As a result, under Liu Ping's scrutinizing gaze, he discovered Chu Feng sitting there with a wooden, chicken-like expression.
He immediately burst into laughter.
"Hehe, it seems that bastard Chu Feng must have failed in alchemy! Otherwise, he wouldn't have extinguished the fire early and sat there like a meditating monk," Liu Ping thought presumptuously, even more convinced that Chu Feng had failed in alchemy.
Being someone who held himself in high esteem, he would never consider Chu Feng, a bottom student, more capable than him.
Liu Ping even took for granted that he was the first in the class to succeed in alchemy.
Even the class belle Lin Yuxin was still in the midst of alchemy.
Teacher Xie Bing's eyes sparkled as she walked up to Liu Ping, "Liu Ping, your performance is quite impressive! With the medicinal materials given to you, if fully transformed, you should be able to produce ten elixirs."
"For your first attempt at alchemy, being able to produce six elixirs is already quite good! I'll give you six points!"
"To finish in two and a half hours is relatively fast. In general, completing the task in two hours is considered particularly excellent. Every additional quarter of an hour will cost you one and a half points. For time, I'll give you seven points!"
"As for quality, the color is rather dark and impure, indicating that there are many impurities! The density is fairly decent, and the shape is very good as well! I'll give you seven points!"
"Liu Ping scores twenty points!"
Teacher Xie Bing's grading included three evaluation criteria. With a total of thirty points, Liu Ping scored twenty, which was considered a very excellent result.
At this moment, Lin Yuxin finally succeeded in alchemy as well.
True to her reputation, she was the class belle, combining beauty with talent, and the dream girl of countless boys.
"Yu Xin, your time can only earn you six points, the number of elixirs is seven, giving you seven points. The quality is barely passable, getting you six points. The total is nineteen points."
With a total score of nineteen, Lin Yuxin currently ranked second.
One after another, students succeeded in alchemy, and Teacher Xie Bing gave them impartial scores and assessments.
Some of them barely managed to form their elixirs.
They crumbled with just a slight touch.
Soon, almost everyone had finished their alchemy. In total, thirteen people succeeded. Currently, Liu Ping ranked first, and Lin Yuxin second.
Chu Feng had not made a sound the entire time, nor had he opened his pill furnace to reveal his elixir for show.
He was contemplating whether to reveal his crafted elixirs and snatch the first place.
The advantage of taking first place was being able to receive a batch of First-grade Elixir recipe materials for free. But it would also expose Chu Feng's strength.
Thinking of the current plight of the Sword King Mansion, he was eager to craft a batch of more sought-after elixirs to sell for money.
Then he could alleviate the pressure on his senior brother and sister-in-law.
At the very least, he could earn back his own tuition fees.
Studying at the Alchemy Academy was not cheap. Chu Feng's brother and sister-in-law had been so frugal they had not bought a single new piece of clothing in two years.
To support his study and mastery of alchemy here, they did not even bat an eyelid.
Right when Chu Feng was hesitating, Liu Ping, who had taken first place, fixed his gaze on him. Having garnered a lot of attention and endless praise, Liu Ping was very satisfied.
However, amidst his pride and satisfaction, he felt something was missing.
How could he display his superiority without humiliating Chu Feng?
"Chu Feng, even if you failed at alchemy, there is no need to keep clutching the lid of the pill furnace! It's better to be down-to-earth, less vanity would do you good."
"In your case, it's really no different from burying one's head in the sand. It's nothing but self-deception!"
With the tone of a successful man, Liu Ping condescendingly lectured Chu Feng.
Originally, no one paid attention to Chu Feng. Now that he brought attention to himself, everyone looked at him with schadenfreude, their faces revealing mocking smiles.
Especially those who had failed at Alchemy, as if suddenly finding self-confidence, their heads which were hung low, were now raised.
Why is that?
Because they thought their moral character was superior to Chu Feng's. At least when they failed at Alchemy, they were upright and honest, accepting reality with good grace.
Whereas Chu Feng, his behavior was just like that of a petty person.
Clearly having failed, yet he was hugging his Pill Furnace, self-deceiving and deceiving others.
"You may not know yet! Around two hours after the Alchemy began, Chu Feng had already failed. He extinguished the fire and has since just been sitting there."
A tall and thin young man next to Chu Feng revealed Chu Feng's embarrassing actions with a malicious smile.
Everyone laughed at Chu Feng, except for two people.
One was the class belle Lin Yuxin, who was greatly shocked by Chu Feng just the day before.
Even Alchemy Master Niu was dumbfounded by Chu Feng. Chu Feng hit his son, yet not only did he not trouble Chu Feng, he even repeatedly said it was a good beating.
The other person was Teacher Xie Bing.
Because Xie Bing had watched Chu Feng's Alchemy process before, and it was absolutely the demeanor of a master. Even at his worst, it shouldn't have been that bad.
She approached Chu Feng's Pill Furnace "Chu Feng, why don't you open the lid?" Xie Bing asked somewhat puzzled.
"I..." Chu Feng stammered, momentarily at a loss for words. He could not possibly say, the Elixir I made was too good, I feared it would scare you all, I don't want fame.
"What you? Bad results are one thing, but still pretending to have face. This needs to be cured, understand?"
Liu Ping dashed over like an arrow, proficiently lifting the lid off Chu Feng's Furnace.
"You don't want to reveal it, let me help you! Everyone, come and see what Chu Feng has turned the ingredients into? It must have turned into charcoal by now!"
Liu Ping not only lifted the lid but also yelled out loudly with malicious intent, inviting everyone to come and see. He wanted to make Chu Feng a laughingstock, that was only fair for the Yellow Earth he wasted.
Thinking of the Yellow Earth he secretly added to Chu Feng's ingredients, Liu Ping felt a pang of loss.
But it was worth it, being able to thoroughly humiliate Chu Feng was extremely satisfying.
"Wow! Am I seeing things?"
A classmate exclaimed exaggeratedly. Several others who crowded around the Pill Furnace, ready to laugh at Chu Feng, were also caught with their mouths open, staring in disbelief, as if they had seen a ghost.
After Liu Ping lifted the lid, because he firmly believed Chu Feng had failed, he didn't even give it a glance.
At this moment, seeing the expressions of his peers who were watching, a smile bloomed across his face.
"Chu Feng, I knew you'd turned those ingredients into crap! What a pity, such good materials, and you squandered them like that."
"If I had done the Alchemy, at the very least I could have produced six Elixirs…"
Liu Ping was speaking when he sensed something amiss. The dozen or so classmates surrounding the Pill Furnace were all looking at him with the same expression one would give an idiot.
"What's with that look? Did I say something wrong?"
Liu Ping asked a bit annoyed.
"Senior Liu Ping, you should come and see for yourself!" said a young man who had a decent relationship with Liu Ping.
"What's there to look at! Isn't it just burnt to charcoal? Could it be, burnt to ashes even?" Liu Ping said pridefully, yet still walked to the front of the Pill Furnace. The moment he saw what was inside, a scream of "Ah" escaped him, as though he had been struck by thunder.
Inside charred, outside tender, he stood petrified.