Chapter 84: Fifth Grade

"River Algae, half a stalk."

"Coiling Mountain Spirit Vine, three roots."

"Thousand Creek Water, three standard doses."

"."

In the refining room of Xiyang House, a calm and rapid voice kept spilling from the lips of Yan Lingqing. Beside her, Li Luo immediately and swiftly loaded the ingredients, portion by portion according to her instructions, into crystal bottles and handed them over.

After Yan Lingqing received these crystal bottles, wisps of her Water-type resonance power surged into them. As the resonance power stirred, it ground the ingredients into pieces, and the resonance power quickly fused with the properties of the materials.

The two did not exchange any idle chatter. In ordinary times, they might have been more leisurely, but they were currently in a competition, so there was no room for rest; they could only complete the refining in one go.

However, as Li Luo assisted on the side, he was able to learn quite a bit from Yan Lingqing’s methodical refining process. Her ability to fuse the properties of materials could be described as perfect.

If those complex steps were left to him, he would likely have botched them immediately.

It was evident that Yan Lingqing’s resonance-refining technique was of a very high level.

But Li Luo also understood that this was only the beginning.

In the venue, a referee was excitedly providing commentary. Although the people outside the arena could not quite understand the process, watching the tense atmosphere of the resonance refiners gave them a feeling of "not knowing what it is, but it seems impressive." At the same time, influenced by the atmosphere, they became agitated.

As time passed, the rack in front of Yan Lingqing was already filled with crystal bottles emitting a blue luster, each containing a portion of the temporarily fused materials.

At this moment, fragrant sweat was sliding down the cheeks from Yan Lingqing’s smooth forehead, but she did not even have time to wipe it away. All her attention was focused on the crystal bottle in her hand, where, as her Water-type resonance power stirred and eroded, the various materials were undergoing fusion.

This seemingly simple fusion actually required precise control of one's own resonance power, simultaneously breaking down impurities in the various materials, and then, through thousands of collisions and erosions, forming the required substance.

Therefore, to an outsider, it looked as if they were just holding a crystal bottle and pouring resonance power into it, which seemed quite simple. Yet, they had no idea what kind of intense changes were occurring in places invisible to the naked eye.

This was a classic case of the layman watching the spectacle, while the expert watches the technique.

In such times, the higher the grade of the resonance refiner, the greater their advantage would become, because high-grade resonance power possessed greater spirituality, which could compensate for many deficiencies in experience.

Li Luo, standing to the side, looked at Yan Lingqing’s focused, beautiful face and pondered for a moment. This time, as he organized the materials, he flicked his finger, and a wisp of Water-Light resonance power fell into them.

"Heavenly Leaf Juice."

When Yan Lingqing’s voice came, Li Luo immediately handed over the crystal bottle in his hand.

Yan Lingqing took it, and her Water-type resonance power surged in, shattering it directly. However, this time, as the materials were being modulated and fused, her jade hand suddenly paused.

A look of astonishment flashed across Yan Lingqing’s cheeks, because she discovered that this fusion was unexpectedly much smoother than before. As her resonance power traveled through the crystal bottle, it felt as if it had received some kind of special thrust, allowing her to save quite a bit of effort.

However, since they were in the middle of a competition, Yan Lingqing could not afford to investigate further; she could only quickly complete the modulation and continue the step-by-step fusion.

Li Luo, standing to the side, had been watching Yan Lingqing’s expression. Seeing that she did not show any panic, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Clearly, the resonance power he had left inside did not interfere with Yan Lingqing’s fusion; instead, it had given her a smooth push.

This was not entirely unexpected. After all, Li Luo’s resonance power was almost equivalent to Secret Method Source Water. Because of his Empty Resonance, his resonance power could encompass any other Water-type or Light-type resonance power. Furthermore, his Water-Light resonance was currently sixth-grade, but if one were to compare the refining properties contained within the resonance power, Li Luo’s Water-Light resonance was absolutely sufficient to rival a seventh-grade Water or Light resonance.

Since Yan Lingqing herself possessed a low-seventh-grade Water resonance, in terms of pure resonance power quality, the current Li Luo was even a notch stronger than her.

However, because Yan Lingqing was the primary refiner, and Li Luo himself only had the strength of nine imprints with meager resonance power, his wisp of Water-Light resonance power could only be said to have played a role in "pushing the boat with the current," allowing Yan Lingqing’s refining to be a bit more effortless.

Moreover, he understood that Yan Lingqing did not need his help to refine this "Blue Algae Spirit Water," so his move was merely a small experiment.

Time slipped away rapidly amidst the tense atmosphere.

The refining on Yan Lingqing’s side was nearing its end, which made Li Luo, standing to the side, heave a sigh of relief, as her refining had not encountered any problems. This fourth-grade "Blue Algae Spirit Water" was about to be born.

Clang!

At this moment, the sound of bells and drums would occasionally ring out in the venue, followed by the referee’s impassioned voice.

"Green Light House, Zhao Feng, successfully refined fourth-grade 'Green Water Strange Light', refining power 55%!"

"White Tooth House, Liu Tong, successfully refined fourth-grade 'White Bud Spirit Water', refining power 56%!"

"."

Listening to the announcements of successful refinements, Yan Lingqing’s expression remained calm, and she continued to calmly refine the "Blue Algae Spirit Water" in her hands.

However, her calmness did not last long, because suddenly, a rapid sound of bells and drums erupted in the arena, and the referee’s shocked voice rang out.

"Pine Seed House, Song Qiuyu, successfully refined... fifth-grade 'Exquisite Strange Water'! Refining power, 53%!!"

Whoa!

When this voice sounded, the entire venue erupted in a deafening uproar. Countless people looked in shock toward the direction of Pine Seed House, only to see Song Qiuyu there with a face full of smiles, and in her hand, a glazed bottle was flickering with strange light.

Fifth-grade Spirit Water?!

This Song Qiuyu from Pine Seed House had actually succeeded in refining fifth-grade Spirit Water?!

In the venue, the expressions of the other resonance refiners from the various Spirit Water and Strange Light houses immediately turned quite ugly. Because almost everyone present was a fourth-grade resonance refiner and no one could reach the fifth grade, and now Song Qiuyu had actually refined a bottle of fifth-grade Spirit Water—was this not a crushing blow?

Regardless of whether this fifth-grade Spirit Water was refined by Song Qiuyu through a stroke of luck, since it was achieved in this competition, it was her result.

In the spectator stand where the Song family was located, Song Shan and Mo Ling both revealed smiles of impending victory.

On the side of Luolan House, Cai Wei, who had been lightly waving her floral fan, paused her small hand. Her charming, oval-shaped face became somewhat grave, and her gaze, filled with worry, stared at the refining room where Yan Lingqing and Li Luo were.

In this refining room, the atmosphere was extremely heavy at this moment.

Yan Lingqing, who had been concentrating on modulating the materials, suddenly stiffened, and the hand holding the crystal bottle remained motionless.

She stared blankly at the crystal bottle in her hand, and the luster on her beautiful face began to dim.

"How could it be... how could she possibly refine fifth-grade Spirit Water?" Yan Lingqing muttered to herself.

Bang!

The resonance power in her hand suddenly went out of control, and the crystal bottle shattered instantly. The liquid flowed down through Yan Lingqing’s fingers. She pressed both hands onto the refining table, and her head, which had always been proud and aloof, seemed to gradually lower at this moment, with her long hair covering both sides of her cheeks.

There was no point in continuing the refining now...

Because Song Qiuyu had already refined fifth-grade Spirit Water, even if she successfully refined this Blue Algae Spirit Water, she would still be left behind by Song Qiuyu.

Li Luo looked at the bowed Yan Lingqing. He could feel the dejection radiating from her. Through her hair, he could see that her eye sockets had turned quite red.

This was the first time Li Luo had seen Yan Lingqing reveal such a weak and dejected appearance.

Li Luo looked up toward the direction of Song Qiuyu. At this moment, her pretty face was filled with the smile of a victor. Her gaze was also looking over here, and Li Luo could feel that in the look she gave Yan Lingqing, there was some mockery and ridicule.

Li Luo was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly turned Yan Lingqing’s body around by force. He stared into her bewildered, red-rimmed eyes and said in a low voice, "Sister Lingqing, your strength is definitely stronger than that Song Qiuyu. Although I don't know what methods she used to refine fifth-grade Spirit Water, if she can do it, you certainly can too!"

Yan Lingqing shook her head, her voice even turning hoarse: "I have never succeeded in refining it until now."

"Just because you couldn't before doesn't mean you can't now. In any case, it's already the worst-case scenario, so why not give it a try?" Li Luo said in a deep voice.

Immediately, he grabbed one of Yan Lingqing’s fair, slender hands, wiped the water stains off it with his sleeve, and said slowly, "Sister Lingqing, I don't care whether this win or loss will have any impact on Xiyang House. I simply feel that someone as outstanding as you—how could you possibly lose to her?"

Yan Lingqing stared blankly at the face of Li Luo in front of her, which looked as if it had been carved by a knife. Although it carried some of the callowness of a youth, it was filled with soaring fighting spirit, which was heart-stirring.

Thus, in the end, she bit her lip and nodded gently.

"Then... then let's give it a try."

(End of chapter)