The young girl’s hug very quickly ended. She looked almost mournfully at the empty cake plate. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty of time to eat all the goodies in the future.” Li Luo laughed.
Bai Mengmeng nodded so vigorously her neck looked like it was in danger of falling off. “Leader,” she said fervently, “Thank you so much!”
“Aw, this is nothing. You helped me so much as well. At least half of Suncreek Villa’s performance in the last month has to be credited to you. And anyways, it was what I promised you. Just don’t blame me for taking so long,” Li Luo said lightly.
She shook her head. Everyone weighed value differently. Perhaps to Li Luo, helping her regain her sense of taste was nothing; far from the value of a four-star spirit liquid formula. But to her, the value difference was the exact opposite.
Until now, she had only eaten for the sake of sustenance. Everything tasted like wax – a daily torture that she had become inundated to. And each time she had to pretend that nothing was wrong, to avoid any more unwanted attention.
“Leader, for all the formulas I make from now on, I’ll definitely consider Suncreek Villa first!” she vowed.
“Oh how could we ever accept? There’s no need… just maybe eight or nine formulas would do, too many and we would feel embarra.s.sed,” Li Luo said, his bashful tone at sharp contrast with the greed in his words.
Bai Mengmeng giggled. Talking to her leader always put her in a good mood.
“Oh right. I wanted to ask you if you had done any research regarding lightsources or watersources?” Li Luo asked, suddenly remembering his recent conversation with Cai Wei.
“My Nightmarish Water b.u.t.terfly resonance is affiliated to water resonance, so I’m a bit more familiar with watersource. But even so, all my efforts so far have been focused on the formulas, but not on secret watersource.” She c.o.c.ked her head inquisitively at him. “Leader, do you still need secret watersource? Suncreek Villa’s is already very good. It would be hard to find better in the whole of Xia Kingdom.”
“That secret watersource er… costs a lot. Suncreek Villa will need more sources to support its output in the future,” Li Luo explained.
Bai Mengmeng nodded in understanding. “Well if leader has a need, I’ll spend some time researching it… see what I can come up with.”
Li Luo was deeply moved. “Mengmeng, I will definitely give you a satisfactory price for it.”
She smiled and shrugged. She really did not care about such things.
While the two spoke, the refining workshop door inched open a crack, and Xin Fu’s voice slipped through. “Mentor Chi Chan is here, she asks you to go up.”
Both Li Luo and Bai Mengmeng jumped at the sneaky fellow’s voice. What on earth was he playing at? Was he some kind of voyeur or something?
Still, this was no time to sort him out. He and Bai Mengmeng quickly tidied up and then went up to the living room. Morning sun streamed in the window, and sat in the light drinking tea was their learned and elegant mentor, Chi Chan.
“Oh? Fifth Pattern? Seems like the Golden Dragon Dao Fields did you quite a lot of good.” Chi Chan said, holding her teacup aloft with her fingers.
Li Luo grinned. “I was just lucky. Went along for a good ride.”
“I hear Qin Zhulu’s Fifth Pattern now as well?” Chi Chan asked.
Li Luo nodded.
“Which means that in One Star Hall, you two are the strongest now. Even w.a.n.g Hejiu and Bai Doudou only managed to reach Fourth Pattern in the last month,” Chi Chan noted.
“Logically, yes.” Li Luo agreed. Before his waterlight resonance reached seventh-grade, he would probably have been on par with Qin Zhulu at the same cultivation level. But now his waterlight resonance was seventh-grade, and if they fought, Li Luo would probably have the upper hand.
Especially his arrow attack. The sudden surge in power was probably too much for Qin Zhulu to deal with.
Of course, this meant that he would have to tap upon the power of the three-tailed heavenly wolf.
Still, all in all he could well be considered the undisputed king of One Star Hall in Astral Sage College.
Chi Chan shook her head. “It’s not enough.”
Bai Mengmeng and Xin Fu looked at her, shocked. Fifth Pattern was not enough?
Li Luo was shocked as well. “Not enough to fight in the Holy Grail Meet?”
“Oh, Li Luo, since when did you become so naive and adorable?” Chi Chan laughed at him. “You think a puny Fifth Pattern can do well at the Holy Grail Meet? I’m only referring to the ticket match in a month’s time.” “Ticket match? Do you mean the scrim?” Li Luo clarified.
“Well, you can call it a scrim if you want. But the scrim has more significance than that. Only those who win in the scrim are allowed to partic.i.p.ate in the Holy Grail Meet. Which means that tickets to the Meet are up for grabs here. It’s basically an early preliminaries for the Holy Grail Meet,” Chi Chan told them.
“As for Astral Sage College, our a.s.signed compet.i.tion this time is Blue Abyss Sage College. They’re quite strong as well, and their reputation is well known throughout East Divine Continent.”
Li Luo, Xin Fu, and Bai Mengmeng looked at each other. If they couldn’t defeat this Blue Abyss Sage College, they couldn’t even join Holy Grail Meet?!
This was no joke at all.
They knew that each of the sage colleges treated the Holy Grail Meet very seriously. It was not only a fight for reputation, but also about possession of the Dragon Bone Holy Grail. The magical item could grant their school reprieve from Umbra Cave, saving the school many resources and even student lives.
That was a benefit that they would all fight for!
And the supposed scrim was actually an early preliminary – only one of them would be able to qualify for Holy Grail Meet.
Basically elimination-style, come early.
Li Luo groaned. Suddenly the light-hearted casual practice he had imagined had turned into a b.l.o.o.d.y and intense all-out fight.
The starting horn for the Holy Grail Meet had come earlier than expected.
An early salvo of cannon fire, even before the real battle started.
“How does the ticket match work, anyway. We’re only One Star Hall students – surely the pressure isn’t on us?” Li Luo asked.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Whether ticket match or the actual Holy Grail Meet, all students from One to Four Star Hall play an important part, and contribute to their school’s victory.”
She took another sip from her tea cup, then set it down gently. “Of course, you’re right that the Three and Four Star Hall students face a little more pressure, but that does not mean the younger students aren’t important.”
“Set the Holy Grail Meet aside for now – in the ticket match a month from now, the two sage colleges will each select seven members from across all four halls. Besides One Star Hall, the other three halls will send two representatives each.”
“The seven will face off against their counterparts from the opposing school. Whichever school wins four out of seven wins the ticket.”
Li Luo considered this. “So only the strongest of each hall gets to represent.”
“Mentor, I heard that the school has a big reward for whoever helps to secure the ticket?”
Chi Chan nodded with a faint smile. “Indeed. Whoever helps win a ticket will be allowed into the treasure vaults to choose a gold-eye treasured artifact.”
Li Luo sighed deeply.
“Although I have generally preferred the quiet life, but I am a student of Astral Sage College after all. My love for the school runs deeper than Qin Zhulu’s voice. Therefore, I have no choice but to accept and represent the school, since I am the strongest amongst them.”