It had to be said that Zou Feng's plan to use the Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent's venom to aid his Poison Skill cultivation was no different from courting death.
Although Poison Cultivators practiced by testing poisons on themselves, there were still limits.
One had to understand that in this vast world, there were countless "Exotic Poisons" that had yet to be fully understood.
While Poison Cultivators could make use of these Exotic Poisons, as for integrating them into their own bodies…
It was best not to get too carried away with such fantasies.
And the Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent's venom was, in every sense of the word, an "Exotic Poison"!
Adding this thing's venom to the Five Poison Creatures mixture, then soaking one's hands in it to cultivate the Five Poison Palm?
If any other Poison Cultivators saw this, they would likely give Zou Feng a thumbs-up and sincerely praise him, "My friend, you truly have a talent for seeking death!"
Unfortunately for them, they didn't know that Zou Feng was only responsible for the "courting." The "death" part was borne by someone else.
In the woodshed, Zou Feng wasted no more time. He immediately squeezed the venom from the Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent's fangs into the jar of poisonous water he used for cultivation.
After the Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent's venom dripped in, the poisonous water quickly began to shimmer with a faint golden light.
Without hesitation, Zou Feng began cultivating, extending his hands to once again begin his training of the Five Poison Palm.
Because the side effects were transferred away, Zou Feng's hands, when submerged in the poison mixture, would normally only feel like they were soaking in cool water.
This time, however, he actually felt the "cool water" had turned warm!
He had used so many exotic and fancy poisons before, but none had ever changed the feeling of the "cool water" during his cultivation.
Even the venom from his haphazardly raised Gu Poison, "Xiaolv," which made the poisonous water seem to boil when added, still left his hands feeling like they were in cool water.
'So, it's truly worthy of being called an Exotic Poison. Incredible!'
'Yang Yanpeng is really in for it now…'
After this round of cultivation was complete, Zou Feng pulled out his hands and immediately began cultivating.
His dark, bruised-looking palms now had a faint, subtle golden sheen.
'Interesting. I hope that after I finish practicing this modified Five Poison Palm, I don't end up unleashing a brilliant golden light, looking all righteous and not at all like I'm using a Poison Skill…'
He glanced at his panel again.
"Five Poison Palm (Entering the Hall and the Room), Progress: 82%"
'Finally, my cultivation progress is starting to increase rapidly again.'
Previously, when I added Xiaolv's Gu Poison to my cultivation, my progress barely increased by one percent.
But now, it had shot up by six percent in one go.
'It's a sure thing now. In the next few days, my Five Poison Palm will break through to the Integration and Mastery realm!'
'And because this is my own modified Five Poison Palm, mixed with so many toxins and now infused with an Exotic Poison, I'm afraid Yang Yanpeng would be no match for me even if I only used this skill to fight him.'
Zou Feng also noticed that the text for the Five Poison Palm on his panel had become blurry.
'This clearly means my modifications to the Five Poison Palm have been a great success. The Cultivation Skill is about to evolve into my own creation, becoming my unique secret technique.'
It had been a very fruitful night.
He had obtained an Exotic Poison, and he had Yang Yanpeng, a Human-shaped Gu that was about to mature, waiting for him to refine in a moment's notice.
But to be on the safe side, as soon as the Five Poison Palm advanced to the Integration and Mastery realm, he would immediately attempt to break through to the Entering Grade!
Unfortunately, there was still a small flaw in an otherwise perfect situation.
The Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent, having had its venom extracted, was now listless and looked like it wouldn't live much longer.
Seeing this, Zou Feng attempted to save it, but his efforts were in vain.
The Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent couldn't survive in the Central Plains Region to begin with; it had been forcibly brought here by an expert in such matters.
After being manhandled by Zou Feng, it would surely die unless that same expert personally intervened to save it.
With no other choice, Zou Feng fed the Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent to Xiaolv.
He then couldn't help but fantasize, 'It would be great if I could get my hands on more Exotic Poison creatures like the Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent.'
'Speaking of which, the helpers hired by that Blood-handed Butcher must have more tricks up their sleeves than just tossing a Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent into the Yang Mansion, right?'
Almost at the same time, in a courtyard house three streets away from the Yang Mansion.
This particular courtyard house was inhabited by natives of Yuan Guang County, who were all still sound asleep as it was not yet dawn.
However, three uninvited guests now stood in the middle of the courtyard.
One was a large, bearded man, bare-chested, with steam seemingly rising from his body at all times.
Another was a beautiful woman with an enchanting figure, dressed like a prostitute.
She looked very young, perhaps seventeen or eighteen, but a closer look would make one realize her true age was a mystery…
The last person was wrapped in a black robe, their body hunched over, making it impossible to see their face.
On their arm, a small, pitch-black snake raised its head, flicking its forked tongue.
The bearded man would occasionally take a drink from a bowl of wine, but a careful observer would notice that his wine was clearly mixed with human blood!
"Snake Monarch, are you sure the Yang Mansion will be afflicted with that plague?" the bearded man asked, his expression full of hatred as he mentioned the two words "Yang Mansion."
The man known as the "Snake Monarch" chuckled upon hearing this. "Don't worry, it's not a big problem!"
"Even if it doesn't trigger a plague, it doesn't matter. The Exotic Poisons I brought from the Northern Desert this time aren't limited to just the Golden-Scaled Plague Serpent."
"In short, the Yang Mansion will soon be thrown into utter chaos. Having an Eighth Grade master from the Heart Meeting Martial Arts Hall stationed there will be useless!"
The bearded man crushed the wine bowl in his hand. "Letting those bastards die from a plague is letting them off too easily…"
"But that Yang Qianqian must fall into my hands alive."
"Since she killed my son, she has to give me another one in return."
"If she doesn't bear me another son, she can forget about dying a quick death!"
Hearing these vicious words, the beautiful woman beside him frowned repeatedly.
"How did you even come up with that? You're making the woman who killed your son become your dead son's stepmother, and then have his little brother…" At this point, the woman suddenly broke into a charming smile. "How messy!"
"Messy? Could it be messier than you, Thousand-Faced Widow?"
"I'm not a widow! How can you slander my good name like that? I'm still a pure maiden, you know!"
"Heh, a maiden who just celebrated her sixtieth birthday."
"Nonsense! Those are just rumors spread by shameless scoundrels who hold a grudge against me. I just turned eighteen!"
The three of them didn't seem to worry at all about waking the sleeping residents inside, continuing their conversation as if no one else was there.
If an old veteran of the Jianghu were present, they would immediately recognize these three as notoriously infamous masters of the Evil Dao.
The Blood-handed Butcher, Xue Ruhai.
The Jade Snake Young Master, Li Li.
The Thousand-Faced Widow, Bai Cuixiang.
It was a mystery how the Blood-handed Butcher had managed to persuade two other such fiends to help him avenge his son.
"Snake Monarch, how long will it take to start the plague in the Yang Mansion?" The Blood-handed Butcher quickly lost interest in bickering with Bai Cuixiang and pressed on.
The Jade Snake Young Master, Li Li, replied with great confidence, "From now on, I will release an 'Exotic Poisonous Creature' into the Yang Mansion every night. Therefore, within ten days, the Yang Mansion will surely descend into chaos and suffer heavy casualties!"