Li Luo's ridiculous question made even the veterans like Yu Hongxi do a double take.
Lu Qing'er snorted with laughter.
"I suggest you give up on that idea. Not even ordinary members of the Golden Dragon Bank can enjoy those privileges. Only myself and Vice President Ning Que are eligible, as are our sons and daughters."
Li Luo let his regret show.
As for the awesome Golden Dragon Mountain, he was itching with curiosity. Of course he would welcome the chance to check it out.
But from what Yu Hongxi had just said, apparently only the highest echelon of the Golden Dragon Bank could qualify.
If that weren't the case he wouldn't have minded taking a position at the Golden Dragon Bank nominally. Well, he'd overthought things.
"As for the four helpers, the Golden Dragon Bank would like to express our gratitude to you. Regardless of whether you come back with the Golden Dragon Mountain writs, we have prepared this for you."
Yu Hongxi raised her hand, and four girls walked forward bearing jade platters. On them were four small, silver chests.
The girls opened the chests, and the four boys saw a silver sphere in each one. They looked like enormous pearls, although they were covered in wavy lines of power and glowed faintly.
Li Luo recognized them. "A pocket sphere?"
Like their names implied, pocket spheres were spherical tools that opened up a space within that could be used to store things.
Pocket spheres were incredibly expensive, rated at millions of skygold. Plus, they were not even readily available on the market, or even at the Golden Dragon Bank.
House Luolan had a few in the past, but his parents had taken them all away with them. Neither he nor Jiang Qing'e had any pocket spheres.
Again, this was partly because of how rare they were. Any on the market were snatched up almost immediately. Secondly, House Luolan was too poor for such luxury expenditures.
Of course, pocket spheres were incredibly handy, even though they did not directly increase one's fighting power.
Yu Hongxi handing out four of them was extremely generous. Li Luo was once again struck by how good it was to be rich, to be handing out door gifts with seven-digit prices.
They hadn't even done anything yet.
The other three were just as awed. It was testament to Yu Hongxi's ability to read them, as well as her power, to choose a gift that could excite people even of their caliber.
As the staff offered them forward with respectful congratulations, the four eagerly reached out to take their gifts.
These pocket spheres were even threaded with custom gold bracelets that fit snugly around their wrists.
Li Luo immediately put his on and used his resonant power to activate it.
The space within was not that vast. One could probably fit two tables inside. It was an ordinary pocket sphere. The highest grade ones could probably fit the entire Golden Dragon Bank inside if one wished to. And someone who could afford something that expensive might just wish to.
"Our thanks to President Yu," all four chorused together with deep satisfaction.
Yu Hongxi waved it away with a smile. "One more thing. We need to decide the squads."
"Let's leave it to Qing'er and Ning Zhao to choose."
"Choosing your teammates is very important," she said in a purposely casual tone while staring hard at her daughter. "Stronger teammates give you a better chance of getting the Golden Dragon Mountain writ. Your choice should be based on that alone."
Lu Qing'er stared straight ahead and blinked.
"Keke, let Qing'er choose, then," Vice President Ning Que said with a fawningly generous smile.
Lu Qing'er stepped forward.
Yu Hongxi examined her tea cup with deep interest, posing as if she did not care.
Zhu Xuan puffed up his chest and put on his best smile. Warm. Friendly. Confident. “The writ will be yours, girl. Just choose me.”
Lin Suo stood there with his usual, faint smile.
Li Luo stood there with his usual smile.
Qin Zhulu took a huge step backwards.
"I think the most important thing for a squad is synergy. I choose Li Luo and Qin Zhulu," Lu Qing'er said after only a short moment's consideration. Her voice rang out loud and clear.
Zhu Xuan's smile froze.
Li Luo was sort of expecting this. Qin Zhulu trembled in fear.
Bang.
Yu Hongxi set her teacup down on the table with just a little more force than required. "Synergy is important, but so is raw power. Will you not reconsider?"
Lu Qing'er shook her head.
Yu Hongxi clenched and unclenched her fist, then breathed out heavily. She had expected Lu Qing'er to make such a choice, but it was still vexing to hear it confirmed.
Her daughter was too free with her heart!
Better options had been prepared for her, and still she was choosing Li Luo!
This was for the Golden Dragon Mountain writ! It concerned her future!
Still, she was outwardly composed. Since Lu Qing'er had made such a choice, she could not oppose it outwardly. If her daughter's rebelliousness was stoked, there would be a huge fuss.
"Alright, since that is your choice, take responsibility for the outcome, whatever it may be," she said coolly.
"Keke, is this alright President? It seems like you've left Ning Zhao a better deal." Vice President Ning Que laughed.
Out of the four, Zhu Xuan was the strongest, a Second Changing of the Evolving Resonance Tier. Lin Suo was a First Changing. In comparison, Li Luo and Qin Zhulu were both still at the Pattern Genesis Tier.
With the first two as teammates, Ning Zhao seemed to stand a better chance of getting a Golden Dragon Mountain writ.
"The teams have been decided," Yu Hongxi said neutrally. "Vice President Ning Que will take Zhu Xuan and Lin Suo to the adjourning room to brief them more."
Ning Que nodded cheerfully. He knew that Yu Hongxi was angry right now, and it was best not to push her too far. Standing up, he led Ning Zhao and a frustrated Zhu Xuan and Lin Suo away.
Qin Zhulu's lips almost moved. He wanted to tell Zhu Xuan that he would have traded places with him any time.
But before he said anything, he could feel a sharp, piercing look from Lu Qing'er warning him to do nothing of the sort.
It was a very uncomfortable look. Plus, he knew that if he did it, Lu Qing'er would definitely take revenge on him.
The two were in the same squad in school, and they had been working together for a while now. He was all too familiar with her methods. Based on his experience, it was best for him to keep his mouth shut.
It was best not to anger the women.