Chapter 84: Fifth Rank

"Ice River Algae, half a stalk."

"Panshan Spirit Vine, three roots."

"Thousand Stream Water, three standard portions."

"."

In the refining chamber of Xiyang House, calm and rapid words kept spilling from Yan Yan Lingqing's mouth. Beside her, Li Luo immediately measured out each material into crystal vials according to her instructions and handed them over.

After Yan Yan Lingqing took those crystal vials, strands of water affinity power surged into them. As the affinity power churned, it directly ground everything to pieces, and the properties of the affinity power and the materials rapidly fused together.

The two of them didn't exchange any unnecessary words. If it were an ordinary occasion, they might have been able to take it easy, but right now this was a competition, so there was no room to rest—they could only power through the refining in one go.

Still, Li Luo, assisting from the side, was able to learn quite a bit from Yan Yan Lingqing's methodical refining. The latter's fusion of material properties could truly be called quite perfect.

Those complicated steps—if it had been him doing it, he probably would have botched it on the spot.

It was clear that Yan Yan Lingqing's affinity-refining technique was still at a fairly high level.

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

In the venue, a commentator was energetically narrating. Although the audience outside couldn't quite make sense of everything, watching the tense atmosphere of the affinity refiners still gave them a vague sense of awe, and at the same time, influenced by the atmosphere, they grew excited.

As time passed, the rack in front of Yan Yan Lingqing had already been filled with crystal vials emitting a blue sheen, each one containing a portion of temporarily fused material.

And at this moment, fragrant beads of sweat were sliding down Yan Yan Lingqing's smooth forehead along her cheeks, but she didn't even have time to wipe them away. All her attention was focused on the crystal vial in her hand. There, as Yan Yan Lingqing's water affinity power churned and eroded, portions of material were undergoing fusion.

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

So to outsiders, it looked as if she was simply holding a crystal vial and pouring affinity power into it—seemed quite simple—but they had no idea what intense changes were actually taking place in places invisible to the naked eye.

This was the classic case of a layman watching the excitement while an expert watches the craft.

And at times like this, the higher the rank of the affinity refiner, the greater their advantage became, because higher-ranked affinity power was more spirited and could compensate for many shortcomings in experience.

Li Luo, standing to the side, gazed at Yan Yan Lingqing's focused pretty face and pondered slightly. This time, as he was organizing the materials, he flicked his finger, and a wisp of water-light affinity power fell into one of them.

"Sky Leaf Juice."

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

Yan Yan Lingqing took it, then water affinity power surged in and directly shattered it. However, this time, as the materials were being blended and fused, her jade-like hand suddenly paused.

A flash of astonishment crossed Yan Yan Lingqing's cheeks, because she discovered that this fusion was actually going much more smoothly than before. When her affinity power transmitted through the crystal vial, it was as if it had received some kind of special push, allowing her to save quite a bit of effort.

But since this was a competition after all, Yan Yan Lingqing couldn't investigate it in detail. She could only rapidly complete the blending and continue the fusion step by step.

Li Luo, standing to the side, had been watching Yan Yan Lingqing's expression the whole time. Seeing that she didn't show any sign of panic, he secretly let out a sigh of relief. Clearly, the strand of affinity power he had left inside hadn't interfered with Yan Yan Lingqing's fusion—instead, it had given it a smooth push forward.

This wasn't really unexpected. After all, Li Luo's affinity power was almost equivalent to the source water of Mi Fa. Because of his empty affinity, his affinity power could accommodate any other water affinity or light affinity power. Furthermore, his water-light affinity was now Sixth Rank, but if one were to compare purely on the refining nature contained within the affinity power, Li Luo's water-light affinity would absolutely be enough to rival an Upper Seventh Rank water affinity or light affinity.

And Yan Yan Lingqing herself possessed a Lower Seventh Rank water affinity, so in terms of pure affinity power quality, the current Li Luo was actually a notch stronger than her.

However, because Yan Yan Lingqing was the main refiner, and Li Luo himself was only at the Nine Seal stage with meager affinity power, that strand of water-light affinity power could only be said to play a facilitating role, allowing Yan Yan Lingqing's refining to go a bit more smoothly.

And he understood that refining this "Blue Algae Spirit Water" didn't require Yan Yan Lingqing's help, so this little move of his was just a small experiment.

Time slipped away rapidly under the tense atmosphere.

Yan Yan Lingqing's refining was about to enter its final stage, which made Li Luo beside her let out a sigh of relief, because her refining hadn't run into any problems. This Fourth Rank "Blue Algae Spirit Water" was about to be born.

Clang!

And at this moment, the sound of bells and drums rang out from time to time in the venue, followed by the commentator's energetic voice rising continuously.

"Green Light House, Zhao Feng, successfully refined Fourth Rank 'Green Water Marvelous Light'—refining power, fifty-five percent!"

"White Fang House, Liu Tong, successfully refined Fourth Rank 'White Bud Spirit Water'—refining power, fifty-six percent!"

"."

Hearing those announcements of successful refinings, Yan Yan Lingqing's expression didn't ripple at all. She continued calmly refining the "Blue Algae Spirit Water" in her hands.

However, her composure didn't last long, because suddenly, a burst of urgent bells and drums rang out sharply in the venue, and the commentator's shocked voice rang out.

"Pine Seed House, Song Song Qiuyu, successfully refined… Fifth Rank 'Exquisite Marvelous Water'! Refining power, fifty-three percent!!"

Waaah!

When this voice rang out, the entire venue erupted into a tidal wave of uproar. Countless people stared in shock toward the direction of Pine Seed House, where Song Song Qiuyu's face was beaming with smiles. In her hand, a glazed vial was shimmering with strange light.

Fifth Rank Spirit Water?!

This Pine Seed House's Song Song Qiuyu had actually successfully refined a Fifth Rank Spirit Water?!

In the venue, the faces of the affinity refiners from the other Spirit Water Marvelous Light Houses instantly turned much uglier, because almost everyone present was a Fourth Rank affinity refiner—not a single one could reach Fifth Rank. Yet now Song Song Qiuyu had actually refined a vial of Fifth Rank Spirit Water—wasn't this a crushing blow?

Regardless of whether this Fifth Rank Spirit Water had been refined successfully by Song Song Qiuyu purely by chance, since it succeeded in this competition, it counted as her achievement.

On the viewing platform where the Song family sat, both Song Shan and Mo Ling revealed smiles of victory within reach.

On the Luo Lan Manor side, Cai Wei, who had been gently fanning herself with a flower-tufted cattail fan, paused her delicate hand. Her charming oval face grew somewhat solemn, and her worry-filled gaze fixed on the refining chamber where Yan Yan Lingqing and Li Luo were.

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

Yan Yan Lingqing, who had been concentrating on blending the materials, seemed to have suddenly stiffened. The hand gripping the crystal vial didn't move at all.

She stared blankly at the crystal vial in her hand, and the brilliance on her pretty face began to dim.

"How could she… how could she possibly have refined a Fifth Rank Spirit Water?" Yan Yan Lingqing muttered to herself.

Bang!

The affinity power in her hand suddenly lost control, and the crystal vial instantly exploded. Liquid flowed down through the gaps between Yan Yan Lingqing's fingers. She pressed both hands on the refining table, and her always-proud head seemed to slowly lower itself at this moment, her long hair covering both sides of her face.

There was no point in continuing the refining now…

Because Song Song Qiuyu had already refined a Fifth Rank Spirit Water. Even if she successfully refined this Blue Algae Spirit Water, she would still be left behind by Song Song Qiuyu.

Li Luo looked at the lowered-head Yan Yan Lingqing. He could feel the dispirited aura emanating from her. Through her hair, he could see that the rims of her eyes had turned quite red.

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

Li Luo raised his head and looked toward the direction where Song Song Qiuyu was. At this moment, her pretty face was full of a victor's smile, and her gaze was also looking this way. Li Luo could sense that her eyes, as she looked at Yan Yan Lingqing, carried a hint of mockery and derision.

Li Luo was silent for a few breaths, then suddenly forcibly turned Yan Yan Lingqing's body around. His eyes fixed on the latter's helpless, reddened eyes, and he said in a low voice: "Sister Yan Lingqing, your strength is absolutely stronger than that Song Song Qiuyu. No matter what means she used to refine that Fifth Rank Spirit Water, if she can do it, you definitely can too!"

Yan Yan Lingqing shook her head, her voice somewhat hoarse: "Up until now, I have never successfully refined one."

"It didn't work before, but that doesn't mean it won't work now. It's the worst-case scenario either way, so why not give it a try?" Li Luo said in a low voice.

He then took hold of one of Yan Yan Lingqing's small, fair hand, wiped the water stains from it with his clothes, and said slowly, "Sister Yan 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 Yan Lingqing stared blankly at Li Luo's sharply chiseled face before her. Though it still carried a youth's boyishness, it was brimming with soaring fighting spirit, uplifting the heart.

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

"Th-then let's give it a try."

(End of chapter)