Gu Qing Shan watched the faint runes on his arms, a bit unsure about what to do.
Although he had gathered some information about this world from young master Zhang's memories, that limited knowledge didn't mention this situation.
Before him, no one in the clan had ever successfully linked their spirit to the piece of scale.
Then, what should I do now?
Gu Qing Shan asked the void of space: "War God UI, how should I use the runes on my arm?"
The War God UI replied: [Please seek help from professionals]
After that answer, 500 Soul Points were deducted.
Gu Qing Shan didn't care about the Soul Points and fell into thought.
--------perhaps the War God UI is right, I need to look for experts from the School of Shan Hai in order to find out what I want.
Those people are knowledgeable, they should understand the situation regarding various Spirit Links much better compared to young master Zhang.
Knowledgeable…
Gu Qing Shan paused as he recalled a certain entity.
--------that fellow who was affixed with the [War God Intelligence] function.
He took out the colorful rooster and lightly pulled on its comb.
"Hyah, so it was you again, youngster"
The colorful rooster came to life and yawned.
"That's right, you know many things, so I specifically came to ask you" Gu Qing Shan formally said.
"Understandable, understandable, what would you like to know this time?" the colorful rooster asked.
Gu Qing Shan showed it the natural runes on his arms.
The colorful rooster appeared surprised: "Huh, isn't this the Spirit Linking ritual? Your ritual was already completed; how about this, try and throw a punch"
Gu Qing Shan stood up and threw a punch at the void of space.
The runes started flickering as if it recognized Gu Qing Shan's punch.
"That's right, exactly like that"
The colorful rooster said, then took out a mechanical counting machine from somewhere:
"Youngster, the power you obtained from spirit linking is contained within those runes"
"Continue throwing punches at the air until this machine reaches the count of 100"
"What would that do?" Gu Qing Shan asked.
"Stop yammering, a youngster who doesn't understand a single thing like you just need to follow the instructions accordingly" the colorful rooster blew raspberries at him.
Gu Qing Shan could only follow.
-----that's true, it's trying to help me, even if it sounds a bit angry about it.
While he was consoling himself, the colorful rooster spoke again:
"Remember to transfer me 500,000 Soul Points when you're done"
500,000!
Gu Qing Shan didn't keep silent any longer and said: "It only took 100,000 before, why did the price go up to 500,000 this time?"
The colorful rooster lazily replied: "This is normal, since you just got rich, my service fees would naturally increase as well"
"Not to mention, a new upstart like yourself should be glad to pay a bit for knowledge and intelligence"
Gu Qing Shan paused slightly.
With all spices prepared, the way to make red roast chicken is… first dice up the chicken meat, wash it in clean water before drying with a piece of cloth, flash fry in oil until slightly brown at high temperature, then lower the heat to braise for a few dozen minutes.
As for crispy fried chicken, I need to dry brine it before drying it, then deep fry in oil to make the entire chicken crispy on the outside while soft and juicy on the inside.
Gu Qing Shan's gaze scanned the colorful chicken from top to bottom a few times, coming up with several dishes in a few moments.
"Youngs------ my man, what kind of gaze is that?" while being stared at by Gu Qing Shan, the colorful rooster slowly shrunk.
"It's nothing, you're just thinking too much"
Gu Qing Shan took a stance and began to shadowbox.
Right now, his surroundings were empty, so he wasn't afraid of being called crazy and kept striking the void of space with his full strength.
He performed an entire set of shadow boxing technique from the martial scripture of a remnant world spirit.
Having been practicing Lin's martial scripture and the skills from the remnant world spirits, Gu Qing Shan's shadowboxing was completely on-point.
While watching him, the colorful rooster began to dance while singing:
"Now I knew you weren't a simple person"
"Calling yourself a sword cultivator, why are you so good at fist techniques?"
"Because you------"
"Strike [Order] with your fist, kick [Chaos] with your leg, having released your soul since long ago, your skills no longer restrained by any limits. Among countless stars you shine the brightest; singing, dancing, fighting, an expert in all, the most amorous of the 900 million World Layers, oh, so amorous"
The number on the counter quickly reached 100.
Ding!
It let out a chime.
"Done!" the chicken shouted.
Gu Qing Shan: "…"
This chicken must be crazy.
A line of glowing text appeared on the War God UI:
[Attention, your Azure Dragon Origin Hex has evolved, but your Azure Dragon Shadow Hex had influenced this chicken, so it learnt how to rap]
[Please don't pay it too much attention, it merely has its own dreams of the big stage]
Reading through that, Gu Qing Shan's body had begun to change, so he didn't bother to pursue this matter any further.
A projection of a human-faced snake-bodied entity appeared from Gu Qing Shan's body, circled twice around him, then entered his fists.
Gu Qing Shan felt some pain from both of his fists.
This pain emerged without any warning and left without a sign. Before Gu Qing Shan even realized what happened, it was already gone.
Gu Qing Shan looked down at his fists only to find that the runes from before had completely vanished, leaving nothing behind.
Lines of glowing text continued to appear on the War God UI:
[You've forever lost the Divine Skill: Ethereal Mountain Break, using that to activate the inherited power within your fists]
[You've obtained the first type of Spirit Linked fist technique: Inch Desolation]
[Inch Desolation: annihilating fist, capable of destroying all of an opponent's defensive means]
[This strike is infallible]
[Prerequisite: Your first strike must hit an opponent for you to activate this Spirit Linked first technique]
[Please continue trying your best]
Gu Qing Shan quickly skimmed through.
One strike to destroy all defensive techniques?
That's a considerably valuable fist technique, but it has a prerequisite that you need to first score one hit.
Gu Qing Shan paused.
He recalled another fist technique he knew.
Martial arts, [Skyfall]
[Skyfall: A strike that contains the power of 30 strikes to rock the sky and earth, infallible]
There!
If I want the first strike to always hit, I can just use [Skyfall]!
Gu Qing Shan turned his thoughts.
I have the Azure Dragon Origin Hex - Binding, the Divine Skill [Skyfall], and now the inherited Spirit Linked fist technique, [Inch Desolation].
First, use the Hex to bind the enemy, hit them with the infallible [Skyfall], then [Inch Desolation] to destroy their defenses.
-------if this goes on, wouldn't I become a real fist martial artist?
Suddenly, he noticed something, swiftly putting the statue of the colorful rooster away into his Thought Sea, and looked at the entrance to the secret room.
The Patriarch had brought Zhao Qiong and a group of the clan's people here.
The Patriarch carried a complicated expression on his face, the same as the Elders and the branch family heads behind him.
They were all looking at Gu Qing Shan.
------for such a child to receive the favor of the School of Shan Hai.
This is an opportunity hard to come by for the entire Eastern Desolate Grotto as a whole.
"Li San, I inquire you, are you willing to go to the School of Shan Hai to cultivate?" the Patriarch asked him directly.
"Patriarch sir, my lifelong desire is to work for the clan" Gu Qing Shan said emotionally.
The Patriarch froze.
This child-----
How am I supposed to respond to that?
That I received a sum of wealth enough to reorganize the entire clan, so I sold you?
The Patriarch opened his mouth wide, considered his words, then replied: "That is------- the School of Shan Hai is a good place. Do your best to cultivate there, hopefully, one day, you may return and spend your efforts for the clan"
With this declaration, he skipped over Gu Qing Shan's willingness and directly set the matter in stone.
"Then, I will be studying in another School? Is it a study exchange? Or a servitude contract?" Gu Qing Shan asked him in return.
The so-called study exchange was a rule of the Tomb of Myriad Beasts. All expenditures of any person from a certain School who studies at another School must be paid in full by their original School without fail.
For any School in general------
They couldn't just throw someone out then ignore them without a single thought, because in that case, after that person returned from their studies, that person would be there to destroy them rather than repay them.
Whereas a servitude contract was essentially selling someone as a slave, but since Zhao Qiong was someone who was willing to sacrifice herself to save an unrelated city, she naturally wouldn't give Gu Qing Shan such treatment.
"Li San, what are you saying? Of course, it would be a study exchange"
Sure enough, Zhao Qiong openly confirmed it.
The Elders of the School of Fei Yu and the family branch heads all stayed silent.
That's right.
Li San was someone who managed to form a spirit link with a piece of scale that no one had ever managed to, a pride of the School.
If they just discarded him without giving anything, wouldn't that be them considering him a slave to be thrown away?
If word of this were to spread, what would become of the School's reputation?
The Patriarch took a deep breath, then displayed a smile, telling him: "Yes, of course, it is a study exchange. Don't worry Li San, all of your expenditure will be taken care of by the clan"
Gu Qing Shan appeared regretful.
He lowered his head and spoke with a dejected expression: "In that case, I would have no other choice but to bid farewell to my home to cultivate at another School"