The next morning, Zou Feng woke up early.
After washing up, he changed into a clean set of clothes.
Normally, even though his Cultivation progress had slowed to a crawl, he would habitually practice the Five Poison Stance for a while.
Today, however, he didn’t follow his usual routine.
After all, he had more important things to do today...
’If all goes well, I won’t have to sleep in the woodshed anymore after tonight.’
He recalled how he’d nearly been beaten to death with thirty strokes of the paddle. Now, he could already wreak havoc with his Poison Skill.
’The journey has been hard... for a few certain individuals!’
’A Household Slave?’
’I’m done with that!’
He went out, first heading to the kitchen for breakfast. Luo Yong, as usual, refused to let Zou Feng help in the kitchen that morning.
Just like always, he urged him to hurry to the front courtyard to practice martial arts.
During a previous chat with Luo Yong, Zou Feng had mentioned that he’d been getting an increasingly indescribable feeling while practicing martial arts lately.
It was a way of giving him a heads-up.
On the way to the front courtyard, Zou Feng secretly tossed a Qi Dispersing Pill into his mouth.
He took two at once.
When he had tested its effects last night, he found that while it definitely worked, his own Inner Qi was just too powerful.
A single pill didn’t feel like enough to suppress it.
’Alright then, time to start acting again...’
In the front courtyard, many Household Servants had already paired up to spar.
Having practiced the Five Beasts Pile Skill for so long, they had all begun learning its combat applications.
Seeing Zou Feng arrive, most of the Household Servants immediately greeted him.
Even those who were clearly older than him called him Brother Feng with great familiarity.
But another group of Household Servants clearly scoffed at this.
’Just because they say he has a chance to Enter Grade, does that mean he’s guaranteed to?’
’No matter how well he practices the Five Beasts Pile Skill, if he doesn’t Enter Grade, he’s still just a Household Servant. It’s not even certain he can be promoted to a Hospital Martial Artist.’
’So, look at that smug bastard, strutting around all day...’
Their dislike for Zou Feng wasn’t born from any real conflict, but simply from human nature.
’We’re all just Household Servants with Lowly Status. What gives you the right to be both handsome and a good fighter?’
After Zou Feng arrived, he looked around but couldn’t find anyone to spar with.
After all, during previous sparring sessions, a few particularly young and hot-blooded servants had insisted on testing this "genius" to see if he was really as talented as Master Zhao claimed.
In the end, the sparring got heated, and those guys, abandoning all martial virtue, ganged up on him.
In the end, ten of them were left lying on the ground.
"Who else—?"
At the time, Zou Feng had blurted out the defiant challenge to fit the scene, and since then, no one had dared to ask him for a sparring match.
’No choice. Since no one will spar with me, this whole Entering Grade business is destined to be a one-man show.’
A short while later, Zhao Tianhu arrived, accompanied by two other Hospital Martial Artists.
Originally, Zhao Tianhu was the only one responsible for teaching the Skill.
But now, the other Martial Artists had also grown interested in this "genius," Zou Feng.
So they often came to see just how much progress the kid made each day.
’A perfect opportunity!’
Seeing Zhao Tianhu and the two other Martial Artists arrive, Zou Feng immediately assumed the Tiger Stance and exhaled with a shout.
"HA!"
The shout drew everyone’s attention.
"WHOOSH—" After shouting, Zou Feng let out a long breath.
The stone slab on the ground immediately let out a "CRACK," a sound seemingly caused by his breath alone.
Zhao Tianhu’s eyes went wide, and he immediately dashed over.
"Zou Feng, you... What is this...?"
Zou Feng put on a bewildered expression. "Master Zhao, why do I feel... like there’s something new inside my body?"
The next moment, another Hospital Martial Artist rushed over and eagerly placed a hand on Zou Feng’s shoulder.
"Try Cultivating again!" he urged.
Zou Feng immediately complied.
"Hiss..."
"It’s so hot!"
For a Martial Artist without Inner Qi, just being near this stuff was uncomfortable.
This was especially true for someone like Zou Feng, who had just Entered Grade and couldn’t control it properly yet.
The consequence of touching someone who was releasing Inner Qi was a burning, stinging sensation.
Zhao Tianhu could finally be certain.
"Zou Feng, you’ve Entered Grade! You’ve Entered Grade!"
Zou Feng stared blankly for a moment, then his eyes filled with ecstasy. "R-Really!?"
The entire front courtyard erupted.
Entering Grade after only three months of martial arts training was a rare event in all of Yuan Guang County Town.
The only regret was that Zou Feng had started his training too late and had only used the Five Beasts Pile Skill to Enter Grade, which destined it to be the lowest level of entry.
Although Yang Qianqian had also Entered Grade recently, the level of the Cultivation Skill she practiced was far, far superior.
It was dozens of times harder than Entering Grade with the Five Beasts Pile Skill, which was why she had achieved a Middle to Upper Level entry.
So, even though Zou Feng had Entered Grade, if he wanted to advance further...
It wasn’t entirely impossible, but it would certainly be an incredibly difficult path.
But for now, none of that mattered. For a Household Slave to reach this stage, he was guaranteed to become a legend, at least among the lower circles.
"Quick, go report to the master!"
"Zou Feng, you should also go and share the good news with your master first!"
Zhao Tianhu was beaming with joy. As the martial arts instructor, even if he always stressed that Cultivation depended on the individual, who could say he didn’t deserve some of the credit?
Amid his joy, however, a different thought suddenly occurred to Zhao Tianhu.
Having interacted with him regularly, he knew very well that once a person like Zou Feng Entered Grade, he would definitely not want to stay in the Yang Mansion.
Not even if the Patriarch offered him extremely generous treatment.
But even if just for the sake of face, the Patriarch would surely find a way to make him stay...
Thinking of this, Zhao Tianhu hesitated for a moment. Then, having secretly made a decision, he decisively shouted, "Hey, can one of you go to the Government Office and ask what’s needed to have one’s Lowly Status removed?"
"I’ll go, I’ll go!"
"Master Zhao, Brother Feng, I’m the fastest runner..."
An Entering Grade Martial Artist would automatically be freed from their Lowly Status, but they still needed to go to the local Government Office to complete the necessary procedures.
And in a small place like Yuan Guang County, a local producing an Entering Grade Martial Artist was similar to producing a Scholar; it was an achievement that could be added to the current county magistrate’s political record.
Zou Feng looked at Zhao Tianhu and immediately understood.
A sense of gratitude welled up in his heart.
’However, this act of solidifying the matter first, without the Patriarch’s approval...’
’If everything goes smoothly later and there are no complications, it’ll be fine.’
’But if things turn sour between me and the Yang Family and we can’t part on good terms, Zhao Tianhu probably won’t be able to stay in the Yang Mansion any longer.’
’But it doesn’t matter. After I leave the Yang Mansion, I’ll need trustworthy people by my side anyway.’
’Since Zhao Tianhu is siding with me instead of the Yang Family at a time like this, I naturally won’t treat him poorly in the future.’
’Now, then, it remains to be seen whether Patriarch Yang Wu will make things difficult for me...’
Next, amid a sea of envious, jealous, and resentful gazes, Zou Feng chose not to see the Patriarch first, but to go share the good news with his master, Luo Yong.
As an Entering Grade Martial Artist, he could, in theory, now meet Yang Wu without bowing, and there would be nothing wrong with it.
As he left the front courtyard, this time, every single Household Servant, without exception, respectfully said, "Take care, Brother Feng!"