Chen Nan's face flushed red. He guiltily lowered his head and answered, "Yes!"
Chen Nan felt a pang of guilt, but he was also confused. The quality and taste of the food on a D-level Star were indeed mediocre. 'But hasn't my Contractor lived here her whole life? Why is she so disgusted by these common foods?'
However, taking care of a Contractor's diet and daily needs was indeed part of a Contractor's duties. Now that his Contractor was dissatisfied with his efforts, he could only find a way to improve.
As for cooking classes, he had never taken any. The Contractor regulations actually required every Contractor to study cooking to better serve their own Contractor.
But he was from the Guangdu Chen Family, which was quite influential on Star A110, ranking among its second-tier families. Growing up, he was surrounded by servants. Although he was just one of many sons, his father's Level was high, so the family provided him with all the resources he was due. He had always assumed that if he were matched with a Contractor in the future, they would also be from a prominent family. Besides, he had seen from a young age just how servile a Contractor had to be. He was therefore deeply resistant to being matched and instinctively only wanted to increase his Combat Power and escape such a fate.
Ning Xuan had switched to the Alchemy Department, which meant she was supposed to start from the first year. But after looking at the first-year curriculum, she saw it was full of courses like identifying Exotic Plants. 'While these courses are fundamental, it would be a waste of my time to attend them in person. I'd rather just take the materials home and study on my own. I don't want to be in a class with a bunch of kids; it would definitely slow my progress.'
Ning Xuan chose a third-year class in the Alchemy Department: "Processing Methods and Applications of Common Exotic Plants."
When Ning Xuan refined Elixir Pills in the past, her usual methods for processing Spiritual Medicine were simple: washing and air-drying, sorting out the different medicinal parts, and then applying various techniques. These included fire-processing, stir-frying, steaming, stewing, baking, wine-infusion, refining, and extraction. Of course, some special herbs might require more complex methods, the kind that took years of practice and experimentation to master.
'Therefore,' Ning Xuan thought, 'the processing and application of medicinal ingredients are the foundation and core of the entire alchemy process. They're also the most important and difficult aspects of learning alchemy, so they're worth spending more time on.'
However, after sitting through one class in the Alchemy Department and flipping through the textbook, Ning Xuan couldn't help but feel disappointed. 'There's only one method for processing Exotic Plants here: wash them, crush them to extract the juice, and then mix it with other juices to make different kinds of medicine. It's so simplistic and crude.'
For example, the commonly used Healing Medicine of various names were just Blue Flame Grass juice mixed with the juices of other Exotic Plants.
The dosage forms of the medicine were also very limited—all of them were bottled liquid medicines.
Ning Xuan recalled that most of the medicine she used to refine were Elixir Pills. Only those whose skills were insufficient and couldn't successfully refine Elixir Pills would resort to making other dosage forms, such as powders, salves, and liquid solutions. 'Of course,' she mused, 'different forms have different applications. Salves are most convenient for treating external injuries, and powdered medicines are the fastest way to stop bleeding.'
'If all the intermediate alchemy courses are like this, then there's no need for me to take them. I just need to memorize the medicinal properties of the various Exotic Plants and get more hands-on practice.'
After class, Ning Xuan stopped the teacher who was about to leave. She found a picture of an Alchemy Furnace on the Star Network and asked about the precautions for using it, its methods of use, and so on. Unexpectedly, the teacher gave her a complicated look and said, "Student, before the Great Cataclysm, when plants hadn't mutated yet, most could be refined using methods like quenching and steaming. But after the plants mutated, when you place an Exotic Plant in an Alchemy Furnace, you need a Spirit Controller to channel their own Spiritual Power to guide the energy contained within the plant. Otherwise, the furnace will inevitably explode."
"The minimum requirement to use an Alchemy Furnace is a B-level Spirit Controller. The requirement is lower for female Spirit Controllers, but even they must be at least a C-level Spirit Controller with a Spiritual Power Value of over 500. Student Ning Xuan, you don't meet the requirements yet!"
"If you're really interested, after completing all the courses for an Intermediate Alchemist and passing the final exam, you can enter the advanced alchemist classes. The requirements for junior students aren't as strict there. Although you can't use an Alchemy Furnace, you can observe and learn!"
Seeing Ning Xuan's sincere and humble attitude, the teacher patiently and carefully explained a lot more to her.
Ning Xuan then began to look up the content of the final exam for the Alchemy Department's Intermediate Class. She wanted to pass this exam as soon as possible to see what the advanced classes covered.
After finishing his class for the students in the Fighting Department, Chen Nan followed Ning Xuan's request and went to the cooking class. His appearance caused a huge commotion. On a D-level Star, reaching a B-level Spiritual Power Level already made you a formidable figure, and Chen Nan was S-Class. At first, the students thought he was there to see Ning Xuan.
"I-Instructor Chen, Xuanyuan... Xuanyuan transferred departments today! She went to the Alchemy Department for class. Y-you, if you're looking for her, you have to go to the Alchemy Department!" He Mo said, blushing as she came closer. That's what she said out loud, but in her heart, she was screaming, 'Don't go, stay here! Oh my god, he's even more handsome up close! Skin like white jade, a high nose bridge, charming eyes, long legs... Under that black shirt, there must be rock-hard abs. I want to touch them so bad!'
The more He Mo thought about it, the redder her face became. Hu Tao couldn't help but nudge her with an elbow and whisper, "Get a hold of yourself! You're drooling!"
Chen Nan recognized the two girls as being on good terms with Ning Xuan. He gave a polite nod. "Thank you for letting me know. I'm here for class." After speaking, he found a relatively empty corner and sat down.
Chen Nan's attitude in class was very serious, and he learned how to handle the ingredients quickly. Under his influence, the classroom atmosphere was surprisingly good. When class ended, Teacher Qu looked at the amount of prepared ingredients that had been turned in—twice as much as usual—and grinned from ear to ear.
In the afternoon, the cooking class had a practical session. In front of each student was a pot and a pile of ingredients. When Teacher Qu saw that Chen Nan was also there, she was immediately delighted. The ingredients she brought today were of a much higher quality than usual. She was counting on the students to maintain their morning's enthusiasm and create some delicious food!
Who would have known that not even five minutes into the class, the pot in Chen Nan's hands exploded. Sticky bits of beast meat splattered everywhere. With the help of other students, it took over ten minutes to clean up the scene. But just a few minutes later, Chen Nan's new pot exploded again. Teacher Qu looked at the embarrassed Chen Nan and gently suggested, "Instructor Chen, perhaps this subject isn't the best fit for you. Why don't you look into other courses? Or perhaps you could consider only taking the classes on ingredient preparation!"