Chapter 329: A Reward

When Li Luo returned to House Luolan Mansion, he found Jiang Jiang Qinge at once and told her everything about his conversation with the Eldest Princess.

"She actually spoke some heartfelt words with you?"

Jiang Jiang Qinge was slightly surprised by this. Among the women she had come into contact with, if one were to speak of scheming minds and being unfathomable, the Eldest Princess would surely rank near the top. In their usual exchanges, both appeared amicable on the surface, yet each harbored a measure of guardedness, and getting someone like the Eldest Princess to open up and speak frankly was no small feat.

But this time, the things the Eldest Princess said to Li Luo clearly went beyond that boundary.

"It's probably because I can treat the little King's innate defect..." Li Luo said with a smile.

Jiang Jiang Qinge gave a slight nod and said, "I didn't expect the struggles within Wang Ting to be so white-hot. Looking at it this way, half a year from now really will be a juncture where winds rise and clouds surge."

"The landscape of Great Xia may very well change because of it."

Li Luo sighed. He too felt a sense of storm clouds gathering. Great Xia had been at peace for so many years—could it truly remain stable this time?

"Will the Regent be willing to hand over power?" Li Luo asked.

Jiang Jiang Qinge's gaze sharpened slightly. "I haven't had much contact with him either, but this man is a true overlord. I recall hearing Master and Mistress mention once that he is not a good sort."

"Then by getting so close to the Eldest Princess, won't we earn his grudge as well? And I have a feeling he probably already knows that I can treat the little King's innate defect." Li Luo said thoughtfully.

"It doesn't matter if he knows. On this matter, the Eldest Princess will protect you with all her might. Besides, this is perfectly justified—if the Regent tries to obstruct you, it would instead reveal his ulterior motives, and the internal conflicts within Wang Ting would only intensify." Jiang Jiang Qinge said.

"Moreover..."

Jiang Jiang Qinge's eyes turned slightly cold. "As I mentioned before, if there's a problem with the life-and-death lot that Master and Mistress drew, when it comes down to it... this Regent is likely one of the prime suspects."

Li Luo nodded lightly. Whoever could manipulate the life-and-death lot must hold tremendous power in Great Xia, and those who fit this condition were indeed few and far between.

"Although over these years we haven't seen the Regent make any overt moves against House Luolan Mansion, we still have to be on guard." Jiang Jiang Qinge said.

"So if the Eldest Princess can act as a check on the Regent, that's actually good news for us."

Li Luo nodded.

"But external help is ultimately external help—everything still has to rely on oneself. Before absolute strength, all schemes are useless."

"Regardless of whether the power transition in Wang Ting half a year from now goes smoothly, the calamity facing House Luolan Mansion can only be weathered by us. If we hold, House Luolan Mansion will naturally remain stable; if we can't hold... perhaps House Luolan Mansion truly will fall." Jiang Jiang Qinge said slowly.

The two exchanged a glance, each catching a hint of cold resolve in the other's eyes. They had both poured immense heart and blood into protecting House Luolan Mansion, so that scene was absolutely not one they could allow.

"In the next two days, those students from the Refining Material Institute will be entering Xi Yang House one after another. Although Shi Ting has Ling Qing coordinating things over there, the initial period should be quite troublesome—you'll need to lend a hand." Jiang Jiang Qinge shifted the topic and said.

Li Luo agreed. The top talents coming out of the Refining Material Institute were all proud and high-spirited. If Xi Yang House were a top-tier Spirit Water and Strange Light house like Celestial Palace House, there would naturally be seasoned Refining Material Masters to keep these newcomers in line. But Xi Yang House clearly wasn't—its highest-ranked were fourth-grade Refining Material Masters like Tang Yun, and they obviously couldn't keep these newcomers in check. So some friction between the two sides at the start was inevitable.

But he believed that with Yan Yan Lingqing and Cai Wei's abilities, plus his own assistance on the side, there shouldn't be much problem.

"Also, I've already handed the Imperial Flow Paste to Uncle Biao. He says that refining the 'Spirit-Supplementing Paste' will take some time, so just wait patiently."

"Alright, it's not urgent anyway."

"Also, regarding the Golden Dragon Arena matter, you should start making some preparations."

"Got it... uh, Sister Jiang Qinge, you nagging like this kind of reminds me of my mother."

In the cooling autumn day, on the corridor carpeted with golden ginkgo leaves, their faint conversation suddenly came to a stop.

Li Luo looked at the exquisite, breathtakingly beautiful face of Jiang Jiang Qinge as a smile slowly surfaced on it, and immediately felt the urge to turn and run.

But before he could turn, a slender jade-like hand had already landed on his shoulder.

"Sister Jiang Qinge, what are you doing?"

"If it's Mistress... then there's still one step missing."

"Uh, can we not?"

"Come on, I'm bored anyway. Come with me to the training field for some fun."

The tall, graceful figure of Jiang Jiang Qinge grabbed Li Luo and dragged him along forcibly, and then the training room door was shut tight, with vague, strange sounds faintly heard from within.

Over the next two days, Li Luo devoted more of his time to Xi Yang House. After all, with this batch of top talents from the Refining Material Institute joining, its scale had even begun to recover to its prime, and the quality of its Refining Material Masters was also considerably higher than when Han Zhi was around.

Xi Yang House was House Luolan Mansion's money bag, and it was also Li Luo's money bag, so its importance was beyond doubt.

And just as Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge had anticipated, this batch of high-quality new Refining Material Masters did cause some friction after entering Xi Yang House. This was unavoidable, but Li Luo's solution was also very simple—he directly pulled out the first wave of eighth-grade purity Mi Fa Source Water, which immediately drew everyone's attention, leaving them no interest in any old-versus-new squabbles.

In just two days, Xi Yang House had become orderly, its morale blazing hot, looking every bit like it was thriving.

Xi Yang House's atmosphere recovering so quickly delighted both Cai Wei and Yan Yan Lingqing, and they unanimously decided to treat the Young Mansion Master that night as a reward.

Under the moonlight, House Luolan Mansion's headquarters was quiet and cool.

Inside Shi Ting, Li Luo sat while three beauties—Jiang Jiang Qinge, Yan Yan Lingqing, and Cai Wei—kept him company, the table laden with delicious dishes.

The four sipped and chatted casually, the atmosphere warm and harmonious.

"With Xi Yang House's scale surging this time, the Young Mansion Master deserves the Shou Gong. If you need any reward, feel free to ask." Cai Wei said with a charming, teasing smile.

Li Luo looked at the gorgeous beauty before him, her beautiful eyes brimming with charm, and his spirits immediately lifted. "Any request at all?"

Cai Wei said coquettishly, "You can try asking first."

"Fox spirit, daring to flirt right in front of someone's fiancée?" Yan Yan Lingqing said disdainfully.

Jiang Jiang Qinge lightly tasted the delicacies, smiling without a word.

Li Luo gazed intently at the ravishing Cai Wei, licked his lips, and then, under what seemed like her encouraging gaze, said excitedly, "Sister Cai Wei, I want..."

"From now on, can you purchase five bottles of seventh-grade Spirit Water and Strange Light for me every month?!"

The charming smile on Cai Wei's pretty face instantly froze, then her expression sobered as she said flatly, "Young Mansion Master, actually tonight's dinner is mainly a farewell dinner. Being House Luolan Mansion's head steward is too bitter a job, I can't do it anymore. From now on, let's each go our separate ways."

Li Luo was speechless. Your face-changing is way too fast.

Yan Yan Lingqing beside them clutched her stomach, burying her head as she slapped the table with her palm, suppressed laughter continuously spilling out.

Jiang Jiang Qinge also couldn't help the corners of her lips curling up.

"Sister Cai Wei, didn't you say any request would do?" Li Luo said indignantly.

"Seventh-grade Spirit Water and Strange Light costs about three hundred thousand Heaven Measure Gold per bottle. Five bottles is one million five hundred thousand, and over a year that's over ten million Heaven Measure Gold."

Cai Wei couldn't help gnashing her teeth, saying resentfully, "Even if we count all of Xi Yang House's profits from this year's surge in scale, it still can't fill your bottomless pit!"

"You can't expect me to go sell off House Luolan Mansion's assets every day, can you?!"

Li Luo faltered, then said with a dry laugh, "It doesn't have to be five bottles every month—can't we negotiate this?"

Cai Wei rubbed her smooth brow, no longer in the mood to tease Li Luo, but she didn't truly refuse him either, because of course she understood that the industries of Lu Lan Mansion existed precisely to support these two little ancestors, Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge. It was just that she wanted to make Lu Lan Mansion as strong as possible, so that it could better provide the resources they needed.

"As for Seventh Rank Spirit Water Strange Light, for now we can only purchase one bottle per month. Other Fifth Rank and Sixth Rank Spirit Water Strange Light can still be supplied in small quantities," she said after calculating Lu Lan Mansion's current monthly income.

"Once Xiyang House scales up in the future, perhaps we can raise Seventh Rank Spirit Water Strange Light to two bottles per month."

"Young Mansion Master, Seventh Rank Spirit Water Strange Light is in an entirely different league from Sixth Rank. The number of refinement masters throughout the entire Great Xia who can refine Spirit Water Strange Light of this caliber can literally be counted on one hand, so its value and rarity far exceed Sixth Rank by several times," Cai Wei said with earnest, patient persuasion.

"Fine, then let's go with Sister Cai Wei—one bottle of Seventh Rank Spirit Water Strange Light per month for now." Li Luo sighed inwardly. As expected, nurturing his Acquired Phase to perfection was a long and arduous road. Even Seventh Rank Spirit Water Strange Light was this hard to obtain—further down the line, what was he going to do about Eighth Rank and Ninth Rank?

And at this point, Li Luo truly began to experience just what an enormous bottomless pit this Acquired Phase was. Even he himself felt his heart tremble, let alone an outsider like Sister Cai Wei who didn't understand the situation.

It seemed the Seventh Rank Water Light Phase would have to be slowed down for now. More of the Spirit Water Strange Light should be invested into the second phase, the "Wood Earth Phase"—after all, the "Wood Earth Phase" was still only Fifth Rank, so there was more room to upgrade it quickly.

If within the next half year he could also raise the "Wood Earth Phase" to Seventh Rank, then his strength should be able to receive a tremendous boost.

A dual-phase of two Seventh Ranks versus a single Ninth Rank phase—couldn't that still be a fair fight?

Li Luo sighed to himself, but for now Xiyang House was on the right track. Tomorrow he would also have to make a trip to the Golden Dragon Treasure Hall. Counting the time, it was almost the opening of that so-called "Golden Dragon Dao Arena"...