As a newly promoted Incense Master, Zou Feng naturally couldn’t just do nothing after joining the gang.
But Chen Jingsheng and Wang Xingjian both knew that a young man who had just achieved Pile Skill Entry would have underdeveloped combat strength at this stage. Therefore, they certainly wouldn’t assign him to a position that regularly involved fighting.
For now, they would only arrange a sinecure for him, giving Zou Feng time to practice his martial arts and develop.
Wang Xingjian had already taken the initiative to explain all of this to Zou Feng.
"Master Chen has already made the arrangements. Tomorrow, you’ll go oversee the warehouse at East River Port."
"Our Black Flood Dragon Gang does a lot of business on the water, but the danger is usually on the waterways. Overseeing the warehouse is a relatively safe assignment."
"However..." At this point, Wang Xingjian put on a timely look of hesitation.
Zou Feng asked, "Brother Wang, what is it?"
"You need to be aware, there’s another Steward at the warehouse, also an Incense Master like you."
"This person, and Master Qian behind him, have always been at odds with myself and Master Chen."
"So I’m afraid that fellow will likely try to make things difficult for you..."
Hearing this, Zou Feng wasn’t surprised in the least.
Conflict exists everywhere. From the moment he joined the Black Flood Dragon Gang, he was destined to be tied to Wang Xingjian and Chen Jingsheng.
So, whether he liked it or not, the very act of becoming an Incense Master right after joining the gang had already offended certain people.
’Of course, this also meant the number of "big brothers" on my list is about to increase.’
This was exactly what Zou Feng wanted.
’I just chose three Evil Skills. How could relying on just Li Li be enough for my Cultivation? It’s time for some new "big brothers" to make the list.’
Yet, Wang Xingjian had only mentioned that he would be given a hard time, without saying how Zou Feng should handle it.
’Clearly, they most likely want to see if I’m actually worth the trouble of recruiting me...’
After following Wang Xingjian to a pre-arranged room, someone immediately served them food and wine.
The wine was Spirit Wine, comparable to an Elixir, and the food consisted of two plates of soy-braised Spirit Beast Meat and one plate of stir-fried seasonal Spirit Plants.
In the Great Yan Dynasty, special creatures with strength comparable to Martial Artists were, as a matter of course, called Demon Beasts.
But once they could be tamed, or showed no hostility toward humans, they were called Spirit Beasts.
For an Entering Grade Martial Artist, one could not be careless about their diet.
Relying solely on Elixirs, especially Pure Pills, was far too expensive.
Thus, most Martial Artists often supplemented their diet with various, relatively cheaper types of Spiritual Food.
Although Zou Feng had long known that Entering Grade Martial Artists were particular about what they ate, he had never tried Spirit Beast Meat before.
He picked up a piece with his chopsticks and took a bite. His mouth instantly watered; it was unbelievably fragrant.
"What kind of meat is this fragrant?"
"Rabbit meat. But they’re sturdier than calves, have extremely irritable temperaments, and their teeth are incredibly sharp, which is why they’re called Sword-toothed Rabbits," Wang Xingjian explained as he ate. "I remember when I first joined the gang, I thought the Sword-toothed Rabbit was rather cute and couldn’t bear to eat it."
"That is, until I reached out to try and pet its head... I was so scared by the beast’s mouthful of sharp teeth that for a long time afterward, I couldn’t even visit the brothels..."
Everything had been quite normal up to that point, and the atmosphere was perfectly pleasant.
But that last sentence almost made Zou Feng spit out the wine in his mouth.
’Why couldn’t he go to the brothels? What on earth had this guy planned to do to that Bunny?!’
’He had originally thought this Wang Xingjian was much more normal than Chen Jingsheng, who listened to music even while cultivating.’
’But now he was shocked to realize that the Black Flood Dragon Gang was probably full of nothing but "characters."’
Just as Wang Xingjian was about to continue the conversation, another knock came from the door.
It was the Three Skills Zou Feng had chosen, now delivered to him.
A True Skill Secret Manual. While it certainly wasn’t a pristine copy, the quality of the book was far superior to the hand-copied versions from the Ghost Market.
It wasn’t just the secret manual that had been delivered; alongside it were the cultivation insights and notes left behind by gang members who had previously practiced this Skill.
These insights, verified by many people over so many years, were guaranteed to be reliable.
Of course, for the Cultivation Skill Zou Feng had chosen, the secret manual alone wasn’t enough to begin practice; it also required supplementary items like the Burning Vein Pill.
’But gathering all these supplementary items on short notice is a real hassle...’
Wang Xingjian understood Zou Feng’s concerns with a single glance.
"Don’t worry, brother. Those supplementary items will be arranged for you by tomorrow. I guarantee you’ll have everything you need for your Cultivation to reach the entry level!"
"However, any resources you need after reaching the entry level, you’ll have to get on your own, brother..."
Zou Feng completely understood that they would only provide the materials needed to reach the entry level.
’After all, he wasn’t like the Gang Leader’s six apprentices, who were all carefully nurtured "Great Medicines." How could they possibly just throw all sorts of resources at him for free?’
’Fortunately, it didn’t really matter. First of all, as an Incense Master, his compensation was bound to be good.’
’And in this position, the ways to make money were far, far more numerous than when he was a Household Slave.’
Soon, they had eaten and drunk their fill, and Wang Xingjian rose to take his leave.
As for Zhao Tianhu, after completing the gang initiation ceremony, he had already returned to the Yang Mansion to offer his resignation.
He would only follow Zou Feng over after Zou Feng had officially taken up his post at the East River Port warehouse.
Once he was completely settled, Zou Feng planned to arrange for his master’s entire family to be brought over.
Considering he had parted with the Yang Family on good terms, Yang Wu would surely not make things difficult.
「The night grew deep and still.」
Although Zou Feng was mentally and physically exhausted from the day’s activities, he was still up reading by candlelight.
The more he read about the Three Skills, the more satisfied he became, wishing he could start practicing them immediately.
However, after a quick read-through of the manuals, Zou Feng could no longer fight off his drowsiness and fell into a deep sleep.
「He opened his eyes to the next morning.」
Without even getting up or opening the door, he could sense that a Maid was waiting outside, ready to help him dress and wash up the moment he awoke.
Then, a sumptuous breakfast, perfect in color, aroma, and taste, would be served immediately.
If Zou Feng found the Maid attractive, his "breakfast" could even be changed to something else, accompanied by a bout of "morning exercise."
’This life was countless times better than his days as a Household Slave; it was a world of difference.’
’So why, the very moment I opened my eyes, was the first thing I felt this world’s profound malice!?’
Zou Feng genuinely felt a premonition, so he immediately focused his mind and looked at the panel in his head.
"Targets available for transference: Li Li, Ma Pingchuan, Qian Kun, Zhu Qiming, Wei Lingyun, He Qingzhi."
’Damn, I wake up and suddenly this many people have become my mortal enemies...’
And besides the original one, the Poison Cultivator Li Li, he hadn’t met a single one of these people.
’He knew that the current condition for a target to appear on the list was for them to have had killing intent toward him, or to be in the process of developing it.’
’This wasn’t just about people who found him disagreeable or disliked him.’
’Even someone casually cursing him to fall in a river and drown wouldn’t count.’
’Only those who, given the chance, would attempt to kill him—either personally or indirectly—could become a "big brother" on his list.’
’So, who the hell were these guys? Was it really necessary for this sudden, deep-seated hatred...’
But Zou Feng soon decided he couldn’t be bothered to dwell on the reasons.
’They’re all "big brothers" on my list anyway. By the time I figure out the reasons, maybe more than half of them will have been cultivated to death.’
’After all, these "big brothers" were the most important supplementary tools for cultivating his new skills.’
’Now, he could really start with a wild ten-day, ten-night Cultivation session.’
PS: The monthly votes are really low today, and the author is panicking. Crying and begging for your support!!