Chapter 1227: School of Shan Hai

The earth shook.

Resounding explosions.

The jittering shriek of an insect.

Trembling.

Intense quaking.

Even the secret room with all of its magical reinforcements could not completely isolate these commotions.

——-or perhaps they were never meant to do so in the first place.

Gu Qing Shan leaned back on the chair and glanced over everyone else.

The other teenagers and young people were completely shrunken, either holding an expression of fearful respect or simply fear, silently listening to the noises from outside.

This would serve as their first lesson, informing them of their world’s situation from a very early stage.

Gu Qing Shan sighed and fell into thought.

I had wanted to go to the Wraith realm, only to end up at the Tomb of Myriad Beasts.

I had thought that the Tomb of Myriad Beasts was no different from the Wraith realm, but a single resonance and connection allowed me to observe an Apocalypse.

——-and an entity being trapped inside that Apocalypse.

Compared to the Wraith realm, this world is hiding an even deeper secret.

Not only that.

Never has a truly powerful primordial wraith appeared from the side of the Wraith realm.

And the Tomb of Myriad Beasts does not have any Samsara divine beasts.

Those who populate both of these places are people, humans.

This by itself is truly strange.

Gu Qing Shan clenched his fist and turned his thoughts.

The situations are getting more and more intense, I still need to become even stronger.

I was in a hurry to deal with the Soul Shrieker up until now, but now that the decisive battle is over, I’ll probably get some time to focus on cultivating.

Star River Saint…

This was the cultivation realm following Sumeru Lord, according to the knowledge bestowed to me by the world spirits, the distance from Sumeru Lord to Star River Saint is a gigantic gap.

To achieve the realm of Star River Saint, the first thing to do is to draw upon the Laws of Heaven and Earth to manifest the Spiritual Heavenly Tome as well as the Virtuous Karmic Tome within my body.

The Spiritual Heavenly Tome requires a cultivator to master the knack of Dao techniques, while the Virtuous Karmic Tome requires a cultivator to accrue enough Merit.

Only by having an expert understanding of Dao as well as accumulating enough Merit, would a cultivator be able to break through and achieve the realm of Star River Saint.

However, the manifestation of both the Spiritual Heavenly Tome and the Virtuous Karmic Tome requires an absolutely safe environment, which isn’t suitable for the current secret room with so many people.

——once this is over, I’ll need to begin cultivating.

While pondering, Gu Qing Shan observed the young people in the secret room.

Suddenly, he saw young master Zhang talking with a girl, after both of them discussed something, young master Zhang started moving towards him.

“Hey, Li San”

Gu Qing Shan sat up and clasped his fist: “Young master”

“Hm”

Young master Zhang sat down next to him and opened his palm.

Understanding it, Gu Qing Shan took out the ‘Eagle of the Moon’ longbow from before, returning it to him.

Young master Zhang took the longbow back, then lowered his voice to ask: “Hey, tell me a bit, what exactly did you see when you resonated with that piece of scale?”

Gu Qing Shan replied: “The Patriarch didn’t allow me to speak about it”

Young master Zhang said: “Everyone always keeps their mouths completely shut, only the official martial artists, bone masters, and archers are able to learn the corresponding truth thanks to their level of strength. It’s been very long since I know someone who knew something that the clan doesn’t, just tell me about it secretly”

“That’s not a really good idea, I don’t think it’s appropriate to go against the Patriarch’s orders” Gu Qing Shan hesitantly replied.

Young master Zhang’s expression turned gloomy.

He turned to the girl from before, then turned back to him and lowered his voice again:

“Li San, even if you enter the School, you’re still only my servant, are you trying to go against an order from your young master?”

Gu Qing Shan paused.

——young master Zhang’s desire to learn this secret is too great.

In fact, young master Zhang had already achieved his resonance and formed a spirit link from long ago, he’s just still not officially inducted into the clan School yet so he’s still cultivating foundational archery.

He shouldn’t be feeling this impatient at all.

Then…

Gu Qing Shan turned to the girl just a bit further behind young master Zhang.

Her appearance was relatively mundane, but she carried the presence of a superior person, most likely someone who had enjoyed a blessed upbringing.

Thanks to young master Zhang’s memories, Gu Qing Shan recalled this girl’s identity.

She was the direct heir to a certain great School from the Western Sea Grotto.

Among the eight grottos of this world, the Eastern Desolate Grotto was the weakest, while the Western Sea Grotto was considerably more powerful, arguably the strongest grotto of them all, so after this girl arrived, she was personally received by the city lord and enjoyed the grand reception from the other clans.

Gu Qing Shan’s heart turned 30% colder.

This young master Zhang was willing to go this far just to help an outsider gather information?

I’ve not only just saved his life but also helped save his reputation.

And also——-

If you have some information that can be used to exchange with me, I wouldn’t mind telling you, but since I know everything you know, why should I tell you?

But since I’m currently acting as his close aide, if I still refuse to inform him like this and cause him to actually snap, there might be issues.

Gu Qing Shan can’t be bothered with trying to convince him, so he turned to the War God UI and equipped his new Title.

——-[Reality’s Most Amorous Man]

“Young master; please follow me” Gu Qing Shan stood up and spoke.

Young master Zhang was surprised.

But seeing how Gu Qing Shan had already begun walking to the girl, he could only follow.

When Gu Qing Shan brought young master Zhang back to the girl, he told the two of them: “This matter is very dangerous, if I inform you, it will draw even more of those insects, that’s why I can’t say a word about it”

“I hope that young master won’t hold it against me”

Title Skill activate!

Young master Zhang and the girl were both surprised.

“That… makes sense” the young master mumbled.

“That’s right, if that truly is the case, then not only can he not talk about it, but after this storm is over, we will need to think of a way to ensure no one will be able to question him about it” the girl said with a stern expression.

However, her gaze suddenly became animated, no longer maintaining the indifferent aloofness from before.

Gu Qing Shan smiled and nodded: “That’s indeed how it is”

The girl pondered a bit, seemingly making some sort of decision, then suddenly said: “You can go first, I have something to tell Li San”

Young master Zhang looked at Gu Qing Shan, then at the girl.

“Don’t worry, not a single thing of what I promised you will be missing” the girl said.

Young master Zhang finally turned around and headed off.

This time, it was Gu Qing Shan’s turn to look at the girl and young master Zhang who was leaving.

——what’s going on here?

Did my dispelling of young master Zhang’s thoughts cause this girl to come up with some other idea instead?

The girl suddenly flicked her hand to create a soundproof barrier and said: “Li San, since you still don’t have a name yet, I’ll call you that for now”

Gu Qing Shan replied: “Very well, then your grace is…”

“I came from the Western Sea Grotto, Zhao Qiong from the School of Shan Hai”

Gu Qing Shan nodded, then waited for the other party to continue.

Zhao Qiong continued: “There are a total of 72 cities within the Eastern Desolate Grotto, and the one we’re currently in is the second weakest among the 72 cities”

“But the entire 72 cities of the Eastern Desolate Grotto together would still not compare to the strength of my School of Shan Hai”

Gu Qing Shan appeared surprised.

Zhao Qiong smiled: “I told you this merely to give you an objective outlook. There many actually many who could resonate and attract the Apocalypse during their spirit linking process, but very few who could continuously attract Apocalypses”

Gu Qing Shan really couldn’t answer this.

But he had realized what was happening.

——this girl actually believes that I can attract the Apocalypse by talking about it.

Although, I had equipped [Reality’s Most Amorous Man] and activated the [That makes sense] Title Skill.

That’s why she truly believed it.

However, she also said that ‘there are very few who could continuously attract Apocalypses’

Very few means there are some who could.

———how could such people actually exist?

Gu Qing Shan slightly shivered.

Seeing how stern his expression had become, Zhao Qiong believed that she had gotten her point across, before continuing: “Li San, you don’t actually know what kind of power you possess, and if you want to turn this power to attract the Apocalypse into something you can use, there aren’t many in the entire Eastern Desolate Grotto that would be able to help you”

“Li San, you need the power of our School of Shan Hai”

“Join us”

Gu Qing Shan appeared hesitant, then said: “But I’m about to join the School of Fei Yu”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Since a very long time ago, many from the School of Fei Yu had attempted to resonate with that piece of scale, yet not a single one of them managed to survive. You are the first to do so, as well as a talent that they cannot possibly nurture”

Zhao Qiong then spoke full of implications: “Trust me, after just a bit of time, that piece of scale will depart from the School of Fei Yu”

“What are you going to do?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

“Buy it, after all, paying is the simplest method” Zhao Qiong casually replied.

Gu Qing Shan silently clicked his tongue.

So, both this person and her background are considerable.

Truthfully, the more developed and powerful a region is, the more convenient it is for me to obtain information and authority.

Otherwise, what good would it do for me to remain here and spend a long time to eventually reach the seat of city lord?

In the Tomb of Myriad Beasts as a whole, a city lord of the Eastern Desolate Grotto can’t even compare to a piece of hair from other regions.

How regretful that I can’t actually attract an Apocalypse.

Wait.

It’s not that I can’t if I truly wanted to…

Gu Qing Shan’s gaze fell onto the War God UI, staring at a certain floating Title.

—–[Starflame War God]

Pondering for a bit, Gu Qing Shan was a bit more confident.

He hesitantly said: “But the clan has nurtured me for so many years——–”

Zhao Qiong cut him off: “The effort and resources they’ve spent on you is nothing, I can pay them a thousand times that amount for them to beg me to take you away”

Gu Qing Shan froze.

For some reason, he thought of Laura.

Someone who could do such a thing——

Could it be a shining golden pair of Beast King legs right in front of me?

Zhao Qiong observed his gaze and continued: “Before you make your decision, I can answer any two questions from you”

She smiled: “After all, in this underground world of ours, secrets are the most valuable thing, and young men at your age all crave to know the truth of the world”

“And so, you may ask anything, anything related to this world, I can answer whatever it is you want to know—— consider it my meeting gift to you”

Gu Qing Shan stopped hesitating.

——he was confident that he hadn’t displayed his true intentions, or any sort of desire to know more information.

This girl called Zhao Qiong had simply made this decision based on her intuition during their conversation.

What an impressive character.

However, Gu Qing Shan welcomed this.

The Wraith realm had fused around 70% of the total number of the original Wraith realm fragments.

How many has the Tomb of Myriad Beasts fused?

Gu Qing Shan turned his thoughts away.

No, this problem has already touched upon the secret of world fusion, I can’t ask that.

Li San is a mere close aide of a bumpkin young master; how would he know to ask such a thing?

One breath, two breaths, Gu Qing Shan quickly thought of something else.

This was also important and was suitable for Li San to ask at the same time.

Gu Qing Shan appeared curious, then asked: “Senior Zhao, everyone says that the surface is too dangerous, so we have consistently remained underground, only at night could we go outside—— I want to know, what exactly is on the surface?”

Zhao Qiong appeared surprised but quickly understood.

Indeed, this was something that everyone in the Tomb of Myriad Beasts must face.

This Li San was only curious, but he doesn’t know just how crucial a question he just asked.

After hesitating a bit, Zhao Qiong still answered: “The reason why we can’t come to the surface is because the surface of this world is a tomb”