Small Is Cute Too

After Yang Ling monopolized the extra perks, Luo Yong's family stewed in frustration for several days.

But in the end, they could only swallow their anger.

They did not have the nerve to flip the table.

After all, working as cooks at the Yang Estate still came with pretty good treatment in other respects, even without the extra perks.

Luo Yong cursed every day, hoping Yang Ling, the newly appointed steward, would hurry up and die of exhaustion in a brothel.

"Yang Ling liked going to brothels?"

Once, Zou Feng could not help asking another question.

Luo Yong cursed, "Brothels are nothing. That bastard also loves gambling and often spends entire nights gambling himself rotten in the gambling houses!"

No wonder that bastard had opened his mouth like a lion and showed not the slightest mercy.

He had probably been on a losing streak lately and gone frantic from losing...

But then again, Yang Ling really was useful.

Over the past few days, Zou Feng had increased the intensity of his training according to plan.

He had heightened the toxicity of the specially made venom, and each training session now lasted more than two hours.

At first, he had worried that even Yang Ling would not be able to withstand such intensity.

Yet after several days had passed, the brightness of Yang Ling's name on the panel had not dimmed much.

It formed a stark contrast to Li Rui, who had melted away with just one sip.

It had to be said, children of wealthy households really did have excellent physiques.

Besides, whenever they felt even slightly unwell, a physician came to examine them and prescribe suitable nourishing remedies.

So even if Zou Feng pushed the training intensity to the limit, even beyond the limit, Yang Ling could still hold on for the time being.

There was absolutely no need to pity that bastard.

Still, he could hold on now, but once Zou Feng trained the Five Poisons Palm to the next stage, that might be another matter...

More than ten days passed in a flash.

That day, after Zou Feng finished his usual shopping, he did not return to the estate right away.

Instead, he strode quickly toward the city gates.

After leaving the city, he followed a familiar route straight to a foul drainage ditch that never saw sunlight year-round.

Places like this were the most likely to breed all kinds of venomous insects and poisonous creatures.

Zou Feng had come precisely to catch some and use them to make poison.

Ever since obtaining the later volumes of the Herbal Compendium, coupled with Yang Ling bearing the suffering of his studies for him, Zou Feng's understanding of both herbs and medicinal insects had now reached the level of "minor proficiency."

And his progress was at 100%.

Perhaps because it was only a book of knowledge, it could only reach "minor proficiency" for now and could not advance to the next stage.

Zou Feng guessed that if he wanted to advance in this field, no amount of reading or memorizing books would help.

He would have to enter the stage of practical clinical application before he could possibly take another step forward.

After he began catching venomous insects, he caught quite a few top-grade poisonous creatures in less than half an incense stick's time.

A multicolored spider, a snow-white scorpion, a three-legged toad, a centipede as thick as three fingers, and a venomous snake with bumps on its head.

They corresponded to the five poisons of the Five Poisons Palm.

Yet the toxicity of these creatures far surpassed those ordinary household poisons from before.

Naturally, he had found such top-grade specimens so quickly not because of good luck.

It was because he, a "humanoid poison," possessed an acute sense for the locations of his own kind.

In the past, Zou Feng would not even have dared touch these poisonous creatures, let alone catch them with his hands. Even looking at them for too long would have made him nauseous and afraid.

But after cultivating the Five Poisons Palm to "minor proficiency," Zou Feng had completely lost his fear of such creatures.

He could even casually hold them in his hands and play with them, sincerely remarking things like, "Small is cute too."

It seemed that even if the side effects of cultivating an evil art had been transferred away, he would still inevitably become, little by little, a freak in the eyes of ordinary people...

And after being caught by him, every one of those poisonous creatures fell silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to move at all.

They were as obedient as pets.

This was suppression at the instinctive level.

Once he had caught enough, Zou Feng happily placed the poisonous creatures into a specially made bamboo cage and prepared to return to the Yang Estate.

Five Poisons Palm (Minor Proficiency), Progress 88%

Herbal Compendium (Minor Proficiency), Progress 100%

Only a little over ten days had passed since his last advancement, yet the Five Poisons Palm was already close to reaching the next stage.

As expected of an evil art. As long as one could withstand the side effects, it was truly a guaranteed shortcut.

The current Zou Feng was confident that, even in a head-on fight, he could defeat two of the Yang Estate's guard martial artists at once.

The increase in his frontal combat strength was not only due to the progress of his Five Poisons Palm cultivation; it also had much to do with the effort he had put into learning cooking over the past ten-plus days.

Chopping large amounts of vegetables for long periods, tossing woks, and the like were physical labor to begin with.

It looked as though he was learning culinary arts, but at the same time, his physical fitness had also improved.

In particular, the hand movements involved in knife work and tossing woks had greatly enhanced both his strength and control.

And all these improvements allowed him to wield the Five Poisons Palm more effectively.

That was why Zou Feng was confident he could take on two guard martial artists head-on at once.

If he resorted to schemes and sneak attacks, then as long as he found the right opportunity, he was even confident he could wipe out all those martial artists in a single night.

That was not an exaggeration. After all, none of the Yang Estate's guard martial artists had entered the ranks of martial cultivation.

Without entering the ranks of martial cultivation, one had no inner qi. If struck by the Five Poisons Palm, they had no way to use inner qi to resist the poison or force the toxins out.

At that thought, the faint pride that had just risen in Zou Feng's heart quickly dissipated again.

Once he encountered an opponent who had entered the ranks of martial cultivation, the Five Poisons Palm would still be insufficient!

He had to hurry and cultivate another, perhaps several, higher-grade evil arts.

Anyway, as long as he stood up and pedaled, Brother Yang could take it.

Over these past days, after asking around and verifying matters through various sources, Zou Feng had become almost certain that the Ghost Market was indeed currently being held at East River Mouth.

Every three days, at midnight, the Ghost Market opened in the shantytown at East River Mouth.

As for money, it was time to go blow up someone's gold coins...

The next day, just before dawn broke.

This was often when most people slept most deeply.

And Guangfa Gambling House, located in the southern part of the city, had only just quieted down after a night of clamor.

After a while, the doors of the gambling house were pulled open, and a man in his thirties with a small mustache walked out.

"Master Ling, take care!" The gambling house attendant held the door for him, his eyes filled with fawning servility.

At that moment, Yang Ling showed none of the weariness one would expect after staying up all night. Instead, his face was glowing red.

One look was enough to tell that he had done quite well the previous night.

After all, even the unluckiest gambling addict got to eat dumplings once in a while.

Damn it, after so long, I finally had a satisfying win!

Yang Ling casually tossed the attendant a qian of broken silver, then strode out with his head held high, heading home.

On the way back, the wonton stall he often visited should be open by now. He could eat first, then go back and sleep.

Yang Ling then began humming a little tune as he walked, looking so pleased with himself that it was as though he feared others would not know he had won money.

It was not that Yang Ling was too brainless. Rather, public security in Yuan Guang County was generally fairly good.

Those local gangs who made their living through crooked means also had to show the Yang Family some respect and would not easily do something so foolish.

Of course, most importantly, Yang Ling had practiced martial arts as well.

Although he lacked much talent, he had been nourished by medicinal meals since childhood, and what he practiced was a ranked "true art."

Thus, his strength actually surpassed that of most of the Yang Estate's guard martial artists.