Cultivation Predicament (Please Keep Reading)

Yang Zhengfei, who had always radiated fierce menace, finally could not hold it together after hearing that.

He could not help turning his head and scrutinizing Zou Feng a few more times.

Any normal man would inevitably care about this sort of thing.

Especially when he could make even a prostitute who only cared about money say she would not charge him—just how...

After a long silence, Yang Zhengfei finally spoke again. "You can go."

Zou Feng acknowledged him, then pretended his legs were sore and weak as he left.

It seemed that although the authorities had used an extraordinarily mysterious method to find Yang Yanpeng's remains,

Yang Zhengfei's way of investigating cases had not gone beyond Zou Feng's understanding.

Of course, that was also because, after entering the ranks, Zou Feng did not care in the slightest about Yang Zhengfei's invisible pressure.

Otherwise, once he had been intimidated into panic and confusion, he would inevitably have revealed flaws.

That made what came next much easier.

After being interrogated by Yang Zhengfei, he had instead temporarily cleared himself of suspicion.

From here on, he would do whatever he needed to do and let Yang Estate continue descending into chaos.

Still, he wondered whether that fake Little Cui could continue pulling the wool over everyone's eyes under such scrutiny...

Not only was Yang Estate in an uproar over the deaths of Yang Ling and Yang Yanpeng,

even Yuan Guang County as a whole had been far from peaceful lately.

The constables had been running about with great fanfare, though no one knew what exactly they were still fussing over.

Unfortunately, in the end, they naturally found nothing.

The Blood-Handed Butcher remained well hidden, showing no signs of appearing.

But Zou Feng knew that was perfectly normal.

The Blood-Handed Butcher had inexplicably taken the blame for this, and even Yang Zhengfei had rushed back. It would be strange if he still dared come out and stir up trouble.

At least for the time being, no matter how unwilling he was, he had to abandon his original plans and continue lying low.

Thus, a month later, Yang Estate gradually returned to its usual routine.

During this time, Zou Feng had not done anything out of line.

He had not even gone to places like the ghost market or the pleasure quarters again.

Though he had once used an errand to purchase supplies as an excuse to bring food to Little Green and the Red Flower Scorpion at East River Mouth,

Zou Feng was certain he had not been followed.

Even if someone had followed him, so long as they had not gotten close enough, they would only have thought he had gone there for a walk before suddenly being seized by an urgent need to relieve himself, rushing to handle it beside a ditch.

In short, everything had returned to normal now. There was no need to keep his nerves taut.

The only thing that surprised Zou Feng during this time was that the fake Little Cui had not been exposed and was still playing the role of a maid.

She did have some tricks up her sleeve...

But so long as she did not provoke him, he could not be bothered to invite trouble upon himself.

What gave Zou Feng a headache, however, was that over the past few days, the fake Little Cui had clearly begun teasing and flirting with him every now and then...

"Brother Feng, look at my new outfit. Does it fit me well?"

That day, once again taking advantage of a break while fetching pastries, the fake Little Cui began her daily round of flirting.

Zou Feng shot her an impatient glance.

Fits my ass. It was obviously two sizes too small and was practically about to burst apart.

As for why she was flirting with him...

Zou Feng had considered that long ago.

There was no need to turn everything into some conspiracy theory.

Especially now that he had entered the ranks, the scent from cultivating the Five Poisons Skill had vanished. So long as he did not fight anyone, it was simply impossible for him to reveal any flaws.

Therefore, this fake Little Cui was most likely just lurking in Yang Estate, unable to make a move for the time being, bored out of her mind and looking for some amusement.

It just so happened that he was handsome, and after practicing martial arts, his body had become increasingly broad, strong, and well-proportioned.

So not only would these unorthodox cultivators, who were already uninhibited by nature, take an interest in him—even Zhuang Sixuan from Heartfelt Martial Hall, who was stationed here, would occasionally give him an extra glance whenever they met.

Yet it was precisely because Zou Feng knew she was from the unorthodox path that he had no desire to have any involvement with her.

Even if he would not need to take responsibility, who knew whether she might suddenly use some wicked dual-cultivation art to drain and supplement herself in the middle of that sort of thing?

Thus, from beginning to end, Zou Feng had made it clear that he had no interest in her.

He deliberately put on the air of someone about to enter the ranks, whose status and position were now different, and who had long ceased to think highly of a mere maid like her.

"Aren't you supposed to deliver those pastries? Hurry up and take them over. Don't hold things up!"

After casually replying, Zou Feng turned around and went back to work.

The fake Little Cui immediately revealed a dejected expression, then could only turn and leave in a bedraggled state.

Her act was truly lifelike...

Even Luo Yong could not stand watching it. "You brat, Little Cui is a fine girl. Even if you don't want to marry her, once you enter the ranks, you could take her in as a bed-warming maid."

Warm the bed? More like blow the bed to pieces...

"Master, all I can think about now is entering the ranks as soon as possible. I really have no time to think about such things."

"...But you mustn't be impatient either. Remember, haste makes waste..."

Luo Yong had opened the floodgates and began rambling on endlessly again.

Zou Feng listened on the surface, but inwardly he was considering the predicament he had encountered lately.

Put plainly, his progress in cultivating his techniques had become slow as hell!

He knew the reason very well: he no longer had the corresponding resources.

Or rather, the resources he could currently obtain no longer matched the pace of his cultivation.

Now that the Five Poisons Skill had reached consummate mastery, where could he find suitable poisons to continue cultivating it?

The toxic substances available at the ghost market were not even worth mentioning.

Little Green's venom was decent enough, but there was far too little of it.

His other techniques were progressing just as slowly.

After the Passion-Chaos Finger and Drunken Immortal Gazing at the Moon Step had reached mastery, ordinary cultivation resources could no longer fool them.

For the Drunken Immortal Gazing at the Moon Step, he had to drink top-quality liquor before his body would even react with that pleasantly tipsy feeling.

He would have to go a step further and drink spiritual wine whose effects rivaled medicinal pills.

Furthermore, the Red Flower Scorpion's venom naturally could no longer improve the Passion-Chaos Finger.

The most painful part was that the resources he needed from now on were not something money alone could solve.

He would also need the right connections, networks, and more...

So he truly could not remain at Yang Estate any longer.

Within the next few days, he would find a suitable opportunity to publicly enter the ranks in a sudden "moment of enlightenment," openly shedding his lowly status.

Fortunately, from the very beginning, he had been cultivating the image of someone with extraordinary talent in the martial path.

Though he had only practiced martial arts for a little over three months, it would not seem abrupt for a genius to suddenly attain enlightenment.

Besides, everyone believed he had begun practicing martial arts too late and had missed the best age. Even if he truly was a genius, his ultimate achievements would still be very limited.

That would instead keep this "genius" of his from standing out too much and prevent him from receiving overly exaggerated attention.

Then he would pick an auspicious day and formally draw a line between himself and Yang Estate!

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