In the garden of the Yang Mansion's inner courtyard.
Yang Qianqian leaned against the railing of the arched bridge over the pond, looking utterly bored and listless.
From time to time, she would sprinkle some fish food for the koi in the pond to fight over.
On a stone pillar by the arched bridge, a remarkably tall woman was standing.
This woman held one leg high above her head, her body perfectly still, as if she were practicing some kind of Pile Skill.
This tall woman was not from the Yang Mansion.
Ever since Yang Qianqian had killed the Blood-handed Butcher's son, the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall had stationed someone at the Yang Mansion to protect her.
"Senior Sister Zhuang, how much longer am I going to be cooped up like this? This is so boring!" Yang Qianqian abruptly flung all the fish food in her hand into the water.
The woman called Senior Sister Zhuang was named Zhuang Sixuan, one of the top masters the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall used to maintain its prestige.
A year ago, she had broken through to the Eighth Grade. The "Shadowless Mandarin Duck Leg" she practiced made full use of her long legs.
However, many Martial Artists in Yuan Guang County had privately given Zhuang Sixuan the nickname "Yin Teasing Demoness."
The reason was simple. When Zhuang Sixuan sparred or fought an enemy, if her opponent was male, she would always seize an opportunity to use her Yin-Teasing Leg and strike their vitals.
An uncountable number of victims, after suffering this woman's fatal blow, were never able to rise again.
"What's your hurry? Do you really think the Blood-handed Butcher is that easy to deal with?"
"Just stay put. Once the people from the Celestial Essence Sword Sect arrive in Yuan Guang County, even if the Blood-handed Butcher manages to stay hidden, he won't be able to stir up any trouble."
After speaking, Zhuang Sixuan switched to holding her other leg above her head.
Watching Zhuang Sixuan, who seemed to be showing off her long legs, Yang Qianqian grew increasingly irritated.
Although she considered her own looks to be far superior to Zhuang Sixuan's, she had to admit she couldn't compete with those legs...
"By the way, it seems a real talent has emerged from among your Yang Mansion's servants." Zhuang Sixuan suddenly changed the subject.
"A talent?" Yang Qianqian frowned. She already knew who Zhuang Sixuan was talking about.
Zhuang Sixuan nodded, looking intrigued. "I overheard some maids talking about it, so I went to the front courtyard to have a look. I didn't expect it to actually be true."
"He's only been training for a few days, but I feel like the kid's Five Beasts Pile Skill is already better than mine was back then!"
Hearing that Zou Feng had actually earned Senior Sister Zhuang's approval, Yang Qianqian said disdainfully, "So what? The best future that person can hope for is to become a Hospital Martial Artist in my Yang Mansion."
"Besides, no matter how well he practices the Five Beasts Pile Skill, it doesn't mean he can make a name for himself with other Cultivation Skills."
How could Zhuang Sixuan not notice the hint of pettiness in Yang Qianqian's tone?
Having always been a genius, she couldn't stand to see another one emerge.
Especially when that person was a Household Slave they had never even given a second glance.
So Zhuang Sixuan immediately teased, "You can't be so certain. I also heard that you even went to give him pointers yourself, didn't you?"
"I was just bored out of my mind! It was purely to kill time!" Yang Qianqian's voice started to grow shrill.
This only made Zhuang Sixuan laugh more heartily. Then, she sighed dramatically and said, "You may have just been killing time, but he might have already fallen deeply in love with you..."
"Are there already rumors like that in the mansion?" Yang Qianqian's eyes flashed with anger.
'But deep down, she felt it was only to be expected; she could only blame her own overwhelming charm.'
'Heh. Men!'
'So he discovers he has some Talent for martial arts and immediately starts having unrealistic fantasies...?'
'Still, these kinds of rumors that damage my reputation must be stopped!'
'The Celestial Essence Sword Sect will be sending people to Yuan Guang County soon. That will be my real chance to soar to the heavens.'
'During this time, I can't allow any rumors that could be disadvantageous to me to appear!'
Of course, Yang Qianqian wouldn't go so far as to unreasonably blame Zou Feng just because of these rumors.
But she felt she still had to do something to make Zou Feng stop his unrealistic fantasies...
Meanwhile, Zou Feng was in the front courtyard as usual, practicing the Five Beasts Pile Skill with intense focus.
Of course, this was just for show.
Zou Feng was constantly thinking about combining the Five Beasts Pile Skill with the Five Poison Palm to create something like a Five Poison Pile Skill.
This was actually very dangerous. It was equivalent to recklessly practicing a Cultivation Skill, and one could easily suffer from cultivation deviation and become Fallen into Demon.
But for Zou Feng, since the side effects could be transferred anyway, it wasn't a problem at all.
He could even observe Yang Ling, the one who bore the side effects of his Five Poison Palm Cultivation. If Yang Ling suddenly went completely insane one day, or inexplicably dropped dead despite not having been "farmed" bald yet, it would most likely be because his reckless training had gone wrong.
But after so many days of research, Zou Feng was finally, faintly, starting to get the hang of it.
Right now, he looked like he was holding the Bear Stance from the Five Beasts Pile Skill, but in reality, his stance now held the Divine Charm of the Toad Stance...
Not far away, Zhao Tianhu, who was in charge of teaching the skills, gradually noticed that something was amiss.
Zhao Tianhu was already keeping a close eye on a promising seedling like Zou Feng.
But today, he kept feeling that there was something wrong with Zou Feng's stance, though he couldn't put his finger on what it was.
'Why do I get the strange feeling I'm looking at a giant toad when I watch Zou Feng?!'
After this thought flashed through his mind, Zhao Tianhu let out a self-deprecating laugh and immediately shook his head, casting the absurd idea from his mind.
He turned to look at how the other Household Servants were training and ended up making another unexpected discovery.
Xu Haoran, who shouldn't have had any Talent for martial arts, had actually made significant progress. His Pile Skill stance was now quite well-formed.
Although he was still a long way from achieving Divine Charm in his stance, he was at least showing signs of it.
'Uh, no way. In the tiny Yang Mansion, two martial arts talents have appeared among the servants!?'
As a Third-class Martial Artist with no hope of ever Entering Grade, Zhao Tianhu had certainly gritted his teeth and struggled in his youth.
But after pouring in immense blood, sweat, and hardship, he was forced to accept a cruel reality.
And that was, in the face of absolute Talent, his own efforts were completely insignificant.
'My own martial arts Talent is too poor; it's truly a hopeless case.'
But people with good martial arts Talent were as rare as a phoenix's feather. In the entire Yang Mansion, from top to bottom, only Yang Qianqian was originally considered one.
But now, Zhao Tianhu discovered that the Household Servants of the Yang Mansion were a den of crouching tigers and hidden dragons; two young men with outstanding Talent had appeared at once!
With such Talent, even if they started training late, it wasn't impossible for them to have a chance at Entering Grade in the future.
Zhao Tianhu suddenly began staring intently at Xu Haoran without blinking, which was quickly noticed by Zou Feng, who had just finished his practice.
Following Zhao Tianhu's gaze to Xu Haoran, Zou Feng's pupils contracted.
He could also see that Xu Haoran, who had been a complete mess when practicing his Pile Skill before, had suddenly pulled himself together.
Zou Feng knew how much effort Xu Haoran had put into his martial arts practice in the past.
But as a "cheater" who had already practiced the Five Poison Palm to the stage of Entering the Hall and the Room, Zou Feng's eye for the Martial Dao was much sharper than Zhao Tianhu's.
Therefore, Zou Feng had long since seen that Xu Haoran truly had no Talent for martial arts.
But now, Xu Haoran had just proven him wrong.
'Did I misjudge him, or...'
Just as Zou Feng was pondering this, he saw a man fanning himself with a folding fan walk in through the courtyard gate.
It was the Third Young Master of the Yang Family, Yang Yanpeng, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.