Nine Yang Alchemy Emperor
Chapter 49: Testing Leather with White Vinegar

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Testing Leather with White Vinegar

Ouyang Xiu is a teacher of the first rank, having instructed a large number of top students, with unquestionable strength. Not only is Qiao Sheng the top scholar among the lower grades, but he also hails from the biggest medicinal herb family of the Jianyun Dynasty.

Now that both of these individuals have examined it and claimed that the Seven Stars Grass harvested by Chu Feng is only twenty-eight years old, almost everyone believed it.

Teacher Xie Bing lowered her head; she didn’t even dare to look at Chu Feng again.

Because with Qiao Sheng and Ouyang Xiu’s maliciousness, they would definitely humiliate and torment Chu Feng severely. When that time comes, the blow to Chu Feng would be enormous. It could even lead to him never recovering from this setback.

Lin Yuxin, on the other hand, was filled with disappointment. She had originally thought that Chu Feng could create a miracle and fiercely slap the faces of Qiao Sheng and the others, extinguishing the arrogance of Class One.

Unexpectedly, Chu Feng’s outstanding performance was just a fleeting moment, and he was immediately returned to his original state.

Merely having harvested a twenty-eight-year-old medicinal herb, he was also the last one to return to the class.

Such performance is far too poor, definitely once again the last in the entire grade.

Liu Ping hated Chu Feng to the bone, so how could he let such an excellent opportunity for striking and revenge slip by?

Immediately, he added insult to injury and laughed loudly, "Haha, Chu Feng, you sure are something! With all these herbs around and hundred-year-old ones everywhere, you just had to pick one that’s barely thirty years old. I see that not only are you blind, but your luck is terrible to the extreme."

"You’ve completely disgraced our Class Five!"

This time, Chu Feng did not remain silent but responded with a face full of sarcasm, "You’re just a dog barking at the sun!"

"You, who are you calling a dog?" As a noble Prince, Liu Ping was publicly insulted by Chu Feng, a waste, as a dog, and he immediately jumped to his feet in anger.

"Who is the dog, it will be known shortly!" If Liu Ping wasn’t so insufferably arrogant, Chu Feng wouldn’t have bothered with him.

In the eyes of him, the Alchemy Venerate, Liu Ping was not even worth an ant. Just a speck of filthy dust.

"Oh, this Seven Stars Grass is not simple!" Just at this moment, the Dean couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.

The Dean is a top-notch figure, usually serene and restrained, with an authority like the sea, and even with significant events, his face remains indifferent, his emotions not showing.

Yet now, he exclaimed in shock, his eyes wide as he inspected the Seven Stars Grass in his hands.

Liu Ping, Qiao Sheng, and others, even if foolish, understood that this Seven Stars Grass might not be as simple as they thought.

Lin Yuxin quietly looked at Chu Feng, only to see him with an air of composure as if he had long understood the situation.

She thought to herself, "This detestable guy always likes to be mysterious. It seems that Qiao Sheng and others must have misjudged the age of the Seven Stars Grass!" With a glimmer of hope in the situation, she couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of expectation.

Teacher Xie Bing, too, couldn’t help but clench her fists tightly.

This was the first time she had seen the Dean, in front of everyone, show such a loss of composure.

"Dean, if I’m not mistaken, the age of this Seven Stars Grass might be over five hundred years old," said Niu Baotian, who was the teaching director for the lower grades and also a Second Grade Alchemist, holding a high status in the academy.

Although he could not compare with the Dean, his authority in the field of Alchemy Dao was equally high.

On the surface, he was the fierce teaching director, but in fact, he had already become somewhat of a follower to Chu Feng. To put it more directly, akin to a Registered Disciple, or a Servant.

Qiao Sheng and Ouyang Xiu wanted to humiliate Chu Feng, but at the crucial moment, he would definitely support Chu Feng with all his might.

"Bring over a bottle of white vinegar!" the Dean instructed.

Soon, a teacher from the academy procured a bottle of white vinegar nearby.

The Dean peeled off a piece of bark from the Seven Stars Grass and dropped it into the vinegar.

Everyone looked puzzled at the small piece of bark soaking in the white vinegar.

As time passed, roughly the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the skin of the Seven Stars Grass shifted from greenish-brown to deep purple.

"This... This is the vinegar skin test! It can relatively accurately determine the age of some saline woody Medicinal Herbs! Especially for those whose age is difficult to identify, the precision is extremely high!"

Qiao Sheng, born into a family of medicinal materials, finally understood what the Dean was doing.

"Indeed, this method is the vinegar skin test! The age of this Seven Stars Grass is over a thousand years!"

"As for the specific age, not even I, the Dean, can determine. Only those at the Alchemy King Level of the Alchemy Dao can accurately identify it."

The Dean’s words sent shockwaves throughout the crowd.

After a moment of silence, the crowd erupted into a cacophony of screams, totally astounded.

The students who were just now strutting about victoriously hung their heads low like defeated roosters, completely speechless.

Ouyang Xiu, the teacher, was in a fit of rage, his complexion dark and menacing.

"This, this can’t be possible! How could it be a thousand years old?" Qiao Sheng, like an aubergine hit by frost, completely wilted. He muttered to himself in a state of shocked disbelief, utterly defeated in spirit.

"Qiao Sheng, do you dare to question the Dean’s appraisal? Pure arrogance!"

Niu Baotian finally found his opportunity to curry favor with Chu Feng and to showcase himself.

"According to the ancient records, a light purple indicates five hundred years, while deep purple signifies over a thousand years. If the Medicinal Herb has been processed before, there might be inaccuracies. But for such fresh Medicinal Herbs, the accuracy is one hundred percent."

Niu Baotian sternly rebuked Qiao Sheng, citing the records from ancient texts to add authority to the Dean’s appraisal result.

Truly worthy of being a director, he managed to gain favor with Chu Feng while subtly flattering the Dean.

Killing two birds with one stone.

"I now solemnly announce that in this junior-level medicinal herb gathering competition, Class Five’s Chu Feng has won first place! Class One’s Qiao Sheng second place! Class Five’s Lin Yuxin third place!"

Niu Baotian loudly declared the appraisal results.

"Yay~!"

Xie Bing, the teacher, clenched her fists tightly, leaping excitedly with the joyous expression of a little girl, a beaming smile unfurling across her face.

Instantly, many people’s eyes were glued to her, their jaws dropped in astonishment.

Xie Bing, the teacher, was usually as fearsome as a cold-faced demon.

When had she ever shown such a brilliant girlish smile in front of the students?

The people from Class Five were all standing tall and proud, no longer feeling inferior, no longer unable to hold their heads high.

Who said Class Five was trash? In this herb gathering competition, two of the top three were from Class Five. The first-place throne was even snatched by Chu Feng from Class One.

This completely shattered Liu Ping’s myth of invincibility.

"Let’s go!" Ouyang Xiu had never felt as humiliated as he did at this moment; he was accustomed to the adoring gaze of others.

At this moment, having lost to teacher Xie Bing, he felt every glance towards him was filled with mockery and ridicule.

He was just about to slink away, but Chu Feng was not about to let him off easily.

"What’s the rush? Could it be that teacher Ouyang Xiu himself doesn’t keep his word, and even wants his students to break their promises too?" Chu Feng’s voice spread across the crowd, making Ouyang Xiu’s face turn as red as a monkey’s butt.

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