Slight Progress

Although his hands were growing more fragrant by the day, Zou Feng was not worried.

Five Poisons Palm should only need another two or three days before advancing to the next stage.

By then, the scent would gradually fade.

Still, before the skill reached great mastery, he could not avoid becoming a man with a faint, haunting fragrance about him...

Over the next few days, Yang Estate remained lively under the blessing of the endless banquet.

The household had gained a ranked martial artist with tremendous potential. Celebrating with a seven-day banquet was hardly making a mountain out of a molehill.

As for servants like Zou Feng, they were busy beyond all measure, with hardly any time to rest apart from at night.

Of course, Li Rui had it worst of all.

Working during the day already left him exhausted like a dead dog, yet at night he still had to endure the pain of cultivation and the agony of study.

Whether detoxifying medicinal broth or medicine that nourished the heart, calmed the mind, and aided sleep, they could only ease the symptoms, not cure the root.

After observing Li Rui's condition, Zou Feng was almost certain that within ten days, even if Li Rui did not die, he would most likely suffer a mental breakdown.

Chronic poisoning, coupled with the pressure brought by high-intensity study, meant both his mind and body were being tortured.

Yet no possible replacement had appeared so far.

He still could not figure out why Yang Yanpeng could never make the list. Otherwise, he could at least help Brother Li shoulder some of the burden.

Another three days passed, and the endless banquet finally had only its last day remaining.

It was almost over at last. The servants of Yang Estate were all nearly at the end of their rope.

Before dawn, Zou Feng finished his extra training and let out a long breath of foul air.

He was still circulating his inner energy, and both palms were black as ink.

The entire room was filled with a cloying fragrance so sweet it made one feel ill.

Places like firewood sheds should have been the easiest spots for snakes, insects, rats, and ants to nest.

Yet if anyone searched around, they would be astonished to find that besides Zou Feng himself, there was not a single other living creature in the shed.

The reason was simple: Zou Feng had become the greatest poison in the area. Snakes, insects, rats, and ants could tell at a sniff that something was wrong, and none dared come near.

After a long while, Zou Feng suddenly opened his eyes and cried in delight, "It worked!"

"Five Poisons Palm (Slight Progress), progress: 1%"

"Herbal Compendium (Slight Progress), progress: 48%"

Five Poisons Palm had finally broken through to its second stage.

Herbal Compendium was merely knowledge for study, after all, so its progress was naturally faster.

That was only because he had had too little free time lately. Otherwise, he could have learned Herbal Compendium even faster.

After withdrawing his power, the black color on Zou Feng's palms rapidly faded.

He felt incredibly powerful now.

He practically itched to find someone to spar with and put himself to the test.

Unfortunately, something like Five Poisons Palm was simply not suited for sparring.

As he had said before, if the opponent knew he used poison and prepared beforehand, then since Five Poisons Palm's moves possessed no subtlety and its striking force was utterly pathetic, he would most likely be beaten until he was crawling around looking for his teeth, unless the opponent was truly weak.

But if the opponent did not know he used poison and was struck or inhaled too much poisonous vapor, they would most likely simply croak on the spot.

So he really could not just go looking for someone to spar with.

It truly lived up to that famous saying: only kill enemies, never perform!

Thinking this over, Zou Feng became even more aware of Five Poisons Palm's limitations.

In short, this technique's greatest flaw was that it could not handle a head-on fight.

And in the future, there would certainly be times when a sneak attack failed and he had no choice but to confront someone directly.

So, plainly put, training only Five Poisons Palm would not do.

Poison-infused attacks were indeed a great killer, but only if he could hit the opponent.

It was time to cultivate a movement technique to pair with Five Poisons Palm.

The question was, where was he supposed to obtain a movement-type martial skill?

And besides, Brother Li truly could not hold on much longer. Once Five Poisons Palm reached "slight progress," the venom required for cultivation would have to become more potent.

Its cultivation side effects would naturally become even worse then.

For the moment, Zou Feng could not make heads or tails of it, so he could only set the matter aside and go out to work.

Since it was already the final day of the endless banquet, there was no need to prepare extra ingredients, so things were relatively easier.

Even Luo Yong, the chef at the stove, found enough spare time to take a few puffs from his dry tobacco pipe.

He had been exhausted lately as well and felt as though several more hairs had turned white.

As for Li Rui, his eye sockets were sunken and his gaze unfocused. He looked as though he might suddenly drop dead at any moment.

Luo Yong shook the pipe in his hand. Unable to bear watching any longer, he said, "Li Rui, go back and rest first. Today should not be too busy."

"Oh..."

Li Rui nodded with a numb expression, then staggered out of the kitchen.

The sight made Zou Feng's heart ache.

His Five Poisons Skill had achieved success, but Li Rui had paid a terrible price for it as well.

He truly needed someone to replace Brother Li urgently.

Luo Yong noticed the pained look on Zou Feng's face as he watched Li Rui, and could not help sighing inwardly again: This child truly has the heart of a bodhisattva!

"Little Zou, come here for a moment."

Zou Feng immediately put down his work and walked over to Luo Yong.

"Master, do you have an instruction?"

Luo Yong said leisurely, "How are you coming along with the first volume of Herbal Compendium?"

There was no need for Zou Feng to hide his ability in this regard, so he answered directly, "I've read through it several times already. Only some details still need more memorization."

"When Earth Treasury Fruit is used in medicine with what herb, does it become poisonous?"

"Purple Sunflower, and Tindergrass."

"Can Black Ginseng Sand be eaten with beef?"

"Yes. It has a clear assisting effect for body-tempering martial artists, but the daily amount should not exceed..."

Luo Yong asked question after question, and Zou Feng answered every one fluently.

By the fifth question, Luo Yong was astonished.

What a talent!

This kid was wasted as a cook.

But he was ultimately of lowly status. At present, there would be no better path for him than becoming a cook.

Stopping the test, Luo Yong nodded with great satisfaction. "The storehouse is short on quite a few ingredients for medicinal meals. I'll make a list later. Go into town this afternoon and purchase everything."

Zou Feng froze at those words, then respectfully bowed. "Thank you, Master!"

He naturally had to express his gratitude. Procuring ingredients was a lucrative assignment.

No matter what, he could skim a little commission.

In the past, procuring such ingredients had always been the chefs' responsibility.

After all, competent chefs had thoroughly studied Herbal Compendium, so there was no chance of being cheated.

Now, Zou Feng had been given such a lucrative assignment while merely an apprentice. It was clear that Luo Yong truly regarded him as one of his own.

After finishing the noon rush, Zou Feng, under the astonished gazes of everyone in the back kitchen, polished off a basin of rice and several jin of meat.

Afterward, he stuffed down several plates of fruits as well.

During the endless banquet, there was no question of secretly eating leftovers.

Even beggars from the county could come outside the estate to beg for a meal, much less servants of Yang Estate.

Any leftover food could be freely distributed by the back kitchen, and there was more than enough meat to go around.

The benefits were even better than during the New Year.

This also invisibly solved one of the problems Zou Feng had originally faced.

That was, during martial arts training, nutrition absolutely had to keep up.

Especially large amounts of meat were needed.

Zou Feng's ability to train Five Poisons Palm to its current progress in such a short time was also related to eating well.

It was not entirely because Brother Li had carried the burden forward.

After eating and drinking his fill, Zou Feng informed Luo Yong and left Yang Estate.

He did not need to carry money. As a servant of Yang Estate, he only needed to present a token when making purchases, and the shopkeepers would hand over the goods directly.

As for settling accounts, the estate had designated people responsible for that at the end of every month.

But even so, procurement staff could still reach a tacit understanding with shopkeepers and pull a few little tricks.