You're About to Go?

Zou Feng was just about to tidy the room when a sudden feeling stirred within him.

He immediately checked the panel.

Transferable targets available: Yang Yanpeng, Yang Ling, Li Li.

Li Li?

Zou Feng froze for a moment, then quickly understood.

Though he definitely did not know him, this fellow named Li Li was clearly the poison expert who had been poisoning the Yang Estate these past few days.

As for why he had only appeared on the list now...

Previously, Li Li's schemes had targeted everyone in the Yang Family.

But after repeatedly poisoning them without getting any results, he naturally realized that someone was ruining his plans.

So he set a targeted trap for Zou Feng—the strange snake and strange insect from just now.

And that trap had truly come close to catching him off guard.

It was only natural for Li Li to appear on the list now.

Li Li... it was almost certain that this fellow was a helper hired by the Blood-Handed Butcher.

But it did not matter. Once he was on the list, he would be plucked bald sooner or later.

Best of all, since Li Li was undoubtedly an expert at using poison, he could not have been a more suitable transfer target.

He was absolutely the most durable transfer target Zou Feng had encountered so far.

Yang Yanpeng would probably be refined by him before long anyway, so now he did not need to worry about temporarily having no one to take over afterward.

Moreover, Zou Feng was already imagining that once he refined Yang Yanpeng, his Five Poisons Skill might immediately break through again.

It would reach the realm of "mastery," a level that under normal circumstances only ranked martial artists had some chance of attaining!

Of course, by then, becoming ranked would merely be incidental...

After cleaning up the room, Zou Feng did not waste the remains of the strange insect or black snake.

He gathered whatever liquid he could salvage and dumped it into the urine jar to keep mixing poisons.

The bodies, meanwhile, were fed to Little Green.

It was worth mentioning that Little Green had eaten quite a few "exotic poisons" these past few days, and its growth had been remarkably gratifying.

Its entire body had turned such a vivid emerald green that it seemed ready to drip with moisture.

Perhaps it had realized that Zou Feng could feed it all sorts of good things. At least for now, it no longer showed any hostility toward him on the surface.

It would no longer suddenly attack him as it had before.

Unfortunately, Zou Feng did not really know much about raising gu. What he had bought at the ghost market were merely some rudimentary methods.

Naturally, he knew even less about how to raise it into a gu creature that could be commanded by him.

Besides, he personally leaned toward the belief that iron needed to be hard before it could be forged!

Rather than spending vast amounts of time and energy on such things, it was better to practice more wicked arts. Strengthening his own body was the true path.

Thus, although Zou Feng fed Little Green and hoped it would become increasingly poisonous, his ultimate purpose was still to harvest its venom for cultivation.

At the right time, he might even refine it in an instant.

Over the next few days, the entire Yang Estate remained calm and peaceful.

No one knew that, several days earlier, two poison experts had already exchanged blows from afar.

Zou Feng had originally decided not to casually open blind boxes anymore, only to discover that the other side had given up as well.

It seemed this poison expert named Li Li was even more cowardly than he had expected. Or perhaps his assets had not been plentiful to begin with?

Not even ten "exotic poisons" had died before he gave up...

Still, peace and quiet were naturally for the best. It gave Zou Feng time to continue training madly, while also plucking Yang Yanpeng until he was in so much pain he wished he were dead.

As for the Five-Beasts Stance Exercise, he continued displaying his "talent" every day, preparing for his aboveboard advancement to the ranks.

In the blink of an eye, five days passed.

In the front courtyard of the Yang Estate, Zhao Tianhu could not help clicking his tongue in amazement as he watched Zou Feng practice the Five-Beasts Stance Exercise until it had practically blossomed into flowers.

What an outstanding seedling for martial arts...

When he had called this kid a martial arts talent seen once in twenty years, he had still been far too conservative.

Zhao Tianhu had initially planned to discuss with Luo Yong whether Zou Feng could take him as a second master as well, so that he could teach the boy his unique techniques.

But now, he had abandoned that idea.

With his own paltry three-legged-cat skills, if he truly wanted what was best for Zou Feng, he ought not hold the boy back.

Though he had given up on taking him as a disciple, Zhao Tianhu became increasingly proactive in building a relationship with Zou Feng.

As for martial arts, he provided every kind of support within his power.

Zou Feng saw all of it and silently remembered it.

He remembered grudges, but he also remembered kindness.

Zhao Tianhu was an honest man. If an opportunity arose in the future, Zou Feng would not mind giving him a hand.

Once martial arts practice ended, the servants scattered, and those who needed to work went back to work.

Xu Haoran, however, stayed beside Zou Feng. Only after there was no one else nearby did he lower his voice and say, "Brother Feng, I'm about to... go!"

"..."

Zou Feng knew that Xu Haoran was afraid someone might overhear something, which was why he had changed "I'm about to break through" into "I'm about to go" on the spot.

Still, it was hard not to feel a pain in the balls hearing it.

"Mm, if you're going, then go..." Zou Feng lowered his voice as well. "It's fine. Don't panic. It's not a big problem!"

Speaking of which, ever since Yang Yanpeng had come to observe the servants' martial arts practice last time and been discovered having an indecent reaction, he had not shown up during training hours.

Yet the rumor that the Third Young Master had a taste for men was no longer merely spreading inside the Yang Estate—it was practically about to spread throughout all of Yuan Guang County...

"Brother Feng... I... I'm still so scared..." With the moment fast approaching, Xu Haoran could not help panicking despite having prepared himself long ago.

Zou Feng replied with perfect calm, "Stay calm. Keep your wits about you at all times and be ready to defend yourself. Trust me, we'll win!"

Xu Haoran swallowed, then nodded heavily and patted the "child gu" he already carried with him everywhere.

It was as though he had already decided that the child gu was his lifeline.

After Zou Feng gave Xu Haoran a few more instructions, telling him not to reveal any flaws no matter what, Xu Haoran finally regained his composure and left.

Yet as Zou Feng watched his departing back, he narrowed his eyes slightly...

In the Yang Estate's rear kitchen, Luo Yong was in exceptionally high spirits, completely shedding the dejection he had felt after losing his extra benefits.

The reason was simple: his disciple was too promising!

Though Zou Feng had not yet learned all of his cooking skills, his progress in martial arts had earned praise from nearly every guard instructor in the Yang Estate.

After finishing up the noon rush, Luo Yong could not help beaming as he said, "Feng'er, how about giving your master a rough idea? About how much longer will it take before you become ranked?"

The reason he asked was naturally that Zhao Tianhu had mentioned Zou Feng stood a very good chance of becoming ranked.

Zou Feng replied, half genuine and half false, "Uh... Master, isn't it still too early to talk about becoming ranked?"

"But I heard Martial Instructor Zhao say that on the path of martial arts, talent and hard work are indispensable, but sometimes it also comes down to an 'epiphany.' What if your disciple really has an epiphany one day..."

Whenever the conversation turned to martial arts, Zou Feng became like an ordinary youth. His eyes shone with longing, a smile played at his lips, and he was full of anticipation for the future.

He looked exactly like a simple, kind-hearted, even somewhat naive young man.

"That would be wonderful. But Martial Instructor Zhao must have also said that even without an epiphany, you'll become ranked sooner or later."

"You're destined to amount to something. You can already be considered a respectable person, so..." Luo Yong suddenly changed the subject. "So could you stop going to those filthy brothels?"

Zou Feng blinked and reflexively said, "Then should I go to more upscale ones?"