In a world where High Grade Martial Artists already showed the rudimentary forms of Immortal Cultivation, attempting to visualize an Evil God’s Dharma Aspect was truly unwise.
But to Zou Feng, he couldn’t give a damn.
Since Visualization was also part of the Cultivation Skill, even if something went wrong, his number one supporter would be the one to bear the consequences.
Besides, his current number one supporter was from the Ten Directions Sect. That guy shouldn’t be affected by the Visualization of the Ten Directions Divine King Dharma Aspect.
Zou Feng wasted no more time and immediately began to focus his mind for the Visualization.
The Ten Directions Divine King appeared as a so-called deity with ten heads, twenty arms, and twenty legs.
Each of its heads wore a different expression. Some glared with fury, striking fear into the hearts of onlookers, while others were gentle and kind, making one feel as if bathed in a spring breeze.
At first, nothing happened as he stared. But after some time, Zou Feng genuinely felt his consciousness being pulled into the image.
He even felt the Dharma Aspect begin to move within his mind, surrounded by the sound of constant, indistinct whispering, though he couldn’t make out the specific words.
’Truly demonic!’
Although Zou Feng hadn’t been substantially affected, it was certainly because the side effects had been transferred away. Otherwise, he would most likely be suffering right now.
’In the worst-case scenario, I might even be gradually brainwashed by those whispering voices...’
Having visualized for long enough, Zou Feng began practicing the ten basic movements required for the Great Compassion Hand.
Each movement corresponded to a pose struck by one of the Ten Directions Divine King’s apparitions, as depicted one by one in the manual.
With no side effects and his own solid foundation, Zou Feng performed the ten movements effortlessly.
In just one hour, he had perfected all ten basic movements.
"Great Compassion Hand (Initial Glimpse) Progress: 1%"
Checking the panel, he saw that it had indeed been logged.
But Zou Feng couldn’t continue practicing like this.
The preparation for cultivating the Great Compassion Hand involved visualizing the Divine King Dharma Aspect and striking ten "JoJo-like" Divine King poses.
But when the real training began, he couldn’t just play around with these superficial steps. He needed to ingest "Cold Poison" as an aid.
That was right. Unlike the Five Poison Skill, which involved soaking one’s hands in a toxic liquid, the Great Compassion Hand actually required one to ingest poison.
It had to be a cold-natured poison, the kind that would make one’s entire body turn cold and cause their Yang Qi to dissipate upon consumption.
No wonder mastering this Skill could make an opponent cold and passionless.
This kind of toxin, fermented within one’s own body and then unleashed via an Inner Power Heart Skill, was truly malicious.
Furthermore, while cultivating this Skill, one had to think of unhappy things to put oneself in a low state of mind.
The more negative and depressed one’s mood, the better the results of the Cultivation.
’It’s just like the Soul-Smashing Palm...’
First you have to take Cold Poison, and then you have to practice while in a low mood. One could only imagine how agonizing it was to train in this Cultivation Skill.
If you weren’t careful, you might become so withdrawn that you’d develop mental problems long before mastering the Great Compassion Hand.
Visualizing an Evil God, ingesting poison, cultivating in a suppressed and withdrawn mental state—these elements perfectly embodied the characteristics of an Evil Skill.
Indeed, only an Evil Cultist could practice it. The Ten Directions Cultists’ brainwashed faith in the Ten Directions Divine King had already driven them mad.
As such, they naturally didn’t have to worry about developing issues like depression while cultivating the Great Compassion Hand.
Fortunately, Zou Feng had even less reason to worry. No matter how he practiced, the one who would get depressed was his number one supporter.
As for the Cold Poison needed for cultivation, he had some readily available.
Zou Feng had taken down quite a few remnants of the Ten Directions Sect, and most of them carried some Evil Pills on their person.
He had long ago figured out that the black elixirs among them were a type of Cold Poison.
Presumably, they carried this Cold Poison with them precisely for the purpose of cultivating the Great Compassion Hand.
The reason his Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Force had progressed so rapidly before was largely thanks to the Black Pill Cold Poison Skill.
Of course, since cultivating the Black Tortoise Sea-Suppressing Force had consumed a fair amount, Zou Feng didn’t have many Black Pills left on him.
But that wasn’t a major issue, as it wasn’t a particularly high-quality Poison Pill.
With Zou Feng’s current skill in the Poison Dao, while he certainly couldn’t refine a bizarre elixir like the Divine Inviting Pill, concocting a poison with effects similar to the black Poison Pill was not difficult at all.
After swallowing one of his few remaining black Poison Pills, Zou Feng started training again.
He lost track of time as he trained, continuing until midnight.
Only then did Zou Feng stop. He walked out of the dispensary, planning to get some fresh air on deck before returning to his room to sleep.
He had been so focused on his training that he had even skipped dinner, but Zou Feng didn’t feel hungry at all.
The reason was simple: he was practically full from eating Poison Pills.
’After all, if you ignored their toxicity, these Poison Pills were actually quite nourishing...’
As he strolled past the Practice Room, Zou Feng again heard a series of loud thumps from within.
’Without a doubt, it must be Bian Yixia, still training relentlessly.’
’She’s pushing herself too hard. Isn’t she afraid of Falling into a Demon?’
Zou Feng had no intention of going in to say hello, because if Bian Yixia discovered that he was also awake, she would immediately drag him inside to spar with her.
However, just as he was about to retreat quietly, Bian Yixia’s frustrated voice suddenly came from the Practice Room.
"Why... why is it still not working..."
"Did Foster Father really hold back? Did he not teach us the complete version of the Six Harmonies Reincarnation Skill?"
"Six disciples, all practicing the Six Harmonies Reincarnation Skill, yet every one of us has cultivated something different..."
Bian Yixia’s tone was thick with bitterness and confusion.
This made Zou Feng even more determined to leave.
Back in the dispensary, Zou Feng pulled the covers over his head and went straight to sleep.
He didn’t dare, nor did he have the strength, to get involved in any potential conflict between the Gang Leader, Deng Guangxin, and his six disciples.
’Still, Bian Yixia doesn’t need to be so anxious,’ Zou Feng thought. ’After all, the truth of the matter hasn’t been decided.’
This was especially true given that Gang Leader Deng Guangxin was in death-seclusion, with no news and his return long overdue.
’Maybe he’s already croaked?’
’So, if Bian Yixia really feels the Six Harmonies Reincarnation Skill won’t help her break through to the Sixth Grade, it’s not too late to try switching to a different Primary Cultivation Skill.’
’But only Bian Yixia herself knows the specifics. I don’t need to worry my head over it.’
He slept until the next morning. Just as he finished washing up, Zhao Tianhu came to tell him that someone from the Yang Mansion had arrived.
He went out to see it was the Steward from the Yang Mansion, who had brought a verbal message from Patriarch Yang Wu.
This Steward had clearly been instructed to be deferential, and his posture was very low.
He said that Yang Wu had been unaware of Yang Zhengfei’s reckless actions the day before and expressed his deepest apologies for him having offended Zou Feng without any proof.
Yang Wu intended to host a special banquet to apologize to Zou Feng whenever he was free.
To be honest, since Yang Qianqian had advanced to the Eighth Grade so quickly and was almost certain to join the Celestial Essence Sword Sect, the Yang Mansion really didn’t need to be so deferential to a minor Incense Master of the Black Flood Dragon Gang like Zou Feng.
But after Yang Wu had harshly questioned Yang Zhengfei and learned the details of what had happened, he immediately fell into deep thought.
Yang Zhengfei was also a Ninth Grade Martial Artist—and had been for some time—yet he was defeated without being able to put up any resistance at all.
The implications of this were self-evident.
This young man’s advancement to the Eighth Grade in a short period was likely a foregone conclusion.
Never mind the saying "do not look down on a poor young man"—this young man was already powerful.
After realizing this, and given that Yang Wu already wanted to maintain a good relationship with Zou Feng, he immediately made the decision to host a special banquet to make amends.
He had originally wanted to make that rebellious son of his, Yang Zhengfei, apologize in person as well, but the scoundrel had fled back to the Cheetah Camp overnight, using his military duties as an excuse.
After hearing this, however, Zou Feng had no interest in attending what was certain to be an extremely awkward and boring apology banquet.
"Go back and tell Elder Yang that I haven’t taken this matter to heart. He needn’t worry about it."
"A banquet is even more unnecessary. I’m managing the dispensary on the Dragon Gate Boat now and don’t have much free time."
"Also, I am aware of the care Elder Yang has shown my master’s family recently, so let’s just forget about what happened before!"
Having received this reply, the Steward said no more and took his leave.
But just before he left, he quickly placed two bottles of elixirs on the table.
However, these two bottles of elixirs, which were clearly Pure Pills, could no longer cause much of a ripple in Zou Feng’s expression.
After all, he truly wasn’t lacking in elixirs like Qi Blood Pills and Essence Strengthening Pills right now.
Not to mention the rewards in the form of elixirs he had already received for his many contributions after joining the Black Flood Dragon Gang.
There were also the occasional sponsorships from Chen Jingsheng, who acted like a foster father to him, plus the silver taels Zou Feng had earned or confiscated himself...
All these factors combined meant Zou Feng had long since adopted a "pill-popping" style of cultivation.
Anyway, as long as he cultivated immediately after binging on elixirs, he didn’t have to worry about potential side effects and could take them as he pleased.
It was worth mentioning that it was precisely because of his ability to binge-eat elixirs while ignoring the side effects that his Inner Qi, after his promotion to the Eighth Grade, was so much like that of an Alien Species.
In the morning, not a single person came to the dispensary for treatment, so Zou Feng took the opportunity to continue his frantic training of the Great Compassion Hand.
At the same time, he didn’t forget to continue studying the Heart Dao left behind by his Poison Dao predecessor, so that he could fuse the Five Poison Skill and the Karmic Fire Red Lotus Palm sooner.
Once the fusion succeeded, he would have the corresponding experience.
After that, fusing the Great Compassion Hand should no longer be a matter of trial and error.
When noon arrived, Bian Yixia came looking for him again, wanting to spar.
Zou Feng didn’t mind. He had to train his Tribulation-Indestructible Body anyway.
And so, after another intense and satisfyingly brutal fistfight, Zou Feng was perfectly fine. Elsewhere, however, his number one supporter, Ji Changsheng, suddenly vomited enough to fill a pot.
Witnessing a pot of fragrant, delicious stew get ruined once again, the present remnants of the Ten Directions Sect immediately decided it would be better to eat at a separate table from the Commander in the future...
After the fight was over, Bian Yixia’s face showed an expression of immense satisfaction.
After all, even without using Inner Qi, very few people in the entire Black Flood Dragon Gang were willing to spar with her.
By now, Bian Yixia was starting to feel like something was missing if she didn’t get a good fight in with Zou Feng each day.
"Not bad. I can feel that your Tribulation-Indestructible Body has improved again!"
"You’re really tough!" Bian Yixia said, nodding with an appreciative look in her eyes.
Zou Feng immediately switched into business-like mutual praise mode. "No, no, Miss’s Six Harmonies Reincarnation Skill is the truly formidable one. This is only because we’re not using Inner Qi. If you used even a little, I wouldn’t be able to withstand a single one of your moves, even with my Tribulation-Indestructible Body at full strength."
Unexpectedly, Bian Yixia didn’t seem to appreciate the flattery. Her gaze turned melancholic as she said, "The Six Harmonies Reincarnation Skill is indeed a very powerful Cultivation Skill. It’s just a shame that..."