Chapter 315: Hacking You to Death

Amid the wave of stunned voices, Li Luo also rose to his feet.

"Looks like no one has much faith in our Xiyang House." Feeling the many doubtful gazes from the crowd, Li Luo smiled at Jiang Jiang Qinge and Yan Yan Lingqing.

"Sigh."

Yan Yan Lingqing was worried to death, sighing endlessly, no longer in the mood to pay Li Luo any attention.

Jiang Jiang Qinge, however, gave Li Luo a slight nod of her pretty head and said, "Good luck."

She knew Li Luo had the four-star formula that Bai Bai Mengmeng had researched, but that could only be said to narrow the gap with the other Spirit Water Wonder Light Houses; if he were to completely catch up, it was still unlikely.

After all, the other competitors were all Fifth Rank Resonance Masters, and with their grade, refining Third Rank Spirit Water Wonder Light was inherently much easier by a wide margin, and the finished product's effect would also be better.

And Li Luo was, after all, only Third Rank—how could he bridge this gap?

Cai Wei lightly fanned herself with her round fan. Though she said nothing, one could tell she was also quite worried. After all, Xiyang House had finally built up a bit of reputation, and the situation was much better than before, but with today's commotion, if there wasn't a good result, it would truly be a laughingstock.

But in the end she said nothing, for the decision-makers of House Luolan House were Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge, and if the two of them were determined, then no one could change it.

Most importantly, she understood Jiang Jiang Qinge and Li Luo—they valued House Luolan House and Xiyang House more than she did, so they couldn't possibly be unaware of the impact of today's invitation gathering, and since they still chose to do so, there was a high probability they had some preparation.

As for what it was... one could only wait and see.

Li Luo walked out from where Xiyang House was seated, then under the attention of many gazes, headed toward the white jade high platform at the center of the square, where refining platforms had long been prepared.

At one spot in the square was the "Tiangong House" team, and the Princess was also watching Li Luo's figure. Her slender brows lifted slightly—this Li Luo really couldn't be left out anywhere. He had just shown off his might in the Dark Cavern, and now he wasn't even letting go of this Resonance Academy invitation gathering?

Wasn't he being a bit too arrogant?

The Princess turned her head, looked at a middle-aged man with greying hair beside her, and asked, "Master Master Guixu, do you think a Third Rank Resonance Master can compete with a group of Fifth Rank Resonance Masters in this kind of setting?"

The middle-aged man called Master Guixu smiled upon hearing this and said, "Your Highness is referring to President Li Luo of Xiyang House, yes?"

"Very difficult."

Without waiting for the Princess to nod, he shook his head and said, "Xiyang House's foundation is too thin. Compared to top Spirit Water Wonder Light Houses like Daze House, whether in heritage or scale, the gap is far too great."

"The three major elements of refining Spirit Water Wonder Light are the Resonance Master, the formula, and the Mi Fa source water and source light."

"First, on the Resonance Master point, Xiyang House is greatly behind—Third Rank versus Fifth Rank."

"On the formula point, Xiyang House has never reached four-star grade, whereas looking at the other Spirit Water Wonder Light Houses, the reason they participate in the Third Rank arena is that Third Rank Spirit Water Wonder Light counts as one of their signatures—they all possess four-star grade formulas."

"And as for Mi Fa source water and source light, it's said Xiyang House recently has a type of Upper Seventh Grade Mi Fa source water—this is their only advantage, because the purity of the other five houses' Mi Fa source water and source light is only at Lower Seventh Grade, so on this point, Xiyang House can pull one point back..."

"But that's all there is to it. The gap between Upper Seventh Grade purity and Lower Seventh Grade purity is not enough to reverse the situation."

Master Master Guixu smiled and said, "So... this President Li Luo should have no chance."

The Princess gave a slight nod. Master Guixu's was a professional assessment and carried considerable weight, but she did not entirely agree, because she knew Jiang Jiang Qinge and Li Luo should both be very clear on this point. These two were both very smart; if there were absolutely no chance, they wouldn't have risked Xiyang House's reputation.

Then, what exactly gave Li Luo this confidence?

A sliver of curiosity rose in the Princess's heart.

After experiencing that great calamity in the Dark Cavern, she no longer looked down on Li Luo in the slightest. This fellow usually kept a low profile, as if completely hidden beneath Jiang Jiang Qinge's brilliance, but by instinct, the Princess felt that in House Luolan House, the one most worthy of being taken seriously might not necessarily be only Jiang Jiang Qinge...

This Li Luo really does seem to be hiding his depth.

When Li Luo stepped onto the high platform, he happened to run into Han Zhi, who was also competing. The latter gave him a gentle smile.

This time, however, Li Luo merely glanced at him coolly and said, "Han Zhi."

"Does Young Mansion Master Li Luo have something else to say?" Han Zhi asked with a smile.

Li Luo said indifferently, "If I get the chance, I'll find someone to cut you down, so when you go out from now on, have Daze House assign you a few more guards."

The smile on Han Zhi's face stiffened slightly. He hadn't expected Li Luo to be so blunt this time, nor to conceal his killing intent at all.

Besides, this was far too improper!

Han Zhi's expression turned a bit ugly as he said, "Young Mansion Master Li Luo, if you break the rules like this, Daze House might also adopt the same method to retaliate against the Resonance Masters of your Xiyang House."

"When you burned down Xiyang House's research room, you had already stopped talking about rules."

Li Luo gave a faint smile, then said no more and turned directly toward the refining platform that had been arranged in advance.

Han Zhi stared at his back, his face darkening, and finally let out a cold snort. The current situation in House Luolan House was unstable, and they could barely protect themselves—this Li Luo still wanted to threaten him? How naive.

Did he really think Han Zhi would be afraid because of that?

Very well, since you want to force my hand, then don't blame me. There hadn't been an opportunity before, but now you've come to me on your own accord, so I'll seize this chance.

Heh, the show of the former Xiyang House president crushing the current president—surely many people will be interested. By then, the bit of reputation Xiyang House has painstakingly accumulated recently will once again plummet to rock bottom.

Li Luo didn't pay much attention to what Han Zhi was thinking, but toward this person, he indeed harbored a deep killing intent, because the latter had not only betrayed House Luolan House, but that fire at the research room had also made Li Luo's fury blaze.

House Luolan House had not treated Han Zhi poorly; his becoming a Fifth Rank Resonance Master was also thanks to much support from House Luolan House. Yet now, seeing House Luolan House weakened, he not only defected straight to House Luolan House's rivals, but to win Daze House's favor, he cruelly committed the evil act of burning down the research room.

Just as Li Luo had said earlier, on this point, he was already beyond the pale of rules.

Previously Li Luo hadn't paid much attention to this matter because there were too many things going on, and after Han Zhi entered Daze House he had kept a low profile. But it turned out that low profile was only an illusion—this fellow now dared to come out and trample Xiyang House. Since that was the case, it couldn't be ignored any longer.

So what Li Luo had said earlier was not merely a simple threat. If he truly found the chance, he wouldn't mind mobilizing House Luolan House's power to eliminate this Han Zhi.

Thinking these thoughts, Li Luo had already arrived before the refining platform. Standing there, he looked up and saw countless gazes from the square watching him, which put no small amount of pressure on him.

But Li Luo's expression was quite calm. He knew hardly anyone was confident in him, but what he needed was exactly this kind of doubt, because the deeper their doubt now, the more deeply they would remember Xiyang House when the results came out.

He believed that after this invitation gathering, although Xiyang House might not directly break into the top ten of Daxia, its rise would be unstoppable.

Ding!

It was at this moment that the crisp strike of a jade chime suddenly rang out, and the resonant voice of the Resonance Academy instructor maintaining order boomed across the entire venue.

"The Third Rank arena of the Invitation Gathering officially begins!"