When a large, live fish weighing about seven or eight pounds was pinned directly to the table, Zou Feng knew he had scored a great meal.
"You’re in for a treat today. This is a Dragon Beard Colored Scale Fish, caught just last night in the Jiayue River!"
Watching the Dragon Beard Colored Scale Fish still struggling violently despite being pinned to the table with a blade, Zou Feng realized they were probably going to eat it raw. Still, he couldn’t help but say, "Shouldn’t we just put it out of its misery..."
Bian Yixia shook her head. "No. This kind of fish must be eaten at its absolute freshest to maximize its nourishing effects."
"Any form of cooking would destroy the spiritual essence of its flesh."
"Even if we just killed it in the kitchen, sliced it, and brought it out, its spiritual essence would dissipate during that time."
After speaking, Bian Yixia stared at Zou Feng with great interest. "You actually feel pity for a fish?"
Zou Feng gave a sheepish laugh. "I’m just not used to such a... savage way of eating."
"That’s true. But you’ll have to get used to it sooner or later. Sometimes, when we Martial Artists encounter a Spirit Beast of extremely high quality, it’s common for us to chase it down and just start eating!"
"..."
Next, Zou Feng followed Bian Yixia’s lead. He picked up a short blade from the table, and with a few swift cuts, they ate the Dragon Beard Colored Scale Fish alive together.
The benefits of the Spirit Fish Meat were immediately apparent once it was in his stomach.
The most direct sensation was that it didn’t feel like he had just eaten fish meat, but rather some kind of chilled dessert that melted in his mouth.
The feeling of being instantly infused with vitality was so intense that Zou Feng almost couldn’t resist jumping up, raising his hands, and shouting "POWER!"
After the meal, Bian Yixia clearly had no intention of keeping him any longer. Zou Feng took the hint and immediately took his leave.
As soon as he returned to the apothecary, Zhao Tianhu came forward to greet him.
"Zou Incense Master, the Yang Mansion just sent an invitation."
’Huh? The Yang Mansion sent me an invitation?’
Before Zou Feng could ask, Zhao Tianhu continued, "Miss Qianqian has advanced to the Eighth Grade!"
He couldn’t help but add with emotion, "The young miss is a true genius. All her hard work has finally paid off, and now she’s soaring..."
Zhao Tianhu wasn’t intentionally trying to flatter Yang Qianqian; it was simply the truth.
While the time it took for Yang Qianqian to go from starting her training to reaching the Entering Grade might not have seemed particularly fast...
...that was because she was cultivating the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall’s most treasured High Grade True Skill, which inherently required a long period of accumulation.
Once that accumulation was complete, her progress—at least during the Inner Qi Realm—could truly be described as advancing by leaps and bounds.
This also reflected the difference between a Righteous Skill and an Evil Skill.
Although the Black Flood Dragon Gang had many Entering Grade Martial Artists, most of them practiced fast-track Evil Skills.
They were certainly fast in the initial stages, but advancing to higher levels later on without complications was far more difficult than with a Righteous Skill.
However, for someone with a cheat like Zou Feng, none of this common knowledge mattered.
’Yang Qianqian’s advancement to the Eighth Grade was fast?’
He had reached the Entering Grade later than her, yet he had already become an Abnormal Eighth Grade about a month ago.
It was worth mentioning that after joining the Black Flood Dragon Gang, Zou Feng had crammed a great deal of common knowledge about the Martial Dao, so he now had a very clear understanding of his own cultivation progress.
First, regarding his initial breakthrough, based on his feelings at the time, Zou Feng was certain he had far surpassed an Upper Grade Entry. His was the exceedingly rare, even higher level: an Enlightenment Entry!
Yang Qianqian, on the other hand, was rumored to have only achieved a Middle to Upper Level Entry.
This was the main reason why Zou Feng was able to perform an Inner Qi Release as soon as he advanced to the Eighth Grade.
After his Enlightenment Entry, during the Inner Qi Realm, not only was he an anomaly among Eighth Grade Martial Artists, but he would also be an anomaly when he advanced to the Seventh Grade.
As for the Sixth Grade Gang Qi Realm, that was a completely different realm altogether and would require accumulation in other areas.
"For Miss Qianqian to advance to the Eighth Grade so quickly, her entry into the Celestial Essence Sword Sect should be a sure thing!" Zhao Tianhu asserted.
The Yang Mansion was clearly aware of this, which was why they were once again holding a grand banquet and inviting guests from far and wide.
And since Zou Feng had parted with the Yang Mansion on good terms and was currently doing quite well for himself, it was only natural that he received an invitation.
"Zou Incense Master, so... are we going or not?"
Because of the past rumors involving the Yang Mansion, Zhao Tianhu wasn’t quite sure what Zou Feng’s attitude toward Yang Qianqian was.
Zou Feng shrugged. "We’re going. Why wouldn’t we?"
’He couldn’t give a damn what happened to Yang Qianqian.’
’In fact, he sincerely hoped that someday in the future, when she learned of his true realm and infamous reputation, she would manage to hold on and not let her martial heart shatter.’
And this banquet was the perfect opportunity for Zou Feng to go over, have a word with Patriarch Yang Wu, and formally take Luo Yong’s family with him.
With the recent chaos stirred up by the Ten Directions Sect, the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall certainly couldn’t focus on sending its experts to guard the Yang Mansion anymore.
Therefore, even with Yang Qianqian’s advancement to the Eighth Grade, things were ultimately still not safe.
Based on all known information, the possibility that the Blood-handed Butcher was a Seventh Grade practitioner was very high.
In short, the more chaotic the situation in Yuan Guang County became, the more likely it was that the Blood-handed Butcher would seize the opportunity to launch another revenge attack.
"By the way, Brother Hu, are you going?"
Since he had received an invitation, Zhao Tianhu, as a former Hospital Martial Artist of the Yang Mansion, had most likely received one too.
Zhao Tianhu grinned. "Of course I’m going! I’ve been living the good life with you, Incense Master. It’s the perfect chance to go back and show off a bit!"
It was clear that when he had chosen to leave the Yang Mansion with Zou Feng, there must have been people around him who were pessimistic about his decision.
After all, joining a gang might seem glamorous, but it was akin to living with a knife to your throat.
Facing mockery and sarcasm was inevitable.
But so far, at least, Zhao Tianhu was incredibly glad he had made that choice.
It went without saying that he was eating and drinking well. His cultivation resources had improved, his spirits had soared, and reaching the Entering Grade was now within reach!
Most importantly, since following Zou Feng, he hadn’t experienced the life-and-death battles he had imagined would come with joining a gang.
First, he was a warehouse manager with a cushy job, and now he was doing odd jobs at this apothecary. He hadn’t even participated much in the operation to annihilate the Ten Directions Sect...
The banquet was set to begin tomorrow, so Zou Feng was in no hurry to leave. After returning to his post, he went back to his books and studies.
Poor Ji Changsheng had just recovered from being beaten to the point of vomiting, and now he was immediately forced to suffer the ordeal of studying again.
As for Zou Feng, after constructing his own knowledge system, the *Poison Scripture*, he already had a relatively clear plan for his future cultivation path.
That plan was to fuse his Cultivation Skills that had high Compatibility in the most suitable way possible.
It was just like how he had previously combined the Five Poison Pile Skill and the Five Poison Palm to create his very own Five Poison Skill.
Zou Feng now realized that as the number of Evil Skills he cultivated increased, time was inevitably becoming a major constraint.
Although he didn’t have to worry about the side effects, cultivating at maximum intensity still consumed a vast amount of time.
He was currently practicing six Evil Skills, which he could barely manage with his masterful time management.
But in the future, as the number of Evil Skills he practiced grew, it would clearly become an intractable problem.
On the other hand, the more varied the Evil Skills he practiced, the better he could leverage his advantage of suffering no side effects.
Therefore, Zou Feng’s main area of research at the moment was fusing the Karmic Fire Red Lotus Palm with his Five Poison Skill.
Both were Poison Palm Skills, so Compatibility wouldn’t be an issue.
Besides, even if something went wrong with the fusion, he had his number one backer to take the fall.