they rarely saw Senior Brother Song Qing like this, and also realized that Xu Qi'an was talking about advanced alchemy knowledge.

Looking past the white-cloaked ones, Xu Qi'an saw Wei Yuan far away, and his heart sank.

*WTF*, Xu Qi'an was instinctively scared when he realized that his boss was watching while he postured and acted cool in front of an audience.

The arcanists of the Sitianjian were like a group of science nerds. They only paid attention to alchemy and didn't care much about its source.

Even if they had some suspicions, they automatically ignored them. As long as they could learn profound alchemy, they didn't care about other matters.

Wei Yuan was different. He was a statesman, strategist, and general, He was a smart person with a lot of knowledge under his belt.

Smart people tended to think too much.

Xu Qi'an's strategy for the white-cloaked arcanists was to show off and posture in front of them, the more exaggerated, the better. As for his strategy toward Wei Yuan, it was to show loyalty and pretend to be a harmless rabbit within a reasonable range.

The current situation didn't have just a little posturing, It stuck out like someone doing splits in the middle of a room.

At the same time, Wei Yuan slightly nodded toward Xu Qi'an.

*If I think about it from another angle, Showing your value in front of your boss is an effective way to gain attention and to increase your chips.*

Taking a deep breath, Xu Qi'an got rid of his distracting thoughts and returned focus to the class.