Chapter 43
When Li Luo was left with his last three bottles of fifth-grade spirit liquids and purifying lights, his waterlight resonance finally evolved, reaching the sixth grade.
In his bedroom, Li Luo sprawled on the carpet, a wild look of triumph on his face.
Less than a month before, Li Luo had been written off with his blank palaces, his future bleak. And now, his unique waterlight resonance had reached the sixth grade.
Resonances had nine grades, and a sixth-grade resonance was above average, no matter how you looked at it.
One more upgrade and he would be well and truly in the high-quality resonance tier.
Besides, the waterlight resonance's unique nature meant that its sixth-grade power was comparable to that of some seventh-grade resonances. Therefore, just in terms of resonant power, Li Luo had already caught up to many of his excellent peers.
As far as he knew, only Lu Qing'er and Song Yunfeng had seventh-grade resonances in the whole of Southwind Academy. And even within their generation in the Tianshu Province, the number of seventh-grade resonance users could be counted on one hand.
Even with a ninth-grade resonance monster like Jiang Qing'e eclipsing his achievement, Li Luo knew that a seventh-grade one still had its own noteworthy shine.
Ninth-grade resonances were extremely rare. Why else would the Astral Sage College open a special recruitment for Jiang Qing'e?
The Astral Sage College's requirements were very strict. They had seen more geniuses than carp in the Yangtze River, so even an ordinary genius would not move them to open their doors so readily.
Li Luo raised his palm. A blue resonant power condensed on his fingertip. The resonant power was pure, and the refreshing sound of waves came floating forth.
He could feel that his resonant power had become more solid and pure after advancing his waterlight resonance.
He was not far from the Eighth Seal now.
The blue resonant power finally coalesced into a ball of water about the size of a fist. He flicked his finger, and the waterball shot forth. It smashed into the wall with startling ferocity and created an explosive flash of light, dazzling an unprepared Li Luo momentarily.
He chuckled. This resonance art was not at all unusual. It was a very common mid-tier art. When hit, the water resonance power would enter the target's body and then their speed would take a hit. However, this move lacked offensive power, and did not deal much damage.
Therefore, Li Luo had fortified and improved this mid-tier resonance art. He had infused light resonance within it. The resulting water bullet was not only faster, but could also release a blinding light to distract his opponent.
Therefore, he renamed this improved Water Bullet Art to Waterlight Bullet.
In order to prepare for the College Final Examinations, Li Luo had made all kinds of efforts, and refining the Waterlight Bullet was one of them.
Li Luo turned around, and the last three fifth-grade spirit liquids caught his eye. He sighed deeply.
In less than a month, his waterlight resonance had jumped two grades. This was an astonishing speed indeed, but Li Luo knew that the blistering pace was about to grind to a halt.
Unlike the fifth-grade ones, he could not buy sixth-grade spirit liquids and purifying lights by the hundreds.
Considering the price, a fifth-grade spirit liquid cost about 5,000 gold, whereas a sixth-grade spirit liquid might reach 30,000 gold…
Besides, going from the sixth grade to the seventh grade was a milestone leap. It was the cross from a middle-grade resonance to a high-grade one. Therefore, the amount of spirit liquids and purifying lights needed was incredible.
If he assumed that he needed 200 spirit liquids and purifying lights, that totaled to six million gold, which was roughly a year's income for the whole of House Luolan.
And given that House Luolan was rife with problems both internal and external, it was impossible to expect six million gold to be pulled out to support him.
Besides the financial limit, there was also the question of supply. As far as Li Luo knew, perhaps only ten sixth-grade spirit liquids and purifying lights would appear on the market in the Tianshu Province each month. Therefore, he felt that it was simply impossible to bring his resonance to the seventh grade here.
Unless he went to the capital of the Xia Kingdom.
Looking further ahead, if he wanted to bring his acquired resonance to the ninth grade, the capital required would be staggering. Even all of House Luolan's resources would be insignificant in comparison.
It seemed like this acquired resonance was going to be quite troublesome indeed.
Of course, his blank palaces meant that he could also absorb lower grade spirit liquids and purifying lights, although they would be less effective. However, now that he had a sixth-grade one, imbibing the fifth-grade liquids would be several times less effective compared to sixth-grade spirit liquids and purifying lights. Therefore, doing so was not going to save him any money in the grand scheme of things, but they could be an emergency replacement.
Li Luo's heart was heavy as he thought through this, but luckily, that was not the only special card he had up his sleeve. When he entered the Resonant Master Stage, he would be able to fill his second resonant palace with a second resonance.
Therefore, even if he was crippled by a lack of funds, the second resonance might well help him move forward nonetheless.
Besides, only when he filled his second resonant palace would Li Luo's unique advantage truly shine through.
“My single sixth or seventh-grade waterlight resonance might lose to your ninth-grade resonance, but what if I had two resonances? Three?
“If I can't beat you with one, I'll just increase the numbers!”
This advantage would probably serve him well against any opponent under the Duke Stage, unless he met some other super genius who had managed to realize their second resonant palace before reaching the Duke Stage. Still, those were probably as rare as his blank palaces, right?
Besides, even if he did meet them, it was still going to be three resonances against two.
His mind in a muddle, Li Luo gave a loud, retching cough to try and quash the scattered thoughts. At the same time, he pulled out a piece of blue jade. On it was written a new energy cultivation art, which Li Luo had personally chosen for himself.
The Black Waterfall Breathing Technique was a high-grade cultivation art, and required the user to have a sixth-grade resonance.
It was more refined than the Azureflood Meditation Diagram that Li Luo had cultivated previously. Besides, with his improved water resonance power, it would allow his resonant power to surge forth even more explosively than when he used the Azureflood Meditation Diagram. This was exactly what Li Luo was looking for.
Li Luo carefully read the Black Waterfall Breathing Technique. When he felt the first glimmers of understanding, he began cultivating it.
For the next two days, Li Luo devoted most of his energy to the cultivation of the Black Waterfall Breathing Technique. The day before the holidays ended, Cai Wei sent someone to inform him that the resonant artifact he had asked them to help forge was finished.