The Artificers’ Fair ended as a success.
As a competitor, Li Luo spectated the fourth and fifth-grade competitions, and was blown away by the difference in standard. He was humbled by how far the Suncreek Villa still had to go.
Still, they had shown great potential, and with the eighth-grade secret watersource, they had a solid foundation now.
He believed that they would make it to the top before too long.
When the Artificers’ Fair concluded, each villa left with new recruits. The two biggest winners were the Suncreek Villa and the Skypalace Villa. The latter was a long-time hot favorite, dominating the previous competitions.
The former was a dark horse, outpacing everyone save the champion.
Seeing Yan Lingqing surrounded by a throng of students, Li Luo felt a warm flush of satisfaction.
And then he and Jiang Qing’e watched heads turn as the First Princess made her way over to them.
“Congratulations to the both of you. The Suncreek Villa has made waves here today,” the First Princess said with a small smile, fresh as a spring breeze.
“You flatter us, Your Highness. We were merely lucky, whereas the Skypalace Villa is actually strong,” Jiang Qing’e replied.
“Junior Li Luo, your popularity has been through the roof recently.” The First Princess laughed.
“Eh, I was just a product of the circumstances. If I could live a quiet life as an heir to Dukes, I would be more than happy to stop risking my neck.” He sighed theatrically.
“Heir to Dukes, hmm? Very droll,” she noted. Li Luo had an amusing way of speaking sometimes.
“I hear that the Gilded Palace has already decided on the reward for your heroic acts in the Umbra Cave.”
Li Luo perked up immediately. Obviously, the First Princess had a much more extensive and sensitive information network. He hadn’t heard a thing about it yet.
He was actually quite anxious to know the answer. He was counting on it to help him with his hollow foundation problem. Although he was still some ways away from reaching the General Stage, it was a serious problem best dealt with sooner than later. Who knew what other problems would crop up later?
“Seems like the 100,000-point reward is coming.” The First Princess did not beat around the bush. Li Luo heaved a huge sigh of relief inwardly.
“Many thanks for the information, Your Highness,” Li Luo said gratefully, his happiness spreading across his face.
“The news would have come tomorrow at latest anyway. It wasn’t much.”
The First Princess turned to Jiang Qing’e with a half-smile. “Qing’e, I wanted to borrow Li Luo tomorrow.”
“Is it about His Majesty’s healing?”
The First Princess nodded. “It’s been more than a month since the last time. But this time we cannot go out, so Li Luo would have to go to the palace.”
“Sure,” Jiang Qing’e replied easily. “No problem.”
“Then I’ll take him to the palace tomorrow.”
After a few short exchanges, Li Luo’s schedule for the next day was suddenly settled. It made him feel incredibly ignored, but he held his tongue. Still, who did they think was the acting head of House Luolan, damn it!
The two chatted a bit more, then the First Princess left.
“We should celebrate tonight,” Li Luo said to Jiang Qing’e. “And gather the interested students as well. Get some networking going. Are you coming? I’ve already made preparations.” Jiang Qing’e was usually not interested in such things, but this was an unusual victory that meant much for the Suncreek Villa, so she smiled and nodded.
“Quite confident in yourself, I see. To even have the celebration planned beforehand,” she observed.
Li Luo grinned. Of course he was confident. A four-star formula and an eighth-grade secret watersource? All they had on him was experience, and he even had a waterlight resonance that no one knew about.
As time passed, the throng of students around Yan Lingqing swelled to a ridiculous size.
“That many?” Li Luo exclaimed.
“There’s probably quite a few that aren’t graduating yet in the mix as well,” Jiang Qing’e said, looking closely. “Lingqing’s smart enough to get the recruitment started early. It saves us time next year, and they might be able to help us out with part-time work as well.”
Li Luo was impressed. Lingqing had always been thorough that way. She had spent three years at the Resonance Artificers Hall, so she understood the talent pool well. She was truly the best person to handle recruitment.
“Li Luo, what do you think of my work?” Yan Lingqing strutted over with an army behind her.
Li Luo gave her a big thumbs up, then he smiled at the girl by Yan Lingqing’s side. “Senior Li Bi, I wasn’t bragging now, was I?”
Li Bi reddened slightly. “I was shortsighted,” she said generously. “The President’s skills are incredible.”
She had even called him “President.”
“We’ll be counting on all of you to bring the Suncreek Villa up from now on.” Li Luo welcomed all of them with a smile.
“Today is a blessed day for the Suncreek Villa. If you aren’t busy, please join me for a great celebration feast tonight. We’ll drink until we drop!” Li Luo declared. Then they cheered.
Next, Li Luo went around to invite the MVP Bai Mengmeng, runner-up MVP Lu Qing’er, and the cheerleaders led by Yu Lang.
They were the center of attention here.
Most of the villas were run by middle-aged people, and they had other business to tend to. They did not linger after their business here was concluded. Unlike them, Li Luo was only a student at the Astral Sage College, so he did not need to care about those things.
Duze Beixuan and Duze Honglian watched the lively crowd from a distance, their faces equally sour. It seemed like the Suncreek Villa was now impregnable.
“Damn, we had them on the ropes. How did they make a comeback in just six months?” Duze Beixuan cursed.
“As if you don’t know the answer yourself,” his sister said peevishly.
“I swear, Li Luo’s even more troublesome than Jiang Qing’e,” Duze Beixuan complained.
Duze Honglian was of the same mind. When Jiang Qing’e was at the helm, House Luolan had managed to stay afloat, but barely. It had always been House Duze coming out ahead, making the moves and making steady progress.
Ever since Li Luo came to Xia City, it had been House Luolan with the initiative.
The boy was really a demon.
Hanzhi had come skulking back to them now, and he could feel the prickling looks of the other artificers on him.
“Young Mistress, Young Lord, I have failed the Bigswamp Villa. I was useless. Please allow me to retire,” Hanzhi said bitterly.
He knew that things would be awkward at the Bigswamp Villa if he stayed.
Duze Beixuan swung on him, happy to finally have an outlet to vent on, but Duze Honglian cut him off with a warning hand. “Vice President Hanzhi, leaving immediately after failing is not a wise choice. The struggle between the Bigswamp Villa and the Suncreek Villa is not yet over. If I were you, I would continue to bide my time.”
Hanzhi looked up at her in wonder. “I’ll die for you and yours, Young Mistress!” he vowed with feeling.
She nodded impassively, then turned away.
The loyalty of a proven traitor meant nothing to her, but it did not matter. She did not intend to let Hanzhi go, because he still represented a mark of shame for the Suncreek Villa.
He had value in that aspect. It was better to hold on to him for now.
Although, she still had the same thought as her brother…
“How did you lose that one? Useless bum!”