An Exemplary House Servant? (Please Follow)

In truth, Zou Feng had never expected that showing off his "talent" would make the Yang Family value him greatly and exalt him as some exemplary house servant.

There was no need for that. Sooner or later, he would be making his escape anyway.

He only needed to lay the groundwork early for the fact that his "talent was exceptional."

The moment he entered the ranks, he would immediately shed his lowly status and swagger out of the Yang Estate.

But then again, Yang Qianqian was already getting jealous over something this minor?

If, someday, he had to reveal even more of the terrifying power of a cheat-user, wouldn't this girl instantly shut herself away on the spot...

After Yang Qianqian left, Zhao Tianhu automatically resumed his post and came back to teach the house servants martial arts.

In fact, he had been waiting not far away all along.

Everyone knew the young lady had merely acted on a whim.

She could grow bored at any moment and toss the job aside.

Thus, Zhao Tianhu had witnessed everything that had just happened.

Now that he was back on duty, he paid Zou Feng considerable attention.

Not only had his attitude improved greatly, he also decided to immediately teach Zou Feng the combat applications of the Five-Beasts Stance Exercise in a special private lesson.

The martial instructors guarding the estate held much higher status than house servants, but in the eyes of the Yang Family's direct line, they were not fundamentally different from servants.

To put it bluntly, they were merely low-level martial artists.

That was why Zhao Tianhu's outlook differed drastically from Yang Qianqian's.

Upon discovering that Zou Feng was a promising seedling, his first thought was to forge a good connection.

If Zou Feng entered the ranks in the future, the benefits this goodwill could bring him would be immeasurable.

After swiftly demonstrating the Five Animal Fighting Method, Zhao Tianhu said with considerable regret, "To master the Five-Beasts Stance Exercise so quickly, I'd say you're a martial arts talent seen only once in twenty years."

"It's just a pity you started training too late..."

"Otherwise, you might be stronger than many of the outstanding young talents in Yuan Guang County... cough, stronger than Qian..."

Zou Feng wore an unconcerned expression. "You flatter me, Martial Instructor Zhao. You truly shame me with such praise..."

"As a household slave, I am already more than satisfied to have the chance to practice martial arts!"

Seeing how "free and easy" Zou Feng was, Zhao Tianhu stopped standing on ceremony and laughed heartily. "That's true enough. Work hard from now on, and you still have hope of entering the ranks."

After saying that, Zhao Tianhu began making little calculations in his heart.

Such a fine seedling—once he had more or less mastered the Five-Beasts Stance Exercise, should he simply pass his own cultivation art on to him?

The problem was that Zou Feng had already taken Luo Yong as his master.

Though he was learning cooking, a master was still a master...

In this world, the bond between master and disciple was comparable to that between father and son. One could not simply take a master on a whim.

And after acquiring the title of master and disciple, taking another master would be no different from shamelessly acknowledging foster fathers everywhere. People would curse you as a servant of several surnames and all manner of ugly things.

Forget it. He would see when the time came.

If he had not misjudged Zou Feng's talent, then Luo Yong probably would not delay the boy's future either.

Zou Feng's newfound attention made the other house servants green with envy.

Especially when they heard Zhao Tianhu say that Zou Feng had hope of entering the ranks in the future!

Xu Haoran was dumbfounded.

Entering the ranks was something he had never even dared dream of before.

But when it came to diligence in training, he absolutely did not lose to anyone present.

Xu Haoran truly was the most diligent. He would even crawl out of bed in the middle of the night for extra practice.

No one was more familiar with Yuan Guang County at the hour of the tiger than he was.

"Martial Instructor Zhao... then... then what about me?"

Unable to hold back any longer, Xu Haoran stepped forward and asked with eager hope.

Zhao Tianhu glanced at him. "You?"

"Go cool off somewhere else!"

Xu Haoran immediately went limp all over like a deflated ball.

But he seemed to think of something, and his gaze soon turned firm again...

Zou Feng had not cared about this little interlude at first.

But when he passed by Xu Haoran, he caught a faint fragrance.

This guy could afford to bathe with scented soap?

Xu Haoran had replaced Li Rui in entering the Yang Estate and also worked as a helper in the rear kitchen, so it was inevitable that he spent plenty of time around Zou Feng.

Thus, Zou Feng knew very well that Xu Haoran had not carried such a faint scent before.

Could this fellow be practicing poisonous arts like the Five Poisons Palm too? Heh, were Five Poisons Palm manuals hidden everywhere throughout the Yang Estate?

Though the thought was absurd, Zou Feng still felt that something was off. He decided to remain wary for now and test Xu Haoran when he had the chance.

If he was overthinking things, that would naturally be for the best.

As for now, he still had to keep up appearances and continue practicing the Five-Beasts Stance Exercise.

And further attempt to improve it into the Five Poisons Stake Art.

By this point, Zou Feng had truly begun to stand out among the servants of the Yang Estate and gained a little fame.

The young maidservants attending the Yang Family's direct line would occasionally toss him flirtatious glances when they ran into him.

Zou Feng pretended to be a dense fool and gave them no response.

At the same time, he remained humble, doing his best not to draw the envy and hatred of even more people.

After all, when a nobody suddenly rose to prominence, jealousy was always unavoidable.

And so, another half month passed in peace.

During that half month, the Blood-Handed Butcher remained completely out of sight and did not rush to seek revenge.

This was more or less what Zou Feng had expected.

The Blood-Colored Butcher was not foolish enough to come walking into the trap while security was at its tightest.

So Zou Feng was still relatively safe and could leave the Yang Estate at his leisure.

And most importantly, entering the martial ranks should be close at hand...

Five Poisons Palm (Entered the Hall), Progress: 75%

Drunken Immortal Gazing at the Moon Step (Slight Accomplishment), Progress: 83%

Passion-Chaos Finger (Slight Accomplishment), Progress: 96%

Zou Feng was quite satisfied that the three evil arts had reached such progress.

He felt that the current him could beat the him from three and a half months ago three times over.

But something was strange. He had clearly spent more time practicing the Drunken Immortal Gazing at the Moon Step, so why was the Passion-Chaos Finger progressing faster?

At this rate, in another day or two, the Passion-Chaos Finger should advance to the Entered the Hall realm.

On careful thought, it was probably still related to his having first mastered the poisonous art of the Five Poisons Palm.

To put it bluntly, with the Five Poisons Palm as a foundation, he could draw inferences from one instance to another when cultivating any other poisonous art in the future. Naturally, he could practice them faster.

And once both the Drunken Immortal Gazing at the Moon Step and Passion-Chaos Finger reached the Entered the Hall realm, he could attempt to enter the ranks.

But he could not celebrate too soon. The biggest problem at present was that Yang Ling, who had been carrying the burden for him, was about to croak...

No matter how durable a body was, it could not withstand three evil arts tormenting it at once.

After Zou Feng drugged him unconscious and emptied his coin purse that time, Yang Ling had barely regained consciousness.

Every day, he was in a muddleheaded state, as though dead drunk.

That alone would have been one thing, but his needs in that regard had been increasing by the day for no reason at all, tormenting his wife until she fled back to her natal home overnight.

Left without any other option, Yang Ling had taken up residence in the pleasure quarters and had not returned for many days.

Yang Wu, the family head, had been thoroughly disappointed in him and stripped Yang Ling of his steward position.

At present, he was practically planning to let the fellow fend for himself outside.

Now, in the entire Yang Estate, the only person still concerned for Yang Ling's safety was Zou Feng.

The Drunken Immortal Gazing at the Moon Step and Passion-Chaos Finger haven't reached Entered the Hall yet. Brother Ling has to keep standing tall a while longer!

He was even worried that after Yang Ling spent all his money in the pleasure quarters and got thrown out, he would die in the streets.

How about I secretly bring Brother Ling some silver, so he can hold out in the pleasure quarters a little longer?

The instant this thought arose in Zou Feng's mind, he discovered that the panel in his mind had changed...