Chapter 77: Resonance Master: Three Stages

The aftershocks of the grand examination continued in South Wind City for several days, the fervor showing no signs of fading, which served as a testament to the examination's influence.

Following the grand examination, the students of South Wind Academy would have a one-week break, after which they would return to the academy one last time to collect their admission quotas, officially concluding their studies at South Wind Academy.

Because of his first-place finish in the grand examination, Li Luo’s profile in South Wind City had grown exponentially, and he found this quite troublesome. Consequently, he had not stepped out for the past few days, choosing instead to stay honestly in the old residence to cultivate his resonant power and study resonance arts, while spending his leisure time continuing his practice of spirit liquid and light.

It was quite leisurely and fulfilling.

Clang!

In a training room of the old residence.

Li Luo held dual blades, his resonant power fully unleashed, his offensive like surging waves, attacking the figure opposite him with all his might.

The person sparring with him was a guard from the old residence, whose strength was at the first stage of the Resonance Master realm, the Seed-Opening stage; he was currently suppressing his own resonant power to spar and train with him.

In the cultivation of resonant power, after the Ten Seals realm comes the Resonance Master realm.

The Resonance Master realm has three stages. The first is the Seed-Opening stage; it is said that this is when the resonant power within the resonance palace is condensed into a mass, birthed like a seed, hence the name Seed-Opening stage.

The second stage is the Pattern-Growing stage. Upon reaching this realm, the resonant power becomes robust and will gradually form patterns upon the resonance seed. These patterns are called resonance patterns, which is how the name Pattern-Growing stage came to be.

The third stage is the Resonance-Transformation stage. When resonant power reaches this level, the resonance seed itself will gradually undergo a transformation, preparing for the subsequent breakthrough to the General stage.

If the Ten Seals realm is merely a beginner in the cultivation of resonant power, then the Resonance Master realm is where one truly begins to touch the threshold of cultivation.

The gap between the two is immense.

And this gap began to be clearly felt as Li Luo sparred with the guard.

Although the latter had suppressed his resonant power to barely reach the level of about ten seals, Li Luo discovered that none of his attacks could pose any real threat to his opponent, unless he transformed his dual blades into a bow and unleashed his strongest arrow.

Clang!

Blue water radiance flowed at high speed over Li Luo’s dual blades as they struck the iron staff in the guard's hand, but a massive force rebounded, sending Li Luo stumbling back several steps instead.

He stopped, feeling somewhat helpless, and waved his hand at the other party to signal the end of the session.

"The Young Mansion Master is truly impressive. Even though you only have the strength of eight seals, you were still able to make me feel pressure," the guard said, cupping his fists in a salute.

This was not entirely flattery, as he had discovered that even after suppressing his resonant power, Li Luo’s attacks were indeed capable of posing a slight danger to him.

Around the training ground, other guards of the old residence were also nodding secretly, their gazes toward Li Luo carrying something they hadn't possessed before—perhaps it could be called awe and conviction.

Li Luo’s victory as the first place in the Tian-Shu County grand examination had made everyone afraid to treat him as the person with no potential and an empty resonance as they had in the past.

Even if the future Li Luo could not reach the level of Jiang Qing’e, no one would ever look down on him again.

This Young Mansion Master of House Luolan was gradually beginning to radiate his own light.

Li Luo smiled and nodded at him, then walked toward the edge of the training ground, where Cai Wei was waiting.

Today, Cai Wei was wearing a red dress with peony flowers outlined in silk thread, which was exceptionally exquisite. Her already lithe and graceful figure was further accentuated by the red dress, stretching out incredibly hot curves, making her as charming as a flower in full bloom.

In this training ground filled with the scent of sweat, although many men dared not stare directly, their subtle gazes were cast in her direction.

It was the instinctive appreciation men have for women.

"Sister Cai Wei," Li Luo greeted with a smile.

Cai Wei chuckled and said, "The Young Mansion Master is truly hardworking. You’ve already taken first place in the grand examination, yet you still train so bitterly every day."

"It’s just first place in Tian-Shu County; it doesn't hold much weight. It is said that in the grand examinations of some other powerful counties, there were even students at the Ten Seals realm," Li Luo shook his head and said.

His words were not false; Tian-Shu County was only mid-tier among the hundred counties of the Great Xia, so it was certain that there were students with even greater strength in other powerful counties.

"Did you look for me, Sister Cai Wei?" Li Luo asked.

"Lingqing has come over; she likely has something to discuss," Cai Wei said.

Li Luo nodded, "Let's go then."

With that, he left the training ground with Cai Wei, walked through the corridor, and arrived in a living room, where he saw Yan Lingqing, who was dressed in green clothes and wearing silver-rimmed glasses, appearing exceptionally intellectual and cold.

After sitting down, Yan Lingqing said, "First, let me report to you that the business of the Xi-Yang House has surged recently. This is entirely due to the secret method source water you provided. If sales continue at the current rate, I fear the Xi-Yang House branch in Tian-Shu County will reach one million Heavenly Amount Gold this year. After deducting various costs, the profit will likely be around three hundred thousand."

Upon hearing this, Li Luo clicked his tongue in admiration. One had to know that the total annual profit of House Luolan in Tian-Shu County was only about three hundred thousand Heavenly Amount Gold, and this year, the Xi-Yang House alone could reach this level, showing the magnitude of the improvement.

Of course, he also understood that this was mainly because of the secret method source water he provided. As his resonant power reached eight seals, the source water he provided was more abundant than before, which was why these secret method source waters were now being used in second-grade spirit liquid and light, leading to the explosion in the Xi-Yang House's income.

Then he did some quick math: if he were to use three hundred thousand Heavenly Amount Gold to purchase sixth-grade spirit liquid and light, it seemed he could only buy about ten vials...

That’s a bit low.

Li Luo smiled bitterly in his heart; at this moment, he understood even more deeply how deep the pit of this acquired resonance was.

After Yan Lingqing finished reporting these matters, her tone shifted, and she asked, "Did you run into Song Qiuyu at the Qingfeng Restaurant a few days ago? And a guy named Mo Ling?"

Li Luo was startled, then nodded, "That guy wanted to cause trouble, so there was a bit of a conflict."

"Mo Ling comes from the Mo family of Bei-Qiu County. The Mo family is a major family in the Great Xia that specializes in the spirit liquid and light business. Their 'Ink Water House' can be ranked in the top ten in the Great Xia, and their foundation and strength are very strong."

"According to the intelligence we obtained, the Song family might choose to cooperate with the 'Ink Water House' and introduce them to Tian-Shu County to counter the Xi-Yang House," Cai Wei said softly.

Li Luo frowned; the Song family was looking for outside help.

"Song Qiuyu appearing at the Qingfeng Restaurant that day was most likely a carefully designed plan by her, intended for nothing more than to have that Mo Ling clash with you, so as to facilitate the cooperation between their two families."

"That woman is very calculating and will stop at nothing to achieve her goals," Yan Lingqing frowned slightly, clearly not fond of Song Qiuyu.

Li Luo smiled helplessly. It seemed he had unintentionally become a catalyst for Song Qiuyu; this was something he hadn't anticipated before. He had truly underestimated that woman.

"Song Qiuyu returning at this time must be for next month's Spirit Liquid and Light Festival. She will most likely compete for the title of the number one resonance refiner in Tian-Shu County to build momentum for the Song-Zi House," Yan Lingqing said.

"Sister Lingqing is the signature of our Xi-Yang House; can you beat her?" Li Luo asked.

"I am her old rival. We competed many times back at the Astral Sage College, and we have both had our wins and losses. I don't know the outcome this time, but I will not underestimate her. I will be preparing with all my might during this period," Yan Lingqing said, and within her silver-rimmed glasses, her eyes were burning with intense fighting spirit; clearly, Song Qiuyu's arrival had ignited her competitive nature.

"It seems this is Sister Lingqing's nemesis," Li Luo joked.

"When you get to the Astral Sage College in the future, you will know just how much we don't get along."

Yan Lingqing said this, then her pretty face turned solemn, "But what I am more worried about is when the Ink Water House's spirit liquid and light are forcefully pushed out."

"What level of quality can the Ink Water House's spirit liquid and light reach?" Li Luo thought for a moment and asked.

"If the Ink Water House is to enter Tian-Shu County, they should be focusing on third-grade and below spirit liquid and light. As far as I know, the Ink Water House's first-grade product, called Black Star Spirit Liquid, has a refining power that can reach sixty-two percent."

"Their second-grade product is called Black Moon Spirit Liquid, and its refining power is sixty-one percent."

"Their third-grade product is called Black Obsidian Light, with a refining power of sixty percent."

Upon hearing this, Li Luo raised an eyebrow. As expected of an established spirit liquid and light house, the products they were pushing out directly exceeded all of the Xi-Yang House's products. This showed that in terms of formulas, the Xi-Yang House was far inferior to the Ink Water House. If it weren't for him relying on high-purity secret method source water, he wouldn't be able to compete with them at all.

However, he was not anxious about this. Although he couldn't compare to the other side in terms of formula quality, Li Luo believed that the other side did not have the advantage when it came to secret method source water.

Currently, the source water used in the first version of the enhanced Green Jade Spirit Liquid at the Xi-Yang House was still maintained at the level he refined when he was at the fifth-grade Water-Light Resonance. Therefore, if Li Luo were willing, the purity of the secret method source water he provided could still be increased by a large margin.

But because this purity was already sufficient for use, he hadn't mentioned it. However, if the Ink Water House were to be aggressive, then he couldn't be blamed for using the purity of his source water to suppress them.

Afterwards, Yan Lingqing and Li Luo discussed for a long while before she left in a hurry, clearly to prepare for next month's Spirit Liquid and Light Festival.

After Yan Lingqing left, Cai Wei leisurely took out three glass vials from her bosom and gently placed them in front of Li Luo.

"This is..."

Li Luo stared at the three glass vials, which were clearly expensive; there were some faint light patterns carved on the bodies of the vials. Such a design was clearly much more advanced than the spirit liquid and light he had seen before.

And Li Luo immediately sensed the powerful refining properties contained within the liquid inside the glass vials.

"Sixth-grade spirit liquid and light?" Surprise surged across Li Luo’s face.

He had been using the remaining fifth-grade spirit liquid and light during this period, but he found that as his Water-Light Resonance evolved to the sixth grade, the effect of the fifth-grade spirit liquid and light on him was greatly diminished. He had been very worried about this and had wanted to ask Cai Wei to help him purchase sixth-grade spirit liquid and light, but he also understood the price of sixth-grade items, so he had temporarily held back, planning to start purchasing them after going to Great Xia City.

But now, Cai Wei had clearly given him a small surprise.

"Young Mansion Master, although I don't know why you keep using large amounts of spirit liquid and light, I am not curious about it. Your recent performance has proven that these spirit liquids and lights have achieved their due value."

"So, although the cash flow is quite difficult, I still scrimped and saved to squeeze out three vials of sixth-grade spirit liquid and light for you. Although it's a bit little, it can make do for now," Cai Wei said with a smile, her smooth and fair oval face glowing under the light.

Li Luo happily grabbed the three vials of sixth-grade spirit liquid and light, then looked at Cai Wei and said with emotion, "If I weren't afraid of being beaten by Sister Cai Wei, I would want to give you a hug."

Cai Wei giggled, gently shaking her floral fan, and gave Li Luo a charming wink.

"Young Mansion Master, you should save those words for the young girls at your academy. For me, those sweet words aren't as attractive as your little face."

After saying this, she turned and walked away with a swaying gait.

Li Luo looked at her sexy and charming silhouette, touched his cheek, and sighed.

This damn handsomeness; even Sister Cai Wei couldn't remain immune.

(End of chapter)