Chapter 211: Just Like That
Chapter 211: Just Like That
Shen Mingluan was very excited.
She knew about the problems with the Hundred-Scent Soul Bean and understood them well.
But this item was developed from the Soul Bean. Even knowing its issues, it was very difficult to fix them.
She had been thinking about it recently. She felt like she had grasped something, but not completely.
It seemed she was just a little bit short.
After hearing the ideas provided by Wang Che, she suddenly understood!
Because she was so excited, her face turned a light pink. Only after grabbing Wang Che’s shoulders did she realize it, and she quickly let go, saying, “Sorry, sorry, I got a little too excited.”
Everyone was stunned.
Wow, what was that about?
This was like the guest taking over the host’s role. Even the senior couldn’t hold it together.
To be this excited…
Everyone felt that Wang Che’s words didn’t seem that impressive.
They didn’t know why the senior was so excited.
“We must just be too bad,” Kong Shijin admitted to himself.
“Qingling, what did Wang Che mean? How can the Hundred-Scent Soul Bean change anything?” Yun Feimo looked at Shui Qingling.
“Hmm… What Wang meant was using a different method to prepare it without changing the effect of the Hundred-Scent Soul Bean,” Shui Qingling said helplessly. “This idea… It’s like when our Soul Pets practice Soul Skills and hit a wall. We can ask a more experienced Soul Pet to guide them.”
“… I don’t know the specifics. It involves a lot of knowledge about making potions.”
Everyone understood: Wang Che’s level was higher than the senior’s.
Shen Mingluan tried to control her excitement. She couldn’t wait to go to the research lab and start working on it.
But since the idea was clear, Shen Mingluan wasn’t in a hurry now. She smiled and asked:
“By the way, have you prepared your own crops?”
“Next up is the crop display session. This is very important for us in the Agricultural Planting Major. Students from other majors just watch for fun. But it’s quite important for us. Besides the second and third-year seniors, you can also go on stage to show your crops.”
“Since you chose this major, you probably have grown something, right?”
“Whatever it is, you can come up and show it. Teachers will give you advice on your crops. If you can impress them, there are rewards!”
“If you haven’t grown anything, that’s okay. There will be many more chances like this in the future.”
Everyone knew about this event.
After all, Forest Sea University was an agricultural university.
The first three events were for all new students.
But this event in the Opening Ceremony was specially set up for the Agricultural Planting Major.
“Senior, why don’t you give us some advice?” Kong Shijin said with a laugh.
Shen Mingluan waved her hand.
“My level isn’t high enough to give advice casually. Alright, you all go and get ready. I need to pack up here too.”
Hearing this, everyone walked off the stage.
As Shen Mingluan was packing up, Tian Xiaoyu, who had already finished, walked over with a smile and asked:
“How was it, Sister Luan? I heard a little bit of it. Impressive, right?”
Shen Mingluan nodded.
“His level is too high… It really feels like he’s not here to learn, but to teach. The new students these days are too amazing. A few others performed well too.”
“It’s hard to imagine a new student with such strong nurturing talent and fighting talent also has such high agricultural skills. But judging from his Green Caterpillar, I guess it’s not completely unbelievable.”
“I’m more curious about what crop he will show later,” Tian Xiaoyu said, her eyes full of curiosity. “With his agricultural skills, it might even be possible for him to grow a Soul Plant.”
“Hard to say,” Shen Mingluan thought for a moment. “Growing Soul Plants requires a lot of careful work and special soil. Usually, high school seniors don’t have much time for that.”
“His knowledge is very rich. He must have read many books about agriculture. And when it comes to making Dietary Meals and potions, he has a genius-like inspiration and ideas… I’m a bit envious. Professor Yun always calls me a genius and tells me to think and understand more on my own. But I think I’m quite dumb.”
Shen Mingluan shrugged. “This Wang Che is the real genius. But growing plants needs practical experience, especially Soul Plants, which need special conditions. He might be lacking in that area. Things like Soul Power soil are rare outside and hard to buy. Without those conditions, it’s impossible to grow them.”
“Without Soul Power soil, growing a Soul Plant is almost impossible. He should be able to show a good crop. The school has Soul Power soil. With his talent, he could probably grow a Soul Plant soon.”
Tian Xiaoyu nodded in agreement.
The two finished packing, recalled their Soul Pets, and walked off the stage.
They hadn’t gone far when:
“How was it, Xiao Luan?”
Gu Shanhe and an elder in plain clothes walked over with big smiles.
“Principal Gu, Professor Yun,” Shen Mingluan stopped and said without hesitation:
“It was a wonderful surprise. I was truly shocked.”
“Oh, for you to say that, Xiao Luan, it seems this champion of the Xiyue Continent Qihang Cup is not just ordinarily impressive!” The elder next to Gu Shanhe looked surprised. “With your level, to say such a thing…”
Shen Mingluan told them what had happened earlier.
But she didn’t mention the ideas Wang Che provided later.
Even so, just the fact that Wang Che easily named the sixteen raw materials of the Hundred-Scent Soul Bean made the two of them pause for a moment.
After hearing it, they were silent for a while.
Then Gu Shanhe laughed heartily, looking very pleased. The elder beside him, however, fell into thought.
“See, see! Old Yun, I told you! There’s no other reason for him to come to our Forest Sea University and choose the Agricultural Planting Major! It’s because he’s already good at it and is interested in it!”
“You didn’t believe it, and said he was just here to have fun, to lie low at some random school…”
Gu Shanhe was in a very good mood. “Look, even after what Tian Xiaoyu told you, you still had doubts. Now you can’t doubt it anymore, right?”
“I was wrong,” Professor Yun nodded, admitting his mistake, but then tried to explain himself. “But for such a genius to choose the Agricultural Planting Major is pretty strange in itself.”
“You old fool, you were doubtful too. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have had Xiao Luan step in.”
The two argued light-heartedly for a bit.
Shen Mingluan helplessly shook her head. Professor Yun and Principal Gu were classmates back in the day.
Both stayed at the university later. One became the principal, wanting to expand the school and let more people learn about agriculture. The other chose to shine in the field of agriculture, nurturing batch after batch of excellent Agricultural Soul Masters.
“By the way, Professor Yun, I think I might have found a solution for the Hundred-Scent Soul Bean,” Shen Mingluan said suddenly.
Hearing this, Professor Yun stopped arguing with Gu Shanhe. First, he was shocked, then he asked happily:
“Tell me about it.”
Shen Mingluan briefly explained her thoughts, following Wang Che’s ideas and combining them with her own.
After hearing it, Professor Yun was greatly impressed and said,
“Good, good! Great ideas, and what’s even better is that your thinking is on the right track. You came up with this on your own—it seems your skills have improved, Mingluan. In the future, when you have time, you can take over for a few instructors and teach new students.”
Sensing something behind his words, Shen Mingluan replied a bit awkwardly,
“Um… actually, that idea wasn’t mine. Someone gave me a hint.”
“?” Professor Yun glanced at Gu Shanhe.
“Not me, not me,” Gu Shanhe waved his hands.
Professor Yun thought for a moment, then asked,
“Then who was it? Old Chen? Old Yuan? Or Old Jiang? Those old fellows usually stay in their own colleges—did they sneak into our institute? Or did you visit them?”
Shen Mingluan looked embarrassed.
Those senior professors were all from other major universities in North River Continent, specializing in the Agricultural Planting Major.
One of them was even from another continent.
North River Continent was the most developed region for agriculture, so its professors in the Agricultural Planting Major tended to be more skilled than those from other areas.
“That… no, it wasn’t any of them,”
Shen Mingluan shook her head gently.
“So there’s a senior in our Agricultural Planting Major I don’t know about?”
Professor Yun was very surprised.
Shen Mingluan had to say cautiously,
“It wasn’t a senior professor. It was that student, Wang Che. After he listed the sixteen raw materials, he just briefly mentioned… the issue with the Hundred-Scent Soul Bean and gave me an idea… I followed his train of thought and developed these ideas.”
Professor Yun: “…”
Gu Shanhe, standing nearby, seemed a bit shocked. “Is he really that skilled?”
“That skilled,” Shen Mingluan nodded.
“Sounds exciting,” Professor Yun took a deep breath. “Mingluan, come with me later. I’ll personally meet this prodigy.”
After saying this, Professor Yun hurried off to prepare.
“Principal Gu, does Professor Yun know something… about my research on the Hundred-Scent Soul Bean?”
Shen Mingluan asked, a bit puzzled.
“Since you already have your own ideas now, it’s fine to tell you,” Gu Shanhe said with a smile. “You are Old Yun’s prized student, so of course he pays close attention to your research on the Hundred-Scent Soul Bean. It’s great that you noticed the problem yourself. But he also wanted to see how you would solve it… It would be best if you could come up with a new idea on your own.”
“If you truly couldn’t figure it out, he would naturally have helped you solve it.”
“Unfortunately, Old Yun wanted to keep it under wraps a bit longer. He didn’t expect a student to bring it up for you…”
Shen Mingluan understood now and couldn’t help but feel a bit frustrated.
“So does this mean I’ve disappointed Professor Yun?”
“Not really,” Gu Shanhe comforted her. “Old Yun and I estimated that, with your talent, you would have figured it out in about another month, even without any hints.”
Shen Mingluan wanted to say more but held back.
Alright then, with my talent, it would have taken another month to figure it out.
“Train of thought can be quite elusive,” Gu Shanhe said with a smile. “Pharmaceutical studies are vast and profound, involving complex changes in medicinal principles. Sometimes, even we veteran professors get stuck in dead ends. Instead, many young students have rich imaginations and unrestricted thinking—they don’t confine themselves to rigid frameworks. They often come up with fresh ideas, even if they might not be entirely correct, and can give us old professors a lot of inspiration and new perspectives.”
“Today’s young people are getting more and more impressive.”
“So this isn’t surprising.”
“Don’t take it to heart, and don’t overthink it.”
Shen Mingluan nodded, smiling. “It’s alright, I understand my own situation. Enough talk—I need to prepare too. I want to see what other skills this junior has.”
After that, Shen Mingluan and Tian Xiaoyu quickly left.
Gu Shanhe watched Shen Mingluan’s retreating figure and smiled thoughtfully.