Chapter 76: The Song Family's Reinforcement

Night. The Song family residence.

Song Song Qiuyu led Mo Ling to sit down in the living room, then a gentle water-phase power surged in her small hands, circulating over the latter's face to help the bruises gradually fade.

At this moment Song Shan also walked in. Seeing this scene, he gave a light cough, then frowned and said, "What happened to Mo Ling, my good nephew?"

"Earlier at Clearwind Tower, he only meant to greet the students from Nanfeng Academy and exchange some information about the Holy Mystic Star Academy with them, but that Li Luo slandered him, saying he intended to assassinate him, and had his guards beat him up." Song Song Qiuyu's pretty face carried a hint of anger as she spoke.

"Hmph, that Li Luo again!"

Song Shan sat down in the main seat, his face full of gloom and annoyance. Today Song Song Yunfeng had been eliminated from the top ten by Li Luo, which had made the Song family a laughingstock, and now they were treating their honored guest this way too—truly going too far.

"This Li Luo is truly arrogant. If this were in Wang Cheng, I'd make sure he couldn't walk away unscathed!" Mo Ling also spoke out in anger. Today had been truly stifling for him—he hadn't even done anything yet, and that Li Luo had already pinned an attempted-assassination label on him, then beaten him up indiscriminately without distinguishing right from wrong.

"Recently, under Li Luo's management, that Xiyang House has suddenly surged. The quality of their First and Second Rank spirit waters and miracle lights has greatly improved, and they've been pressing our Pine Seed House until we can barely breathe. Based on our speculation, the most likely explanation is that he's using some kind of Mi Fa source water—perhaps something left to him by Li Taixuan and Dantai Lan," Song Shan said in a low voice.

"The formula for our Pine Seed House's 'Sunshine Miracle Light' was improved by a tempering master I invited from Wang Cheng. It's absolutely stronger than Xiyang House's 'Green Azure Spirit Water,' yet now we're being outclassed by so much in refinement power—only Mi Fa source water could achieve that," Song Song Qiuyu said with a frown.

"If this continues, our Song family's Pine Seed House here in Tian Shu Prefecture will probably be suppressed by Xiyang House until we can't turn things around," Song Shan said unwillingly.

Song Song Qiuyu nodded lightly, a hint of worry seeming to linger between her brows.

Seeing this, Mo Ling immediately laughed and said, "Song Qiuyu, why be so glum? House Luolan Prefecture's Xiyang House, within our Great Xia, is actually nothing special. It's not their strong suit—they're just showing off here in Tian Shu Prefecture. Look at how mediocre Xiyang House's performance is in Wang Cheng?"

"It's easy for you to talk—it doesn't hurt your back. Your Mo family's Ink Water House ranks in the top ten throughout Great Xia, so of course you can look down on Xiyang House." Song Song Qiuyu said with a reproachful pout.

Mo Ling gave a casual sound and said, "Haven't our two families already finished discussing it? From now on, all the Third Rank and below quality spirit waters and miracle lights produced by my Ink Water House can have their formulas given to the Song family. In this Tian Shu Prefecture, the Song family will be Ink Water House's representative merchant."

"Our Ink Water House's spirit water and miracle light formulas are more than a whole tier above Xiyang House's. With this power, the Song family will definitely be able to beat Xiyang House into the ground."

Hearing this, Song Shan deliberated and said, "But there are still some terms in the cooperation with Ink Water House that haven't been fully settled."

Mo Ling waved his hand grandly and said, "Uncle Song, say no more. I know your requests. My coming here this time is also to fulfill the elders' commission and finalize everything. Regarding certain interests, my Ink Water House can make concessions—as long as my Ink Water House's spirit waters and miracle lights can dominate the Tian Shu Prefecture market, both our families will achieve a win-win."

"Besides, isn't that Li Luo very arrogant? This time I'm going to make him understand what consequences mean!"

"This—"

Joy appeared on Song Shan's face, and he finally sighed: "Then I must thank you, good nephew. I know Ink Water House is powerful, far surpassing my Song family, so I won't say any unnecessary words. From now on, my Song family will definitely help Ink Water House establish a firm foothold in Tian Shu Prefecture."

Mo Ling smiled and waved his hand, then exchanged a few words with Song Song Qiuyu before going back to rest first.

After Mo Ling left, the faint smile on Song Song Qiuyu's cheeks faded, and she looked at Song Shan: "It seems bringing him to Clearwind Tower today did serve some purpose."

"I think without that move from Li Luo, Mo Ling probably wouldn't have opened his mouth so easily. At the very least, he would have dragged things out for a while. Speaking of which, we should thank Li Luo."

Song Shan held his tea cup, but his expression held no great joy. He said, "Bringing Ink Water House into Tian Shu Prefecture may be akin to inviting a wolf into the house. Although they will give us some spirit water and miracle light formulas, as far as I know, those formulas aren't all that important. What's important is a type of Mi Fa source water light that Ink Water House controls, called 'Black Marsh Water' and 'White Moonlight.'"

"Only by adding these two types of Mi Fa source water lights can Ink Water House's formulas exhibit their unique quality."

"So from now on, my Song family will essentially have our throats choked by Ink Water House, living under their thumb."

Song Song Qiuyu gave a light laugh and said, "But no matter how bad, can it be worse than now? We don't have much share in the Tian Shu Prefecture spirit water and miracle light market anymore. If we don't bring in strong reinforcements, we'll only benefit Xiyang House."

Song Shan sighed: "That damned House Luolan Prefecture, that damned Li Luo—truly hateful."

"Don't rush. The reason I've come back this time is to deal with Tian Shu Prefecture's 'Spirit Water and Miracle Light Festival.' I will represent Pine Seed House at the grand ceremony to compete for the title of Tian Shu Prefecture's number one tempering master. If I succeed, I'll seize the momentum to launch the spirit waters and miracle lights cooperated with Ink Water House. When that time comes, everything will be reversed," Song Song Qiuyu said comfortingly.

"Your competitor this time should be Yan Yan Lingqing from Xiyang House. Are you confident?" Song Shan said.

"Yan Yan Lingqing, an old rival. We've clashed countless times at Holy Mystic Star Academy."

Song Song Qiuyu smiled faintly and said, "But this time, she will definitely lose."

Hearing this, Song Shan finally nodded.

Song Song Qiuyu changed the subject and asked, "How is Song Yunfeng?"

"The injuries aren't serious, but he's been badly shaken." Song Shan said.

That Song Song Yunfeng had previously fought Li Luo during the preliminary exam, where the latter could only barely force a draw with the Water Mirror Art, so Song Song Yunfeng hadn't believed Li Luo could truly match him. But what was the reality? In that battle during the grand exam, Li Luo almost effortlessly crushed him and didn't even treat him as a real opponent.

This undoubtedly brought Song Song Yunfeng an immense sense of defeat.

"He should be able to get into Holy Mystic Star Academy, right?" Song Song Qiuyu frowned and asked.

Song Shan hesitated. This time Song Song Yunfeng had, at the Governor's indication, helped Shi Kong deal with Nanfeng Academy. This behavior was indeed rather hateful, but generally speaking, his ranking in the preliminary exam was already set, and Nanfeng Academy had additional admission slots, which should naturally be given to him.

However, that old dean of Nanfeng Academy was a stubborn, unyielding rock who wouldn't give even the slightest face to Governor Shi. It was unknown whether he would do something.

"Let's hope that Wei Sha won't be too unreasonable."

(End of chapter)