Chapter 316: Competing Against Fifth Rank Refiners

With a loud shout from the Refining Mentor, the atmosphere across the venue gradually heated up, gazes turning toward the high platform. Among them were many students from the Resonance Art Academy who weren't familiar with refining Spiritual Water Wonders, so they too wanted to see with their own eyes just how these Spiritual Water Wonders, which they couldn't do without on a daily basis, were actually refined.

Within the six refining chambers, the five Wu Wei Wu Pin Refiners all wore rather calm, composed expressions. After all, using their strength to refine a Third Rank Spiritual Water Wonder was somewhat of a waste of talent. If it weren't for their own Spiritual Water Wonder Houses wanting to show off the best side of their products, they could have simply sent a Yi Ming Si Pin Refiner out to take the field.

So their movements appeared fluid and natural. The power of either Water Aspect or Light Aspect circulated outward, and as their five fingers tapped casually, the materials on the refining platforms were directly wrapped by Resonance Power, then ground down and poured into crystal tubes one by one.

Then came the intricate, dazzling fusion of medicinal properties.

It had to be said, the fact that Han Zhi's five Wu Wei Wu Pin Refiners could represent their respective Spiritual Water Wonder Houses was enough to prove their own strength. This round of refining gave one a sense of smooth, pleasing-to-the-eye flow.

However, within this smoothness, something discordant was mixed in.

Pfft!

On Li Luo's refining platform, energy surged within a crystal tube, suddenly becoming chaotic, and then the entire crystal tube shattered directly.

This was a mishap during the fusion of medicinal properties.

Actually, such situations occurring during the refining of Spiritual Water Wonders were very common, but in the current setting, with the other five Refiners refining with such fluid ease, Li Luo's mishap appeared especially eye-catching.

Low murmurs of commotion rose from the plaza.

Even those who didn't understand Spiritual Water Wonder refining could tell that Li Luo's technique here did indeed appear more raw and immature compared to the other five Wu Wei Wu Pin Refiners.

The gap between Third Rank and Fifth Rank could not be overlooked.

At a certain viewing platform in the plaza, the girl named Mei Zhu Xuan'er saw this scene and immediately let out a scoff, then turned her gaze toward Li Bi and the others not far away, saying: "Li Bi, the warning I gave you before wasn't wrong, was it? Xiyang House is a pit of fire—once you jump in, you can't climb out."

Li Bi didn't pay her any attention. The girl beside her named Bing Tao, however, nodded and said softly: "Although this Mei Zhu Xuan'er is annoying, what she says does have some truth to it. Xiyang House was already weak to begin with, and now they're only sending out a Yi Ming San Pin Refiner—do they think they haven't embarrassed themselves enough?"

"If they don't even value their own reputation, then it really isn't a good place to go."

Hearing this, Li Bi sighed helplessly and said: "I never said I would definitely join Xiyang House. Stop talking about it, let's just watch the competition first."

Bing Tao spread her hands and said no more.

Over on the other side, that Mei Zhu Xuan'er was still chattering endlessly. In her words, Xiyang House was bound to become the laughingstock of this invitation gathering, and anyone who joined them would truly disgrace the Refining Academy.

Although some students didn't like hearing such talk, they were still somewhat affected by it, shaking their heads inwardly. It seemed this Xiyang House truly had no hope.

However, Li Luo could no longer hear the commotion on the plaza, because at this moment he had already devoted his entire mind to this refinement, and all outside interference was completely shut out by him.

His expression remained calm, showing no panic from the earlier mishap, because such a mishap was within his expectations—and it probably wouldn't be the last.

After all, how many mishaps occurred didn't matter; what mattered was refining the Third Rank Spiritual Water within the allotted time.

He stretched out his palm, Resonance Power condensing at his fingertips into threads that shot out, directly wrapping around stalks of materials, then using Resonance Power to crush them. After the initial refinement of impurities and the adjustment of dosages, they were poured into crystal tubes one by one.

He continued to begin fusing the materials.

And time, under this fusion, gradually slipped away.

During the following period, Li Luo experienced three more fusion mishaps, but this time it wasn't only him—the other Wu Wei Wu Pin Refiners, apart from Han Zhi, each also experienced one mishap, resulting in material loss.

After all, even Wu Wei Wu Pin Refiners wouldn't have a hundred percent success rate every single time.

Li Luo still paid no attention to the others' mistakes. At this moment, under his highly concentrated mind, the "Bai Bai Mengmeng Spiritual Water" he was refining had already reached one-third completion.

This completion rate fell far behind the others, but he wasn't anxious, steadying his own rhythm.

On the high platform, Dean Ling Ling Zhaoying suddenly stirred. Her gaze fixed on Li Luo's position, and she said with a light smile: "This Li Luo's medicinal properties have exceeded ten-fold fusion... this isn't something a Three-Star formula can achieve."

"I told you, this kid isn't stupid—he wouldn't go about throwing eggs at a rock. So it turns out he was hiding a hand here."

Mentor Xi Chan, who was beside her, was also somewhat surprised as she said: "This is... a Four-Star formula?"

Ling Ling Zhaoying nodded and said: "Although I don't know where he got a Four-Star formula from, I won't be mistaken."

Mentor Xi Chan's eyes flickered slightly. Ling Ling Zhaoying was the only Eighth Rank Refiner in the Great Xia, and her eye for such things was absolutely trustworthy. Since even she said Li Luo was currently refining a Four-Star formula, then there was no mistake.

As for where this Four-Star formula came from...

Mentor Xi Chan had some guesses, and couldn't help but chuckle. This Li Luo really was popular with girls—Bai Bai Mengmeng that girl actually willing to go this far for him?

"But even with a Four-Star formula, it's still very hard to catch up with the others." Ling Ling Zhaoying said with a smile, propping her chin.

"At least there's a little more chance than before, and who knows whether Li Luo might have other trump cards still?" Mentor Xi Chan said. She had suddenly gained a bit more interest in this competition.

"Oh? You think so highly of your student?" Ling Ling Zhaoying said with a smile.

Mentor Xi Chan smiled without answering. From a rational standpoint, Li Luo's odds of winning were indeed not high, but this little fellow was a bit freakish—he might just surprise everyone again.

And time, under the watchful eyes of all sides, continued to slip away.

Under the gaze of the many eyes in the venue, the completion rate of the five Refiners on the platform besides Li Luo grew higher and higher, and among them Han Zhi drew the most attention.

Because up until now, he was the only one on the field who had yet to experience a single mishap.

Even some Sixth Rank Refiners from the major Spiritual Water Wonder Houses nodded slightly. This Han Zhi's talent was quite good—it's just that in his early years he was self-taught, and only after entering Xiyang House did he have the chance to learn, climbing step by step to the position of president.

On the viewing platform, Duze Duze Honglian and Duze Duze Beixuan also had smiles on their faces, clearly fairly satisfied with Han Zhi's performance.

"It seems Han Zhi's desire to perform is very strong. I originally thought he would hold back when facing his old employer." Duze Duze Beixuan said with a smile.

Duze Duze Honglian said indifferently: "Generally speaking, the more of a betrayer someone is, the harsher they are to their former master. I think Han Zhi's desire to cripple Xiyang House might be even stronger than ours at Daze House."

"Sis, this competition should be in the bag, right?" Duze Duze Beixuan laughed, looking relaxed.

"That Li Luo has been too high-profile lately. Being able to suppress him this time can also take some wind out of his sails."

Hearing this, Duze Duze Honglian hesitated slightly. If it were before, she would have already let out a cold laugh, but after the matter in the Dark Cave, she felt this kid really was a bit freakish.

So after struggling with it for a moment, her voice was somewhat uncertain.

"Should be... most likely in the bag, right?"