’Take me as your master?’
He somewhat admired Zou Xingjian’s audacity, but unfortunately, the guy had really come to the wrong person.
’I only got this far in martial arts because of my cheat system, and then it was just a bunch of haphazard training.’
’And he wants others to learn from me?’
’They’d drop dead within a month!’
’Of course, I do have my free-range, quick-success method for the Five Poison Palm, but that’s for cultivating Human Gu...’
Zou Feng never considered himself a good person, but he had his bottom line.
The Human Gu he had cultivated before were all scum whose deaths were no great loss, so he felt no psychological burden.
But to raise a Human Gu under the guise of taking a disciple—Zou Feng couldn’t bring himself to be that depraved.
As this thought crossed his mind, he suddenly remembered Deng Guangxin, the Gang Leader of the Black Flood Dragon Gang, who was still in deathly seclusion with no word.
The Six Harmonies Reincarnation Skill...
’I just hope it’s not actually something like "Six Disciples Return as One, All for My Use" or some nonsense.’
"Get up."
With that, Zou Feng stepped forward and pulled Zou Xingjian to his feet.
Zou Xingjian didn’t know if Zou Feng had agreed or not. He stared blankly at him, his heart pounding with anxiety.
"Is the Yang Mansion still having its Hospital Martial Artists teach martial arts?"
Zou Xingjian nodded.
Getting an affirmative answer, Zou Feng took out a Qi Blood Pill and tossed it to Zou Xingjian. "It’s a Pure Pill. Don’t take it all at once. Scrape off a little bit at a time and drink it with water."
"Keep training with the Hospital Martial Artists. If you can achieve Entering Grade within three years, go directly to the Black Flood Dragon Gang and mention my name."
He couldn’t take him as a disciple, but he could casually point him down a path.
After speaking, he paid no more mind to the stunned Zou Xingjian, walking around him and continuing toward the rear kitchen.
At this moment, Luo Yong was not, as Zou Feng had expected, bustling with activity preparing for the banquet.
The reason was that the kitchen had many new helpers, and several new chefs had arrived.
Although they might have just been temporary chefs hired to help, it was also possible that Yang Wu knew Luo Yong would eventually leave with Zou Feng, so he had arranged for a successor in advance.
This also lightened Luo Yong’s workload, allowing him to lead a leisurely life in the Yang Mansion.
Next, of course, came the pleasantries with Luo Yong and his wife.
Speaking of which, after taking Luo Yong as his master, although the culinary skills he learned were of no real help to him at present, the *Materia Medica of Herbs* Luo Yong had given him and the pharmacological principles he had taught while preparing medicinal cuisine had benefited Zou Feng to this day.
Without the foundation he had built, he would never have been able to decipher the notes of the Poison Dao senior so quickly when he was at the pharmacy.
After the pleasantries were over, Zou Feng stated his purpose: he wanted Luo Yong to return to the Black Flood Dragon Gang with him.
He made sure to emphasize that a chef on the Dragon Gate Boat was getting on in years and might retire to his hometown at any moment.
He knew Luo Yong didn’t want to be a complete burden and couldn’t stand being idle. So, upon hearing he could continue working as a chef on the Dragon Gate Boat, he naturally had no reason to refuse.
Sure enough, as soon as Luo Yong heard he could continue to work as a chef, he readily agreed.
However, being a responsible man, he said he wanted to wait until after the Yang Mansion’s current banquet was over before resigning and leaving.
Zou Feng had no objection to this. When the time came, he would just send a few carriages and some men to pick them up.
Calculating the time, the main feast at noon was about to begin. Luo Yong urged him to hurry to the inner courtyard and take his seat so as not to be impolite.
Only then did Zou Feng take his leave.
On his way to the inner courtyard, he happened to run into the guest of honor for this banquet, Yang Qianqian.
At Ninth Grade, Yang Qianqian was overbearing. At Eighth Grade, she was utterly disdainful of others.
Although she had not yet formally joined the Celestial Essence Sword Sect, the way she looked down her nose at people already rivaled that of the Elite Disciples from the Celestial Essence Sword Sect that Zou Feng had seen.
In fact, Yang Qianqian had long since learned of Zou Feng’s publicly known achievements and was well aware that he was doing quite well for himself now.
So, in reality, she had already been proven wrong.
After all, Yang Qianqian had previously asserted that Zou Feng wouldn’t last long on the outside.
However, the reality was the complete opposite of her prediction. Even her father, Yang Wu, had once teased her about it.
With Yang Qianqian’s temperament, being proven wrong naturally left her quite displeased. In her frustration, she instead threw herself into her martial arts training with even greater determination.
As a result, while training, she accidentally broke through...
After breaking through to the Eighth Grade, Yang Qianqian’s mindset immediately calmed down. She basically no longer cared about having been proven wrong.
This was quite normal, as the Eighth Grade Realm had placed her on a relatively higher pedestal once again.
Furthermore, after joining the Celestial Essence Sword Sect, this height would become increasingly unattainable for Zou Feng.
Yang Qianqian even found her previous attitude laughable. ’What was I even competing with Zou Feng for?’
’Messing around in a gang, heh...’
’So what if he eventually becomes a Gang Leader?’
’A random Elite Disciple from the Celestial Essence Sword Sect could show up, and any Gang Leader in Yuan Guang County would have to bow and scrape, serving them with utmost care.’
Having realized that there was simply no comparison between herself and Zou Feng, her heart remained completely unperturbed even when she ran into him now.
She even took the initiative to smile and nod at Zou Feng, which counted as a greeting.
The fact that Yang Qianqian had actually taken the initiative to greet him in a seemingly friendly manner, on the other hand, left Zou Feng at a loss.
’Her personality changed after she reached Eighth Grade?!’
Zou Feng quickly dismissed this possibility.
’No way. The saying "a leopard can’t change its spots" isn’t just empty words.’
’So, she most likely feels that after reaching Eighth Grade, the chasm-like gap between us has widened once more.’
’It’s probably that "an adult shouldn’t bicker with a child" mentality.’
’Er... if she knew that I actually reached Eighth Grade faster than her and can already use Inner Qi Release, would she lose her composure on the spot, so devastated that she’d regress back to Ninth Grade?’
Snarky thoughts aside, Zou Feng certainly wasn’t going to have a showdown with Yang Qianqian right now.
In any case, if she didn’t fix her attitude soon, she would inevitably suffer that blow sooner or later.
He gave a slight fist-clasp salute in return, and then Zou Feng saw another person: the expert from Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall, "Three-Wheeled Leg" Zhuang Sixuan.
Unlike Yang Qianqian, who simply gave a slight nod and walked away, Zhuang Sixuan walked right up to Zou Feng.
After looking him up and down a few times, she chuckled. "Well now, you’re doing pretty well for yourself!"
"It’s all thanks to the care of my brothers in the gang..." Zou Feng said politely.
Zhuang Sixuan suddenly changed the subject. "You should have received that letter I sent, right?"
"I did."
"Then why didn’t you come to the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall?" Zhuang Sixuan wore a look of complete incomprehension. "You have such great aptitude. You’d do just as well at the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall. Wouldn’t it be better to learn a proper Righteous Skill?"
’You’d have to ask my cheat system why it can’t record Righteous Skills...’
"To each their own. I can only accept your good intentions in spirit, Miss Zhuang."
Zhuang Sixuan shook her head and sighed. "What a pity. I really did want another junior brother."
"That’s simple. If you don’t mind, Miss Zhuang, from now on, you’ll be my Senior Sister!"
He couldn’t just acknowledge any random master, but he could acknowledge a few more senior sisters.
After all, a senior sister like Zhuang Sixuan could indeed teach him a great many ’positions’.
"See? You really haven’t learned anything proper in the Black Flood Dragon Gang..." Waving her hand, Zhuang Sixuan smiled, turned, and left first.
That being said, she didn’t actually mind that Zou Feng had just seized the opportunity and changed how he addressed her.
Most women who practiced martial arts had long since shed any girlish coyness. As long as their relationship was decent, they were fine with harmless jokes.
Once Zhuang Sixuan was a good distance away, Zhao Tianhu couldn’t help but ask, "Zou Incense Master, is that Miss Zhuang interested in you?"
"Don’t overthink it. She did write me a letter asking me to join the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall, but the bigger reason was just to recruit talent for the hall."
Not everyone was like Yang Qianqian, looking down on this and that. While achieving Pile Skill Entry was indeed a bit weak, because it was only basic training, the potential for future development was actually greater.
It was true that the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall was the biggest power in Yuan Guang County aside from the Government Office, but it was, after all, just a "martial arts hall." Would they really complain about having too many Entering Grade members and be too lazy to recruit more?
"But, if I had chosen to join the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall back then, I might have really been able to ’pedal the three wheels’ with Senior Sister Zhuang..."
Zhao Tianhu was taken aback. "What’s ’pedaling the three wheels’?"
Zou Feng just smiled without answering and walked straight toward the banquet tables in the inner courtyard.
Upon his arrival, Yang Chen personally came forward to greet him and lead him to his seat.
Just as he sat down, Zou Feng saw that at the next table sat Yang Zhengfei, who had made a special trip back from the military camp.
He remembered that for the last banquet celebrating Yang Qianqian’s Entering Grade, Yang Zhengfei hadn’t returned to offer congratulations.
This time, however, Yang Zhengfei probably realized that since his sister had advanced to the Eighth Grade so quickly, her entry into the Celestial Essence Sword Sect was a sure thing.
Yang Zhengfei was, after all, just a minor Captain in the Cheetah Camp, and he was worried about not having a powerful backer to help him climb the ranks.
Now that he’d discovered his own sister was that powerful backer, he had to rush back to congratulate her and deepen their sibling bond, no matter what.
However, when Yang Zhengfei’s eyes met Zou Feng’s, his expression became quite a picture.
After all, the last time they had met was when Yang Zhengfei had rushed back to investigate the murder of Yang Yanpeng.
He had even personally interrogated Zou Feng.
But now, the former Household Servant was being treated as an honored guest by his own family and was even sitting at the same table as him...
Surprise was surprise, but Yang Zhengfei quickly adopted a disdainful expression and turned his head away, not bothering to acknowledge him.
After quietly asking a relative at the same table, Yang Zhengfei learned of the situation.
’He achieved Entering Grade, was freed from his servitude, and joined the Black Flood Dragon Gang?’
’Hmph. A shortsighted Household Servant in the end. This is the best he could ever do!’
’But then again, not long after my third brother’s incident, a Household Slave in the mansion achieved Entering Grade...’
’Isn’t that a bit too much of a coincidence?’
Yang Zhengfei turned his head back, and the more he looked at Zou Feng, the more he felt something was wrong.
Even though he had already investigated Zou Feng back then and found no connection between him and Yang Yanpeng’s murder.
Still, that couldn’t stop Yang Zhengfei from starting to suspect him all over again.
’It’s possible! When I deduced that there was a traitor in the Yang Mansion, besides that Fake Xiaocui who has since disappeared, it could have been this man!’
’He benefited from being the traitor, which is how he managed to achieve Entering Grade and turn his life around, leading to his current string of successes.’
His renewed suspicion wasn’t because he had actually found any flaws or evidence, nor was it even based on intuition.
To put it bluntly, it was simply because he was deeply prejudiced against "servants" and refused to believe one could climb up through normal means.
Especially this "servant," who just a short while ago could only bow and scrape before him.
However, this time, the conclusion born from Yang Zhengfei’s pride and prejudice just so happened to be correct...