Looks like he could enjoy the whole fish by himself now.
Bian Yixia hadn’t been exaggerating. The Firefin Fish was absolutely top-notch. Eating it gave you a real buzz, making you feel incredibly energized.
Even Bian Yixia was getting carried away. Though she wasn’t usually one for conversation, she suddenly became quite talkative.
"Zou Feng, did you know? My godfather... he’s actually been very good to me..."
"If Godfather hadn’t taken me in, I would’ve starved to death on the streets as an orphan and a beggar."
"Whenever we did well in our training, Godfather would reward us with Spirit Fish Meat."
"I love eating meat, so I trained the hardest!" At this, Bian Yixia broke into a proud smile. "Old Sixth’s Talent is actually better than mine, but he didn’t work as hard as I did. That’s why I was the first to advance to the Seventh Grade, not him!"
Zou Feng could only play along. "You’re amazing, Miss!"
Bian Yixia let out a long sigh and gazed out the window. "After saying all that, the truth is... I don’t really want anything to happen to Godfather. It would be best if he could return safely..."
Zou Feng didn’t reply, but he couldn’t help but complain inwardly, ’You looked terrified of the Gang Leader coming back just a moment ago...’
After she said this, Bian Yixia seemed to realize she had said too much. She cleared her throat a few times and went back to focusing on her fish.
After finishing the fish, Zou Feng took his leave and returned to the pharmacy to continue his Cultivation of the Great Compassion Hand.
Although he had only been practicing it for a day, Zou Feng was beginning to realize just how extraordinary this Skill was.
When cultivated to a high Realm, this Poison Skill didn’t just affect an opponent’s physical body; it could even affect their mind.
Blocking their Yang Qi and rendering them impotent wasn’t even its most powerful effect.
This thing could truly destroy an opponent mentally.
Simply put, once hit, it would make an enemy rapidly lose their will to fight, filling them with negative emotions like listlessness and despair.
A single palm strike could turn them into a useless bum!
It was truly a "Great Compassion" that "saved" the world, making one drop their butcher’s knife and stand there waiting to be slaughtered.
Next, Zou Feng performed a Visualization of the Ten Directions Divine King Dharma Image, swallowed a Cold Poison Pill, and tried his best to think of depressing things before officially beginning his practice...
He practiced like this, and soon the whole afternoon had passed.
"Great Compassion Hand (Initial Glimpse), Progress: 20%"
Zou Feng wasn’t surprised to have made so much progress after just two high-intensity sessions.
The lack of side effects was certainly a key factor in his rapid progress, but equally important was the fact that he could now be called a genius in Poison Skills.
He had his self-created Five Poison Skill as his trump card, so by drawing parallels, he could practice other Poison Skills with twice the result for half the effort, at least in the early stages.
At dusk, while Zou Feng was eating dinner, Bian Yixia had someone deliver the Nine Yang Profound Qi Pill.
Although he already knew he would get one, Zou Feng couldn’t help but let his delight show when he actually had it in his hands.
This was a unique Elixir from the Celestial Essence Sword Sect, one they were normally reluctant to part with.
If they hadn’t been run ragged by the Ten Directions Sect recently and desperately needed the help of local forces in Yuan Guang County for the encirclement, they never would have offered the Nine Yang Profound Qi Pill as one of the rewards.
In fact, it was precisely because the Celestial Essence Sword Sect had put up the Nine Yang Profound Qi Pill that they were able to rekindle the waning enthusiasm of the various factions.
After receiving the Nine Yang Profound Qi Pill, Zou Feng had no intention of saving it for later.
This thing was too precious. Keeping it around would only attract covetous eyes, and delays could breed trouble.
So, after finishing dinner, Zou Feng walked straight to the deck, swallowed the pill in one gulp in front of the many present members of the Black Flood Dragon Gang, and then sat down on the spot to meditate and absorb it.
He had only been meditating for a moment when, despite already knowing how extraordinary the pill was, he couldn’t stop himself from letting out a series of strange cries.
"OOH-HOHOHO—"
He couldn’t help it. The feeling of every cell in his body cheering was just too intoxicating; it was impossible not to let out a cry of pleasure.
The Elixir was named the Nine Yang Profound Qi Pill for a reason—a wave of Supreme Yang Qi was clearly washing through the meridians in his body.
If one had any hidden injuries in their meridians, this cleansing wave could heal most of them.
And while it cleansed his meridians, that truly profound "Supreme Yang Profound Qi" also had a remarkable transformative effect on his Inner Qi.
After advancing to the Eighth Grade, Zou Feng’s Inner Qi, which had already condensed to a near-solid state, was now being transformed into something rubbery and flexible.
’With Inner Qi like this, once I break through to the Seventh Grade, won’t I basically have ’Love That Can Stretch and Contract at Will’?’
To put it bluntly, after using Inner Qi Release, if Zou Feng wished, he could "stick" his Inner Qi to his opponent.
Then, with a pull, he could yank his opponent over, leaving them at his mercy.
’So strong! It’s truly worthy of being the Celestial Essence Sword Sect’s exclusive Elixir.’
However, it was unlikely that everyone who took the Celestial Essence Sword Sect’s Nine Yang Profound Qi Pill would have their Inner Qi transformed to be so flexible.
After all, his own Inner Qi had always been an "Alien Species."
Therefore, even when transformed, the effects were naturally different from those on an ordinary person.
After taking the Nine Yang Profound Qi Pill, Zou Feng went into a state of near-seclusion for some time.
For the next full month, aside from welcoming his master Luo Yong and his family to the Dragon Gate Boat and attending Wang Xingjian’s banquet, Zou Feng never once left the vessel.
His master, Luo Yong, was a decent cook, especially skilled at preparing medicinal cuisine. After joining the Dragon Gate Boat, he received unanimous praise and could have secured his position as a chef even without Zou Feng’s presence.
However, when it came to handling various types of Spirit Beast Meat, Luo Yong still needed guidance from the old chef, who was soon to resign.
During that month, a stream of good news arrived for the Black Flood Dragon Gang.
First, Wang Xingjian had broken through to the Eighth Grade.
Zou Feng was quite surprised when he heard the news.
He had never seen it coming; he had even thought Wang Xingjian’s Cultivation Skill was rather lame.
After all, during the last raid on the Ten Directions Sect stronghold, the guy had just hidden in the distance with a pipe, occasionally blowing a poison dart for a sneak attack.
Coupled with Wang Xingjian’s obviously frail and thin physique, one would subconsciously assume his strength wasn’t anything special.
But unexpectedly, he had broken through to the Eighth Grade.
To celebrate, Wang Xingjian held a banquet at a restaurant, inviting many of his brothers from the gang.
At the banquet, Zou Feng clearly saw that besides the man of the hour, Wang Xingjian, whose laughter barely ceased, there was another person who was also overjoyed.
That person was, of course, Chen Jingsheng.
Amid his happiness, Chen Jingsheng even made a point to toast Zou Feng separately several times, earnestly urging him to cultivate diligently and strive to break through to the Eighth Grade soon.
Buoyed by the wine, Zou Feng decided to ask directly what it was that Chen Jingsheng needed his help with.
However, he still wouldn’t say, only telling Zou Feng that he would find out as soon as he reached the Eighth Grade.
Although he still hadn’t figured out Chen Jingsheng’s motive, Zou Feng wasn’t too worried anymore.
After all, he was now latched onto Bian Yixia’s thigh, so his status in the Black Flood Dragon Gang was already no less than that of a Hall Master.
Of course, the most important thing was that Zou Feng’s current strength gave him the confidence to face ordinary risks without fear.
Furthermore, over the past month, news of remnants of the Ten Directions Sect appearing, and the associated extermination campaigns, had become increasingly rare.
It was hard to say whether this was because few remnants of the Ten Directions Sect were left after being hunted down, or if they had simply gone into deeper hiding.
But Zou Feng knew very well that the remnants of the Ten Directions Sect had not been completely eradicated.
After all, Ji Changsheng was still holding strong in the number one spot on the leaderboard.
His ability to hold on so firmly was not only because he was almost certainly a Seventh Grade Expert, but also because Zou Feng had been focusing his practice on the Great Compassion Hand recently.
Ji Changsheng had clearly also practiced the Great Compassion Hand and had reached a considerably high Realm, which gave him a very strong resistance to its initial side effects.
That morning, Zou Feng was once again sparring intensely with Bian Yixia in the Practice Room.
He felt that it was about time. The moment had come to publicly "advance" to the Eighth Grade.
Bian Yixia had asked him more than once when he would break through to the Eighth Grade, so she had clearly noticed something was up.
Therefore, there was little point in continuing the charade.
’Then right here, right now, I’ll let Bian Yixia witness my ’powerful breakthrough’ firsthand!’