Zou Feng’s gains in his Cultivation Skill progression didn’t stop there.

"Bone-Softening Palm (Refined Skill), Progress: 85%"

This Palm Skill’s significant improvement was, of course, thanks to the Spider Gu King Poison.

Ever since taking up residence in the Silk Cave, Zou Feng had been confident he could advance his Bone-Softening Palm to the Peak of Perfection in a short time. Now, it seemed achieving that goal would take even less time.

However, Zou Feng had another idea for after his Bone-Softening Palm reached the Peak Realm.

He planned to fuse this Palm Skill into the Five Poison Skill Fire Lotus Skill.

Unfortunately, since the Bone-Softening Palm was itself a High Grade Skill, it couldn’t be easily fused into the Five Poison Skill, despite their good Compatibility.

’Unless... I can wait until my Five Poison Skill reaches the Realm of Transcendence and Sanctity. Fusing the Bone-Softening Palm into it then shouldn’t be much of a problem.’

The final Cultivation Skill to be improved during this trip to the forbidden area was the Scorpio Demon Armor Technique.

"Scorpio Demon Armor Technique (Refined Skill), Progress: 2%"

This Skill had improved so much thanks to being tempered by that wave of venomous liquid.

To be honest, as long as the side effects could be transferred, the venom spat out by that giant monster was perfectly suited for practicing Body Refining Skills.

Of course, the Scorpion Gu King Poison that Zou Feng had previously refined also played a significant role in the Scorpio Demon Armor Technique’s improvement.

’Since the Scorpio Demon Armor Technique has reached Refined Skill, it’s time to try fusing it into the Tribulation-Indestructible Body...’

For the next few days, Zou Feng entered a state of secluded cultivation.

He needed to familiarize himself with the benefits from the two types of Gu King Poison, as well as the new moves derived from his various improved Cultivation Skills.

But while Zou Feng was holed up in the Silk Cave training hard, the Biyou Palace Master, who had always kept a low profile, started stirring up trouble.

First, she poisoned and killed two Elders of the Celestial Essence Sword Sect on Qifeng Mountain.

The specific reason for killing the two Elders was unknown, but this action was tantamount to Biyou Palace declaring all-out war on the Celestial Essence Sword Sect.

Of course, since Biyou Palace supported the Southern Prince, they were already on the opposite side of the Celestial Essence Sword Sect and other sects from the Central Plains in this turmoil.

Killing two Elders from the Celestial Essence Sword Sect this time only served to make the situation even more tense.

However, that wasn’t the end of it. After killing the two Sword Sect Elders, the Biyou Palace Master showed no signs of stopping. Next, she openly issued a challenge to the current Emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty, proposing a decisive battle at the Forbidden City Peak in three months.

When Zou Feng learned of this series of explosive news, he was truly shocked.

At the same time, he was immediately certain that the Biyou Palace Master was far stronger than he had anticipated.

Although the Great Yan Royal Family had fewer High Grade Martial Artists than Major Sects like the Celestial Essence Sword Sect, the reigning Emperor, blessed by the nation’s fate, was an absolute top-tier expert.

It was worth mentioning that the Great Yan Dynasty had no rule of succession by Direct Lineage.

Whoever in the Royal Family was strongest in the Martial Dao became the Emperor.

In other words, if Gongsun Jinghong’s strength were to surge and surpass the current Emperor’s, she could immediately gain support from all sides, kick the current Emperor off the Throne, and crown herself the Empress.

But this was clearly unrealistic. Back during his time in the Black Flood Dragon Gang, Zou Feng had often heard members chatting about how the current Emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty was as strong as a True Dragon descending to the mortal world.

’So why on earth does the Biyou Palace Master insist on a decisive battle with the current Emperor of Great Yan?’

’And by completely falling out with the Celestial Essence Sword Sect like this, isn’t she worried about their current Sword Saint coming out of seclusion?’

’Although these high-level conflicts don’t involve me for now, I’ll definitely have to be more careful when I go out.’

The Celestial Essence Sword Sect had already launched an extermination campaign against Biyou Palace disciples. As a Biyou Palace disciple, going out now meant a Sword Qi could suddenly descend from the sky without warning.

In short, the rebellion initiated by the Southern Prince, far from dying down, had instead grown increasingly intense.

It probably wouldn’t be long before the skies truly changed over the Great Yan Dynasty...

「Five days later.」

With the passing of yet another Fourth Grade senior, Zou Feng successfully fused his skills. His Body Refining Skill had finally reached the Peak Realm.

"Tribulation-Indestructible Body (Peak of Perfection), Progress: 6%"

At this point, whether it was his Heart Skill, Body Skill, Body Refining Skill, Primary Cultivation Skill, or Secondary Cultivation Skill, Zou Feng had brought them all to the Peak Realm.

The improvement brought by the Tribulation-Indestructible Body reaching the Peak Realm was naturally quite substantial.

Previously, when Zou Feng used moves like "Iron Mass," he always felt uncertain. After all, based on the stereotypes from his past life, the outcome for those who used such techniques was never good. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

But in many situations, he couldn’t rely on dodging alone; he would inevitably face circumstances where he had to take a hit head-on.

However, now that his Tribulation-Indestructible Body had advanced to the Peak of Perfection, the situation was completely different.

Now, Zou Feng could instantly use the "Essence Gang Body."

The so-called "Essence Gang" was a refined form of Gang Qi that fused with his muscles at a level of supreme indestructibility, reinforcing them.

This was far more advanced than the Gang Qi Armor or Gang Qi Protective Shields used by most Martial Artists at the Gang Qi Realm.

After all, the "Essence Gang" had fused into his meticulously tempered muscles, causing his physical body to mutate.

To put it bluntly, even without cultivating, Zou Feng’s physical body was already inhumanly tough.

And once he started cultivating, every part of his body would be protected by Essence Gang.

Such hardness was simply incomparable to so-called Gang Qi Armors.