"You came all this way just to find me and investigate Yin Suhong’s death?" Zou Feng asked casually.

The death of Biyou Palace’s Valley Master of the Valley of Ten Thousand Snakes was no small matter.

Even if Zou Feng had acted in self-defense out of desperation, he couldn’t just get away with it so easily.

He had to accept an investigation, even if it was just for show.

Evidently, after Zou Feng had someone relay his situation, his excuse—that he was going to break through to the True Qi Realm and therefore couldn’t personally return for the time being—had surely displeased some of the higher-ups in Biyou Palace.

So, they had naturally sent people to find him, ideally to forcibly bring him back for questioning.

But all such troubles vanished into thin air after Zou Feng successfully advanced to the True Qi Realm.

Even the True Disciple from the Valley of Ten Thousand Snakes didn’t dare show the slightest hint of dissatisfaction in front of Zou Feng now.

"Elder Zou, this is the Palace Master’s order..." the Valley of Ten Thousand Snakes’ True Disciple said cautiously.

Zou Feng said, "This Elder has other matters to attend to. Once things here are settled, I will naturally go to the Palace Master and atone for my actions."

"Go on!" After speaking, Zou Feng waved his hand impatiently.

If Zou Feng hadn’t yet advanced to the True Qi Realm, these disciples who had come specifically for him would certainly not have let the matter drop.

Even if they weren’t confident in taking him down, they would have quickly called for backup, gathering all the other disciples in the area who had received the same order to see what Zou Feng’s attitude would be.

Now, however, Zou Feng only needed to speak a single casual sentence, and the three of them didn’t dare to raise any further objections.

They had no choice but to immediately agree.

Then, they had to continue bowing and say, "Yes, we will return to the palace to report... Congratulations, Elder Zou, on your advancement to the True Qi Realm!"

"Elder Zou is a heaven-sent talent, and your Poison Skill is unmatched in this world!"

"With Elder Zou here, how could our Biyou Palace worry about not being able to dominate the Central Plains in the future!"

Seeing these disciples spouting a pile of auspicious words, how could Zou Feng not reward them?

He happened to have swiped the Elixirs from Yin Suhong when he killed her. Since they weren’t of much use to him anyway, now was the perfect time to use them as a reward.

And when these Elixirs, which had originally belonged to Yin Suhong, were tossed to the Valley of Ten Thousand Snakes’ True Disciple as a reward, the smile that had been fixed on her face finally showed a trace of awkwardness.

Just like that, Zou Feng casually sent away the disciples who had originally come aggressively, under orders to investigate Yin Suhong’s death.

And for a short while, as long as nothing unexpected happened, no one from Biyou Palace would proactively disturb him again.

After advancing to the Third Grade, many things he previously had to be wary of could now be ignored.

Zou Feng didn’t linger any longer and set off again on the road back to Qingchuan City.

He was clearly eager to immediately share the joy of his advancement to the Third Grade with Tian Yun and Bian Yixia.

Executing his Body Skill, Zou Feng’s feet barely moved. A portion of his True Qi formed a wave, surfing him back.

When the gates of Qingchuan City were visible in the distance, Zou Feng noticed something unusual again.

At the city gates, a large number of City Guard Army soldiers and many commoners had gathered, all of them looking as if they were waiting for something.

And leading them, naturally, were City Lord Murong Yuan and Murong Yunhai, with whom Zou Feng was well-acquainted.

The scene made Zou Feng slightly confused.

’What big event happened in Qingchuan City?’

Since Zou Feng wasn’t concealing his presence, the Murong father and son duo also saw him as he was observing the situation at the gates.

City Lord Murong Yuan immediately announced in a loud voice, "Congratulations to Elder Zou of Biyou Palace for successfully advancing to the Third Grade in our Qingchuan City!"

After he finished speaking, the soldiers and commoners behind him all repeated it in unison.

’Uh, are these people here to welcome me?’

It wasn’t strange that the City Lord of Qingchuan City already knew he had advanced to the Third Grade.

After all, he had indeed made his breakthrough near Qingchuan City.

With Murong Yuan’s intelligence network as the local powerhouse, how could he not have received the relevant news?

One had to know that Zou Feng’s advancement had triggered a rather exaggerated phenomenon; it would be strange if no one had noticed.

’But even so, is it really worth the entire city of Qingchuan welcoming me with such great fanfare?’

’They’re really trying to force a connection between my advancement and Qingchuan City, aren’t they?’

Not understanding their intentions, Zou Feng couldn’t be bothered to think too much about it. He simply floated down and landed in front of Murong Yuan and Murong Yunhai.

Murong Yuan immediately stepped forward and greeted him with an extremely respectful attitude.

Meanwhile, Murong Yunhai, who had originally interacted with Zou Feng as a peer, now seemed somewhat reserved. Unconsciously, he had begun to act like a junior.

After Zou Feng asked, he learned that Murong Yuan wanted to hold a welcome banquet for him and celebrate the event in grand style.

In fact, this wasn’t unique to the Southern Border; the Central Plains Region was the same. Whenever someone in a local area advanced to the True Qi Realm, it was considered a great auspicious omen for the local authorities and the populace.

Especially in the eyes of ordinary people, a True Qi Realm Martial Artist was a "Living Immortal" they could see with their own eyes.

Therefore, someone "becoming an Immortal" locally was natural proof that the land was full of outstanding people and blessed with profound fortune. It was a joyous occasion worthy of a seven-day city-wide celebration.

But because Zou Feng usually operated at a very high level and had already killed two True Qi Realm Martial Artists...

...and another True Qi Realm woman, whom he had only met once, had long ago made an "appointment" to dual cultivate with him...

...it all led Zou Feng to not feel that advancing to the Third Grade was such an incredible feat. He was even already worrying about things like what path to take after the First Grade.

However, caught up in the atmosphere, Zou Feng decided to go with the flow and joined in.

He didn’t turn away those who, with nervous excitement, wanted him to name their unborn children.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while and agreeing with Murong Yunhai to attend the banquet later, Zou Feng entered the city under everyone’s gaze and headed toward the Hongxing Martial Arts Hall.

As he was about to reach the street where the Hongxing Martial Arts Hall was located, Zou Feng saw that the entire street was decorated with lanterns and colored banners, even more festive than during the City Lord’s birthday celebration.

And along the way, Zou Feng would occasionally overhear comments that made him not know whether to laugh or cry, such as, "Wife, come out and see the Immortal!"

He quickened his pace back to the Hongxing Martial Arts Hall, only to see that all the Hongxing Gang members were dressed very formally.

The entire martial arts hall was also decorated to be exceptionally festive.

And when the Hongxing Gang members saw Zou Feng enter, the roar of congratulations that erupted made one wonder if they intended to shout their throats raw.

Tian Yun was also dressed in her finest. The look in her eyes as she gazed at Zou Feng held both joy and a faint trace of worry.

After finally dealing with everyone, when things had quieted down, Zou Feng habitually went to pull Tian Yun into the room to practice the Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill.

Advancing to the Third Grade was certainly gratifying, but Zou Feng didn’t dare to truly relax.

Setting other things aside, just the agreement with Gongsun Jinghong gave Zou Feng a constant sense of urgency to quickly raise his Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill by another large margin.

In short, that dual cultivation session with Gongsun Jinghong would absolutely not be an enjoyable experience, but a duel fraught with danger, no less than a grueling battle.

’Fortunately, I’m also Third Grade now. At least I won’t be outmatched by her.’

However, this time when he pulled Tian Yun into the room, Tian Yun, who had always been quite willing, showed a hesitant expression.

Seeing this, Zou Feng quickly asked, "Sister Yun, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

Tian Yun shook her head with a wry smile. "Before, when we dual cultivated, it was already a bit strenuous for me. Now that Zou Lang is in the True Qi Realm, I... I don’t know if I can handle it..."

Zou Feng was stunned by her words; this was something he had indeed overlooked.

He had noticed before that it was fine if they only cultivated for one or two hours.

But once they exceeded two hours, Tian Yun would start to find it overwhelming.

Thus, Tian Yun’s desire to persuade Bian Yixia to join wasn’t so much because she was willing to share, but also because she was considering her own well-being.

After all, Zou Feng had just advanced, so his control over his True Qi was likely not yet that refined.

So now, even if they practiced the Dragon and Tiger Kan and Li Skill for less than two hours, Tian Yun was truly afraid she wouldn’t be able to handle it...

In response, Zou Feng naturally wouldn’t force Tian Yun. He did indeed need to properly acclimate himself to the various aspects of the True Qi Realm.

After a moment’s pause, Zou Feng smiled freely. Just as he was about to drop the matter for now, a loud BANG suddenly came from the martial arts hall’s secret room.

Immediately followed by an overjoyed voice, "It’s a success!"