Ace, now fully reclined in his chair with one leg casually crossed over the other, watches the students began there refinement.
Lotus quietly stepped up beside him, forming a subtle noise cancellation formation with a flick of her sleeve.
"Teacher," she said in a hushed tone, "Can you enlighten me? I failed to notice any fake herbs among them."
Ace gave her a sidelong glance and smiled faintly. "That's because there aren't any."
Lotus blinked. "Then why say—"
"Because I want them to think there are." He cut her off gently, eyes twinkling with amusement as he watched a student discard a perfectly good Azure Leaf, mistaking it for a mimic weed.
"The moment doubt settles in," Ace continued, "they'll begin questioning everything. That's how an alchemist's mind should work. Cautious, methodical, curious. You can't refine pills blindly. You need certainty. And if they don't even know their herbs by sight, they don't deserve a cauldron."
