Professional trading platforms rarely offer instant delivery.
The seller of the Gargoyle Summoning skill book wasn't in Lincheng, and needed to ship the goods from another location, which was too late now.
He then bought some consumables he might need while out of town, waiting for them to arrive tomorrow along with the summoning book.
Then, Gu Chen clicked on a short video platform.
He'd thought that completing the Hell-level dungeon would cause quite a stir in Lincheng, and that information about him would be widely shared on short videos.
However, after scrolling through several videos, he found no information about him at all, not even the first clear of the Hell-level dungeon.
He was puzzled. Not only the short video platform, but also major media platforms seemed to have gone silent.
What was going on?
Was the internet connection disconnected?
Gu Chen was puzzled, but didn't pay much attention.
He had already received the reward for completing the Hell-level dungeon, and his SSS-level rating was in his record, so the reputation didn't matter much.
All he had to do now was wait for the school to confirm his admission.
The next day ,
around noon, Gu Chen received a package from the professional trading platform.
He took out the summoning book, confirmed it was correct, and then proceeded to learn.
[You have successfully signed a contract with the Gargoyle.]
[Summoned Beast: Gargoyle]
[Qualifications: Excellent]
[Level: 10]
[HP: 6220]
[Attributes: Strength 85, Agility 90, Constitution 94, Spirit 95]
[Talent: Stone Form [Excellent]]
[Skill: Petrification LV.1 [Excellent]]
Next, Gu Chen merged both of the first-generation dark bloodlines into the Gargoyle.
[Dark Bloodline: First Generation Fusion Successful]
[Summoned Beast Advancement]
[Gargoyle [Excellent] → Undead Golem [Epic]]
[Summoned Beast Star Upgraded Successfully]
[Undead Golem [Epic] → Undead Golem [Epic★]]
[Level: LV.10]
[HP: 13500]
[Attributes: STR 145, AGI 140, CON 157, SP 158]
[Talent: Irresistible [Epic]]
[Skill I: Extreme Exhaustion LV.10 [Epic]]
[Skill II: Black Death Plague LV.10 [Epic]]
[Skill III: Forbidden Land of the End LV.10 [Epic]]
The Gargoyle advances to the epic Undead Golem, initially with one epic talent and two epic skills.
The third skill is acquired after the star upgrade.
[Unstoppable: The Corpse Golem is immune to all negative effects, and its skills cannot be immune to them.]
[Exhausted: Inflicts exhaustion on nearby targets, reducing all stats by 25% and increasing damage taken by 50%].
[Black Plague: Infects a target with a plague, reducing healing received by 80% and causing them to continuously lose health.]
[Forbidden Zone of the Last Law: The Corpse Golem creates a forbidden zone centered on itself, increasing the cost of all targets within it by 10x.]
The sheer number of debuffing skills made Gu Chen exult.
The third skill, Forbidden Zone of the Last Law, in particular, could increase the enemy's cost tenfold. It was incredibly powerful.
Imagine an enemy mage using up most of their energy just by casting a skill.
Or a warrior being exhausted after a single attack.
Even some powerful skills couldn't be cast at all due to the 10x cost, leaving the opponent helpless and staring blankly.
That was truly impressive.
After looking through the various skills and talents again, Gu Chen closed the summoned beast panel with satisfaction, and was full of confidence in the upcoming journey into the wilderness.
At this moment, the phone rang, and he picked it up and saw that it was his homeroom teacher Jiang Songhua calling.
Gu Chen's eyes suddenly lit up. Since it was Jiang Songhua calling, it must be related to the matter of being recommended for admission to the Beijing Academy.
After all, he had already obtained an SSS-level rating in the Hell-level dungeon, and there was only one recommendation for admission in Lincheng No. 1 Middle School, so it would definitely fall on him.
However, as soon as the call was connected, Jiang Songhua's cursing voice came from the receiver.
"Gu Chen, your recommendation for admission has been held back. It was those idiots sitting in the offices of the City Hall who did this."
"Let me ask you, what are your thoughts next?"
This aggressive attitude made Gu Chen's expression freeze, and it made him laugh.
It was his recommendation for admission that was cancelled, so why did it seem like Jiang Songhua was the victim?
Oh, by the way, if Gu Chen could be recommended for admission to Shangjing Academy, Jiang Songhua, as the homeroom teacher, would see a huge boost in status, position, and prestige.
So, this homeroom teacher truly was a victim.
Gu Chen then asked, "Teacher Jiang, don't be angry. Why is the City Hall blocking my recommendation?"
Jiang Songhua lashed out, "They think summoners don't have much growth potential and aren't worth focusing on! Bastards! They're a bunch of self-righteous idiots! They have no idea how difficult Hell-level dungeons are!"
Lack of potential, not worth focusing on?
This reason...sounds a bit far-fetched.
Gu Chen then asked, "Since they rejected me, who got the recommendation? It can't be a bye, right?"
If it was a bye, that would be a bit ridiculous. After all, recommendation quotas are a resource allocated from above. There's only one fixed one each year, and it would be wasted if it wasn't used.
"The admission quota has temporarily fallen into the hands of the Li family."
"Temporarily fallen into the Li family? Are they going to recommend Li Wenhui? What does temporarily mean?"
"Li Wenhui is just a side branch. This quota should be fought for by the heir of the Li family."
"The heir of the Li family? Who?"
"Li Renjie." Jiang Songhua took a deep breath on the other end of the phone and said slowly: "He was sent to Gubei City since he was a child to receive the best resources in the northern region. He changed his job to a rare professional spiritualist, which makes him a genius."
"But Gubei City is the center of the northern region after all. It is full of geniuses. With Li Renjie's strength, he can't squeeze into the recommendation list at all, so the Li family wants to get a recommendation quota in Lincheng."
Gu Chen's eyes showed a bit of disdain. He turned out to be a beggar.
Being bullied in Gubei City and having no food to eat, he ran to a small place like Lincheng to beg for food? The key is that he got the food from him.
Gu Chen remembered the name and asked, "Teacher Jiang, you said just now that the admission quota temporarily fell into the hands of the Li family?"
"Well, that's what I heard from the principal. Don't spread it around."
"If Li Renjie can get an SSS-level rating for the Hell-level dungeon before the school's assessment, the spot will go to him. Otherwise, there's a good chance it'll go to you." "
Still a good chance?"
Gu Chen sneered. He didn't like that possibility.
It was clearly his, so why was he acting like he was just accepting charity?
"So, Teacher Jiang, are you calling to tell me that my admission quota has been blocked?"
"No, I'm telling you that Li Renjie might come to you for a partnership, offering you some benefits to help him clear the Hell-level dungeon." "
Got it. I definitely won't agree to that."
"No, you don't know. You're just a commoner. Why are you going toe-to-toe with the nobles? Have you ever defeated the Li family?"
"You have to agree to it!" Jiang Songhua sighed. "I know you're feeling aggrieved, but the situation is stronger than you are right now. If Li Renjie comes to you, ask for more benefits."
"You know, the Li family is the largest family in Lincheng, a real tycoon. You must take this opportunity to give Li Renjie a good beating." "
Kill Li Renjie? "
Yeah, got it.
Gu Chen nodded, keeping his mentor's advice in mind.
Just then, there was a noise at the door.
Then, the dormitory door opened from the outside. It was Li Wenhui.
"Cousin, this is Gu Chen's dormitory."
Li Wenhui said, stepping aside.
A handsome young man in a robe appeared at the door.
The young man had an arrogant look, and a sense of superiority that looked down on everything emanated from his body.
He stepped over the threshold and looked at everything in the dormitory with a condescending attitude, and finally his eyes fell on Gu Chen.
"I am Li Renjie, you should have heard of my name?"