The moment Ning Xuan stepped into the new classroom, she felt a furious gaze on her. Following its source, she saw Ning Chuchu, who was sitting front and center, glaring at her sullenly.
"Ning Xuan, I don't know why Instructor Chen took a liking to you and became your Contractor, but everyone in this class is going to be an Alchemist in the future. Our curriculum is very demanding. Someone like you who got in through connections just to slack off will affect our progress! If you know what's good for you, leave now. Don't make everyone hate you!" The round-faced girl sitting next to Ning Chuchu stood up and challenged Ning Xuan.
In their eyes, Ning Xuan had just been an ordinary person before. Even if she had awakened now, she had no room for growth. A person like that had no right to study alongside them.
Ning Chuchu had originally been a student in the Advanced Academy's Alchemy Department. She'd been set back a year due to Wu Di's promotion. Now that she was back, she was in the same class as before, along with many old classmates who had been held back for failing their final exams.
Most who could enter the Advanced Academy's Alchemy Department were Spirit Controllers who had awakened their spiritual power before the age of ten. Among the first-years, male Spirit Controllers were generally C-level, while females were typically D-level. A female Spirit Controller like Ning Chuchu, who had already reached C-level, was considered a top student in her year. Plus, both of Ning Chuchu's Contractors were scions of nobility from a High-level Star. Consequently, most of the girls in the class fawned over her.
Seeing that Ning Chuchu was angry, someone was naturally willing to be her spearhead.
"The curriculum is so demanding, yet you have time to stand here barking like a dog? Try barking at me one more time, and I'll knock your teeth out!" As Ning Xuan spoke, she lightly rubbed her thumb and forefinger together. A tiny black particle flew out, smacking the girl's lips with a WHAP.
The girl cried out in pain, "Ah!" She felt one of her top teeth loosen, and the area around her mouth throbbed with unbearable pain. She whimpered pitifully a couple of times but didn't dare open her mouth again.
"What's up with Zhang Xiaoxiao today? Did she really start crying just from a little scare?" other students muttered among themselves. Ning Xuan's actions had been extremely subtle; they hadn't noticed a thing.
Just then, Teacher Zhao came in for class. "It's so quiet today. Class, please welcome our new student, Ning Xuan. Ning Xuan, you can sit over here!"
Teacher Zhao pointed to an empty seat toward the front on the left.
Ning Xuan walked over. A thin, frail-looking boy was sitting next to her.
"Class, in today's lesson, we'll be studying the purification and processing of Blue Flame Grass extract. The herbs and purification devices have already been distributed. Everyone, please follow the steps as I describe them."
"Everyone, you must cherish this learning opportunity. If you can master the methods for purifying herbal extracts, then even if you don't become an official Alchemist, you can still open a small shop with this skill and make a living. It won't be a problem!" Seeing that some students weren't taking the experiment seriously and were whispering to each other instead, Teacher Zhao couldn't help but remind them.
Less than halfway through the class, a girl sitting next to Ning Chuchu raised her hand. "Teacher Zhao, Ning Xuan has been staring at her Light Computer the whole time and hasn't done the experiment at all. She's not paying attention in class, which could distract other students. I suggest..." Before the girl could finish, Ning Xuan raised her hand. "Teacher Zhao, I'm done with the experiment. If there's nothing else for this lesson, I'll be leaving now! To avoid distracting the other students, I won't bother arguing with these idiots today!"
After speaking, Ning Xuan placed a bottle of purely transparent, blue liquid on the display case on the teacher's desk, picked up her schoolbag, and left the classroom.
The moment Ning Xuan left, the classroom erupted into chaos.
"What was that she just put down?" a few students exclaimed.
Teacher Zhao reached a trembling hand toward that bottle of pure blue potion. He hesitated, then pulled his hand back, afraid his unsteady hand might accidentally shatter it. He just stood there staring, not even blinking. By now, some other students had finished their experiments. Teacher Zhao took their finished potions and placed them on the display shelf, lining them up with Ning Xuan's bottle. Without exception, the other potions were all mottled, murky shades of dark green, filled with black or gray impurities. They stood in stark contrast to the pure, bright blue of her bottle.
"That's definitely not Blue Flame Grass extract. Even the Blue Flame Grass extract Dean Wang personally refines with an Alchemy Furnace isn't that blue!" Ning Chuchu said, standing up when she saw the shocked expressions on everyone's faces as they stared at the potion.
"Yeah, there's no way to create such a pure liquid in such a short time, especially not with a simple filtration device!" Blue Flame Grass wasn't cheap. The school provided it to them for free, but they also collected the resulting liquid. After collection, it would be sent for further processing, like to the second or third-years for additional refinement.
"Just because you can't do it doesn't mean others can't. All of you, from now on, when you see student Ning Xuan, you will keep your mouths shut. If anyone dares to provoke her again like today, you can get the hell out of my class!" Teacher Zhao's sharp gaze swept over the students who had been shouting at Ning Xuan earlier. He told the class monitor to collect the remaining potions, then grabbed the blue potion and hurried away.
He had to hurry and find someone to analyze it. 'Just what is the purity of this potion?'
After leaving the classroom, Ning Xuan immediately ordered a potion filtration and purification device on the Star Network. The reason she had been able to extract such a pure potion just now was partly because she had used her spiritual power for precise control, and partly because she had made a few small modifications to the filtration device.
She was ordering the device now because she had suddenly realized something. Before, her status as a minor prevented her from doing anything, but now that she had Chen Nan's adult identity, she could start a side business to make money!
A single stalk of Blue Flame Grass cost 30,000 Star Coins. A purified Blue Flame Grass Potion, depending on its purity, could sell for up to 100,000 Star Coins!
Purifying Blue Flame Grass would both train her spiritual power and earn her some spending money. 'Perfect. In order to eat High-Level food in the future, I have to make this side business work.'
Ning Xuan thought that purifying Blue Flame Grass extract was just a normal part of her studies and a small way to earn some pocket money. She had no idea that the 90% pure Blue Flame Grass Potion she had created would send shockwaves through the entire Advanced Academy.
"How did she do it? Where is she? Quick, take me to see her!" Dean Wang of the Advanced Academy stared at the analysis results with delighted surprise, desperate to meet this first-year student who had supposedly just attended her very first class.