Chapter 25 (2/2)

“Thank you, First Elder!” Fang Lin kept the Nine Palaces Pouch securely, then he cupped his hands together before his chest to thank Gu Daofeng who nodded.

Fang Lin sniggered coldly in his heart. How could I possibly not know how to use this trivial Nine Palaces Pouch, huh? I’m only feigning that I don’t know how to use it so that the others don’t become suspicious.

One should know that Fang Lin had all sorts of storage talismans in his past life. The Nine Palaces Pouch was the lowest grade of available talismans. If this had been the past, Fang Lin would not have even bothered using it.

Gu Daofeng gave a short motivational speech before the group of people left the great hall as Old Man Zhou led them to their residences.

As official disciples, each of them was assigned a residence with its own private courtyard and alchemy room. Each of them could enter the alchemy academy once a month to learn as well. Their benefits were definitely much better compared to the junior alchemy disciples.

Fang Lin was very pleased with his courtyard. His was probably the largest of all. Moreover, it was located in a cozy spot that was slightly further away from the rest of the official disciples. He lingered in his courtyard so that he could familiarize himself with the environment. After a short while, someone came to visit him. To his surprise, it was his old acquaintance, Xu Shangao.

Xu Shangao’s face was filled with envy as soon as he stepped into the courtyard. He looked about from left to right as he was overcome with emotions. “Junior Brother Disciple Fang, why is your courtyard so large? I’m so jealous!” he gushed while laughing aloud.

Fang Lin sniggered and said, “There’s nothing I can do about this. I’m the top scorer, so I’m supposed to get the largest residence.”

Xu Shangao shook his head while smiling bitterly. All of a sudden, he retrieved a dark green dagger from the pocket of his chest. “Junior Brother Disciple Fang, congratulations on becoming an official disciple. Take this dagger as my gift to you. I hope that you can accept it.”

Fang Lin could tell that the dark green dagger was made with Azure Liquid Gold as soon as he saw it. It was the compensation Hao Rulong had given Xu Shangao back then as compensation for his elixir, and it was considered a rather impressive item. He received the dagger politely. “Thank you, Senior Brother Disciple Xu,” he said, cupping his hands before his chest.

Xu Shangao waved him off by saying, “The dagger is supposed to be yours. I was planning to give it to you before your return originally, but I figured it’d be more suitable to give it to you at this time after some consideration.”

The two people chatted for a while. Then, a few official disciples came to pay Fang Lin a visit out of admiration. As a common courtesy, Fang Lin could not possibly close the door to stop visitors from entering the residence, so he could only make small talk with the official disciples.

However, Fang Lin discovered that these visitors were low-grade disciples. None of them were medium- or high-grade disciples.

Xu Shangao was acquainted with these people as well. He began introducing them to Fang Lin so that the latter could befriend these people. After all, even though the competition amongst official disciples was neck-to-neck, it was necessary for Fang Lin to accumulate some networks with these people too.

The people did not come empty-handed either. Most of them came bearing gifts in the form of medicinal herbs and elixirs. They chatted to Fang Lin in a rather respectful tone as well. They had no choice but to show their respect for him since he created a great stir during the junior alchemy disciples examination, especially when he gained the favor of the four saints. Anyone would find that bewildering.

In the eyes of these official disciples, Fang Lin’s potential was limitless. It would be more beneficial for them the sooner they could get acquainted with him.

Fang Lin and Xu Shangao felt relieved when they finally left. Fang Lin’s face was turning stiff from smiling for too long.

Both of them took a seat in the courtyard. Xu Shangao advised him in a sincere and earnest tone, “Junior Brother Disciple Fang, there’s something I couldn’t openly say when the visitors were here earlier. As a friend, I must warn you that some official disciples will attempt to make things difficult for you now that you’ve just become one of them. This is an unwritten rule. A newly-promoted official disciple will always draw the bully out of the older disciples, especially since you’ve offended Kang Lu in the past. I’m afraid that some high-grade disciples will be looking to cause trouble for you.”

Fang Lin asked, “Are you talking about Yu Qiufan?”

Xu Shangao shook his head and said, “It’s not quite possible for Yu Qiufan. He is a high-grade disciple and he’s even one of the four excellencies of the alchemy sect. Being a proud person, he wouldn’t lower himself to bully someone. However, I can’t say the same for the other disciples. After all, Kang Lu is on good terms with the official disciples. There’s also the possibility of Yu Qiufan’s supporters stirring trouble up too.”

Fang Lin answered with a grunt as he frowned ever so slightly. It seemed like his days would not be smooth-sailing despite becoming an official disciple. After all, he was but a low-grade official disciple now. There were still medium- and high-grade disciples that were superior to him, and also the lurking enemies that were as formidable as the four excellencies.

“Senior Brother Disciple Xu, how formidable is Yu Qiufan anyway?” asked Fang Lin out of curiosity. After all, Yu Qiufan could possibly end up as his enemy. Not having a good understanding of Yu Qiufan would put him at a disadvantage.

Xu Shangao replied seriously, “Every single one of the four excellencies is exceedingly formidable. They are the most powerful four of the entire high-grade disciples and they are also the most hopeful candidates to become true lineage disciples in recent years. Yu Qiufan is the youngest of the four. He has already elevated to Cauldron-1 alchemist by now.”

Upon listening to his words, Fang Lin replied briefly. He did not express any surprise at Xu Shangao’s description.

Xu Shangao noticed that Fang Lin was being very calm. He could not refrain himself from saying, “Yu Qiufan is actually a Cauldron-1 alchemist. Aren’t you even a little surprised by that?”

Fang Lin looked at Xu Shangao strangely and said, “So what if he’s a Cauldron-1 alchemist?”

Xu Shangao was speechless. So what if he’s a Cauldron-1 alchemist? That’s a true alchemist, you see. He’s recorded in the alchemy federation. The identity of a Cauldron-1 alchemist is officially recognized anywhere!

One should know that there were not many people who possessed the identity as an alchemist in the entire alchemy sect. Many of the elders were only Cauldron-2 alchemists.