The mentor was supposed to announce the results, but he had gone silent. In the lapse, people were starting to speculate in whispers.
“Must be because the tempering strength’s too low, and the mentor’s trying to save Li Lost some face,” Mei Xuan’er cackled.
Some of the Resonance Artificers Hall students gasped. Surely it couldn’t be that bad, right?
Li Bi’s eyes narrowed in curiosity. What had the mentor seen that had affected him so? She knew this mentor well, both in terms of personality and ability. He was the rather solid type, and there was not much that could shake him.
What was on that needle before him?
An atrociously low number? Or a magically high one?
These were the only two possibilities.
“You don’t think Li Luo’s done something insanely impressive, do you?” she asked Bing Tao.
Bing Tao patted her hair thoughtfully. “I don’t see it happening… Something more impressive than what the five fifth-grade artificers could produce? That seems unreasonable.”
Li Bi nodded. As a fifth-grade artificer herself, she knew that she would crush any puny third-grade artificer that came up against her. Besides… Li Luo wasn’t even on the same starting line as the other resonance artificers.
He was surely using a three-star formula against their four-star formulas!
A poorer runner, and a disadvantaged starting position. This was one race he stood no chance of winning.
But if it wasn’t insanely impressive, was it mournfully bad? Surely not. It wasn’t as if Li Luo had just hawked and spat some saliva into the vial.
While Li Bi’s musings were only half-invested, over at the Suncreek Villa’s side, Yan Lingqing, Cai Wei, Tang Yun, and the others had forgotten how to breathe.
Cai Wei twisted her fan hard enough that the wood creaked in complaint. “What’s that mentor up to? Trying to stoke some suspense?”
“Something must have happened,” Yan Lingqing said with uncertainty.
Tang Yun sighed. It was probably nothing good…
Only Jiang Qing’e remained her usual, serene self, hands composed neatly in her lap as she patiently waited for the result to be revealed.
As agonizing as the wait felt, it was actually not that long. The mentor recovered quickly enough, then he lifted the tempering measurement needle high in the air.
“Suncreek Villa, Li Luo. Tempering strength… 66%!”
When his voice rang through the courtyard, a stunned silence greeted these words.
All eyes were on him, conveying only two types of emotion: disbelief and wild disbelief.
66%?!
Li Luo’s third-grade spirit liquid was at sixty-whopping-six percent?!
Wasn’t that on par with Hanzhi?!
Impossible!
“Impossible!” The cry came from many of the villas who were watching. They had been in the business for years. They knew very well just how ridiculous this was.
Over at the Skypalace Villa, Master Gui Xu was gaping like a goldfish. “But… That’s… Surely… a mistake?”
Leaning back in her chair, the First Princess surveyed Li Luo over the tips of her crossed fingers. Somehow, the result was a surprise, yet also somehow not a surprise.
Li Luo had indeed come prepared.
She did not think that there had been a mistake. As a member of the Astral Sage College, she knew how qualified the mentors of the Resonance Artificers Hall were. It was unthinkable that they would make such elementary mistakes.
She was much less shocked than the others present. No one had expected a miracle from Li Luo, except those who had already seen him work one back in the Umbra Cave.
Still… even the First Princess was awed. This Li Luo—if she hadn’t reached out to him, she wouldn’t know that he was electrically charged with a thousand volts of surprise power. He was like a treasure trove—you could keep digging, and still there would still be more to uncover.
House Luolan might have lost its two house lords, but these two young stewards were slowly but surely shoring up the foundations around their fallen castle. The First Princess felt sure that given enough time, House Luolan would see glorious days again.
And yet it was precisely time that they lacked the most.
She frowned slightly. Half a year. Although her royal uncle currently wielded most of the power in the royal court, she was still the First Princess and also sister by kin to the emperor. She knew the situation that House Luolan was in.
House Luolan had a secret chamber, and it was housing an item that even Dukes drooled over. And yet that chamber sat unguarded by a proper Duke. Only defensive wards stood around it, and that was not enough to deter the covetous ill-wishers.
They circled the house like hungry sharks, and even she was a little afraid of how many there were.
Not even she could say how House Luolan would end up in half a year’s time.
…
“66?! You must be JOKING!” Duze Beixuan had fallen out of his chair, his face as shocked as if someone had just punched him. He kicked the chair aside. “That bastard Li Luo must have cheated! He must have bribed the mentor…”
Duze Honglian was stunned as well, but she quickly recovered. “Silence!” she commanded icily.
What an idiot of a brother. How could he possibly accuse the Resonance Artificers Hall mentor? If the Resonance Artificers Hall took offense, the Bigswamp Villa would never see another artificer walk through their doors.
Duze Beixuan came to his senses. He righted his chair and sank back down into it reluctantly. “Li Luo is just a third-grade artificer with no four-star formula. How can he possibly compete with Hanzhi in tempering skill?!”
Duze Honglian took a deep breath. “I don’t know either,” she said calmly. “But quell your rage. It does us no good.
“I told you, the boy is fey. Be on guard against him at all times.”
Duze Beixuan noted his sister’s words with dismay. Surely there had to be a limit to how much of a monster Li Luo could be.
This wasn’t even logical, damn it!
The crowd broke out into an uproar, disbelief and excitement rippling through their ranks as it built to a vibrating crescendo.
Yu Lang grandly leaped to his feet. He spiked his hair up grandly, then he planted his hands on his hips. “LET IT GO!” he yelled. “GO WILD FOR DADDY! DON’T HOLD BACK YOUR EMOTIONS!”
Literally everyone gave him weird looks.
This guy had lost his mind.
On the stage, Chi Chan smiled behind her veil. “Well?” she asked Ling Zhaoying. “Exceeded your expectations?”
Ling Zhaoying’s beautiful features were creased in a small, defeated smile.
“Interesting.
“Why does House Luolan produce so many monsters?”