As the saying goes, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
Zou Feng had just finalized his plan to save up and buy an Evil Skill as soon as possible, but now it felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head.
"What!?" Mrs. Wang said, astonished. "He's going to take it all for himself?"
Before, they had always split the money fifty-fifty.
Yang Ling was showing absolutely no regard for the years of service Luo Yong's family had given as Head Chef in the Yang Mansion's kitchen.
"That bastard! Isn't he afraid we'll report this to the master?" Mrs. Wang said furiously.
Luo Yong gave a bitter smile. "He really isn't afraid..."
"This whole business can't see the light of day. If we really expose it, Yang Ling will certainly be punished, but the best-case scenario for our family would be to pack our bags and leave... Ouch!"
Before he could finish, a sharp pain shot through Luo Yong's abdomen, causing him to double over.
Apparently, Luo Yong must have tried to argue and gotten a kick from Yang Ling for his trouble.
"Master, are you all right?"
As he expressed his concern, Zou Feng felt a pang of pity.
Luo Yong's family had been in charge of the Yang Mansion's kitchen for years, and their good treatment was the envy of all the other servants.
Yet they could still be so easily pushed around by a marginal figure of the Yang Family.
Now, they were in a humiliating position where they had to swallow their own broken teeth.
'So, being a chef is useless. I have to practice martial arts and achieve Martial Arts Entry.'
'As they say, with skill, there are no cowards!'
"I'm fine. Nothing broken, I think. A few days of rest and I'll be alright."
"It's just this pent-up frustration... holding it in is unbearable..." Luo Yong said, dejected.
In that moment, he seemed to age several years, the light completely gone from his eyes.
Though he had been incredibly busy these past few days, Luo Yong had felt he had found a good apprentice, so his spirits had actually been quite high.
"Master, please don't let your anger get the best of you. People like Yang Ling will get what's coming to them!"
Luo Yong smiled bitterly, not wanting to respond to his apprentice's naivety.
What he didn't know, however, was that Zou Feng wasn't just saying it casually.
'Transferable Targets Available: Li Rui, Yang Ling.'
Just now, Yang Ling's name had appeared on the panel.
'Brother Li finally has a successor.'
Zou Feng wasn't too surprised as to why Yang Ling's name had appeared.
'After all, cutting off someone's livelihood is like murdering their parents.'
'Not to mention, Yang Ling had also physically struck his master, Luo Yong.'
'This was no small grudge; it was only natural for him to make the list.'
After finishing his work and leaving the kitchen, Zou Feng immediately tried to add Yang Ling as a transfer target.
But it didn't work. The text feedback he received was: "Unable to transfer to two targets simultaneously at this time!"
'At this time?'
'Doesn't that mean it'll be possible to select multiple transfer targets at once after meeting certain conditions?'
As for what those conditions might be, Zou Feng guessed it was related to his own Cultivation progress.
'In the future, when I achieve Martial Arts Entry and practice even more depraved Evil Skills, relying on just one person to bear the burden clearly won't be enough.'
'Sooner or later, more people will have to join this big family.'
'Maybe as I get stronger, all it will take is a single glare to put someone on the list.'
'Whoever I glare at will have to work for me.'
'But for now...'
'Brother Li, I'm sorry!'
Zou Feng had no intention of letting Li Rui go. Instead, he decided to squeeze out his last bit of use.
After cultivating the Five Poison Palm to the "Slightly Accomplished" stage, Zou Feng instinctively felt that practicing for only an hour a day was no longer enough to make much progress.
Furthermore, the dose of the special poison he soaked his hands in had to be increased.
But given Li Rui's previous state, he could have collapsed at any moment, so Zou Feng had been reluctant to increase the intensity.
But now that a successor, Yang Ling, had appeared, there was no longer any need to be cautious with Li Rui.
'Time to go all out!'
Additionally, when he had left the kitchen earlier, Zou Feng had brought back all five of the remaining volumes of the *Herbal Catalogue*.
Since he had read and memorized the first volume so quickly, Luo Yong naturally didn't think he was being overly ambitious.
He had straightforwardly handed the remaining five volumes over to Zou Feng.
Back in the woodshed, Zou Feng used his Quantum Reading Skill to quickly scan the table of contents for the last five volumes.
He planned to find the information he needed and prioritize studying it.
Sure enough, the last three volumes were no longer about medicinal herbs, but instead recorded animals that could be used in medicine.
Many poisonous creatures could be used in medicine, as long as the dosage was properly controlled.
Of course, this required a deep understanding of their toxicity.
The book naturally contained detailed records on all such matters.
This would make it much easier for Zou Feng to understand the toxicity of the Five Poison Palm.
When it came time to concoct even more potent poisons, he would be much more adept...
The next day, on his way to the mess hall, Zou Feng heard the news of Li Rui's sudden death.
But no one was surprised. After all, Li Rui had already looked like he was suffering from a strange, terminal illness.
Most of the servants ate worse than pigs and worked harder than donkeys; it was almost an annual occurrence for a few of them to just drop dead.
In the eyes of the Yang Family, Li Rui's sudden death was just a trivial, everyday matter.
The Yang Family had already sent people to handle the aftermath.
In short, it was too late for Zou Feng to even see Li Rui's body one last time.
Last night, Zou Feng had increased his Cultivation intensity as planned.
Not only did he increase the dosage of the poison, but he also cultivated for a full two hours.
It was a true case of going all out on Brother Li.
And then, as expected, Li Rui kicked the bucket.
Now, Yang Ling was his replacement.
'To be honest, Yang Ling is definitely a higher-quality transfer target.'
As a disciple of the Yang Family, Yang Ling had had the opportunity to practice martial arts since he was young.
Perhaps due to limited Talent, or maybe a lack of diligence, Yang Ling certainly hadn't achieved much in the Martial Dao.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be stuck as a mere Steward in the Yang Mansion.
But he still had the foundation of a Martial Artist, and his physical constitution was far beyond that of an ordinary person.
'In a word: durable!'
'In comparison, Li Rui was just too fragile.'
In any case, for the time being, Zou Feng could finally stop worrying about accidentally killing his transfer target with a little too much effort.
With Yang Ling, he was almost certain he could cultivate the Five Poison Palm to the next stage.
The only downside was that his original source of income had been cut off for good.
He would have to find another way to save money.
On this point, however, Zou Feng already had some new ideas.
'Then again, why should a "villain" like me, who practices an Evil Skill, earn money through normal means?'
'There are so many other ways to get rich quick.'
'It's just that most of those methods are written into the *Great Yan Law*.'
'But in the end, laws are only for restraining ordinary people.'
'And one of the reasons people practice martial arts is precisely to obtain special privileges and rise above certain rules.'
'And I... I'm gradually gaining the power to break the law with martial force...'
The atmosphere in the kitchen today was rather gloomy.
It wasn't because of Li Rui's sudden death, but because of the dark cloud the new Steward, Yang Ling, had brought with him.
As for the kitchen being short-staffed, that problem would likely be solved by the afternoon.
Whether it was hiring a helper or buying a servant, for the Yang Mansion, nothing could be simpler.