Integrated Mastery!

East River Mouth, east of Yuan Guang County, reed marshes.

Having made a quick trip to the ghost market and bought the little items he needed, Zou Feng was now hidden amid the dense, towering reeds.

Come to think of it, on this trip to the ghost market, someone had once again taken notice of him and wanted to hire him as an assassin.

That was hardly strange. Poison cultivators were naturally best suited for assassinations, and it was easier to make their victims look as though they had died of illness by accident.

Besides, poison cultivators were few to begin with, and those who had made something of their poison arts were fewer still.

They were scarce talent.

But the person who wanted to hire Zou Feng this time was not that hotheaded fool who had coveted his sister-in-law before.

It was a member of the Black Flood Dragon Gang, intending to establish a long-term partnership with him.

The kind where he acted as the intermediary while Zou Feng took the jobs.

Zou Feng did not need to ask to know that such an arrangement came with severe restrictions, and that it would likely become difficult for him to conceal his true identity.

So, at least for now, even knowing how profitable such work was, he could not do it.

He needed to focus on breaking through with the Five Poisons Palm...

Drawing a deep breath, Zou Feng circulated his technique with all his strength. His palms turned violet-blue, with faint specks of golden light flickering within.

The greatest reason he had been able to break through so quickly was the help of those Golden-Scaled Plague Snakes.

A breeze drifted by, carrying waves of fragrance.

Then the faint fragrance swiftly grew stronger, quickly becoming so rich that ordinary people could not bear it.

The next moment, Zou Feng felt something stir within him. He immediately crouched down and smashed both hands fiercely into the ground.

Bang!!

The dense poisonous vapor filling the surroundings seemed to have had its fuse lit by that blow, exploding with a thunderous boom.

A cloud of black poisonous smoke rose up, shrouding Zou Feng from head to toe.

At that moment, Zou Feng was immensely glad that he had not chosen to break through inside Yang Estate.

Otherwise, with such a commotion, he would not have been able to hide anything anymore.

Yang Yanpeng had disappeared for a time before. He had probably hidden away to make a breakthrough as well.

After a while, Zou Feng puffed out his cheeks and inhaled sharply.

Nearly half the poisonous smoke was sucked back into him.

Five Poisons Skill (Integrated Mastery), Progress: 3%

On the panel, Five Poisons Palm had become Five Poisons Skill.

Clearly, upon reaching the realm of Integrated Mastery, Zou Feng had finally fused the Five Poisons Stake Art he had longed for with the Five Poisons Palm.

He rolled his neck and fixed his gaze beyond the reeds.

Then Zou Feng discovered in surprise that he had gained a certain degree of night vision.

No—not just night vision. His five senses, including hearing and smell, had all been greatly enhanced once more.

Even his strength, which had not increased much through cultivating the Five Poisons Palm before, had risen somewhat.

Could it be that absorbing too many poisons had caused his body to mutate?

Still, this realm of "Integrated Mastery" truly felt wonderful. It was utterly incomparable to the previous realms.

No wonder that for most martial artists, once they cultivated their techniques to "Integrated Mastery," they could attempt to open their meridians and enter the ranks.

Thus, Zou Feng completed this breakthrough smoothly, without any disturbance.

Afterward, Zou Feng threw away the clothes contaminated by the poisonous vapor.

He then jumped into the East River to wash himself, changed into another set of clothes he had prepared beforehand, and only then returned to Jade-Cross Tower.

Since Zou Feng would not be staying the night there and had to hurry back for patrol, he directly shook Sister Zhang awake.

The sedative poison had not been used much to begin with.

"Sir... you're leaving already?"

Sister Zhang drowsily straightened her clothes.

Zou Feng merely nodded, then tipped back his head and drained the fine wine he had specially paid extra for.

Now that he had the Five Poisons Skill, he could not neglect the cultivation of the Drunken Immortal Gazing at the Moon Step either.

Whenever he had the time, he still had to drink heavily.

He slept with the cheapest girls, yet drank the finest wine...

But what strange fetishes did brothel patrons not have? There were plenty whose behavior was far more outrageous than Zou Feng's.

For instance, those who insisted on pouring wine over the girls' feet and catching it below to drink could only be considered to have ordinary little quirks.

Through the swaying candlelight, Sister Zhang looked at Zou Feng again as she rose, and surprise immediately appeared on her face.

Before, she had only thought the young man was quite handsome.

But now, there was something more about him—something she could neither describe nor understand.

It could not be helped. Once one's cultivation realm rose, one's bearing rose with it.

Of course, once Zou Feng adapted to this realm, or after he returned to Yang Estate, he would try his best to disguise and conceal it.

After staring blankly at Zou Feng for a while, Sister Zhang could not help laughing at herself. "Sir, actually... you should find prettier girls..."

By then, Zou Feng had finished the wine in the jug. He rose and placed two qian of broken silver on the table.

"I'm off!"

With that, he pushed open the door and left directly.

Looking at the two qian of broken silver, Sister Zhang knew that Zou Feng would probably never come looking for her again.

After returning to Yang Estate, Zou Feng rested briefly before it was time for his routine night patrol again.

What kind of "exotic poison" would he catch tonight?

Zou Feng was greatly excited by the prospect. Catching the Five Poisons every night was like opening a blind box guaranteed to contain something good.

He did not know exactly what it would be, but it would be good stuff regardless.

"Brother Feng, time for the night patrol."

Xu Haoran's voice sounded from outside the door.

Ever since being taught a lesson and warned that night, Xu Haoran had returned to the respectful attitude he had initially shown Zou Feng.

He had not made any suspicious little moves since then either.

The overwhelming gap in their strength had made him see reality clearly.

At the same time, Xu Haoran had begun to suspect why he had received the Five Poisons Palm manual...

As it happened, Zou Feng was preparing to lay everything bare to him now.

"Come in first!"

Xu Haoran immediately answered, then walked into the woodshed.

"Haoran, you must have noticed that every time Third Young Master comes to the front courtyard to watch us practice martial arts, there's something off about his gaze, right?" Zou Feng went straight to the point.

Xu Haoran froze for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

Yang Yanpeng could not really be blamed for being too careless. As the one laying out the scheme, he believed himself to be standing on a higher level, controlling everything.

Whenever he saw the "masterpiece" he had so carefully planned, he could not help becoming smug and pleased with himself.

Next, Zou Feng explained Yang Yanpeng's scheme as briefly as possible.

After hearing it, Xu Haoran naturally went blank at first, before uncontrollable terror seized him.

"Gu? I... I'm gu that Yang Yanpeng has been raising!?"

"Once I mature, he'll refine me?" Xu Haoran was immediately at a loss. Panicking, he said, "Then I have to... run away quickly, otherwise I'll..."

Zou Feng said calmly, "Where can you run to? Can you be sure Yang Yanpeng won't catch you?"

"He can even use the authorities' power to easily capture you, a household servant who fled without permission."

This was a world where martial artists could transcend the ordinary and enter the sacred. Even among the constables were ranked martial artists, whose techniques were surely highly skilled at tracking.

"Then what do I do, Brother Feng? I don't want to die!" Xu Haoran said with a sob in his voice.

"Calm down. Yang Yanpeng plotted against me too, so we're grasshoppers tied to the same rope."

"But you should already know that I'm a genius in poison arts, and that I've long since cultivated the Five Poisons Palm to a realm beyond Yang Yanpeng's expectations..."

"So when the time comes, you only need to cooperate with my actions!"