Yang Mansion, Yuan Guang County.
"My ass hurts so much..."
The searing pain jolted Zou Feng awake on his broken, straw-covered bed.
'That was close... I was almost beaten to death this time...'
Zou Feng had transmigrated to this world. With no one to rely on, he could only sell himself into slavery, barely eking out a living in the Yang Family.
Yesterday, he had merely eaten some leftovers from the Yang Mansion masters, but he was unfortunately ratted out by a petty snitch and given a beating with a wooden plank.
The reason? Those leftovers were originally meant for a few of the guard dogs.
So, just for eating dog food, he was nearly beaten to death.
'What a shitty world this is...'
Even when he sold himself into slavery, Zou Feng knew that in this Otherworld where martial arts reigned supreme, the life of a slave was more worthless than livestock.
But it wasn't until yesterday that he truly understood this firsthand.
Right now, the humiliation of living a life worse than a dog's was even more unbearable than the searing pain in his ass.
To change his fate, he had to practice martial arts.
But as a slave, how could he possibly have the means to do so?
Gritting his teeth, Zou Feng got out of bed and staggered to a corner of the woodshed.
He then carefully pulled out a loose mud brick from the base of the wall.
Behind the brick was a beast-skin book wrapped in oil paper.
The cover bore just three words, which exuded a sinister aura.
Those three words, of course, were not *Jin Ping Mei*, but... Five Poison Palm.
That's right. Zou Feng had been studying it for a long time; it was indeed a Cultivation Skill.
Unfortunately, it was an Evil Skill.
To practice it, one had to soak their hands in a specially concocted poison.
During this process, one first had to drink a corresponding Detoxification Soup, complemented by several rather indecent Cultivating postures.
Clearly, the Cultivation process for this Skill wasn't complex; you could even call it foolproof.
However, the cost of the Detoxification Soup was something an ordinary family could never afford, let alone a Household Slave like Zou Feng.
Besides, since it involved testing poison with one's own body, the greatest difficulty was that a single misstep could get you killed in the process.
But high risk usually came with high reward.
The greatest advantage of an Evil Skill was, after all, rapid progression.
This was a gamble. Win, and it's a life of pleasure in the brothels; lose, and you're sleeping with the fishes.
But if he wanted to change his fate, Zou Feng had no other choice.
As for how he had obtained this *Five Poison Palm* manual...
He was almost certain it had been left behind by the previous slave who lived in this woodshed.
When Zou Feng first arrived at the Yang Mansion, he heard that his predecessor had died a sudden, mysterious death right here in the woodshed.
It was almost certainly because he'd killed himself practicing the Five Poison Palm.
That was why, even though he'd long been prepared, Zou Feng hadn't dared to truly commit to practicing it.
The special poison required for this Skill only needed five common venomous creatures: a snake, a spider, a centipede, a toad, and a scorpion.
These unremarkable poisonous creatures often came to cohabitate with Zou Feng in the woodshed, so they weren't difficult to collect.
As for the Detoxification Soup...
As a prominent household, the Yang Family consumed all sorts of medicinal dishes daily.
While doing odd jobs in the back kitchen, Zou Feng had plenty of opportunities to secretly skim off the medicinal ingredients he needed.
After many days of accumulation, he had finally gathered just enough to brew one bowl of Detoxification Soup.
Now, after firsthand experience of living a life worse than a dog's, Zou Feng finally resolved to risk it all.
'I'll do it!'
Otherwise, this life truly wasn't fit for a human being.
No matter how carefully he tried to lay low, he could still be beaten to death one day by a Yang Family master for some "legitimate" reason, like "I don't eat beef."
Luckily, it was only his ass that was injured this time. It wouldn't stop him from assuming the Cultivating postures later.
'I just hope the Detoxification Soup I brewed according to the manual's instructions doesn't have any problems.'
'Maybe the last slave who secretly practiced this Skill and died suddenly just made a mistake somewhere else...'
Without further ado, Zou Feng began to brew the Detoxification Soup in the woodshed.
He had been beaten severely this time, and an older brother he was on good terms with had immediately brought him a packet of wound medicine.
Therefore, even if the smell of medicine filled the air around the woodshed, it wouldn't arouse suspicion.
The Detoxification Soup simmered for nearly half an hour, its smell growing more foul by the minute. Zou Feng was nearly overcome by the fumes.
'Can you even fucking drink this?!'
'Just smelling it makes my head spin. If I drink it, won't I just die on the spot?'
But Zou Feng's mind was made up. It was succeed or die trying.
The next moment, he pinched his nose, tilted his head back, and downed the bowl of Meng Po Soup.
Fighting the urge to vomit violently, Zou Feng quickly plunged his hands into the clay pot filled with the special poison.
In that instant, it felt as if he had stuck his hands into a pile of red-hot nails.
"AAARGH—"
Zou Feng wailed endlessly, like a baboon performing a mating ritual.
But he stubbornly refused to pull his hands out.
'One must suffer the worst of poisons to rise above all men!'
As he endured the torment, a few lines of text suddenly appeared in his mind.
"Five Poison Palm (Initial Glimpse), Progress: 1%"
"Cultivation Side Effects: Unbearable Pain, Chronic Poisoning."
"Transfer side effects? (Y/N)"
"Current available transfer target: Li Rui"
Zou Feng froze for a moment, then was overcome with joy.
'It's here! My cheat has finally arrived!'
And the function of his cheat was simple and clear.
In addition to the common progress display, it also had the function of transferring Cultivation side effects.
For his current situation, this was like someone handing you a pillow just as you were getting sleepy—perfect timing.
And of course, Zou Feng knew the available target, Li Rui.
It was thanks to that petty bastard that he had been reported for secretly eating the leftovers.
As fellow household slaves in the Yang Family, everyone usually turned a blind eye to such minor infractions.
Occasionally sneaking leftovers to supplement one's nutrition was an unwritten perk for the kitchen helpers.
But this little shit just had to blow things out of proportion.
Zou Feng couldn't even remember when he might have offended him.
But since he was an enemy, transferring the side effects came with zero psychological burden.
So, without hesitation, Zou Feng chose to let Li Rui suffer on his behalf.
At the same time, however, he had some questions.
Li Rui, who had reported him, was certainly an enemy. But Yang Yanpeng, the Third Young Master of the Yang Family who had casually ordered him to be beaten thirty times with the plank, should have been on the list too.
Yang Yanpeng was the most infamous young tyrant in Yuan Guang County. Those utterly vicious guard dogs in the mansion, which had tasted human flesh, were his playthings.
If any other member of the Yang Family had handled the matter, the punishment would likely have been something minor, like being denied food for a day.
It definitely wouldn't have escalated to thirty strikes with the plank.
Zou Feng even suspected that Yang Yanpeng had intended to have him beaten to death all along. After all, those guard dogs hadn't had any human flesh to eat for some time...
'Still, Yang Yanpeng isn't on the list. No need to worry about it for now. Maybe there are other conditions to trigger it.'
'I'll fleece this Li Rui sheep first.'
Once the choice was made, the transfer took effect immediately.
Zou Feng's hands instantly stopped itching and hurting, and his dizziness vanished.
It was as if the special poison his hands were soaking in had suddenly been replaced with a basin of cool mountain spring water.
His beaten ass, however, still throbbed with searing pain.
After all, this wasn't a side effect of his Cultivation, so it couldn't be transferred.
The rest of the Cultivation process, however, actually made Zou Feng feel a bit awkward.
He was supposed to be practicing an incredibly dangerous Evil Skill, but now it was basically just a cold soak...
It felt so refreshing that Zou Feng wanted to scoop up the water and wash his face with it.
Of course, it was just a thought. He wasn't stupid enough to tempt fate like that.
Washing your face with poison wasn't part of the Five Poison Palm Cultivation method. Who knew if the side effects could still be transferred?
After Cultivating for a full half-hour, Zou Feng finally stopped.
It wasn't because he felt sorry for Li Rui. According to the manual, the daily limit for a beginner practicing the Five Poison Palm was half an hour.
Forcing yourself to continue past that time limit would almost certainly result in a sudden, violent death.
In reality, just being able to last for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea was already considered quite good.
Half an hour was pushing the intensity to the absolute max.
Only a rare genius of Poison Skills—someone with a special constitution, extremely high natural poison resistance, and astonishing willpower—could attempt to max out the time with every session.
Zou Feng knew he wasn't some kind of Poison Skill genius, but thankfully, he had someone else to carry the burden for him.
When he finished his Cultivation, Zou Feng looked at the text in his mind again.
"Five Poison Palm (Initial Glimpse), Progress: 9%"
To have made so much progress from a single session was clearly the result of maxing out the time and intensity.
However, the display of the two words "Li Rui" was now noticeably dimmer.
'Looks like I won't be able to fleece this sheep for much longer.'
'I hope Li Rui can hold on until I've trained the Five Poison Palm to the next stage.'
'Or that a successor appears soon...'