The courtyard steadily grew more lively as the morning wore on. Even the Cultivators Hall students were here to watch the entertainment. Watching some refining was a nice, relaxing change after their purging mission in the Umbra Cave.
Besides the Suncreek Villa, every other villa present was easily in the top 20 in the Xia Kingdom…
Such was the standard for an invitation. These villas had all proved themselves as highly capable.
In comparison, the Suncreek Villa was unproven on every front.
This was where the lions gathered. Meeker villas were like scavengers that were afraid to pick up scraps while the kings feasted. They would end up empty-handed for sure, and that would just be humiliating.
The crowd suddenly parted for a group. They were led by the First Princess.
Behind her was a retinue of skilled artificers. Their arrogant expressions were an unspoken declaration that they knew just how good they were.
“That’s the Skypalace Villa, a subsidiary of the royal court. They are the foremost villa in the Xia Kingdom… Excepting the Resonance Artificers Hall, of course,” Yan Lingqing said to Li Luo.
He nodded. He had heard of the Skypalace Villa before, of course. One could not help but hear about the best. Even among these villas, they always had the first pick at the Artificers’ Fair each year. Fortunately for the other villas, the Resonance Artificers Hall had set a hard quota on the recruitment numbers for each villa; otherwise, the Skypalace Villa would be sweeping up most of the talent each year.
Li Luo was pretty confident that the Suncreek Villa could be ranked top 10 in another six months. But to overtake the Skypalace Villa? There was still a long way to go for that. At least for now, it was too lofty a goal.
Not long after the Skypalace Villa’s arrival, a rich voice called out, and the crowd fell silent. Everyone turned to the stage.
The Resonance Artificers Hall’s elites walked out on stage, fronted by a beautiful matron in pure-white robes. Her golden hair was like a crown on her head, and her features exuded mature wisdom befitting of a queen.
“That’s the dean of the Resonance Artificers Hall, Ling Zhaoying,” Yan Lingqing said with reverence. “She’s the only eighth-grade resonance artificer in the Xia Kingdom.
“She has an upper eighth-grade light resonance.”
She grinned at Jiang Qing’e. “This is the dean who kept trying to persuade Jiang Qing’e to join the Resonance Artificers Hall but failed every time.”
“An eighth-grade resonance artificer with an upper eighth-grade light resonance…” Li Luo marveled. Besides Jiang Qing’e, this was the highest quality light resonance he had seen so far. After all, water and light resonance cultivators were rather rare, and there were far fewer of the latter compared to the former. That was why in their industry, there were always far more spirit liquids than purifying lights.
Plus, this dean was an eighth-grade resonance artificer.
Resonance artificers were different from alchemists in many ways. Most pertinently, spirit liquids and purifying lights often cost far less than pills and potions of the same grade. However, many pills and potions could not be used more than once, as they made drastic changes to one’s core. Overdosing could lead to destabilization.
However, this difference only applied to spirit liquids and purifying lights below the seventh-grade. At the seventh-grade and above, there was a sharp spike in the price of spirit liquids and purifying lights, and they were seldom seen as well.
The reason was very simple. The number of seventh-grade resonance artificers could be counted on one’s fingers.
What about eighth-grade artificers?
The dean of the Resonance Artificers Hall was the only one who could make such things. One could only imagine the price each one would fetch. They might not even be for sale.
Perhaps only a small group of Duke experts could afford such rarities. And for something of such quality, they were probably willing to hand over a sizable fortune. At such a high level, resonance artificers were on par with alchemists.
This was also why Li Luo had chosen the path of a resonance artificer after he acquired his resonances. At least he could make his own spirit liquids and purifying lights in the future. He would not be at the mercy of others.
The queenly Ling Zhaoying walked on to the stage and surveyed the crowd. She started to speak in her rich, throaty voice.
“Welcome. We are all familiar with each other, and we know why we are here. I will not repeat the same, tired old phrases. On behalf of the Resonance Artificers Hall of the Astral Sage College, I welcome all of you eminent guests. I hope that our graduating students find good homes with you.
“As for the rules of the Artificers’ Fair, everyone has already been informed beforehand. Without further ado, let us begin.”
She was concise to the point of being almost brusque. Before the crowd had properly settled in to listen, her opening was already over.
“This Ling Zhaoying’s a real character.” Li Luo chuckled.
“Well, she’s an eighth-grade resonance artificer. Her status in the Astral Sage College is rather special. I heard that the principal went to great lengths to invite her to the school,” Jiang Qing’e said.
Li Luo nodded. That made sense. An eighth-grade resonance artificer was a walking miracle. No matter where they went, they would be hotly fought over. Even Dukes were not as valuable.
A Resonance Artificers Hall mentor walked out. “The first round of the fair is the third-grade round,” he declared in a booming voice.
“There are six villas participating.
“Bigswamp Villa. Artificer: Vice President Hanzhi, fifth-grade resonance artificer.
“Ultraviolet Villa. Artificer: Vice President Huangfu Xu, fifth-grade resonance artificer.
“Arctic Blizzard Villa. Artificer: Vice President Bing Ling, fifth-grade resonance artificer.
“Inkwater Villa. Artificer: Vice President Mo Tai, fifth-grade resonance artificer.
“…”
At the last name, the mentor’s booming, confident voice faltered. “Suncreek Villa… Artificer: President Li Luo. Ah… third-grade resonance artificer.”
The crowd processed this with confusion. Surely he had read it wrongly? Or they had heard it wrongly?
Out of the six villas, the other five were elite villas, their reputation well-known. And then suddenly the Suncreek Villa…
They only knew that it was affiliated with House Luolan, but they were nobodies in the rankings of the Xia Kingdom. Even House Luolan itself was more well-known.
Most importantly, the other villas had all sent forth fifth-grade resonance artificers to refine a third-grade spirit liquid, because that would allow them to maximize the potential of their formulas and demonstrate their best.
Not the Suncreek Villa, which was sending a mere third-grade resonance artificer… Li Luo’s name was recently spoken of with some modest approval within the school grapevine.
But still…
How could he hope to compete?
The crowd was strangely silent as they pondered this bizarre twist.
Hanzhi stood up first, his signature false-smile firmly fixed on his face.
“Give us your best, Vice President Hanzhi,” Duze Beixuan said with a smirk. “The better you acquit yourself, the worse off Li Luo will be.”
Hanzhi smirked back. “Don’t worry, Young Lord. The Bigswamp Villa has nothing to fear from the Suncreek Villa.”
Duze Honglian was a little more objective. “The Bigswamp Villa has never once considered the Suncreek Villa our rival. They are far from where we are. We have bigger fish to consider. Vice President Hanzhi, you will do your best in the third-grade round so that the Bigswamp Villa can be the best out of all the competitors, not relative to just one underdog.”
Hanzhi nodded solemnly.
“You are right, Young Mistress. My perspective was too limited.”
At the same time, on the stage where the leaders of the Resonance Artificers Hall were seated.
Dean Ling Zhaoying turned to the woman by her side. “This Li Luo is your student, is he not, Chi Chan?”
Li Luo’s mentor nodded. “The kid asked me to pull strings to get him in, so I let him.”
“He’s only a third-grade resonance artificer, and he’s here to create a third-grade spirit liquid? Does this boy think he’s Jiang Qing’e?” Ling Zhaoying remarked with a sunny smile.
“Is that resentment I hear?” Chi Chan noted mildly.
“What a waste, that girl. A ninth-grade light resonance! Even I haven’t reached that level, not after a whole lifetime!” Ling Zhaoying tutted.
“Watching that potential just sit there is killing me!” She slapped her chair for emphasis, and that drew some startled looks.
“To each their own. If she does not fancy the path of a resonance artificer, would you force her onto it?”
Ling Zhaoying shook her head. It was a topic that she had visited and revisited many times over the last few years. She turned her attention to the silver-haired youth instead.
“Well, let’s see what this House Luolan kid has up his sleeve, since he dares to go up against fifth-grade resonance artificers.
“If he’s here to make a farce out of the Resonance Artificers Hall’s meet, then the Suncreek Villa will be banned from my hall for life.”
Mentor Chi Chan shook her head. She knew that Ling Zhaoying had always resented Jiang Qing’e’s choice, and it lent a sour cast to her words. She didn’t really mean that threat, but it was still true that the Suncreek Villa would be thoroughly disgraced if Li Luo did not pull off a miracle today.
And so…
She looked back at her cheeky, little protégé.
Was this kid really going to deliver?