Carelessly Entered the Ranks

Early the next morning, Zou Feng got out of bed bright and early.

After washing up, he changed into a clean set of clothes.

Normally, even though his cultivation progress had already slowed to a crawl, he would still habitually spend some time in the Five-Poison Stance.

Today, however, he did not follow his usual routine.

After all, there was something more important to do today...

If nothing went wrong, he would no longer have to sleep in the woodshed tonight.

Thinking back to how he had nearly been beaten to death by thirty strokes of the paddle, he had now reached the point where he could wreak havoc with a body full of poison arts.

Along the way, all he could say was that it had been hard on... those few big brothers on the rankings!

A household slave?

This lord was done with that!

After leaving his room, he first went to the kitchen for breakfast. Luo Yong still refused to let Zou Feng help out in the kitchen that morning.

As usual, he urged him to hurry to the front courtyard to practice martial arts.

When Zou Feng had chatted with Luo Yong before, he had mentioned that lately, while practicing martial arts, he had increasingly been feeling something vague and indescribable.

It was his way of giving him a heads-up.

On the way to the front courtyard, Zou Feng secretly tossed Qi-Dispersing Pills into his mouth.

He swallowed two at once.

When he had tested their effects last night, they had indeed worked, but the inner qi in his body was truly too fierce.

One pill did not feel like enough to keep it suppressed.

Which meant it was time to start showing off his acting again...

In the front courtyard, quite a few servants had already paired off to spar.

By now, the Five-Beasts Stance Exercise had begun teaching fighting techniques in full.

When they saw Zou Feng arrive, most of the servants immediately greeted him.

Even those obviously older than him called him Brother Feng, their manner exceedingly warm.

But another group of servants clearly sniffed at this.

Just because people said he had hope of entering the ranks meant he definitely would?

No matter how well he practiced the Five-Beasts Stance Exercise, if he did not enter the ranks, he was still only a servant. Whether he could even advance to become a martial arts instructor of the estate guards was another matter entirely.

So look at that bear-like swagger of his, strutting around all day as though he were something special...

Those who disliked Zou Feng were not truly at odds with him. It was simply human nature.

They were all servants of lowly status, so why should you be handsome and good at fighting too?

After Zou Feng arrived, he looked around, but could not find anyone to spar with.

Previously, during sparring sessions, several especially young and hot-blooded fellows had insisted on testing whether this "genius" of his truly possessed the genuine skill Instructor Zhao claimed he did.

In the end, their tempers flared during the sparring, and they actually threw martial virtue to the wind and rushed him together.

In the end, ten people lay on the ground.

"Who else--?"

Zou Feng had blurted out that taunt for the occasion, and from then on, no one dared seek him out for a spar.

No helping it. Since no one would spar with him, entering the ranks was destined to be a one-man show.

Before long, Zhao Tianhu arrived, accompanied by two estate guard martial arts instructors.

Originally, Zhao Tianhu alone had been responsible for teaching the techniques.

But now, the other instructors had also developed an interest in Zou Feng, this "genius."

So they often came over to see just how much this kid had improved each day.

A perfect opportunity!

Seeing Zhao Tianhu and the other two martial arts instructors arrive, Zou Feng immediately assumed a tiger stance, then exhaled and shouted.

"Ha!"

That roar drew everyone's attention.

"Phew--" After shouting, Zou Feng slowly expelled a long breath.

The stone slabs on the ground immediately let out a smack, as though that breath had struck them hard enough to make a sound.

Zhao Tianhu's eyes immediately widened, and he rushed over in a single stride.

"Zou Feng, you... this is..."

Zou Feng wore a helpless expression. "Instructor Zhao, why do I feel like... something has appeared inside my body?"

The next moment, another estate guard martial arts instructor hurried over and impatiently placed a hand on Zou Feng's shoulder.

"Try circulating your art again!" he urged.

Zou Feng immediately did as told.

"Hiss..."

"So hot!"

For martial artists without inner qi, merely touching this stuff was uncomfortable.

Especially for someone like Zou Feng, who had only just entered the ranks and could not yet control it properly.

Once he released his inner qi, touching him with one's hand resulted in being both burned and pricked.

Zhao Tianhu could finally confirm it.

"Zou Feng, you've entered the ranks! You've entered the ranks!"

Zou Feng froze for a moment, then his eyes filled with wild delight. "R-really!?"

The entire front courtyard immediately erupted.

Entering the ranks after three months of martial arts training was a rare occurrence even in all of Yuan Guang County.

The only regret was that Zou Feng had begun practicing martial arts too late, and he had entered the ranks using only the Five-Beasts Stance Exercise. He was destined to be among the lowest grade of rank-entry martial artists.

Yang Qianqian had also entered the ranks only recently, but the cultivation art she practiced was on an entirely different level.

It was more than dozens of times harder than entering the ranks through the Five-Beasts Stance Exercise, which was why she had attained a middle-to-upper grade rank entry.

So although Zou Feng had entered the ranks, if he wanted to advance any further...

It was not entirely impossible, but it would certainly be a path beset by countless hardships.

Still, none of that mattered for now. As a household slave, being able to reach this step meant that, at least among those at the bottom, he would unquestionably become a legend.

"Quick, report this to the master!"

"Zou Feng, hurry and go tell your master the good news too!"

Zhao Tianhu beamed. As the martial arts instructor, no matter how much people emphasized that cultivation depended on the individual, who could say he deserved none of the credit?

Yet amid his joy, Zhao Tianhu suddenly thought of another matter.

Because they interacted often, he knew very well that once Zou Feng entered the ranks, he definitely would not be willing to remain at Yang Estate.

Even if the family head offered exceptionally generous terms.

But even if only for the sake of face, the family head would surely find a way to keep him...

Thinking of this, Zhao Tianhu hesitated for a moment. Then he silently made a decision and decisively called out, "Hey, which one of you can go ask at the government office what else needs to be prepared to shed lowly status?"

"I'll go, I'll go!"

"Instructor Zhao, Brother Feng, my legs are the quickest..."

A rank-entry martial artist could automatically shed lowly status, but he still needed to go through the necessary procedures at the local government office.

And in a small county town like Yuan Guang County, producing a rank-entry martial artist was like gaining another scholar. It could add a small stroke to the current county magistrate's official achievements.

Zou Feng looked at Zhao Tianhu and immediately understood.

A wave of gratitude rose in his heart.

However, this act of establishing the matter as fact first, without receiving the family head's approval...

If everything went smoothly later and no unexpected changes occurred, it would be fine.

But if he and the Yang Family could not part on good terms and things turned unpleasant, Zhao Tianhu would likely be unable to remain at Yang Estate either.

But that did not matter. After leaving Yang Estate, Zou Feng would need trustworthy people by his side anyway.

Since Zhao Tianhu had chosen to stand with him rather than the Yang Family at this moment, Zou Feng naturally would not treat him poorly in the future.

Then all that remained was to see whether the family head, Yang Wu, would make things difficult for him...

Next, amid countless gazes filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred, Zou Feng chose not to see the family head first, but to go share the good news with his master, Luo Yong.

As a rank-entry martial artist, theoretically speaking, even if he saw Yang Wu now, there would be nothing wrong with him not bowing.

When he left the front courtyard, every last servant finally spoke with complete respect: "Brother Feng, take care!"