Chapter 657 - 387: Moon Step and Tempest Kick
’If I don’t think of something soon, I’m going to be surrounded...’
Zou Feng cursed under his breath. He had no choice but to pull out another External Pill and use the recoil from an Outer Pill Cannon to speed himself up.
At the same time, the blast would throw the pursuing Tribulation Cultivators into a state of chaos.
This blast gave Zou Feng a chance to escape a great distance, and the sounds of tearing air behind him grew fainter and fainter.
He still didn’t dare to relax, pushing his Drunken Immortal Moon Chasing Step to its absolute limit as he continued his mad dash.
He ran nonstop until near dusk, when he finally came to a halt.
He had to stop and rest for a moment; otherwise, he’d have to consume another External Pill just to maintain his physical condition.
Coincidentally, there was a swamp below. Without a second thought for the filth, Zou Feng submerged himself in it, leaving only his head above the surface.
Perhaps because he cultivated the Five Poison Skill, he found he quite liked this kind of swamp.
As for the various venomous creatures in the swamp, they sensed a being of such abyssal poison as Zou Feng and wouldn’t dare share the water with him. They vanished without a trace in a matter of seconds.
Now that he could finally rest, Zou Feng naturally checked the progress of his Skill first.
"Outer Alchemy Dao (Great Success), Progress: 97%"
’Tsk, still not there!’
He had consumed a total of three External Pills during his fight with the Fairy and his subsequent escape.
But on second thought, it was reasonable. After all, those External Pills had been "expended," not fully digested by his body.
He currently had three External Pills remaining, all gifts from the three Dao Foundation Realm Late Stage Fairies.
The quality of these External Pills was visibly quite high.
He could predict that consuming just one more would definitely allow his Refinement to break through to the Realm of Perfection.
There was really nothing to hesitate about. Even though using External Pills for the Outer Pill Cannon was powerful, it was ultimately no substitute for the reliability of improving his own strength.
After carefully sensing his surroundings and finding nothing unusual, Zou Feng immediately took out an External Pill and consumed it.
But before he could even begin to digest it, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his heart and head simultaneously.
’Hm?!’
Confusion flickered in Zou Feng’s eyes, but he immediately understood what was happening.
’Xiaolv has definitely been injured!’
’So it couldn’t escape the Immortal Official’s clutches after all?’
But he couldn’t blame Xiaolv for not being strong enough. To have held out and escaped for this long before getting injured was already exceeding its mission parameters.
’I just don’t know if Xiaolv can manage to survive its injuries and find a way to stay alive.’
Thinking that Xiaolv still had a chance to survive wasn’t just Zou Feng being overly optimistic or engaging in wishful thinking.
The fact that it took the Immortal Official so long to injure Xiaolv was proof enough that she had been running ragged and had failed to catch it.
It was precisely because she couldn’t catch up to or find Xiaolv that she had likely gotten frustrated and, heedless of the cost, unleashed some kind of massive area-of-effect Skill.
That must have been what hit Xiaolv and injured it.
’So, as long as Xiaolv can survive this, it might be able to escape to safety or continue to hide.’
But on the other hand, Xiaolv getting injured also meant its cover was blown—it was no longer the target the Immortal Official was truly after...
The reason was simple. Once injured, Xiaolv’s bodily functions would decline. It naturally wouldn’t be able to maintain its original toxicity, let alone mimic an aura similar to Zou Feng’s.
The Immortal Official would be able to sense these changes immediately and realize she had been chasing the wrong target.
’So next, if she’s decisive enough, she’ll probably give up on hunting down the decoy and turn back to chase the real deal.’
After all, it wasn’t too late to correct her mistake. Using the senses of the Outer Alchemy Dao, it was only a matter of time before she reacquired his position.
The subsequent lack of any reaction that would indicate Xiaolv was completely finished off gradually seemed to confirm Zou Feng’s suspicions.
’The Immortal Official probably did turn back immediately...’
At this thought, Zou Feng quickly focused his Heart Spirit and began to concentrate on the Refinement of the External Pill.
’Being targeted again was always part of the plan. In any case, I need to increase my strength as fast as possible.’
’Once I advance to the Dao Foundation Realm Late Stage, maybe I can even...’
This time, probably due to the excellent quality of the External Pill, it took Zou Feng the time it would take to eat a meal to mostly complete its Refinement.
However, upon completing the Refinement, what followed wasn’t a reaction from the Skill, but the muttering of the Queen Mother in his sea of consciousness, which suddenly grew much louder.
It felt to Zou Feng as if someone were pressing against his ear, screaming a rap hoarsely.
At the same time, the faint outline of a benevolent woman’s face appeared in his sea of consciousness.
’Ugh, if I keep cultivating the Nine Immortal Ascension Skills like this, am I eventually going to come "face to face" with the Queen Mother?’
’I’ll worry about that later. This is a golden opportunity. Not using it to cultivate the Drunken Immortal Moon Chasing Step would be a terrible waste of a priceless opportunity.’
The next moment, Zou Feng leaped out of the swamp.
Thanks to his Spiritual Energy Protection, his clothes weren’t soiled. His appearance after jumping out was the very picture of "emerging from the mud unstained."
After leaping from the swamp, he didn’t have time to feel the changes in his Outer Alchemy Dao. Instead, he channeled all his energy into the Drunken Immortal Moon Chasing Step, planning to continue his escape while simultaneously cultivating the Moon Chasing Step.
Because his Drunken Immortal Moon Chasing Step was not far from reaching the state of Unity of Heaven and Man, the Skill was already starting to show obvious changes.
Zou Feng could feel that even a casual step could now produce the effect of a "Moon Step."
Furthermore, its power and inherent deceptiveness were no longer limited to passively affecting enemies.
If Zou Feng threw a roundhouse kick or used other kicking techniques, he could even produce an effect like a Moonlight Slash.
With this Moonlight Slash-like effect, he could slice weaker enemies in two.
Of course, this was only its most basic application. Using this as a foundation, Zou Feng would soon be able to develop techniques that were truly useful...
Night gradually fell, and a new moon hung in the sky.
Treating the Queen Mother’s rap as fine wine, with the new moon providing the perfect environment and Mental Realm, cultivating the Drunken Immortal Moon Chasing Step was like a fish in water.
Its Cultivation progress increased with incredible speed.
If someone were to look down from high in the sky, they would see that Zou Feng wasn’t fleeing for his life at all; he was performing a mesmerizing dance beneath the moon.
Previously, when Zou Feng danced, he only had the Shaking Flower Hand, with no footwork to complement it.
Now, it was clear he had also comprehended the corresponding footwork that complemented the Shaking Flower Hand.
If he were to dance with his full power, even Zou Feng himself couldn’t estimate how much destructive force it would generate.
The Queen Mother’s rap eventually ended, and Zou Feng reluctantly stopped his wild dance under the moon.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Zou Feng eagerly checked the gains from his Cultivation session.
"Drunken Immortal Moon Chasing Step (Extraordinary to Saint), Progress: 82%."
’Nice. Compared to before this session, it increased by nearly thirty points.’
’This is growth at the Extraordinary to Saint stage. To achieve this much of an increase is simply absurd.’
’The Queen Mother thinks she’s torturing me, but she has no idea she’s slowly nurturing a monster that will one day be her undoing.’
’However, these mutterings are probably just a byproduct of some Skill the "Queen Mother" is using.’
’It’s aimed at all Cultivators who practice the Nine Immortal Ascension Skills, not specifically at me.’
’If she really wanted me dead, another name would have appeared on the List of Gods, shining brightly enough to blind me.’
Of course, it was also quite normal that she hadn’t deliberately tried to kill him.
As the boss of the Ninefold Celestial Court, she had an immeasurable amount of matters and information to deal with. It was impossible for her to notice a mere Dao Foundation Realm small fry practicing the Outer Alchemy Dao for the time being.
’But as my Realm increases and I become significant enough, she’ll most likely start paying attention to me...’
Furthermore, the more Zou Feng cultivated the Outer Alchemy Dao, the more he felt how sinister this so-called Immortal Technique was.
Although this Skill allowed him to achieve Refinement using Tribulation Cultivators from the Ninefold Celestial Court, Zou Feng was actually well aware that the reverse was also true: he himself had become a "Great Medicine" suitable for Refinement by the Celestial Tribulation Cultivators.
He didn’t know the specifics of the other Nine Immortal Ascension Skills, but he was certain that none of them were proper Immortal Techniques. They would all probably turn a Cultivator into an ingredient suitable for the "Queen Mother" to cook with...