The *Blood Coagulation Claw* and *Enchanting Heart and Soul Stealing Technique* were both to be fused with the *Great Universal Hand* to bring that Cultivation Skill to the Peak Realm as quickly as possible.
The *Dragon Scale Iron Armor* would be fused with his *Tribulation-Indestructible Body* to make himself even tougher.
Practicing three more Cultivation Skills was the absolute limit of Zou Feng’s time management. After all, he still had to practice his other skills from time to time, even if their progress was incredibly slow.
As the General Leader, Zou Feng was basically a hands-off manager.
He only emerged to make decisions on exceptionally important matters; the rest of his time was spent holed up, training relentlessly.
He would only occasionally dive into the Jiayue River at dusk, coordinating with the Poisonous Insect Xiaolv to catch Spirit Fish.
It had to be said that Xiaolv was now quite familiar with the nearby Jiayue River.
This included the waters over six miles away, a spot frequented by the former Black Flood Dragon Gang’s Fishing Team, which had also become Xiaolv’s hunting grounds.
After diving into the river with Xiaolv twice, Zou Feng discovered the Gu Insect was truly a creature of land, air, and water.
It could fly and run, and its swimming speed was no slower than any Spirit Fish Zou Feng had ever seen.
Most importantly, the creature seemed to have a special sense for locating Spirit Fish, always leading Zou Feng back with a full catch.
Not to mention, Xiaolv could also act as bait, luring out Spirit Fish that were hidden too deep to be caught by diving.
With Xiaolv around, it was hard to come back empty-handed.
However, only a Seventh Grade Martial Artist could even attempt to follow Xiaolv to the riverbed to catch fish.
But an ordinary Seventh Grade expert couldn’t hold their breath underwater for nearly half an hour like Zou Feng could.
Thankfully, Zou Feng’s *Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Force* had reached the level of Refined Skill; otherwise, his Inner Qi wouldn’t have been enough to last so long.
Besides, just holding one’s breath was useless. One had to use Inner Qi to move swiftly through the river; otherwise, you wouldn’t be fishing, you’d be chumming the waters with yourself.
The reason they started fishing at dusk was that many Spirit Fish came out to feed at that time.
But when diving in the waters over six miles away, the fishing had to end before midnight.
At that hour, the active creatures were no longer the relatively easy-to-handle Spirit Fish, but what you would call Demon Fish—Demon Beasts.
Zou Feng knew this well. Back when he’d freeloaded Spirit Fish off Bian Yixia, he had never once gotten to try a Demon Fish.
This was also why Bian Yixia had been so eager to join the hunt when Demon Beasts appeared on Qifeng Mountain.
After all, the Demon Beasts in the river were much harder to capture and posed a far greater risk.
No matter how skilled a Martial Artist was in the water, they could never use their full strength. One could only imagine the danger of battling a Demon Beast in its own element.
A Seventh Grade Expert from the old Black Flood Dragon Gang had once insisted on getting in the water to test the mettle of a river Demon Beast. He ended up chumming the waters with his own body.
Even Xiaolv didn’t dare dive into the waters more than six miles out after midnight.
Although Zou Feng wasn’t reckless, he couldn’t help but covet those aquatic Demon Beasts.
One day, seeing it was getting late, Zou Feng was preparing to swim to the surface when he faintly sensed some behemoth approaching from a distance.
Zou Feng was about to tap Xiaolv and tell it to flee with him, but when he turned, he found Xiaolv had already vanished.
’That little guy can sense the location of Spirit Fish, so of course it’s even more sensitive to Demon Fish...’
Thankfully, it was still far away. Zou Feng shot to the surface, ran across the water, and leaped onto a cliff on the bank.
He turned and looked down. Sure enough, a monster over ten meters long—he couldn’t tell what it was—loomed in the water, sometimes visible, sometimes not.
Zou Feng almost thought it was a flood dragon.
But he quickly dismissed the idea. He’d never heard of such an outrageous Demon Beast appearing near Yuan Guang County.
Besides, if a flood dragon really had appeared, the Celestial Essence Sword Sect would have immediately sent people to "vanquish evil." The value of such a creature would surely be far greater than those so-called Immortal Treasures from before.
’So, what I saw must have just been a strange serpent.’
And, drawing on his own poison-based instincts, Zou Feng felt this creature’s venom was likely quite impressive.
’If I get the chance, I’ll definitely try to put it on my dinner table.’
In the past, no matter how much he coveted it, Zou Feng would have had no way to deal with it for the time being.
But now, as the General Leader of the Hongxing Gang, he could mobilize a group of experts and make thorough preparations. It wasn’t entirely out of the question...
But there was no rush. Capturing this strange serpent could be part of his preparations for advancing to the Gang Qi Realm.
For now, the most important thing was to fuse the three new Cultivation Skills he had been practicing.
But he couldn’t completely neglect his primary skill, the *Five Poison Fire Lotus Palm*, just because its progress had become difficult after reaching the Peak Realm.
As for how to improve this skill, Zou Feng had already found some leads through his research over the past few days...
「Seven days after becoming the General Leader of the Hongxing Gang.」
That morning, Zou Feng summoned more than two hundred low-ranking members from the original three gangs.
The two hundred-odd men had gathered early at the dock where the Dragon Gate Boat was moored, nearly all of them filled with a mix of anticipation and unease.
Their anticipation was not without reason. A gathering of this scale most likely meant the General Leader was going to select disciples.
However, many of them had heard stories of the former Gang Leader Deng Guangxin’s ruthlessness toward his disciples. So, the prospect of Zou Feng choosing his own was a source of both hope and trepidation.
Amidst these conflicting emotions, Zou Feng finally appeared on the deck of the Dragon Gate Boat.
"We greet General Zou!" the two hundred-plus men shouted in unison, dropping to one knee.
After the merger of the three gangs, and with Zou Feng’s string of concrete victories...