Chapter 94: Ceremony

"Young Mansion Master, this is the Nine-Glazed Bear Gallbladder Soup, brewed from nine types of spirit mushrooms, supplemented with the gallbladder of the exotic beast Scarlet Spirit Bear. It's most nourishing for the body."

"And this Spirit Fruit Steamed Rice, made by extracting the juice of many spirit fruits. The rice is Three-Month Spirit Rice; after maturing, it must be sun-dried for three months in a place rich in energy before it can be considered finished."

"And this..."

In the dining hall of the manor, Li Luo, Jiang Jiang Qinge, Cai Wei, and Yan Yan Lingqing were all seated, and then he saw, to his astonishment, Seeing Niu Niu Biaobiao carrying out a table full of dishes, each one emanating an enticing aroma.

"Th-this is way too nourishing." Li Luo was caught between laughter and tears. He had thought Seeing Niu Niu Biaobiao was joking, but he hadn't expected him to actually prepare a whole table of heavily nourishing dishes.

"The Young Mansion Master is in his growing years now. Eating more nourishing food is never wrong." Seeing Niu Niu Biaobiao said with a beaming smile.

"Thank you, Uncle Biao. Let's eat."

Jiang Jiang Qinge, for her part, found nothing strange about it. After saying a word to Seeing Niu Niu Biaobiao, she took the lead and started eating.

Seeing this, Li Luo followed suit, eating heartily of these delicacies that were hard to come by in South Wind City. Satisfied, he also gave Seeing Niu Niu Biaobiao a thumbs-up, indicating the taste was excellent.

However, after the heavily nourishing dishes entered his stomach, he always felt a surge of heat rising within his body, causing Li Luo's body temperature to rise somewhat.

And Seeing Niu Niu Biaobiao's culinary skills were indeed exceptionally superb, so even Jiang Jiang Qinge and Cai Wei, who wanted to maintain some decorum, quickened their pace of eating.

Seeing Niu Niu Biaobiao stood nearby, watching with a beaming smile as the few of them devoured the food like a whirlwind, feeling very satisfied.

After the few of them had eaten and drunk their fill, he then beckoned a servant over to clear the dining table, and served each of them a cup of fragrant tea.

"This is Hundred Flower Spirit Tea. After eating heavily nourishing food, one still needs to drink something gentle and moist to calm the restless fiery energy."

Li Luo drank the Hundred Flower Spirit Tea in one gulp, and then felt the restless heat rising within his body gradually subside. The phase force condensed within his Xiang Palace seemed to faintly strengthen at this moment.

"Uncle Biao truly has excellent skills." Li Luo sighed in admiration.

Seeing Niu Niu Biaobiao let out a hearty laugh and said, "The Young Mansion Master is too kind. From now on, I will prepare it for you every day to help nourish you well."

After saying that, he packed up his things and left.

Li Luo gazed at Seeing Niu Niu Biaobiao's sturdy back, and a thought stirred in his heart. This Uncle Biao always said he was a bit weak and needed nourishing...

Was that a joke?

Or did he... know something?

Two months ago, after he refined his Acquired Phase, he had indeed suffered from depleted essence and blood, and even his lifespan had begun to have a limit... but these things, he hadn't even told Jiang Jiang Qinge, to spare her worry.

And this Uncle Biao... could he have noticed? Impossible.

Li Luo turned his head to look at Jiang Jiang Qinge, who was holding fragrant tea and tasting it elegantly, and pondered aloud: "How strong is Uncle Biao exactly?"

Jiang Jiang Qinge raised her eyes to glance at him and said, "I occasionally saw him use phase force before, and it was only around the Phase Master Realm."

Li Luo was somewhat puzzled. Such ordinary strength?

Jiang Jiang Qinge seemed to know what he was thinking and said calmly, "No need to overthink it. We only need to know that Uncle Biao is trustworthy, and that's enough."

Li Luo thought for a moment and nodded. Indeed, there was no need to dig too deep. Regardless of whether this Uncle Biao actually had strength or not, since he had no intention of speaking up, they had no reason to force him. After all, the fact that Father and Mother could entrust matters like the dining of the Luo Lan Mansion headquarters to him was enough to demonstrate their trust in him.

Jiang Jiang Qinge unhurriedly finished her fragrant tea, then stood up and said, "Let's go. It's about time."

Hearing this, Li Luo also stood up, then immediately took a heavy breath, because this meeting was a kind of declaration—a declaration to everyone in Luo Lan Mansion that he, the Young Mansion Master who had previously had almost no presence in South Wind City, was truly returning to Luo Lan Mansion.

In the future, he would become one of the controllers here.

This was a ceremony that seemed simple but was actually very important.

Li Luo calmed his emotions, then followed Jiang Jiang Qinge out of the living room, through the corridor, and finally pushed open a large door to the council hall and walked in.

Inside the council hall, the lights were bright and dazzling, causing Li Luo to squint slightly.

When he opened his eyes, he saw figures sitting quietly behind the long tables on both sides of the council hall. At this moment, the gazes of all of them, carrying complex emotions, rested on him.

The atmosphere in the council hall became somewhat strangely stagnant for a moment.

Until Jiang Jiang Qinge's voice rang out: "Are you all not going to greet the Young Mansion Master?"

Only then did the figures in the council hall rise one after another, cupping their fists respectfully: "Greetings, Young Mansion Master."

Li Luo also smiled and nodded in acknowledgment: "Li Luo greets you all."

Gaze after gaze rested on Li Luo's face. On that exceptionally handsome face, they saw the shadows of Li Taixuan and Dantai Lan, but the youth before them did not possess the heart-palpitating aura and pressure of those two; what he had was only the greenness of youth.

Regarding Li Luo, this Young Mansion Master of Luo Lan Mansion, in fact, many of the upper echelons of Luo Lan Mansion, ever since the news of his Empty Phase spread, had gradually forgotten about him. After all, although in terms of inheritance rights, Li Luo was the most orthodox Young Mansion Master of Luo Lan Mansion, the Empty Phase was almost a death sentence for him.

Probably not many people in Luo Lan Mansion would be willing to let a Young Mansion Master with no potential take charge.

So over these years, they had, intentionally or not, forgotten the Young Mansion Master in South Wind City. Yet now, this Young Mansion Master, who had been regarded as a mascot of Luo Lan Mansion, had appeared before them.

Only, now he was no longer the so-called Empty Phase. He had become the top scorer of the Tian Shu Prefecture Grand Examination, and had also obtained the qualification to enter the Holy Mystic Star Academy for cultivation.

Although there was still a considerable gap compared to Jiang Jiang Qinge, he was no longer that hopeless good-for-nothing. In the future, if Li Luo and Jiang Jiang Qinge truly married, with their combined efforts, Luo Lan Mansion should still have hope.

The hearts of those present were complicated, and they once again cupped their fists and bowed to Li Luo.

"This is the Pavilion Master of the Nine Pavilions, Lei Zhang. You should have met him before. He is the only Pavilion Master who remained at Luo Lan Mansion headquarters, and is also responsible for the security affairs of the headquarters." Jiang Jiang Qinge's jade-like finger pointed to the seat at the very front on the left side. There sat a middle-aged man. Li Luo had also seen this Pavilion Master Lei Zhang before, when Manager Pei Hao came to the old residence for negotiations.

"This is the Workshop Master of the Phase Tool Workshop, Yuan Jin."

Li Luo's gaze looked over. It was a refined and gentle-looking middle-aged man, which was rather unexpected for someone who turned out to be a Phase Tool Grandmaster.

"And the Workshop Master of the Pill Workshop, An Hongyan."

An Hongyan was a beautiful woman wearing a white skirt robe, with an elegant temperament.

"Greetings, Young Mansion Master."

The three named by Jiang Jiang Qinge were considered extremely high-ranking heads in Luo Lan Mansion headquarters, and they all bowed to Li Luo.

Li Luo nodded in acknowledgment, neither overly displaying any approachability, nor appearing too cold.

And after Jiang Jiang Qinge introduced the three, Li Luo sensed something was off, because he noticed there was no head of the Xiyang House headquarters.

His gaze turned to Jiang Jiang Qinge. Her exquisitely beautiful face also reflected a hint of coldness under the lights, and then a cold voice rang out.

"Where is President Han Zhi of the Xiyang House?"