Chapter 25: Resonance Smith

By the time Li Luo finished going through all those books, five hours had passed. He exhaled deeply, slowly rubbing his sore neck.

Yan Lingqing and Cai Wei had been gaily chatting beside him the entire time. Upon hearing him, they stopped and looked over.

"Not bad. It looks like you are pretty patient." Yan Lingqing indifferently judged him. Despite the tone, it seemed as though she was still quite satisfied with Li Luo's performance.

Patience was crucial for a resonance artificer. They had to spend countless repetitive cycles concocting and refining numerous materials in the process of improving their skills. At the same time, they had to be precise and not make mistakes. Just this fact alone required one to practice for a long period of time. 

Yan Lingqing got up and approached the workstation before signalling to Li Luo to come over.

Atop the workstation were numerous crystal bottles, all filled with various strange and weird materials.

"Refining spirit liquids and purifying lights is, at its most basic level, simply following a formula to its completion. This will allow these numerous materials to combine perfectly by relying on their unique characteristics, and to get rid of impurities. The final result will be these tempering treasures."

Yan Lingqing picked up a crystal bottle that contained a blue flower. The surface of the flower was constantly rippling and diffusing some sort of energy. "This is a Three Leaved Algal Bloom." As she spoke, her slender, jade hand lightly shook the bottle and surprisingly, the flower instantly disintegrated into dust. At the same time, Li Luo was able to see water resonance power emitted from Yan Lingqing, which she then guided directly into the crystal bottle, directly fusing with the remnants of the flower. 

"During the process of refinement, we have to utilize either water or light resonance power to fuse with the materials. This allows us to amplify the unique characteristics of these items. One has to be extremely careful with the strength of the resonance power. Too much and it will ruin the material, too little and the refinement process will also fail." 

Her water resonance power continued to pour into the crystal bottle, and just a brief moment later, one was able to see that the material had gradually fused together to form a dark-blue liquid.

Immediately after, Yan Lingqing proceeded to follow a set of predetermined steps. She quickly blended over ten other materials in a special sequence flawlessly and effortlessly, evidence of her familiarity with the subject. 

Half an hour later, the materials and liquid were mixed together. However, things were not as simple as that as the two items seemed to be repelling each other, even to the point of boiling over and causing an explosion.

"What happens next is the final and also most important step. In order to fuse these two sets of materials together, a certain sort of power is required. This power will ultimately influence the tempering strength of the spirit liquids and purifying lights, and it is the most critical aspect of the refinement process. This power is often referred to as watersource or lightsource. In simpler terms, this is the result of when one condenses one's water resonance power or light resonance power to its utmost." Yan Lingqing then pulled out a rhombus-shaped crystal stone with a crystal jar hanging under it. 

Her palm was tightly grasping this crystal stone while more blue resonant power was surging out and into it. Ripples could be seen below the stone's surface as it vibrated. A moment later, Li Luo was able to see a single dark-blue drop of liquid gradually dripping from the bottom of the stone, falling into the crystal jar. 

"This is a polymerization crystal. Its use is to condense one's resonant power into watersource." Yan Lingqing explained right as she directed the watersource into the crystal bottle in which the materials were boiling over. At this point, a wondrous scene unfolded and the chaotic display of the seemingly incompatible materials repelling each other completely vanished. Then a bright, blue light was emitted from within.

A single spirit liquid had been refined.

Li Luo stared at the liquid, which was radiating blue light, and sighed in praise.

"This is just a single first-grade spirit liquid. Hence, the process is extremely simple and not exceptionally troublesome," Yan Lingqing casually said. She was, after all, a fourth-grade resonance artificer, so such a process could be done on a whim. 

However, Li Luo was extremely cognizant of the fact that despite everything having gone smoothly, as easily as breathing, this was only possible due to the foundation built from countless failures. Even he could understand this as someone with a foundational understanding of resonance artificering.

Li Luo gazed at the spirit liquid and asked directly, "Since watersource and lightsource can determine the final tempering strength of the spirit liquids and purifying lights, what determines the quality of the watersource itself?"

Yan Lingqing indifferently replied, "The quality of the watersource or lightsource is dependent on one's resonance grade. The higher the grade of the resonance, the higher the quality of the watersource or lightsource produced. Hence, an individual with a high-grade water resonance or light resonance will naturally become a better resonance artificer than an average individual. For example, if Jiang Qing'e were to become a resonance artificer, the tempering strength of her spirit liquids and purifying lights would vastly outstrip most individuals. It's simply a pity that she is completely uninterested in this. Even the Resonance Tempering Hall spent a whole year beseeching her to pick up the fundamentals, but to no avail..."

Li Luo nodded. Jiang Qing'e had a rarely-seen ninth-grade light resonance, truly someone favored by the heavens. It truly was unfortunate that she had no interest whatsoever in resonance artificering. 

"What if she were to create some high-grade lightsource for me to utilize? Would it improve the tempering strength of the spirit liquids and purifying lights the Suncreek Villa creates?" 

Yan Lingqing shook her head. "It wouldn’t work even if two people with similar resonances and grades created two lightsources of completely imperceptible but different characteristics. For example, the materials I have been refining for half a day have already fused with my resonant power. If someone else were to utilize their watersource to complete the refinement, it would cause a conflict and the refinement would certainly fail. However, there are specific secret arts in this world that allow one to condense a special sort of watersource or lightsource that can further improve the tempering strength of spirit liquids and purifying lights. These are known as secret art watersources or lightsources. This is the hidden ace of numerous powers, but our Suncreek Villa does not possess it." 

Li Luo looked pensive as he listened. He was born with a blank palace and eventually refined an acquired resonance. Most importantly, the blank attribute of his palace had remained, and it allowed him to utilize spirit liquids and purifying lights without limits. His watersource should also correspondingly possess a portion of this blank attribute. Would it be of use to him as a resonance artificer? 

His waterlight resonance was of the fifth-grade and had the additional attribute of light. The resulting spirit liquid created by him might not be as simple as expected.

Li Luo had confidence that if he were to use his waterlight resonance to refine a spirit liquid and purifying light, the result would not be inferior to one refined by someone with a seventh-grade water or light resonance.

In fact, one would rarely even see a seventh-grade water or light resonance resonance artificer.

Most importantly, there was no rush. He would take his time to experiment once he embarked on his journey to be a resonance artificer.

As Li Luo was still pondering the numerous implications of his resonance, Yan Lingqing wiped her glasses. "If you truly want to become a resonance artificer, come here whenever you're free every day. I will teach you the basics, and when you're able to refine a first-grade spirit liquid or purifying light by yourself, you will officially be a first-grade resonance artificer."

"Then I would sincerely like to thank Elder Sister Lingqing for this." He had achieved his goal today and he couldn't help but smile exuberantly, truly thanking her for her guidance. 

Yan Lingqing coolly waved him off and put on her long robe, dragging Cai Wei out of her workshop.

....

During the next period of time, Li Luo's life became even more fruitful and strict.

During the day, he would learn in Southwind Academy. After which, he would cultivate in the skygold room in the old manor, followed by some resonance art practice. Lastly, he would head to the Suncreek Villa and, under the guidance of Yan Lingqing, learn the arts of a resonance artificer.

Whilst all of this was happening, Cai Wei was purchasing fifth-grade spirit liquids and purifying lights. The moment they reached his hands, he would spend some time tempering his resonance.

Time passed extremely quickly, and Li Luo could feel that he was growing stronger as each day went by.

It wasn't until the day before the preliminary examinations that Li Luo finally reached the Sixth Seal Stage.