Chapter 40: Sniping the Songzi House

Inside the spacious living room, the lights were bright.

The chubby President Lu sat at the head with a full face of smiles; to his left sat a figure, a tall and sturdy middle-aged man whose aura was quite impressive.

It was Song Shan, the head of the Song family.

They were clearly discussing matters, and when Lu Qing'er brought Li Luo and Cai Wei in, the conversation was interrupted; Song Shan's gaze looked over with some astonishment.

And when he saw Li Luo and Cai Wei, the smile on his face naturally tightened slightly, and his expression became indifferent.

President Lu was also stunned, but before he could speak, Lu Qing'er said softly, "Second Uncle, the people from Luo Lan Manor have arrived."

President Lu looked at his niece's eyes, then his lips twitched slightly, but he still nodded with a quick smile, "Since they are here, let them take their seats immediately."

Song Shan placed the teacup in his hand down with moderate weight, frowned at President Lu, and asked, "President Lu, what is the situation here?"

President Lu laughed it off and said, "House Head Song need not overthink; our Golden Dragon Treasure House believes that harmony brings wealth, but at the same time, we have another creed: whatever Golden Dragon Treasure House puts out must be good quality."

"Although the First Rank Spirit Water Radiance is of relatively low grade, since it has entered our Golden Dragon Treasure House, it naturally must be of superior quality; otherwise, it would damage the reputation of Golden Dragon Treasure House, so of course we will choose the best."

Li Luo and Cai Wei took their seats and nodded in agreement, saying, "What President Lu says is reasonable."

Song Shan's face was as calm as water; he glanced indifferently at Li Luo and Cai Wei, gradually reined in his emotions, held his teacup, and said in a neutral tone, "President Lu, why waste time on such matters? The Qingbi Spirit Water of Xi Yang House has recently been crushed by the Sunlight Radiance of our Song Family's Songzi House; as for the gap in refining power, I believe President Lu has already investigated in advance."

"I can say without hesitation that within this Tianshu Commandery, it is impossible to find a First Rank Spirit Water Radiance with higher refining power than our Song Family's Songzi House."

"If President Lu truly thinks Xi Yang House is a good choice, just say so directly; our Songzi House will withdraw."

It must be said that this Song family head had some backbone; his words were neither soft nor hard, and his momentum was full.

President Lu chuckled and said, "House Head Song, do not be angry; I also know the quality of Songzi House's 'Sunlight Radiance' is extremely good, but after all, we must give other families a chance to show themselves; if Songzi House truly proves to be the best, I will apologize to House Head Song."

Upon hearing this, Song Shan's expression also became much more relaxed; he then chatted and laughed with President Lu again, but the glances he occasionally cast toward Li Luo and Cai Wei across from him carried a hint of cold mockery.

Regarding the situation of Xi Yang House, he knew it extremely well; now that the position of President is vacant, Yan Yan Lingqing and Zhuang Yi are fighting fiercely, so Xi Yang House itself hasn't even figured things out yet; yet this Li Luo still wants to come to Golden Dragon Treasure House to compete with our Songzi House; truly, he is unaware of the height of the sky and the depth of the earth; does he really think the identity of a Vice Head of Luo Lan Manor can be of much use?

Song Song Yunfeng also sat down beside Song Shan, expressionless, preparing to watch the show.

Lu Qing'er stood beside President Lu; her slender body and pure, sweet appearance presented a style completely different from Cai Wei's.

However, a trace of confusion and worry also appeared in her eyes, because she understood that if Li Luo could not produce a true superior-grade First Rank Spirit Water, her Second Uncle would absolutely not choose Xi Yang House today.

And Song Shan and Song Song Yunfeng would undoubtedly watch their joke.

At this moment, after soothing Song Shan, President Lu also turned his gaze toward Li Luo and Cai Wei and smiled, "You two should know the requirements of our Golden Dragon Treasure House, right?"

"Although the First Rank Spirit Water Radiance is of low grade, if the refining power is below fifty-five percent, our Golden Dragon Treasure House will not consider it at all."

Cai Wei smiled charmingly and said, "President Lu, the Sunlight Radiance of Songzi House only reached fifty percent refining power?"

"Only?"

Song Shan lifted his eyelids and smiled faintly, "Steward Cai really has a big mouth; the Qingbi Spirit Water of Xi Yang House was previously 'as high as' fifty-two percent, was it not?"

"House Head Song also knows that was previously," Cai Wei smiled slightly.

Li Luo, standing aside, had already placed the box in his hand on the table and opened it, revealing forty vials of Qingbi Spirit Water inside.

"President Lu, allow me to introduce this to you; this is our Xi Yang House's brand-new product, the Enhanced Version Qingbi Spirit Water; its refining power is sixty percent," Cai Wei's soft and delicate voice spread through the room.

"Sixty percent?"

The faces of both President Lu and Song Shan changed slightly at this moment; the former was skeptical, while the latter let out a cold laugh.

President Lu waved his hand, and immediately a maid stepped forward, holding a Refining Verification Needle, which she inserted into a vial of Qingbi Spirit Water; then, under the gaze of President Lu, Song Shan, and others, the needle on it stabilized at the sixty percent mark.

"It really is sixty percent?" President Lu asked in surprise.

Song Shan said indifferently, "Xi Yang House's hand indeed is not small; I just wonder whether these Qingbi Spirit Waters were crafted by Third Rank Refining Alchemists or by your two Fourth Rank Refining Alchemists from Xi Yang House?"

President Lu pondered; the First Rank Spirit Water grade is not high after all; if some Third Rank or even Fourth Rank Refining Alchemists were made to refine it, achieving a quality of sixty percent would not be difficult, but having Refining Alchemists of this level refine First Rank Spirit Water Radiance is itself a huge loss.

With this time, refining Third Rank Spirit Water Radiance would yield value and profit far exceeding that of the First Rank.

And the implication in Song Shan's words was simply to suspect that Xi Yang House, in order to achieve its goal, had made some of its own Third Rank Refining Alchemists refine a batch of First Rank Spirit Water Radiance.

President Lu looked at Li Luo and said, "Vice Head, what our Golden Dragon Treasure House needs is not just this batch; we need a long-term order; if Xi Yang House cannot stably supply Qingbi Spirit Water of this quality, it will become unpleasant later."

Song Shan held his teacup indifferently and took two sips; of course, he did not believe Xi Yang House had the ability to stably produce Qingbi Spirit Water with sixty percent refining power; could they keep sacrificing the time of Third Rank Refining Alchemists to refine First Rank Spirit Water? If so, Xi Yang House would probably go bankrupt before long.

Facing President Lu's questioning gaze, Li Luo's expression was quite calm; he simply said, "President Lu, rest assured; my Luo Lan Manor is at least large in family and business; we will not do foolish things for such petty gains; as for making the Third Rank or even Fourth Rank Refining Alchemists of Xi Yang House refine First Rank Spirit Water Radiance, this kind of stupid thing, my Luo Lan Manor will certainly not do."

"If President Lu chooses Qingbi Spirit Water, I guarantee that in the future, Xi Yang House will stably supply it long-term, and the refining power will not be lower than sixty percent; moreover, all future Qingbi Spirit Water released by Xi Yang House will be the Enhanced Version; in the entire Tianshu Commandery, the First Rank Spirit Water Radiance of the future will undoubtedly be led by Qingbi Spirit Water."

Gazing at Li Luo's calm expression, President Lu's heart trembled slightly; could Li Luo give such a guarantee? Could their Xi Yang House's Qingbi Spirit Water really be stably improved to this level without relying on Third Rank Refining Alchemists?

And what was shocked was not only him; even Song Shan and Song Song Yunfeng's expressions paused slightly at this moment; Li Luo's momentum at this time was too strong, completely unlike bluffing.

This made Song Shan have to doubt: could Xi Yang House's Qingbi Spirit Water really be improved to this level?

But how could that be possible!

Just half a month ago, Xi Yang House's Qingbi Spirit Water was only at the level of fifty-two percent; how could it possibly be raised to sixty percent in such a short half-month time?!

But if it were not so, where did Li Luo get the confidence to stably supply Qingbi Spirit Water with sixty percent refining power for the long term?

The room fell into a brief silence, while Lu Qing'er watched the box of Qingbi Spirit Water with interest; although she also felt extremely surprised by this, out of some intuition, she felt this might have something to do with Li Luo.

President Lu held a vial of Qingbi Spirit Water in his chubby hand, remained silent for a few breaths, then a smile appeared on his round face; he turned his gaze to Song Shan and said apologetically, "House Head Song, it seems we cannot cooperate this time for now."

Upon hearing this, Song Shan did not get angry; instead, he put down his teacup and smiled, "What words are those, President Lu? There will always be opportunities in the future."

"Since President Lu has made a choice, I will not stay long; hehe, if there are any problems with Xi Yang House's supply later, President Lu can come find our Songzi House at any time."

This Song Shan did show some of a house head's dignity; he did not change color just because he was sniped once by Li Luo; on the contrary, he even smiled at Li Luo and said, "Vice Head is truly talented at a young age; I heard that previously in the academy, you even had a draw with Song Yunfeng; it seems the future of Luo Lan Manor in the Vice Head's hands will still be boundless."

Li Luo also smiled and said, "Just lucky."

Song Shan smiled, said no more, and directly turned and left with Song Song Yunfeng, whose face was as calm as water.

And after Song Shan and the others left, President Lu also smiled at Li Luo and said, "Earlier, Qing'er told me that the Vice Head solved the Empty Image problem; truly, congratulations."

"As for the matter of Qingbi Spirit Water, let us sign a contract first."

At this moment, Cai Wei stepped forward to finalize some contract terms with President Lu.

While they were busy, Li Luo stretched; Lu Qing'er walked over and smiled lightly, "Congratulations."

"Thanks to you; otherwise, things might have been more troublesome," Li Luo thanked; if Lu Qing'er had not brought them directly, once Golden Dragon Treasure House and the Song family signed the contract, it would have been difficult for today's matter to succeed.

Lv Qing'er waved her hand and reminded him: "However, you still need to put more of your energy into the upcoming Academy Grand Examination. You know, if you don't get an admission slot to the Sacred Mystic Star Academy, that would be the biggest loss."

Li Luo nodded with a smile at her words.

Lv Qing'er suddenly said: "Do you have time recently? No one's been sparring with me during the break. If you have time, we could spar and verify things against each other."

Li Luo said speechlessly: "You want me to be a sandbag? No way, not going."

Hearing that, Lv Qing'er stared at Li Luo with a faint smile for a few seconds, then turned and walked away.

Outside the Golden Dragon Treasure House, on the Song family's carriage.

When no one was around, Song Shan's face finally turned much gloomier. During this period, Xiyang House had been suppressed quite severely by their Pine Seed House, but unexpectedly, it had suddenly risen up now and dealt him a vicious blow.

Although cooperating with the Golden Dragon Treasure House, these first-grade Spirit Waters and Strange Lights weren't worth too much, but the key was that this would boost the fame of their Sunlit Strange Light, which would be beneficial for their future domination of the first-grade Spirit Waters and Strange Lights market in Tian Shu Prefecture.

And now, it had been ruined by Li Luo.

"Father, can that Xiyang House really stably produce Verdant Spirit Water with a sixty-percent tempering strength?" Song Song Yunfeng asked in some disbelief.

Song Shan said indifferently: "Wait and see, then we'll know."

"Truly hateful. We spent such a huge price, only by relying on big sister's connections did we invite a Grand Tempering Master to improve the formula for 'Sunlit Strange Light', and the result was..." Song Song Yunfeng said somewhat angrily.

"It's only a first-grade Spirit Water Strange Light."

Song Shan shook his head and said: "Even if Xiyang House won this round, they can't possibly compete against our Pine Seed House."

"Your big sister has already sent word. She'll be returning to South Wind City soon. When she comes to take over Pine Seed House, she'll surely be able to crush Xiyang House."

Song Song Yunfeng's face immediately lit up with joy upon hearing that. His big sister Song Qingyu had previously also studied at the Sacred Mystic Star Academy's Grand Tempering Institute, with outstanding results. If she could come back, their Pine Seed House would finally have some backbone.

"Right now, the most important thing for you is still the Academy Grand Examination. I hope you can recover all the face you lost before on it," Song Shan said in a flat tone.

"Also, in two days I'll be making a trip to the Governor's Residence. The Governor's son, Shi Kong, is the number one person of East Abyss Academy, and he's exactly the same age as you. Perhaps you two could exchange more."

"The Governor's Residence?"

Song Song Yunfeng was stunned. That Shi Kong, by all accounts, was the person South Wind Academy feared most in this Academy Grand Examination. Moreover, his identity as the Governor's son had also made him the preeminent figure of authority among the younger generation in Tian Shu Prefecture. The only one who could outrank him in terms of status was Li Luo, the young manor master of Luo Lan House.

Of course, that referred to Luo Lan House at its peak.

The current Li Luo, compared with that person, was a notch lower in both status and fame.

(End of chapter)