Yang Estate Upheaval

The Yang Family was furious over Yang Ling being ambushed, but in the end, their response was all thunder and little rain.

After all, Yang Ling had merely been drugged unconscious and robbed; his life was not in danger.

And Zou Feng had been cautious enough to leave behind no clues whatsoever.

Thus, after the Yang Family made a token fuss for a while, the matter was simply dropped.

Now that Zou Feng had money, however, he was in no hurry to visit the Ghost Market.

The Five Poisons Palm was expected to advance to the next stage in another two or three days.

Just as Zou Feng had expected, perhaps because he had finally used the Five Poisons Palm in actual combat, or perhaps because he had increased the dosage of venom, it took only one more day for the Five Poisons Palm to advance successfully.

It went from Slight Accomplishment to the realm of Entering the Hall.

As he broke through, Zou Feng's entire body trembled, and every joint crackled like a string of firecrackers.

At the same time, all five of his senses improved, and everything around him became clearer.

When he circulated his technique, the fragrance emanating from his palms became even harder to detect.

And when he used the Five Poisons Palm, the blackened color of his palms changed to a bluish-black.

There was no need to test it. Zou Feng knew this improvement was substantial.

The first two stages of cultivating a martial art—First Glimpse of the Gate and Slight Accomplishment—could always be reached through sheer persistence, so long as one's talent for martial arts was not outrageously poor.

But the realm of Entering the Hall was another matter.

Most of the martial instructors at the Yang Estate had, in truth, only cultivated their techniques to the level of Slight Accomplishment.

Entering the Hall was itself a hurdle.

Only by crossing that hurdle and swiftly taking another step forward into the realm of Mastery could one attempt to enter the ranks and advance into the Inner Qi Realm.

Unfortunately, the Five Poisons Palm manual Zou Feng had obtained was perhaps too low-grade. It only recorded the method for reaching Entering the Hall.

If he wanted to advance further, he would have to find a way himself...

That was why Zou Feng had previously taken the initiative to capture more venomous creatures and try to improve the venom needed for his cultivation.

"Brother Feng, are you awake? The master wants all of us to gather immediately!"

A shout came from outside the door.

It was Xu Haoran, the new servant recruited into the estate to replace the deceased Li Rui.

Zou Feng froze when he heard this. The Yang Family head was personally summoning every servant?

Nothing like this had ever happened since he entered the Yang Estate.

Could it be that the Yang Estate had sent people to investigate Yang Ling's attack and had actually uncovered something...

After thinking it over for a moment, Zou Feng quickly dismissed the possibility.

If they had truly found something, he should have been surrounded by now.

"Coming!"

After answering, Zou Feng pushed open the door and stepped outside.

Something else had most likely happened at the Yang Estate!

Before long, Zou Feng followed Xu Haoran to the front courtyard.

A glance showed that it was not only servants like them. Even the courtyard guards, martial instructors, and every member of the Yang Family currently living here had appeared.

Yang Wu, the current head of the Yang Family, stood with his brows tightly furrowed and his eyes filled with gravity.

Even Yang Qianqian, who should have been at Heartfelt Martial Hall, had appeared.

The young woman stood there with her chin raised, her face full of indignation.

Zou Feng had wanted to ask his master, Luo Yong, who stood not far away, what exactly had happened.

But seeing that none of the servants dared whisper among themselves, he abandoned the idea.

"Everyone, listen up!"

"The family head is about to announce an important decision."

The one speaking loudly was the other steward of the Yang Estate, apart from Yang Ling.

Once the steward had drawn everyone's attention, Yang Wu stepped forward and said in a voice brimming with vigor, "To be frank with you all, wicked people have recently set their sights on the Yang Family and may act against the Yang Estate!"

"However, there is no need for anyone to worry. Heartfelt Martial Hall will send disciples to be stationed at the Yang Estate, just in case."

"Furthermore, all household servants of suitable age may train in martial arts with the courtyard guards for one hour each day, and will take turns joining the nighttime patrols."

The servants had all been dumbfounded when they heard that villains might act against the Yang Estate.

But when they suddenly heard that the family head was actually allowing them to learn martial arts, nearly all of them first wondered whether they had misheard.

After all, everyone knew that learning martial arts was an opportunity to change one's fate.

Yet as servants, they simply did not have such an opportunity.

Once they confirmed that the family head had truly said it, the scene immediately erupted in an uproar.

Xu Haoran's eyes shone with wild delight as he vigorously shook Zou Feng's arm. "Brother Feng, we... we can learn martial arts!?"

Zou Feng smiled and nodded along on the surface, but inwardly he mocked, Heh. Now, not only are we beasts of burden at the Yang Estate—we also have to moonlight as cannon fodder!

Although Yang Wu had not specified whom the Yang Family had offended, Zou Feng did not need to think with anything but his feet to know that the other party had to be extremely troublesome.

If they came openly, the Yang Estate had Heartfelt Martial Hall's support and naturally had nothing to fear.

What they feared was the enemy coming in the dark, such as sneaking in at midnight to carry out assassinations.

That was why Yang Wu wanted the servants to learn martial arts as well: to increase the number of people on watch.

Otherwise, could he expect the grand masters of Heartfelt Martial Hall to help patrol every night?

Even the courtyard guards would surely be unable to withstand staying up night after night.

And while having the servants cram martial arts at the last minute could not possibly yield much in a short time, it could at least strengthen their bodies and improve their reactions.

That was actually enough. It would greatly increase the chance of noticing anything unusual during night patrols.

They might even manage to shout the three words, "There's an assassin!" before being killed.

Do not underestimate that little bit of usefulness. It could genuinely save many lives in the Yang Estate.

So, should he consider fleeing the Yang Estate as soon as possible?

But the problem was that, as a servant who had sold himself into the Yang Estate, if he ran away, setting aside whatever actions the Yang Estate might take, the authorities would intervene under the Great Yan Code and issue a warrant to hunt him down.

Most importantly, Luo Yong, as his master, would immediately bear joint responsibility, and his fate would be grim.

Luo Yong's family truly treated him like an adopted son...

And on closer thought, the danger was not so great as to be unacceptable.

Even if the Yang Family's enemies truly infiltrated the estate, the first people they would definitely want to kill would still be members of the Yang Family.

Besides, he would not be the only servant patrolling at night. When the time came, he only needed to run faster than everyone else.

Perhaps if he truly encountered trouble one day in the future, he would already be a ranked expert...

Zou Feng was not being overly optimistic. Cultivating an evil art was all about rapid results!

After Yang Wu finished his announcement, he shot Yang Qianqian a fierce glare, then flicked his sleeve and left.

Yang Qianqian merely turned her head and snorted, still wearing an indignant expression.

Next, a martial instructor stepped forward and ordered all household servants of suitable age to remain. Clearly, he intended to teach them martial arts on the spot.

The rest were told to go about their business.

Luo Yong left first.

He was no longer considered of suitable age, and as a cook with relatively favorable treatment, Luo Yong already practiced some unranked martial skills for strengthening the body and maintaining health.

Although Zou Feng did not think the courtyard guards would teach anything worthwhile, he was still somewhat curious.

What if orthodox martial skills did not conflict with his evil art, but could instead support it?

Then would he not become monstrously powerful by cultivating both orthodox and evil arts?