Chapter 2026 — True Identity!

"Teach me alchemy? I want to learn!" Wei Zhao hurriedly nodded.

"Ahem... Could you change your tune any faster?" Bai Lingtou said, at a loss for words. "Weren't you acting as if you had no interest in it at all just now?"

"Uh... I didn't know you were going to teach me alchemy. If you'd told me sooner, I would have come to learn long before the freshmen gala was over!" Wei Zhao could hardly contain his excitement. The moment Bai Lingtou offered to teach him alchemy, he was so thrilled he nearly leaped out of his skin.

Alchemy had always been one of Wei Zhao's greatest frustrations. Although he appeared to have stopped studying it, the truth was not that he had given up. He simply could not make any headway. He could condense alchemical fire, but the instant he tried to alter its intensity or temperature, the flame would go out.

So it was not that Wei Zhao did not want to study alchemy. He simply had no way forward and could only wait for an opportunity, a chance to learn. There had been no hope of finding one through You Panhu, leaving him no choice but to seek another path. Yet sometimes, what one searches for until one's shoes are worn through turns up without the slightest effort.

Who would have thought that the Bai Lingtou before him was actually an alchemist?

Wei Zhao felt as if he might cry. He was simply too lucky. The first person he happened to save had turned out to be an alchemist. And he had nearly missed such an extraordinary opportunity. If he had not applied to Donghai University of Engineering by sheer accident, and if he had not happened to become Bai Lingtou's student, meeting Bai Lingtou again would have been exceedingly difficult.

"I thought you weren't interested in anything. You were acting so self-important earlier, as if you were something special. Now you're begging me, aren't you?" Bai Lingtou felt thoroughly pleased after hearing Wei Zhao's words. "Ha! I told you that sooner or later you'd become my disciple. How about that?"

"I... I was already your student..." Wei Zhao gave a bitter smile. When a man was beneath another's roof, he had no choice but to bow his head.

"Ha ha! Beg me. Beg me, and I'll teach you!" Bai Lingtou crossed one leg over the other, lifted the teacup before him, savored its fragrance, and took an unhurried sip. He watched Wei Zhao with a half-smile.

"Well... Bai Lingtou, please..." Wei Zhao shuddered inwardly. This Bai Lingtou certainly had plenty of peculiar amusements. Still, for Xiaoxiao's sake, Wei Zhao would even kneel and formally acknowledge him as his master, let alone beg him.

"That was too quiet. I didn't hear you. You don't want to learn? Fine, then. Go home. Come back when you've made up your mind," Bai Lingtou said.

"..." Wei Zhao was at a loss for words, but he still raised his voice. "I want to learn! Bai Lingtou, please accept me as your disciple!"

"Ha ha! See? What did I tell you?" Bai Lingtou laughed heartily. "Since that's the case, I'll reluctantly impart some knowledge to you beyond what is taught in class."

"Thank you, Bai Lingtou!" Wei Zhao said quickly.

"No need to thank me. However, the foundation of an alchemist is being a martial artist. Do you know what a martial artist is?" Bai Lingtou waved a hand, his expression returning to normal as he asked in a solemn tone.

"I do!" Wei Zhao nodded, though a sudden doubt arose in his mind. When he had treated Bai Lingtou earlier, Bai Lingtou had not seemed like a martial artist at all. His meridians had been shattered in some places and blocked in others, making it impossible for him to practice martial arts. Could Bai Lingtou be a practitioner of external martial arts?

Yet Wei Zhao had never heard of anyone practicing external martial arts who could refine pills. Then Bai Lingtou... With that thought, Wei Zhao eyed him strangely. "Bai Lingtou, are you a martial artist?"

"No." Bai Lingtou shook his head.

"Uh... Then you know how to refine pills?" Bai Lingtou's blunt answer left Wei Zhao utterly perplexed.

"No." Bai Lingtou shook his head again.

"What? Then... weren't you going to teach me alchemy?" Wei Zhao looked at Bai Lingtou, asking in bewilderment and uncertainty.

"Alchemy, yes," Bai Lingtou replied. "I haven't finished speaking. I'm not a martial artist now, nor am I an alchemist anymore, but I used to be! How does that song go? I haven't been an alchemist for many years..."

"..." Wei Zhao was speechless. This old man was surprisingly amusing. In any case, having once been an alchemist rather than being one now did not prevent him from teaching. Take Uncle Qing, for example. Although he could no longer use the martial art known as Madfire Fist, he could still guide Wei Zhao in unleashing and practicing it.

"What is it? You don't believe me?" Seeing the disappointment in Wei Zhao's eyes, Bai Lingtou glared at him. "Didn't you see that people like You Panhu come from alchemical clans? How difficult do you think it is for them to learn even a little from me?"

"Of course I believe you. It's just strange. You used to be an alchemist, and you seem to have been incredibly accomplished. How did your meridians end up shattered, or blocked, leaving you in such a miserable state?" Wei Zhao asked with a bitter smile.

"Who said I was beaten by someone? I suffered this when I lost control while refining pills and my cauldron exploded!" Bai Lingtou glared at him. "If I hadn't been injured in that explosion, with my skill in alchemy, I would never have ended up here as an ordinary lecturer. Back in the day, the ancient sects and ancient clans begged me from dawn to dusk to refine pills for them, and I wouldn't even give them the time of day!"

"Tsk..." Wei Zhao drew in a sharp breath after hearing Bai Lingtou's words. So this man had once been a top-tier alchemist, and apparently an exceptionally formidable one at that. No wonder people like You Panhu never dared behave recklessly in front of him. It also explained the strange things Bai Lingtou had said to him that morning. So Bai Lingtou really was a legendary figure.

"Well? Scared now?" Bai Lingtou looked at Wei Zhao with great satisfaction. "Since you know about martial artists, you must know about hidden clans, ancient clans, and ancient sects as well!"

"I do..." Wei Zhao drew a deep breath. "Bai Lingtou, I never imagined you were such a legendary figure..."

"Legendary? That was all in the past." Bai Lingtou shook his head with self-mockery. "Now I'm nothing but a cripple. I can still teach disciples, but asking me to refine pills is out of the question. The lineage of Zhang Liju cannot end with my generation. So I chose two disciples. One of them is you."

"What? Zhang Liju? Ahem..." Wei Zhao nearly choked to death when he failed to catch his breath. "The legendary physician Zhang Liju?"

"You have heard of him too? Hmm... Since you come from a medical family, it is hardly surprising that you would know the name."

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