When there were still three days remaining until the start of the school year, Li Luo finally managed a breakthrough.
However, his first attempt at consolidating his resonance seed failed.
This was nothing surprising. It was a difficult process, and Li Luo had approached it with a "just-try" attitude.
He had not even used the Bitter Lotus Pill that the old dean had given him.
But the next day, Li Luo decided to rev himself up and go for it!
He entered the skygold room.
He lit some sandalwood incense, which would deepen one's connection with heaven and earth. It would help with breakthroughs.
He gulped down the Bitter Lotus Pill in one go.
Let the breakthrough begin.
This time around, it went without hiccups. In fact, it went so smoothly that there was actually little to get excited about.
A few hours later, Li Luo succeeded.
He was now at the Sprouting Seed Tier, the first tier of the Resonant Master Stage.
"Easy enough." Li Luo congratulated himself.
On a whim, he decided to check the resonant palaces within him.
He saw that in his waterlight resonant palace, there was a little globe of light floating. And at its core, there was a little sphere of light, about the size of his thumb.
The sphere of light was azure-blue in color, and sounds of rushing water could be heard from it. It was not real water, but the flow of Li Luo's resonant power.
And within the watery resonant power in the light sphere, there was yet another strange light, pure and brilliant.
This was the resonance seed that he had consolidated. It was a waterlight seed.
The first tier of Resonant Master Stage was called the Sprouting Seed Tier.
It was further divided into two sub-tiers. The first sub-tier was called the Clear Seed Sub-tier, while the second was the Flowering Seed Sub-tier. Each sub-tier was further divided into lower and upper classes.
The Clear Seed Tier referenced how the resonance seed would appear translucent. Because the resonant power within it was faint, it could not leave a mark on the surface of the resonance seed.
These marks would dot the surface of the resonance seed. The more resonant power marks left on the seed, the stronger one's resonant power was.
And when one's resonant power more or less covered the whole surface, the petal-like pattern that would appear would mark one's achievement as a Flowering Seed cultivator.
After a certain time, the petal-like marks on the resonance seed surface would merge into an arcane pattern.
This was the second tier of the Resonant Master Stage, the Pattern Genesis Tier.
However, there was no need to think that far ahead. Li Luo had just reached the first tier of the Resonant Master Stage, the Sprouting Seed Tier, the Clear Seed Sub-tier, and a lower class. He was a Lower Clear, for short. If he wanted to make it to the second tier, there was a long way to go.
"My resonant power is so much stronger."
Li Luo stood up and tested his water resonance power. It was far stronger than when he was at the Ten Seals Stage.
Evidently, there was a huge leap between the two major stages.
Li Luo stretched out a hand, calling forth a sphere of water with light within. With a flick of his finger, his Waterlight Bullet shot out against the shiny wall of the skygold room, bursting in a flash that lit up the room as bright as day.
His Waterlight Bullet was many times stronger than before. If someone took it head on, they would probably be blinded for some time.
"Not bad. With this much power, I should be able to cope with the watersource demands from headquarters." The Suncreek Villa had been breathing down his neck recently, and if he didn't hand over some watersource soon, the resonance artificers would likely start wondering if he had lied.
Curbing his elation, Li Luo now turned to the treasure box on his table. It was his second acquired resonance, the woodearth resonance.
Now that he was at the Resonant Master Stage, it was time to fill his second blank palace.
He could not wait. He knew that the first acquired resonance merely helped him to stand on the same level as his peers, closing the gap between himself and the geniuses of his generation. Only the second acquired resonance would really help him pull away.
His hand closed around the verdant, green sphere of light. It shimmered softly, the emerald glow reflected in his eyes.
He had been worried about this, unsure of the price he would have to pay for this second acquired resonance.
The first time, he had cut his lifespan down to five years. What about this time? What if he cut his lifespan down to nothing at all? Wouldn't he be screwed?
The odds seemed slim, but he still had to prepare himself.
He closed his eyes, holding the woodearth resonance for a long time. Finally, he opened them again, his resolve set. He had already committed to this from the moment he had taken the first acquired resonance.
There were many things that he had to do, and to do them required power.
He wanted to maintain House Luolan on behalf of his parents. He wanted to tell Jiang Qing'e that he would be the one protecting her, and that she could rest easy. Damn, that would be seriously cool of him. Surely the plump swan would be moved by that?
Plus, hadn't that plump swan just warned him two days ago that even Violet Vibrance mentors were chasing her? If he wasn't at least that strong, how was he going to protect his fat, white bird?
And of course, he still had to go find his parents.
No risk, no reward.
A resigned smile on his face, Li Luo hesitated no longer, shoving the emerald light into his mouth.
Boom!
Li Luo could feel it enter his body, then a roaring response of resonant power erupted within him. It was trying to repel the second acquired resonance.
His first acquired resonance had sensed a foreign presence.
Li Luo curbed it as much as he could, trying to guide the woodearth resonance as best as he could to his second resonant palace.
The process took a full hour.
Li Luo's face was flushed and his sweat was pouring down his forehead. But he did not slack off one inch. Through sheer determination, he crammed the woodearth resonance into his second resonant palace.
After it entered the resonant palace, the resisting resonant power within him settled down immediately, as though it had lost its target.
Before he could even sigh in relief, he suddenly sensed a powerful suction from his second resonant palace.
It was sucking up his blood essence. Rapidly.
An indescribable pain seized him. The second acquired resonance was ferociously devouring everything within him, and he felt himself fading away.
His consciousness slipping away from him, Li Luo was completely unable to resist.
As his vision slowly faded away, his body keeled over and fell to the floor.
A final thought crept into his mind.
"Damn, am I really going to die?"