Chapter 38: Secret-Method Source Water

As soon as Cai Wei spoke, even Yan Lingqing couldn't help but look over, immediately retorting with annoyance, "What kind of solution could he possibly have? How long has he even been exposed to the art of resonance refinement?"

She didn't say more, because Li Luo hadn't even possessed a resonance for a full month yet. To say he could help turn the situation around was truly a fantasy.

Li Luo smiled without a word, instead gesturing for the two to follow him to Yan Lingqing's refinement room. Once the door was closed, he said with composure, "I've looked into it. Before, the Luolan Mansion's annual profit in Tianshu Prefecture was three hundred thousand Heavenly Gold, and Xiyang House accounted for half of that."

"Within Xiyang House, the first-grade refinement rooms generate thirty thousand Heavenly Gold in annual profit, the second-grade rooms generate forty thousand, and the third-grade rooms generate nearly eighty thousand."

"You know that, yet you still made such a reckless promise. With such a huge gap, how could we possibly catch up?" Yan Lingqing said angrily.

She managed two refinement rooms and understood the disparity better than anyone. Third-grade spirit liquid and wondrous light were far more expensive than first or second-grade, so their annual profit was the highest. This was an inherent advantage that was difficult to overcome.

"Not to mention that Xiyang House's first-grade 'Azure Spirit Liquid' is currently being targeted by Songzi House's 'Sunshine Wondrous Light,' which has directly caused our sales to plummet. In this situation, the first-grade refinement rooms will only get worse, let alone turning the situation around."

Li Luo smiled. "So, the top priority is to stabilize the reputation and sales of our Xiyang House's first-grade spirit liquid and wondrous light."

Yan Lingqing said, "I've said before, the factors affecting spirit liquid and wondrous light are nothing more than three: the formula, the refiner's grade, and the source water or source light."

"The Azure Spirit Liquid formula is already quite refined. With my ability, there's little room for improvement unless we hire some master refiners, but that would consume a lot of time and a massive amount of capital."

"Distant water cannot put out a nearby fire. The Song family has likely been prepared for a long time, and they are taking advantage of the internal and external troubles of our Luolan Mansion to launch these offensives," Cai Wei said, her red lips parting slightly.

"Then that only leaves improving the strength and experience of the refiners, but that is an even more time-consuming task. You can't force the first-grade refiners at Xiyang House to suddenly erupt and exceed their average level; that's unrealistic," Yan Lingqing said.

Cai Wei's beautiful eyes suddenly turned to Li Luo, and she smiled. "Didn't the Young Mansion Master refine a batch of Azure Spirit Liquid with a refinement potency of sixty percent?"

Yan Lingqing rolled her eyes at her and said, "How much can he produce alone? Even if you worked him like an ox, you wouldn't be able to squeeze much milk out of him."

Li Luo's handsome face darkened. Although he didn't mind refining first-grade spirit liquid and wondrous light, he still had some status; how could he be treated like an ox?

"Then it seems it only leaves the source water and source light." However, now was not the time to dwell on this, so Li Luo ignored her and continued.

Yan Lingqing retorted sharply, "Source water and source light can only rely on the refiner's own resonance quality. Don't tell me you're planning to upgrade the resonance of every refiner in Xiyang House."

"Unless it's some secret-method source water or source light, it can't be used as a consumable to increase the refinement potency of spirit liquid and wondrous light. But those secret-method source waters and lights are the top-secret assets of every major power; we don't have any in Xiyang House."

Upon hearing this, Li Luo chuckled and said, "That might not necessarily be true."

Cai Wei and Yan Lingqing looked over in surprise.

Under their gaze, Li Luo reached into his robes and pulled out a crystal bottle containing about half a bottle of deep blue liquid.

"Do you want to try this?" he said.

Yan Lingqing's slender, moon-like eyebrows arched. "I already told you, other source waters and lights have no effect; only secret-method source water and light..."

Before her voice had fully faded, Li Luo pulled out the stopper. A faint, extremely pure aura emanated from within, causing Yan Lingqing's voice to come to an abrupt halt. Her beautiful eyes stared at the crystal bottle in Li Luo's hand in shock.

The next moment, Yan Lingqing snatched the crystal bottle from Li Luo's hand and tipped a drop of the blue liquid onto her fingertip. She sensed it carefully, and the shock on her pretty face grew increasingly intense.

"No trace of any attribute will; this is, this is secret-method source water?! And this purity is comparable to a seventh-grade water resonance! How do you have such high-quality secret-method source water?" Yan Lingqing grabbed Li Luo's arm in a loss of composure.

Even secret-method source water had grades, and the secret-method source water Li Luo had produced reached a purity of the seventh grade, showing its rarity. Secret-method source water of this purity could even increase the success rate of spirit liquid refinement; it was quite precious.

Li Luo's arm, which was being gripped by Yan Lingqing, felt a slight stinging pain, showing how excited she was. He softened his voice and said, "Sister Lingqing, don't be so excited. Can this secret-method source water be used?"

"Of course it can."

Yan Lingqing immediately said, "If secret-method source water of this purity can be added to our Xiyang House's Azure Spirit Liquid, it would definitely be able to stabilize the refinement potency at the sixty percent level. This is enough to crush Songzi House's 'Sunshine Wondrous Light'."

"However, the only problem is that there is too little of this secret-method source water. If used for refinement, it might only be enough to produce about thirty bottles of first-grade Azure Spirit Liquid."

She stared at Li Luo with burning eyes, a look that didn't match her usual cold temperament at all.

"What if it's used on second-grade spirit liquid and wondrous light?" Li Luo thought for a moment and asked.

"Although it is indeed a bit extravagant to use secret-method source water of this quality on first-grade Azure Spirit Liquid, as I said, the quantity is too small. If used on second-grade spirit liquid and wondrous light, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to refine many batches. In terms of cost-effectiveness, it's actually not as good as refining the first-grade..." Yan Lingqing replied.

Li Luo felt awkward. This secret-method source water was condensed from his own "Water-Light Resonance." Because of his empty resonance, the source water he condensed possessed a kind of emptiness, making it extremely close to what was called secret-method source water.

However, this was the amount he had accumulated over three days. After all, he was only at the Six-Seal stage, and his resonance power wasn't exactly abundant, so he couldn't condense too much secret-method source water.

"Then let's use it on the first-grade Azure Spirit Liquid first."

"If I provide some of this secret-method source water every three days, can the first-grade refinement room's performance become the best in Xiyang House?" Li Luo asked.

Cai Wei pondered for a moment and said, "The first-grade refinement room currently produces one hundred and fifty bottles of Azure Spirit Liquid per month. Excluding all costs, the annual production value is ninety thousand Heavenly Gold, while the third-grade refinement room's annual production value reaches two hundred and ten thousand Heavenly Gold. For the first-grade room to catch up, production would need to double, but given the success rate of the first-grade room, that seems difficult."

"If there is enough of this secret-method source water, doubling the production of the first-grade refinement room is not too difficult! Secret-method source water of this purity is truly overkill for first-grade spirit liquid and wondrous light, so the refinement success rate can also be greatly increased," Yan Lingqing said with certainty.

Li Luo clapped his hands and smiled. "Doesn't that solve it?"

Yan Lingqing blinked her beautiful eyes, momentarily dazed. This problem, it seemed, had really been solved just like that?

How could it be so simple?

Yan Lingqing let out a heavy breath. It wasn't actually simple; it was because Li Luo had brought out something that exceeded normal human thinking. After all, if others knew he was using secret-method source water of this purity to refine first-grade spirit liquid and wondrous light, those with short tempers would probably point at his nose and call him wasteful.

Cai Wei and Yan Lingqing exchanged a glance, tacitly not asking where Li Luo got this secret-method source water. In their estimation, this was likely a secret left to Li Luo by the two Mansion Masters.

"It seems the Young Mansion Master is truly the lucky star of our Luolan Mansion." Cai Wei, standing to the side, covered her mouth and giggled, her pretty face filled with joy.

"Although the amount of this secret-method source water is a bit small, for our Xiyang House's first-grade spirit liquid production, it is actually enough for the time being."

Yan Lingqing nodded slightly. Xiyang House only produced one hundred and fifty bottles of first-grade Azure Spirit Liquid a month, and if Li Luo supplied secret-method source water every three days, it would be enough to cover all the first-grade spirit liquid.

"Alright, I won't talk to you anymore. I have to get to work and try to produce the first batch of enhanced Azure Spirit Liquid in these next few days to establish the reputation of our Xiyang House's Azure Spirit Liquid and save our reputation." Yan Lingqing gripped the crystal bottle filled with deep blue secret-method source water tightly and began to usher them out.

Li Luo and Cai Wei had no choice but to leave the refinement room helplessly. Then, seeing Cai Wei suddenly quicken her pace, he hurriedly reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Sister Cai Wei, are you trying to ditch me?" Li Luo said indignantly.

Cai Wei looked at him innocently and said, "Young Mansion Master, what are you talking about? I still have a lot of things to do."

"Sister Cai Wei, I was just offering strategies for Xiyang House; you can't chill the heart of a contributor." Li Luo looked around and then whispered, "I need another batch of fifth-grade spirit liquid and wondrous light."

Cai Wei stared at Li Luo with resentful eyes. "Young Mansion Master, in less than a month, you've already burned through seven or eight hundred thousand Heavenly Gold. That's more than two years of profit for the Luolan Mansion in Tianshu Prefecture. If you keep going like this, this sister really won't be able to afford to support you."

Li Luo felt a bit awkward. His speed of burning money was indeed a bit outrageous, but he had no choice. His acquired resonance was a gold-swallowing beast. At this moment, he could only be incredibly grateful that his father and mother had left behind the foundation of the Luolan Mansion; otherwise, he felt that becoming a Marquis in five years might really only be something he could find in his dreams.

"This is the last batch of fifth-grade spirit liquid and wondrous light," Li Luo promised.

Cai Wei hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, then finally bit her lip. "Fine, then I will... sell two more properties."

Even saying it made Cai Wei feel a sense of sorrow. With her talent, when had she ever reached the point of having to rely on selling properties to maintain operations? But there was no help for it; whoever encountered a bottomless pit like Li Luo would find it impossible to fill.

Li Luo nodded with a dry laugh. He wasn't actually lying; if his Water-Light Resonance successfully reached the sixth grade, he truly wouldn't need fifth-grade spirit liquid and wondrous light in the future.

Because by then, he would need sixth-grade spirit liquid and wondrous light.

But he didn't dare say that now, fearing Cai Wei would just quit on the spot.

(End of chapter)