Chapter 615 - 366: Combination Big Move
After a moment, as if reading something in Zou Feng’s eyes, Su Qingyu said in a low voice, "What I just gave you wasn’t foot odor, it was poison gas!"
"...I didn’t say it was foot odor..."
"I’m tired. Completely drained. Come over and massage them for me!" As she spoke, Su Qingyu stretched out a long leg and, taking advantage of its impressive length, hooked Zou Feng and pulled him over.
Zou Feng had no choice but to continue playing with Xiaolv with one hand while massaging her leg with the other.
He had only been at it for a few moments when a cheer erupted from their surroundings.
Looking out, not a single Tribulation Cultivator was left standing as far as the eye could see. They had all been eliminated.
What was supposed to be a massive invasion by numerous Tribulation Cultivators after the defensive array had been breached had taken a sudden turn. They had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, nearly annihilating all the invading Evil Cultivators.
Thus, as the defenders of the Celestial Hearing Tower cheered and savored their victory, they all kept glancing toward Zou Feng.
Everyone couldn’t help but marvel. The former number one on the Ascension Rankings was truly the real deal, as extraordinary as they came.
Despite taking a moment to recover, Zou Feng didn’t let his guard down completely.
He knew that when their defense line had been breached, no reinforcements had come. That meant the pressure on the other lines had to be immense.
Perhaps even the Celestial Hearing Tower itself was under a massive assault.
The intelligence they received later confirmed his suspicion. The Celestial Hearing Tower had indeed been besieged by a team led by Golden Core Realm Tribulation Cultivators.
Fortunately, Jiang Wanzhao and Luo Gang had launched a powerful counterattack, and with Yu Lingxiao controlling the Celestial Hearing Tower’s great enemy-trapping array, they had made it through the ordeal shaken but unscathed.
However, while the Celestial Hearing Tower was largely unharmed, two other defense lines had been completely breached, allowing a large number of Tribulation Cultivators to slip through.
If they weren’t eliminated soon, the human cities, market towns, and the various resources near the Spiritual Veins in the Northern Domain would all be devastated and plundered.
Fortunately, Zou Feng had held one line, preventing the even more disastrous scenario of three breached fronts.
Therefore, he didn’t even need to return to the Celestial Hearing Tower to wait for Jiang Wanzhao’s orders. The next task for powerful Dao Foundation Realm cultivators like him and Su Qingyu would undoubtedly be to hunt down and eliminate the Tribulation Cultivators who had slipped through.
For Zou Feng, this was actually a plum assignment.
Whether he found Poison Cultivators from the Yama Underworld or Celestial Soldiers and Generals, they were all highly potent supplements for his cultivation.
This was especially true for his Outer Alchemy Dao. After a recent series of practical applications and absorbing a considerable amount of Outer Pill Power, his progress in this Daoist Art was just a few points shy of the Great Success Realm.
Zou Feng estimated that as soon as this Daoist Art reached Great Success, he would far exceed his own projections and reach the Dao Foundation Realm Middle Stage ahead of schedule.
If he had just been holing up and grinding away in closed-door cultivation at the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, reaching the Dao Foundation Realm Middle Stage this quickly would have been utterly impossible.
And that was just the beginning. He had a feeling that if he stayed here a while longer and continued to fleece the Yama Underworld and the Ninefold Celestial Court, it wouldn’t be long before reaching the Perfection stage of the Dao Foundation Realm was a sure thing.
And once he perfected his Dao Foundation, he could attempt to form a Golden Core and advance to the rank of True Inheritor!
True Disciples had the right to conquer Outer Realms on their own, a prospect Zou Feng was quite excited about.
When conquering Outer Realms, as long as his luck wasn’t terrible, the resources he could obtain would be on a completely different level from what he was used to.
Also, there was still Gongyang Marquis on his List of Gods, whom he had yet to properly bring to heel.
Such a resilient fellow was a constant thorn in Zou Feng’s side.
He had given up hope of dealing with him in the Dao Foundation Realm. He could only pin his hopes on breaking through to the Golden Core Realm and trying again to see if he could beat Gongyang Marquis into submission.
In short, with these "gifts" from the Yama Underworld and the Ninefold Celestial Court, his once-lengthy cultivation journey would be dramatically shortened.
As all these thoughts ran through his mind, he and Su Qingyu were nearing their return to the Celestial Hearing Tower.
Just as he’d expected, a message had arrived from Jiang Wanzhao, telling them to return at once.
When they were less than a mile from the Celestial Hearing Tower, Zou Feng suddenly sensed a cold, prying gaze.
But when he focused his senses to scan the area, he found nothing.
So, Zou Feng decisively opened his List of Gods to see if some new big shot had made the list.
He checked it over, but no new names had appeared on the List of Gods.
This puzzled Zou Feng.
’The cold gaze I just felt was definitely not my imagination.’
’So, could it be someone like Liu Chenyu? Someone who bears me ill will, but has no actual killing intent?’
’Liu Chenyu was just lusting after my body, wanting to devour me in her own way. But this person I’m sensing now... what could they possibly want?’
"Are you cultivating an Evil Skill from the Ninefold Celestial Court?"
Seeing that they were alone, Su Qingyu, who was walking beside him, finally couldn’t hold back her question.
Zou Feng glanced back at Su Qingyu’s solemn face and thought, ’As I expected, I couldn’t fool her.’
It couldn’t be helped. When he was Refining the External Pill earlier, he had used the Black Fog to conceal the process, but Su Qingyu was an expert in poison mists herself; she was bound to notice a few clues.
That was not to mention their frantic "dance-off" from before, the intimate mingling of their auras, and that final shockwave from the External Pill...
Still, as his "intimate Fellow Daoist," there was no real need to hide it from her.
"That’s right. I’ve been studying the Outer Alchemy Dao, one of the Ninefold Celestial Court’s Evil Skills, and I’ve already made some headway!" Zou Feng admitted frankly.
Su Qingyu pressed on, "Is cultivating this path dangerous?"
"Of course, it is. How else would the Ninefold Celestial Court be filled with so many lunatics? But my constitution just so happens to be able to withstand most of the risks..." Zou Feng replied with a half-truth.
After listening, Su Qingyu hesitated for a moment before asking, "Can I learn it?"
"Not a chance in hell, Palace Master. This stuff isn’t for you. We’d be better off finding something for you to practice from those Yama Underworld goons!"
The Outer Alchemy Dao wasn’t a Poison Skill. If Su Qingyu tried it rashly, she’d likely end up being assimilated, turned into one of those madmen obsessed with joining the celestial ranks.
Most cultivators wouldn’t be able to withstand the incomprehensible whispers that invaded one’s sea of consciousness during cultivation.
But the Skills from the Yama Underworld related to the Poison Dao were a different story. Su Qingyu could certainly give those a try. Besides, he coveted the Yama Underworld’s Skills himself.
’Hopefully, the Underworld Tribulation Cultivators who broke through the defense lines this time can grant my wish...’
"Speaking of which, you can even practice those Evil Skills from the Ninefold Celestial Court without any repercussions. That’s a bit too..."
"It was the same back in Great Yan. You cultivated Evil Skills and Poison Skills, advancing by leaps and bounds, yet you never once ran into a situation you couldn’t handle. What’s your secret?"
Having come this far, Su Qingyu’s curiosity was piqued, and she asked the question she had been wanting to ask for a long time.
In the past, Su Qingyu would never have been so tactless as to pry into someone’s secrets.
But as their relationship had grown more intimate, she felt she could ask without being overly guarded.
’Of course, it’s because I’ve got my "big brothers" backing me...’
Zou Feng sighed softly, looked her in the eye, and countered, "Palace Master, what if I told you I was a one-in-a-million genius when it comes to Poison Skills and Evil Arts, and that’s why I’ve been fine all this time? Would you believe me?"
Su Qingyu nodded without hesitation. "I believe you. Why wouldn’t I?"
"After all, there’s no other logical explanation. In a barren place like Great Yan, where the Spiritual Qi is so thin, it’s impossible for you to have had any truly significant fortuitous encounters or found any real treasures..."
It seemed Su Qingyu was reasoning her way into convincing herself.
And just like that, he had more or less gotten away with it.
’It’s necessary to satisfy the curiosity of those close to you, at least a little,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, that curiosity might fester and turn into something else.’
"Palace Master, what’s your take on this whole Tribulation Cultivator mess?" Zou Feng asked, deftly changing the subject.
Su Qingyu mused, "Something feels off. It looked like an all-out assault, but in the end, it was all thunder and no rain. Even if a few of their squads got through, what can they do besides hide and be a nuisance?"
Zou Feng deeply agreed.
The Yama Underworld and the Ninefold Celestial Court had come on strong, launching the largest-scale attack in a long time and paying a steep price for it. And the result... was this?
True, most of these Tribulation Cultivators were lunatics, but their higher-ups—the ones making the decisions—couldn’t possibly be suffering from complete dementia.
’Which means,’ he thought, ’they must have another move to play...’