Chapter 6: The Acquired Resonance

The black crystal ball, its surface as smooth as a mirror, reflected Li Luo’s face, which held a clear expression of anticipation and nervousness.

He was also very eager to know what exactly his father and mother had gone to such great lengths to leave behind for him.

"How should I open this?"

Li Luo tried hard to suppress the nervousness in his heart, looked left and right at the pitch-black, mysterious crystal ball, and then tentatively pressed his palms gently against it.

Hum!

Just as his palms touched the crystal ball, the sphere seemed to emit a faint vibration, and its originally hard, smooth surface seemed to turn into liquid, gradually covering Li Luo’s palms.

At the same time, Li Luo felt a faint sensation, as if something as thin as a needle had pricked into his palms, and some fresh blood was being drawn out in the process.

The black liquid gradually pulled away from his palms, and at the same time, light began to emanate from within it. Finally, to Li Luo’s astonishment, it gradually intertwined above into two figures of light.

Looking at those two incomparably familiar figures, Li Luo suddenly felt a surge of soreness rise to his nose.

"Dad, Mom..."

Those two light figures, one man and one woman—the man looked exceptionally handsome, his body as straight as a spear, dressed in white, striking and dashing. He wore a gentle smile, his presence as steady as a deep pool or a towering mountain, giving one an indescribable sense of security.

The woman was wearing a purple coat, her long hair coiled up, her hands casually tucked into her pockets. Her face was also extremely beautiful, dignified and elegant.

They were none other than Li Luo’s parents, Li Taixuan and Dantai Lan.

"Haha, Xiao Luo, you must be seventeen by the time you see this recording, right? In all likelihood, we aren't by your side at this moment." As Li Luo gazed at the two light figures, Li Taixuan began to speak.

"Xiao Luo must have become even more handsome, right? Have you been pursued by any girls at the academy?" Dantai Lan, standing to the side, also said with a beaming smile.

Li Luo rubbed his eyes and muttered to himself, "Your son is currently good for nothing besides being handsome; who would ever pursue me?"

"Is Xiao Luo feeling sorry for himself right now? Thinking that you're good for nothing?" However, Li Taixuan’s light figure seemed to know exactly what Li Luo was thinking, and he laughed again.

Dantai Lan said, "Is it because of the Empty Resonance within your body?"

Hearing this, Li Luo was immediately startled. Because by the time his Resonance Palace appeared, Li Taixuan and Dantai Lan had already gone missing; how could they know his situation?

"Don't be surprised, Xiao Luo. Actually, we used a special secret technique to observe the situation of your Empty Resonance even before your Resonance Palace had appeared, including the three Resonance Palaces you possess," Dantai Lan said with a gentle gaze.

Li Luo opened his mouth. At this moment, he recalled many things. So, his parents had known about his special condition even earlier than he had. If so, could their disappearance have something to do with this? Where are you both right now? Are you doing okay? Why has there been no news for so many years?

"Xiao Luo, first of all, I want to tell you here that a natural Empty Resonance is not a useless thing. On the contrary, in my view, it is the most powerful constitution in the world. You don't need to be dejected because of it; instead, you should feel happy about it." Li Taixuan’s words were like a thunderclap, leaving Li Luo dumbfounded.

"Dad, you don't have to go this far just to comfort me, right?" Li Luo wore an expression that said, *Stop trying to fool me.* This Empty Resonance made it hard to even cultivate Resonance Power, let alone being the "most powerful constitution." Who are you trying to kid, Dad?

"You were born with an Empty Resonance and cannot absorb or refine the energy of heaven and earth. This is indeed a problem that touches the root, but this problem is not truly without a solution," Li Taixuan said with a faint smile.

"Since it's an Empty Resonance, then we just need to find a way to fill something into it," Dantai Lan also said with a smile.

Li Luo frowned tightly. This sounded simple, but in reality, it was simply impossible. Resonance attributes were innate; the idea of filling them in later was unheard of. He had tried similar attempts before, and they had all failed without exception.

"Conventional methods certainly cannot achieve this, but ever since we learned of your natural Empty Resonance, we have been working hard to find a way."

"And heaven does not disappoint those who try; we finally found it."

When Li Taixuan said these words, Li Luo could clearly hear his own heart beating like a drum. The intensity of the beating caused a momentary feeling of dizziness in his head.

"We pored over and deduced countless ancient texts and finally found a method. This method is called the 'Lesser Non-Resonance Divine Forging Art.' With this art, one can forge an Acquired Resonance. And if one adds the essence blood and soul of the person being fused during the forging, the final resulting Resonance can be integrated into the Resonance Palace."

"Xiao Luo, being born with an Empty Resonance may not necessarily be a bad thing. Because an Innate Resonance is too random and difficult to control, while this Acquired Resonance forged through the 'Lesser Non-Resonance Divine Forging Art' can be crafted according to your own wishes."

"If you want an elemental Resonance, you can craft it in the direction of an elemental Resonance; if you want a Myriad Beast Resonance, then you can head in the direction of a Myriad Beast Resonance."

"When you have all three of your Resonance Palaces configured with three types of Resonances that you have meticulously forged, they will generate each other, and their power will far exceed those Innate Resonances."

Li Luo’s eyes lit up. This point was indeed true. There were many types of Resonances, and for many people, when their Resonance Palace opened, the Resonance attribute was fixed and could never be changed. While he lacked an Innate Resonance, he had the advantage of strong Acquired plasticity.

"Xiao Luo, this Acquired Resonance forged by the 'Lesser Non-Resonance Divine Forging Art' has another marvelous benefit," Dantai Lan added.

Although he knew that what was before him was just a recording, Li Luo immediately perked up. If you're talking about benefits, then I'm wide awake.

"A normal Innate Resonance is, for the vast majority, a single element. But the Acquired Resonance forged by the 'Lesser Non-Resonance Divine Forging Art' is different, because it contains two attributes: one primary and one auxiliary."

"If you can choose mutually generating attributes for these two, it will surely be like adding wings to a tiger. Although there are some rare treasures in the world that might allow a person's Resonance Palace to give birth to other elements, those are too minuscule and at most provide a small boost. Compared to your primary-auxiliary Resonance, they are far inferior."

"Awesome, awesome!"

Li Luo clapped his hands hard. He naturally understood how precious this was. If he chose a Fire Resonance as his primary and added a Lightning Resonance element as an auxiliary, the superposition of fire and lightning would undoubtedly greatly enhance the destructive power of his Resonance Power.

Thinking of this, even he couldn't help but feel a bit excited. Looking at it this way, his so-called Empty Resonance was truly more exquisite than an Innate Resonance!

"Cough, but nothing is perfect. Although this Acquired Resonance is perfectly compatible with an Empty Resonance, there is one flaw: the initial grade of the forged Acquired Resonance will not exceed the Fourth Grade," Li Taixuan suddenly coughed and said.

Li Luo was stunned for a moment and hesitated. A Fourth Grade Resonance—the grade was indeed a bit low. Compared to Jiang Qing’e’s Ninth Grade Light Resonance, the gap was not just a little bit.

With such a difference in grade, he feared that even if his Acquired Resonance possessed two elements, it might not be easy to catch up.

However, this hesitation was only brief. After all, his situation was already as bad as it could get; even a Fourth Grade Resonance was considered quite good!

"Of course, you don't need to worry. Although the Acquired Resonance has a low starting point, it can be improved through Acquired methods," Dantai Lan, who doted on her son the most, immediately pointed out.

Li Luo suddenly realized. That’s right; there were many miraculous medicines and treasures in this world that had the divine effect of improving Resonance grades. In particular, there was a profession called Resonance Refiner, capable of refining various spiritual waters and wondrous lights, which were most welcomed by countless Resonance Masters.

It was just that using such external objects to improve Resonance quality ultimately had some limitations. Generally speaking, being able to raise the Resonance by one or two grades was already the limit.

And if his Acquired Resonance started at a maximum of Fourth Grade, then even after various improvements, it would at most stop at the Fifth or Sixth Grade level.

"Is Xiao Luo worried that using external objects to improve Resonance has its limits?" As Li Luo pondered, Li Taixuan’s laughter rang out.

"Oh?" Seeing Li Taixuan’s smile, Li Luo couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Could it be that this flaw could also be remedied?

And just as Li Luo was waiting with full anticipation, Dantai Lan suddenly coughed lightly, interrupting Li Taixuan, who was about to speak. She said with some dissatisfaction, "You've said everything; what's left for me to tell Xiao Luo?"

Li Taixuan was clearly stunned, then quickly said, "Honey, I'm sorry. Honey, I was wrong. You tell our son the rest."

Seeing this scene, Li Luo couldn't help but shake his head. His father’s survival instinct was truly beyond compare; was this beaten into him?

"Kid, are you mocking your father?"

The image of Li Taixuan seemed to know Li Luo’s reaction to seeing this scene. He immediately snorted and then said with extreme seriousness, "You're still young; you don't understand. I'm not afraid of your mother; it's just that my love for your mother is too deep. I've told you many times: loving one's wife is our family's first house rule. In the future, when you are with Qing’e, you must also strictly follow the house rules. Do you understand?"

Hearing this, Li Luo couldn't help but sneer. *Dad, every time you tell me this, if it weren't for the fresh punch marks on your face, I would have almost believed you.*

However, mentioning Jiang Qing’e, Li Luo sighed again. Qing’e was almost entirely raised by his mother, so her personality was very similar to hers; she wanted to hit him at every turn.

What is he going to do in the future?

Worried in his heart, Li Luo looked up at his father’s image, and the latter seemed to understand what he was thinking. For a moment, father and son both felt a sense of mutual sympathy.

"Li Taixuan, can you stop playing the fool and wasting my time?" While father and son were feeling sorry for each other, Dantai Lan said with her willow eyebrows slightly raised.

Li Taixuan nodded quickly to show he understood.

Then Dantai Lan looked at Li Luo, her tone becoming gentle: "The limitation of using external objects to improve Resonance grade only applies to Innate Resonances. Because in those external objects, no matter how they are purified, they will ultimately contain some impurities. It is the accumulation of these impurities that eventually leads to the complete closure of the Resonance Palace, making it difficult to improve the Resonance grade further."

"But Xiao Luo, your Empty Resonance is not within this scope. Because other people's Resonance Palaces are born with attributes, they will have a repulsion toward those refining external objects. But your Empty Resonance has no distinction of attributes. Empty means nothingness, and nothingness also represents the ability to contain all things."

"Therefore, your Resonance can be continuously refined and improved through external objects. Although the higher the grade, the greater the difficulty, you do indeed have the opportunity to make your Acquired Resonance tend toward perfection."

"That is why I say, Xiao Luo, this so-called Empty Resonance is likely the most powerful Resonance in this world. What it lacks is just the key to open it."

Li Luo’s heart surged violently. Over the past few years, this Empty Resonance in his body had caused him to endure quite a lot. He had initially felt unwillingness and anger, but in the end, all these efforts turned into powerlessness, and he could only accept reality.

Yet now, his father was telling him that this Empty Resonance was not a useless thing, but the strongest in the world?

At this moment, Li Luo couldn't help but redden his eyes.

"Xiao Luo, we have already refined that first Acquired Resonance using your essence blood and a wisp of your soul. It is inside this crystal ball."

"The 'Lesser Non-Resonance Divine Forging Art' is also inside," Dantai Lan said.

A warm current surged through Li Luo’s heart, and he opened his hands: "Dad, Mom, thank you. Come on, I'm ready. Pass that Acquired Resonance and the 'Lesser Non-Resonance Divine Forging Art' to me, and let your son start this soaring life from now on."

However, at this moment, Li Taixuan’s expression became solemn. He was silent for a few seconds and said, "There is one last thing I need to explain to you. Integrating this Acquired Resonance into your body is not as simple as you imagine."

"When the Acquired Resonance is integrated, it will draw a large amount of your essence blood. The reason we asked you to open this item at seventeen is because you need to be at this age to barely withstand the loss of this essence blood."

"But most importantly, in integrating the Acquired Resonance, you will lose not only essence blood, but also lifespan."

"From the moment of integration, you will only have five years of life left. Unless you can step into the Marquis Realm within five years and evolve your life level, otherwise, after five years, your life will come to an end."

"Your mother and I argued about this for a long time, as the price is truly too great. But Xiao Luo, you have grown up, and we decided to tell you this so you can make your own choice. Xiao Luo, will you choose to maintain the status quo, become a wealthy idler in the future, and live a safe life, or will you choose to integrate the Acquired Resonance, start fighting against heaven, and embark on that endless, dangerous path..."

"If you choose the former, just close the crystal ball, and everything inside will self-destruct. If you choose the latter, then reach your hand into it. The choice is yours alone to make. But no matter what you choose, Dad and Mom will always support you."

The voice stopped abruptly. The images of Li Taixuan and Dantai Lan stopped speaking and just gazed forward quietly, their eyes gentle.

And Li Luo slowly sat down, staring at the pitch-black crystal ball, his expression shifting between light and shadow.

He had felt before that such a high-potential Empty Resonance couldn't possibly be without any side effects. So, it was waiting here.

Now, the choice he had to make was whether he wanted to be a weakling or a short-lived ghost?

(Four thousand words, conscientious, asking for votes.)

(End of chapter)