Chapter 727 - 422: Unexpected Big Brother

Although the northern expedition had left him with some regrets, Zou Feng reminded himself not to be too greedy.

At worst, he could go back and rest for a while, solidify his Realm, and improve his Cultivation progress on various Skills. Then he could set out again and continue to participate in the northern expedition.

After all, from the looks of it, this northern expedition wasn’t going to end anytime soon—it would likely take several years...

After gazing at the scenery below from the ship’s bow for a while and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Zou Feng prepared to return to his room to continue his "exchanges" with Su Qingyu.

Since he couldn’t go "hunting in the wild," and he was idle anyway, Zou Feng had no choice but to increase the frequency of his "exchanges" with Su Qingyu.

As a result, Su Qingyu had barely gotten out of bed.

This left her feeling overwhelmed, and on several occasions, she had been tempted to pull Shangguan Rongrong over to share the burden.

Before returning to his room, Zou Feng glanced at Ye Chenhua.

It had to be said, Ye Chenhua was quite cautious. He spent most of his days sitting cross-legged on the bow, cultivating while simultaneously keeping watch.

It was precisely because Ye Chenhua had taken on guard duty that Zou Feng could have his "exchanges" with Su Qingyu with peace of mind.

When he pushed the door open, he saw Su Qingyu, who was resting, shudder. As she looked up at him, her eyes held a clear hint of fear.

Zou Feng was surprised to see such an expression on her face. After all, throughout her Cultivation, Su Qingyu had weathered many storms.

Seeing this, he naturally wouldn’t press the issue. "Palace Master, if you want to rest more, just say so. I would never force you..."

Su Qingyu paused, startled, before replying in a joking tone, "You should have said so sooner! You’re my senior brother now, with a Realm that firmly surpasses mine. If you really forced yourself on me, I wouldn’t dare refuse!"

Zou Feng gave an awkward laugh and didn’t reply.

"By the way, are you sure you don’t want to consider letting Shangguan Rongrong serve you for now?"

Su Qingyu’s suggestion didn’t stem from being particularly tolerant of her man or from a lack of jealousy regarding these matters.

Rather, she simply didn’t consider Shangguan Rongrong a woman on her level.

After all, Su Qingyu was confident she would break through to the Golden Core Realm. In every respect, she was on a completely different level than a mere Demon Race Maid like Shangguan Rongrong.

To put it bluntly, her strong recommendation for Zou Feng to use Shangguan Rongrong to relieve his boredom was, in her eyes, equivalent to handing him a Fleshlight.

Of course, she wouldn’t be concerned about anything else.

Hearing this, Zou Feng naturally turned his head to look at Shangguan Rongrong.

He saw Shangguan Rongrong looking at him expectantly, as if she were ready for her clothes to burst off at any moment.

Unexpectedly, however, Zou Feng simply shook his head. "No. With your current strength, you wouldn’t be able to handle an ’exchange.’ You would most likely be forced to revert to your original form!"

This wasn’t just a wild guess on Zou Feng’s part. His current "toxicity" could indeed easily make a person lose control of themselves.

The dazed states, loss of self-control, and even frenzied reactions Su Qingyu had frequently shown before were ample proof.

If even Su Qingyu—his long-time partner and a peak Dao Foundation Realm cultivator—had such reactions, it was out of the question for a little Snake Demon like Shangguan Rongrong.

She might really revert to her original form then, which could traumatize Zou Feng.

He considered himself fairly normal in this respect and couldn’t match the "indiscriminate love" of the Beast Taming Scholar, Wang Xingjian.

However, his five Dao Companions back home didn’t pose this problem, as they all cultivated the Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill.

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Rongrong couldn’t hide her disappointment, but she didn’t dare to promise she wouldn’t lose control.

In any case, it wasn’t like the "exchange" was absolutely necessary. Zou Feng sat down on the spot, preparing to use the "Queen Mother’s Murmurs" to cultivate the Great Universal Hand.

Coincidentally, the daily murmurs began to echo in his sea of consciousness right at that moment.

But just as Zou Feng sat down, a wave of malice so potent it made even his heart pound washed over him.

Hmm!?

’I can’t believe it,’ Zou Feng thought. ’I’m almost back within range of the Celestial Dao Cauldron, yet some big shot is still after me?’

He quickly opened the List of Gods and, sure enough, saw a completely unfamiliar name that was radiating a brilliant light.

Ink Ash Abyss?!

Judging by the brightness alone, Zou Feng could tell this person was definitely a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.

’But why now, of all times...’

Based on the faint warning signals coming from the upgraded List of Gods, Zou Feng was certain this wasn’t a case of Ink Ash Abyss targeting him from afar. No, this was the kind of threat that would materialize very, very soon!

After a moment of thought, Zou Feng’s expression changed drastically.

’This is bad!’

With no time to explain to Su Qingyu and Shangguan Rongrong, Zou Feng shot to his feet and rushed out of the room.

He left the room and returned to the bow in a single bound.

On the surface, the bow looked no different than before.

Ye Chenhua was still in the same posture, cultivating while keeping watch on their surroundings.

To Zou Feng’s eyes, however, something was completely wrong with Ye Chenhua.

"Brother Ye, stop the Divine Ship..."

Ye Chenhua turned his head, confused. "Stop? Junior Brother Zou, is something wrong?"

Zou Feng didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he opened the List of Gods again to check.

Even now, Ye Chenhua’s name still hadn’t appeared on the List of Gods.

This meant that Ye Chenhua himself was likely unaware that he had been ensnared.

"Brother Ye, haven’t you noticed? We’re not on our original course back. We’ve gone astray."

’To be targeted by a Nascent Soul Tribulation Cultivator at a time like this, and for them to dare to make a move on me... it can only mean we’re no longer on the right path.’

’Without the "surveillance" network along the route providing information, our own Nascent Soul masters can’t possibly keep an eye on us at all times. That must be the opportunity Ink Ash Abyss exploited.’

"Gone astray?" Ye Chenhua was still baffled. "That’s impossible. I was clearly following..."

Zou Feng had no intention of wasting more time on pointless chatter. He flashed forward, channeled his Great Universal Hand, and slapped Ye Chenhua hard across the face.

Ye Chenhua never expected Zou Feng to attack him. Compounded by his relative weakness in close combat, he took the full force of the slap.

However, after the slap, Ye Chenhua’s mind went blank for a moment. But instead of flying into a rage and demanding to know why Zou Feng had struck him...

...after a brief stupor, he suddenly realized what was happening, and his expression turned utterly grim.

"Fuck... I was set up! Junior Brother Zou, run!"

As he spoke, Ye Chenhua was already casting a Skill, pouring all his energy into creating an Outer Body Incarnation.

After snapping Ye Chenhua out of it, Zou Feng turned without a moment’s hesitation and grabbed Su Qingyu and Shangguan Rongrong, who had come out to see what was going on.

"Take care, Brother Ye!"

Before his voice had even faded, he was already pulling Su Qingyu and Shangguan Rongrong into a leap of faith off the Flying Celestial Ship.

Meanwhile, Ye Chenhua, after forming his Outer Body Incarnation, also abandoned the ship without hesitation, fleeing in a different direction.

When targeted by a Nascent Soul Tribulation Cultivator, there was no point in staying together. The only way out was to see who could run faster, or whose Luck was better, and avoid becoming the primary target.

Right now, both Zou Feng and Ye Chenhua could only hope that the Outer Body Incarnation and the Flying Celestial Ship would confuse their pursuer for a little while longer, buying them more time to escape.

Still, there was no need for utter despair. As long as they could get back on the correct path, they still had a chance to escape alive.

As for how Ye Chenhua had been unknowingly ensnared and had his judgment compromised...

Zou Feng was certain it had happened about ten days ago, when they were being constantly harassed by that squad of Tribulation Cultivators.

Thinking back, he realized the Tribulation Cultivator squad’s goal had never been to lure them into a trap with hit-and-run tactics or to disrupt their "hunting."

Their true purpose was to keep appearing in order to cast a special Skill on Ye Chenhua.

The Skill was undoubtedly a form of Hypnosis, one that didn’t produce any obvious symptoms in Ye Chenhua. It simply clouded his judgment, causing him to unknowingly steer the Flying Celestial Ship off its "course."

As for why Ye Chenhua was the target, it was obvious: among the three of them, he was undoubtedly the one with the weakest willpower.