Chapter 429

Hearing Yu Hongxi's voice, Li Luo felt a slight ache in his nose; he was reminded of Tantai Lan, that woman who usually liked to keep her hands in her coat pockets with an elegant smile on her face, and he knew very well just how proud his mother was deep down.

Many times, when the House of Luolan hosted prominent guests from the Great Xia, Tantai Lan would accompany them with grace, but once they left, she would cup her face in her hands, sigh, and complain to the young Li Luo: "Dealing with these idiots will surely delay my future."

Even though Li Luo was already beginning to understand things back then, he knew that those guests were already considered some of the most important figures in the Great Xia Kingdom.

At such times, Li Taixuan would walk over, embrace Tantai Lan, and say magnanimously, "My dear, don't lower yourself to the level of mortals."

Then Tantai Lan would roll her eyes at him: "And you think you're any better?"

In the end, Li Taixuan could only look miserable and seek comfort from Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e, who were busy brawling in the courtyard.

Yet, these two people, who treated the many great figures of the Great Xia as if they were nothing, had actually shown a hint of pleading toward Yu Hongxi when storing this item—especially Tantai Lan, who must have been at odds with Yu Hongxi for many years, yet she was still able to set aside her pride.

Li Luo understood the significance of this; it was because this item was left for him.

Given Yu Hongxi's status and personality, she would have performed her duties diligently even without such a request, but they were still willing to set aside their pride before her for the sake of this unnecessary exhortation.

Feeling the warmth flowing in his heart, Li Luo looked at Yu Hongxi and smiled: "I love them too. Although there has been no news from them all these years, I know that they will return sooner or later."

Yu Hongxi nodded and said no more: "Insert the key you obtained earlier into the wall."

Li Luo followed her instructions, took out the black key that radiated a chill, and gently brought it into contact with the mirror-smooth wall in front of him.

The moment they touched, the hard wall seemed to turn into liquid; the black key sank into it, enveloped by the liquid-like surface, and then black patterns spread out from the key, eventually covering the liquid wall, which was about a zhang wide, like a spiderweb.

"Go on, only you, holding the key, can enter," Yu Hongxi said.

"Many thanks, President Yu," Li Luo said gratefully.

Yu Hongxi waved her hand and said indifferently: "I'm just doing my job for pay. Go in."

Li Luo nodded, took a deep breath, and without hesitation, gripped the black key and stepped into the wall that had turned into black liquid; the moment he made contact, there was no collision, as the black liquid simply covered his body and emitted a suction force that pulled him inside.

This pulling force lasted for only about a dozen seconds before the viscous sensation vanished completely, and the blurriness before Li Luo's eyes began to fade.

He steadied himself and looked around.

What met his eyes was a dark and spacious stone chamber, with night-luminescent stones embedded in the walls, emitting a faint glow that kept the room from being too dark.

Li Luo's gaze quickly settled on the center of the chamber, where a stone pillar about a zhang high stood, and floating above it was a black sphere that appeared to be crafted from some kind of metal.

There was nothing else of note in the stone chamber, so Li Luo walked directly to the stone pillar.

"The item should be inside this, right?"

Li Luo examined the black sphere; he was not unfamiliar with it, as he had encountered something similar at the Golden Dragon Bank in Nanfeng City, so he reached out his palm and pressed it against the surface.

The originally extremely hard black sphere turned into a liquid state just like the wall earlier as his palm approached; the liquid covered his hand, and at the same time, something sharp emerged, pricked his finger, and drew a drop of blood.

Following that, light erupted from the black sphere.

As the light spread, the stone chamber began to change, replaced by a quiet manor—a manor Li Luo was all too familiar with, for it was the old residence of the House of Luolan in Nanfeng City.

Li Luo felt a bit dazed, as if he had returned to Nanfeng City at that moment.

He walked along the bluestone path, and a moment later, he saw two figures standing on the steps of the courtyard, watching him with smiles on their faces.

A man and a woman.

The man was dressed in white, his appearance exceptionally handsome; he stood with his hands behind his back, his presence as deep and imposing as an abyss or a mountain, making one unable to underestimate him. The woman wore a purple coat, her long hair pinned up, and with her hands in her pockets, her dignified and elegant face wore a gentle smile.

Li Taixuan, Tantai Lan.

Looking at these two figures, Li Luo couldn't help but rub his nose, though he didn't lose his composure and rush over, as he knew this was merely a recording of the two of them.

"Little Luo, by the time you arrive here, you must be not far from the Marquis Realm. I imagine you are already the most outstanding student of your year at the Astral Sage College, right?" Li Taixuan said with a smile.

"What nonsense are you spouting? How could a mere Astral Sage College constrain Little Luo? He must be the most outstanding one among all the students of his year in all the Sage Colleges of the Eastern Divine Continent," Tantai Lan said, rolling her eyes at Li Taixuan.

"My dear is right! My vision was narrow! After all, with such a brilliant and talented mother, how could Little Luo be ordinary?" Li Taixuan nodded repeatedly, holding Tantai Lan's hand with a gaze full of affection.

「...... 」

Li Luo's mouth twitched slightly as he watched the two; it was such a familiar style. This scene really used to play out every single day, and although his mother was always putting his father down, the deep love between them was enough to make him and Jiang Qing'e, who had to watch it, feel sick to their teeth.

Even now, Li Luo still felt that same cringe; was it really necessary? Every time you leave a message for your son, you have to take the time to show off your affection? That's going too far.

"Hurry up and tell Little Luo the important business!"

Fortunately, Tantai Lan, as a mother, cared more about her son, so she quickly shook off Li Taixuan's hand and urged him.

"Ahem."

Li Taixuan coughed lightly and said: "There isn't anything too important... oh, I remember now. Little Luo, you must be starting to prepare for your third acquired resonance, right? Tsk tsk, is the Three-Resonance Palace finally about to show its true potential? I'm really looking forward to it."

"To forge the third acquired resonance, the most important thing is the 'Little Non-Phase Divine Wheel.' The divine wheel we left you before must have shattered by now, right? Since it's a one-time item, what you need most now is to refine a new 'Little Non-Phase Divine Wheel'."

"And for that, you need the third volume of the 'Little Non-Phase Divine Forging Art'."

Li Taixuan extended his finger and tapped the air; a beam of light shot out, piercing directly into the center of Li Luo's brow. The latter felt a massive amount of information surge into his mind, causing his head to ache for a moment. He flipped through it roughly and confirmed that this information was indeed the third volume of the "Little Non-Phase Divine Forging Art" he had been dreaming of.

A deep sense of joy rose in his heart; with this third volume, he could finally begin the path of preparing for his third resonance.

"Dad is reliable," Li Luo praised.

"This third volume of the 'Little Non-Phase Divine Forging Art' contains the method for refining the 'Little Non-Phase Divine Wheel,' but there is one problem: you can only refine it once your strength reaches the Marquis Realm," Li Taixuan said, stroking his chin.

The smile on Li Luo's face froze instantly.