Chapter 314: Ling Ling Zhaoying

As time passed, the atmosphere in the plaza grew more and more fervent. Even students from the Resonance Power Academy came to join the excitement—after all, the Dark Cave Purification Mission had just wrapped up a phase, and watching a refinement of Spiritual Water Marvelous Light was a good way to relax body and mind.

Li Luo, meanwhile, was observing the various Spiritual Water Marvelous Light Houses that had arrived, and he quickly realized that aside from their own Xiyang House, every other Spiritual Water Marvelous Light House present could rank within the top twenty of the Great Xia...

Clearly, any Spiritual Water Marvelous Light House confident enough to come to the Material Refining Academy's Invitational must have tremendous strength.

By contrast, their Xiyang House here really did feel a bit out of place.

After all, in a gathering of so many powerhouses, an ordinary Spiritual Water Marvelous Light House wouldn't dare to come—otherwise, the moment they arrived they'd be crushed by their peers, and instead of attracting people, their reputation would suffer.

While sizing up the various Spiritual Water Marvelous Light Houses, Li Luo suddenly sensed a stir in the venue. His gaze followed, and he saw a procession entering—the leader of which was actually the Eldest Princess.

Most of the procession behind her were Material Refiners, and the pride in their eyes was impossible to conceal.

"That's the 'Celestial Palace House.' It's directly under the royal family, and also the strongest Spiritual Water Marvelous Light House in Great Xia—of course, not counting the Material Refining Academy itself." Yan Yan Lingqing had also noticed this procession of Material Refiners entering, and immediately explained to Li Luo.

Li Luo nodded. Of course he'd heard of Celestial Palace House—it was, after all, the most powerful Spiritual Water Marvelous Light House in Great Xia. Nearly every Material Refiner who graduated from the Material Refining Academy each year treated it as their first choice. Fortunately, though, the Material Refining Academy also limited the recruitment quota for each Spiritual Water Marvelous Light House, which served as a kind of balance. Otherwise, this Celestial Palace House could probably swallow up most of the graduating Material Refiners all on its own.

For Xiyang House to break into the top ten of Great Xia within half a year—Li Luo still had some confidence in that. But to say it could surpass Celestial Palace House? That was truly a stretch. At the very least, it was impossible right now.

Not long after Celestial Palace House entered, a crisp sound like the striking of Jin Yu suddenly rang out across the entire venue. Then all the noise fell silent, and gazes turned toward a high platform on the right side of the plaza.

There, a group of senior members of the Material Refining Academy walked out. Leading them was a beautiful woman in a holy white robe, her golden hair especially dazzling. There were traces of time on her cheeks, but she still possessed a lingering charm.

"That's the Dean of the Material Refining Academy, Ling Ling Zhaoying."

Yan Yan Lingqing's eyes filled with longing as she looked at the beautiful woman. "She is the only Eighth Rank Material Refiner in our Great Xia."

"She also possesses an Upper Eighth Rank... Light Phase."

Saying this, she looked toward Jiang Qing and smiled. "It's just that this Dean has always wanted Jiang Qing to enter the Material Refining Academy, but she refused every time."

"Eighth Rank Material Refiner... Upper Eighth Rank Light Phase."

Li Luo was full of amazement. Apart from Jiang Qing, this was the first time he had seen such a high-grade Light Phase. After all, compared to Water Phase, Light Phase was indeed far rarer, so within the Spiritual Water Marvelous Light world, the Spiritual Water it produced was often a full tier higher than Marvelous Light.

And most importantly, this Dean of the Material Refining Academy was actually an Eighth Rank Material Refiner.

Material Refiners and Alchemists have some notable differences. The unit price of Spiritual Water Marvelous Light is often lower than pills of the same grade, because the demand for Spiritual Water Marvelous Light is large and continuous. Pills are more expensive per unit, but many pills cannot be used repeatedly—after all, popping too many pills will also destabilize one's foundation.

However, this comparison only applies to Spiritual Water Marvelous Light below Seventh Rank. Once you go above Seventh Rank, this type of Spiritual Water Marvelous Light not only sees its price skyrocket, but also becomes much rarer in quantity.

The reason is simple: Seventh Rank Material Refiners in all of Great Xia can be counted on one hand.

If even Seventh Rank is like this, what more Eighth Rank?

In the entire Great Xia, only this Dean of the Material Refining Academy can produce them. So one can imagine what an astonishing price a single bottle of Eighth Rank Spiritual Water Marvelous Light would fetch—and what's more, it's a price with no market to match.

Those who can come to purchase this level of Spiritual Water Marvelous Light are most likely some Marquis-level powerhouses. For the sake of obtaining this one bottle of Spiritual Water Marvelous Light, they'd probably be willing to pay no small price. At this stage, the preciousness of an Eighth Rank Material Refiner is in no way inferior to an Alchemist of the same rank.

This is also the main reason why Li Luo chose the path of Material Refiner after awakening his Acquired Phase. At the very least, in the future he could rely on himself to obtain high-grade Spiritual Water Marvelous Light, rather than having to seek it from others and be at their mercy.

While Li Luo's thoughts churned, the Material Refining Academy Dean named Ling Ling Zhaoying stepped onto the high platform, her gaze sweeping across the entire venue. Then a clear, pleasant voice rang out.

"Everyone is no stranger here, so I'll skip the pleasantries. On behalf of the Material Refining Academy of the Holy Profound Star Academy, I welcome all our distinguished guests. I hope that at this Invitational, our soon-to-graduate students will be able to find a good destination."

"As for the rules of the Invitational, everyone already knows in advance. I won't say more—let's get straight to it."

This Material Refining Academy Dean had a rather decisive, swift style of doing things—in just a few brief words she brushed past the opening and directly announced the start of the Invitational.

"This Dean Ling Ling Zhaoying has quite the personality," Li Luo said with a smile.

"After all, she's an Eighth Rank Material Refiner. Her position within the Holy Profound Star Academy is also very special. They say it took the Dean a great deal of effort to invite her here in the first place." Jiang Qing said with a faint smile.

Li Luo nodded. That was only natural—an Eighth Rank Material Refiner, no matter where placed, would absolutely be fought over by all the major powers. In terms of attraction, even a Marquis-level powerhouse couldn't compare to an Eighth Rank Material Refiner.

As they spoke, they saw a Material Refining Academy instructor in the center of the plaza maintaining order, calling out loudly: "The first session of the Invitational is the Third Rank session."

"There are six participating Spiritual Water Marvelous Light Houses."

"Marsh House, Refiner, Vice President Han Zhi, Fifth Rank Material Refiner."

"Blue Light House, Refiner, Vice President Huangfu Xu, Fifth Rank Material Refiner."

"North Mountain Ice and Snow House, Refiner, Vice President Bing Ling, Fifth Rank Material Refiner."

"Ink Water House, Refiner, Vice President Mo Tai, Fifth Rank Material Refiner."

"..."

When the last Spiritual Water Marvelous Light House was called, that instructor's voice clearly paused for a beat, then rang out: "Xiyang House, Refiner, President Li Luo, Third Rank Material Refiner."

When his voice fell, the plaza, which had been somewhat noisy, clearly quieted down a bit. Many people's expressions were stunned, as if they felt they'd misheard.

Among these six Spiritual Water Marvelous Light Houses, the other five were all top-tier Spiritual Water Marvelous Light Houses of Great Xia, with impressive fame and strength. So how did a Xiyang House suddenly appear at the end...

As for Xiyang House, all they knew was that it was a Spiritual Water Marvelous Light House under the Luo Lan Mansion, but its strength really didn't rank in Great Xia, far less well-known than the Luo Lan Mansion itself.

And most importantly, the other houses had all sent Fifth Rank Material Refiners to refine Third Rank Spiritual Water, because this way they could best display their formulas and show off their own strength.

But this Xiyang House was something else—they only sent a Third Rank Material Refiner... And Li Luo's name had been spreading widely within the Academy recently, so no one was a stranger to him.

But...

How could this even be compared?

Waves of uproar rippled through the venue.

On the Marsh House side, Han Zhi had already stood up. A faint smile played on his face. Beside him, Duze Duze Beixuan sneered: "Vice President Han Zhi, give it everything you've got. The better you perform, the more embarrassed that Li Luo will be."

Han Zhi smiled slightly: "Young Mansion Master can rest assured. There's no reason for Marsh House to lose to Xiyang House."

Duze Duze Honglian said with an indifferent expression: "Marsh House has never regarded Xiyang House as an opponent, because they don't yet have that qualification. Vice President Han Zhi, in this Third Rank session, my Marsh House intends to be the most brilliant one, so I hope you'll give it your all."

Han Zhi nodded solemnly.

"The Young Lady is right. It was my narrow-mindedness."

At the same time, on the high platform of the plaza, many senior members of the Material Refining Academy took their seats.

Dean Ling Ling Zhaoying sat in the center. When she heard the name Xiyang House, her gaze shifted slightly, then she turned to look at a figure beside her and smiled: "This Li Luo, he's your student, Xi Chan?"

Sitting beside the Dean was none other than Instructor Xi Chan. Hearing this, she gave a slight nod and said: "That kid came to me asking for a back door, so I let him participate."

"Although it's only refining Third Rank Spiritual Water Marvelous Light, a Third Rank Material Refiner daring to step up and compete against Fifth Rank Material Refiners..."

Ling Ling Zhaoying said with a beaming smile: "This kid—does he think he's Jiang Qing?"

"From your words, I detect a hint of grievance," Instructor Xi Chan said flatly.

Dean Ling Ling Zhaoying pursed her lips and said, "That girl Jiang Jiang Qinge is really too wasteful — a Ninth-Grade Light Phase! I've chased after it my whole life and still haven't been able to set foot in it!"

"And there she goes, wasting that potential for nothing!"

Saying that, she couldn't help but slap the armrest of her seat, drawing a few sidelong glances.

"Everyone has their own pursuits. If she doesn't like the path of a Phase Master, can you force her head down to it?" Instructor Xi Chan said.

Dean Ling Ling Zhaoying shook her head and said no more on this topic that had rankled her for years. Her gaze shifted toward the location of Xiyang House, and then she saw the silver-gray-haired youth standing up.

"Fine, then. Let's see what exactly this kid from House Luolan Mansion is relying on to dare compete against a group of Fifth-Grade Phase Masters..."

"If this kid really thinks my Phase Master Academy's invitation gathering is a joke, then from now on, Xiyang House can forget about ever setting foot in my Phase Master Academy again."

Instructor Xi Chan shook her head. She knew this was still just a small grudge Dean Ling Ling Zhaoying held against Jiang Jiang Qinge, and there was no need to take the words seriously. However, if Li Luo truly showed nothing of note, then at today's invitation gathering, Xiyang House losing face would be unavoidable.

Therefore...

She gazed at Li Luo's figure, her brows knitting slightly.

This kid — does he really have the confidence?