Zou Feng was about to clean his room when he suddenly felt something.
He immediately checked his panel.
"Available transfer targets: Yang Yanpeng, Yang Ling, Li Li."
’Li Li?’
Zou Feng paused, then quickly realized what was going on.
Although he definitely didn’t know him, this guy named Li Li was clearly the Poison Dao expert who had been trying to poison the Yang Mansion for the past few days.
’As for why he’s only appearing on the list now...’
’Previously, Li Li’s troublemaking was aimed at the entire Yang Family.’
’But after his repeated attempts at poisoning yielded no results, he naturally understood that someone was foiling his plans.’
’So, he set a trap specifically for me—that strange snake and odd insect from just now.’
’And that trap had very nearly gotten me.’
’It’s only natural for him to appear on the list now.’
’Li Li... It’s almost certain that this guy is the help hired by the Blood-handed Butcher.’
’But it doesn’t matter. Now that he’s on the list, it’s only a matter of time before I fleece him for all he’s worth.’
’The best part is, since Li Li is a hundred-percent-guaranteed poison expert, he couldn’t be a more suitable transfer target.’
’He’s definitely the most durable transfer target so far.’
Yang Yanpeng would probably be completely used up by his Refinement soon anyway, so now he didn’t have to worry about finding a temporary replacement.
Moreover, Zou Feng was already fantasizing that after he finished the Refinement of Yang Yanpeng, his Five Poison Skill would probably break through again immediately.
He would reach the "Refined Skill" realm, a level that normally only Entering Grade Martial Artists had a chance of ascending to!
’Of course, by then, actually Entering Grade will just be a side benefit...’
After cleaning the room, Zou Feng didn’t let the remains of the strange insect and the black snake go to waste.
He collected what little fluid he could and threw it into the chamber pot to continue making his Mixed Poison.
As for the bodies, he fed them to Xiaolv.
It was worth mentioning that Xiaolv had been growing quite impressively these past few days after eating a good deal of "Exotic Poison."
Its whole body had become so emerald green it looked like it might drip water.
Moreover, perhaps because it realized Zou Feng could feed it all sorts of good things, it no longer showed any hostility toward him—at least on the surface.
It wouldn’t launch a sudden attack like it had before.
Unfortunately, Zou Feng didn’t really know how to perform Cultivation Gu; what he had bought at the Ghost Market were just some rudimentary guides.
Of course, that meant he had even less of an idea how to raise it into a Gu he could control.
Besides, his personal philosophy was: forging iron requires a strong smith!
’Rather than spending a ton of time and energy on all this, it’s better to just practice my Evil Skill more. Strengthening my own body is the true path to power.’
Therefore, although Zou Feng was feeding Xiaolv and wanted it to become more and more poisonous, his ultimate goal was still to harvest its venom for his own Cultivation.
He might even use Refinement on it in an instant when the time was right.
...
For the next few days, all was calm and peaceful in the Yang Mansion.
No one knew that two Poison Dao masters had already crossed moves from afar a few days prior.
Zou Feng hadn’t planned on "opening any more blind boxes," but then he discovered that his opponent had also given up.
’Looks like this Poison Dao master, Li Li, is more of a coward than I thought. Or maybe he just didn’t have many tricks up his sleeve to begin with?’
’He gave up after losing less than ten of his "Exotic Poisons"...’
Still, calm and peaceful was for the best. It gave him time to continue his frenzied Cultivation and, on the side, fleece Yang Yanpeng until he wished he were dead.
As for his Cultivation of the Five Beasts Pile Skill, he continued to display his "Talent" every day, preparing to legitimately reach Entering Grade.
In the blink of an eye, five days had passed.
In the front courtyard of the Yang Mansion, Zhao Tianhu couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement as he watched Zou Feng, who had practically mastered every fancy variation of the Five Beasts Pile Skill.
’What a promising seedling for the Martial Arts...’
’I was too conservative before when I said the kid was a martial arts talent seen only once every twenty years.’
In fact, Zhao Tianhu had previously planned to discuss with Luo Yong about having Zou Feng become his disciple as well, so that he could teach him his own exclusive Cultivation Skill.
But he had since given up on that idea.
’If I’m really thinking of Zou Feng’s best interests, I’d better not hold him back with my shoddy skills.’
However, though he had dropped the idea of taking him as a disciple, Zhao Tianhu became even more proactive in building a relationship with Zou Feng.
When it came to martial arts, he provided all the support he possibly could.
Zou Feng saw all of this and silently took note.
He held grudges, but he also remembered kindness.
’This Zhao Tianhu is an honest man. If there’s a chance in the future, I wouldn’t mind giving him a hand.’
When the martial arts practice ended, the Household Servants scattered, those with work to do returning to their duties.
Xu Haoran, however, stayed by Zou Feng’s side. Once there was no one else nearby, he whispered, "Brother Feng, I’m about to... go!"
"..."
Zou Feng knew that Xu Haoran was afraid someone might overhear, which was why he had changed "I’m about to break through" to "I’m about to go."
But it was hard not to find it cringeworthy.
"Yeah, if you gotta go, you gotta go..." Zou Feng also lowered his voice and replied, "It’s fine. Don’t panic. It’s not a big deal!"
Speaking of which, ever since Yang Yanpeng was discovered having an... indecent reaction while observing the Household Servants practice their martial arts, he hadn’t shown up during practice time.
But the rumor that the Third Young Master preferred men hadn’t just spread within the Yang Mansion; it was about to spread throughout all of Yuan Guang County Town...
"Brother Feng... I... I’m still so scared..." Now that the moment was arriving, despite being prepared for it, Xu Haoran couldn’t help but panic.
Zou Feng said calmly, "Calm down. Stay alert and be prepared at all times. Trust me, you’ll win!"
Xu Haoran swallowed hard, then nodded emphatically and patted the "Child Gu" that he now carried with him everywhere.
It was as if he had already decided that the "Child Gu" was his only lifeline.
After giving Xu Haoran a few more instructions, telling him not to reveal any weaknesses no matter what, Xu Haoran finally calmed down and departed.
However, as he watched Xu Haoran’s retreating figure, Zou Feng’s eyes narrowed slightly...
In the Yang Mansion’s rear kitchen, Luo Yong was in high spirits, a complete change from his previous dejection after losing his extra benefits.
The reason was simple: his disciple was making him proud!
Although he hadn’t learned all of his master’s culinary skills yet, his progress in Martial Arts had earned him endless praise from nearly every Hospital Martial Artist in the Yang Mansion.
Having finished his work around Noon, Luo Yong couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear and ask, "Feng’er, why don’t you let your master in on it? About how much longer until you can reach Entering Grade?"
He asked this, of course, because Zhao Tianhu had mentioned that Zou Feng’s chances of reaching Entering Grade were quite high.
Zou Feng gave a half-truthful reply, "Ah... Master, it’s still too early to talk about Entering Grade."
"But I heard from Master Zhao that on the path of the Martial Dao, while Talent and hard work are indispensable, sometimes it also comes down to a moment of ’sudden enlightenment.’ What if your disciple really has one of those moments one day..."
When talking about the Martial Dao, Zou Feng acted just like a normal young man, his eyes full of longing and a smile playing on his lips, filled with anticipation for the future.
He was the spitting image of a pure, kind, and even somewhat naive young man.
"That would be great! But Master Zhao probably also said that even without sudden enlightenment, you’ll reach Entering Grade sooner or later."
"You’re destined to be a successful kid. You can already be considered a respectable person, so..." Luo Yong’s tone shifted. "So can you please stop going to those filthy brothels?"
Zou Feng froze, then subconsciously asked, "Then should I go to some higher-class ones?"