Chapter 713 - 415: Greedy Scorpion Demon

Since the transaction was complete, and Tao Yaoyao had clearly stated she had no desire to become his subordinate, Zou Feng couldn’t even be bothered with pleasantries. Once he got what he wanted, he turned and left.

Tao Yaoyao, however, remained kneeling on the ground. As she watched Zou Feng’s retreating back, an expression of resentment unconsciously filled her face.

It was as if Zou Feng were some heartless scoundrel who had taken something precious from her and then immediately pulled up his pants and walked away.

"Sister Tao, it’s not too late! If you’re willing to follow the Master, I’ll go plead your case for you right now!"

After speaking, Shangguan Rongrong straightened up, showing off her Poison Pattern.

"This is a wonderful thing the Master gave me. Sister Tao, you should be able to tell."

After glancing a few times at the Poison Pattern on Shangguan Rongrong’s waist, how could Tao Yaoyao not see what a treasure it was?

In truth, she was already wavering. But she had just spoken with such finality. What if she changed her mind only to be met with a cold shoulder?

"Sister Tao, what’s more important? Your pride, or your path of cultivation?" Shangguan Rongrong guessed her thoughts and said earnestly, "The Master is no ordinary True Disciple. Before long, the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect will have another True Inheritor!"

Hearing this, Tao Yaoyao was completely jolted to her senses. She immediately scrambled to her feet and chased after Zou Feng...

A quarter of an hour later, Zou Feng and the others returned to the Flying Celestial Ship.

Tao Yaoyao’s change of heart had been sincere enough. Zou Feng, being a bit obsessive, felt that since he was collecting the Five Poison Creatures, he ought to have a full set of five Poison Demons as subordinates. So, he decided to let bygones be bygones and bestowed a Poison Pattern upon Tao Yaoyao.

Still, he was missing a Spider Demon. He’d just have to find one when the opportunity arose.

Although he was short one Spider Demon, he had collected all Five Poison Creatures. Now, he could finally attempt to achieve a major breakthrough with his Five Poison Holy Lotus Skill.

Zou Feng estimated that if the Five Poison Holy Lotus Skill broke through successfully, it would likely cause a huge commotion.

If he ended up turning Ye Chenhua’s Flying Celestial Ship into a "Poison Ship," that wouldn’t be good.

Therefore, he needed to find a suitable place to proceed with the Refinement of the Five Poison Creatures and his breakthrough.

Besides the Five Poison Creatures, he also needed to deal with the Golden Core Wolf Poison and the clam poison, neither of which had been fully refined yet.

Thinking of this, Zou Feng headed straight for Jiang Wanzhao’s room.

Although finding a suitable place for his breakthrough probably wouldn’t take long, it was still equivalent to going into seclusion. It was only natural that he should go inform Jiang Wanzhao.

Speaking of which, ever since the centipede demon incident, Jiang Wanzhao hadn’t been tagging along to join the fun like before...

"Senior Sister Jiang!"

"Come in..."

Even though Jiang Wanzhao had complicated feelings, at five hundred years of age, she wasn’t like an ordinary woman who would lock herself in her room to sulk.

Pushing the door open, he saw that Jiang Wanzhao was currently in her young girl form.

However, Zou Feng was no Zhao Feixiong; he had absolutely no interest in this form. The mature, elegant woman form was much more his style.

Without any pleasantries, Zou Feng got straight to the point and explained his reason for coming.

"How long will you be in seclusion this time?"

Jiang Wanzhao wasn’t surprised by Zou Feng’s decision.

After all, Zou Feng had only just broken through to the Golden Core Realm. Even if he didn’t need to advance his Cultivation Skill for now, it was best to enter seclusion to consolidate his Realm.

Zou Feng mused, "It’s hard to say for sure, but it won’t be too long. Ten to fifteen days at the minimum, a month at the most, should be enough."

"Alright. I’ll stay nearby and act as your Guardian," Jiang Wanzhao said matter-of-factly.

Zou Feng didn’t stand on ceremony. "Then I thank you, Senior Sister Jiang."

"No need. Elder Undying ordered me to atone for my mistakes through meritorious service. I was originally responsible for helping you with your Core Formation. Although your Golden Core is now formed, acting as your Guardian during seclusion should also count as part of my mission."

"Oh, and Ye Chenhua can’t get out of it either. He should also act as your Guardian..."

Hearing this, Zou Feng hesitated for a moment before changing the subject. "Senior Sister Jiang, actually, I only took on those Poison Demons to make it more convenient to harvest poison in the future. It’s not..."

Before he could finish, however, Jiang Wanzhao waved her hand dismissively. "That’s not important. With your current strength and status, forget a few Poison Demons—even if you took hundreds or thousands of concubines into your harem like Liu Chenyu, it wouldn’t be a big deal."

Zou Feng saw that when Jiang Wanzhao said this, she truly didn’t seem to be sulking. He figured she must have come to terms with it, so he didn’t pursue the topic further.

But speaking of Liu Chenyu...

In the past, Zou Feng’s wariness of this woman was no less than his fear of True Monarch Tianyan, Nangong Chu.

But now that he cultivated the Dual Cultivation Dao of the Ninefold Celestial Court and had broken through to the Golden Core Realm, Liu Chenyu was naturally no longer a concern.

He just wondered if she was also participating in the northern expedition.

After a few more minutes of small talk, Zou Feng took his leave.

Zou Feng returned to his room to get Su Qingyu. When the Flying Celestial Ship reached a canyon, they leaped off the Divine Ship together.

As a fellow Poison Cultivator who had engaged in intimate exchanges with him, she only needed to be nearby when Zou Feng was cultivating his Five Poison Skill to receive immense benefits.

She might even gain some new insights from it, not only greatly advancing her Poison Skill and Poison Body, but also building a foundation for her own Core Formation.

Xiaolv, of course, would also receive similar benefits.

But it would be difficult for Shangguan Rongrong to bask in the same blessings. After all, she hadn’t had extensive exchanges with Zou Feng like Su Qingyu had, so she lacked the corresponding resistance to his Exotic Poison.

However, driven by the idea that fortune favors the bold, Shangguan Rongrong decided to risk it. At worst, she could just stay farther away and absorb a tiny bit of the Exotic Poison’s aura from the periphery.

After Zou Feng chose his place of seclusion and departed, Ye Chenhua put away the Flying Celestial Ship. He and Jiang Wanzhao then concealed themselves at opposite ends of the canyon, secretly standing guard for Zou Feng.

Strictly speaking, the location Zou Feng had chosen for his seclusion was not safe.

Although the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect’s northern expedition army should have, by now, fought its way back to the ruins of the Original Celestial Listening Tower, the Tribulation Cultivators had launched a large-scale invasion before. They were now scattered everywhere and could appear in groups at any moment.

Furthermore, it was still unknown when the Cultivators from the Dubhe Divine Domain would bring a "surprise," which was another huge hidden danger.

It was also the biggest variable in the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect’s current northern expedition.

However, Zou Feng had tasted immense benefits from his "Tribulation Core Formation." With two True Disciples, Ye Chenhua and Jiang Wanzhao, acting as his Guardians, he naturally felt the chances of anything going wrong were slim.

After entering the canyon, Zou Feng confirmed there were no ordinary people like farmers or hunters nearby. He then casually found a spot with dense vegetation and sat down cross-legged.

Xiaolv lay on his shoulder, ready to receive its share of the benefits at any moment.

Su Qingyu, for her part, simply lay down behind him again, proactively turning herself into a "gun stock" and pressing her feet against his back.

Shangguan Rongrong didn’t dare get too close. She stayed over thirty zhang away, ready to flee at a moment’s notice.

With all preparations complete, Zou Feng delayed no longer and began the Refinement of the "Five Poison Creatures" he had just assembled.

As for who would bear the burden for him during this session of secluded cultivation...

Originally, Zou Feng had planned to go all out and send "big brother" True Monarch Tianyan, Nangong Chu, on his way.

But by observing the List of Gods, Zou Feng discovered that the light of Nangong Chu’s name, which had previously dimmed, had now surprisingly recovered to eighty or ninety percent of its peak.

Clearly, after being tormented by the side effects before, Nangong Chu no longer dared to stay outside and had definitely returned to the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect.

As one of the top True Disciples, Nangong Chu had a profound foundation. As long as he didn’t drop dead on the spot, he could certainly be saved.

Furthermore, because he was a True Disciple, the Celestial Dao Cauldron itself would pay attention, making it impossible for him to be tormented to death by the side effects.

Therefore, as long as Nangong Chu remained in the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, trying to torment him to death with side effects seemed somewhat unrealistic...

So, after a moment of thought, Zou Feng gave up the idea of making Nangong Chu take the hit again.

In any case, the List of Gods was currently filled with plenty of high-ranking Tribulation Cultivators. It was a good time to cull a batch of them from the list; having too many names on it was an eyesore.

’Perhaps I could even try to cause some minor problems for the Queen Mother of the Ninefold Celestial Court, whose name on the list remains indistinct?’