The ease with which he had brought an Evil Skill to the Peak of Perfection made Zou Feng aware of a problem.

Ordinary Cultivation Skills could no longer meet his future needs.

’Now that I’m in the True Qi Realm, it would be more fitting for me to cultivate something like Daoist Arts or Immortal Techniques.’

Unfortunately, even Biyou Palace had no Cultivation Skills that could be considered Immortal Techniques.

Otherwise, Su Qingyu wouldn’t have resorted to Cultivating Gu Poison and Refining Human Gu to continue strengthening her Poison Skill.

After concluding his cultivation and leaving his room, Zou Feng saw the appointed hour was near and prepared to depart.

A few days prior, he had received a message from Biyou Palace and arranged with Teng County to travel to the Forbidden City together.

All of Biyou Palace’s True Qi Realm experts were required to be present to provide support.

Su Qingyu, however, had long since left Biyou Palace alone. Her whereabouts were unknown, but she was expected to appear right on time for the final battle.

As for the Biyou Palace experts like Zou Feng who were going to provide support, they traveled individually or in small groups of two or three; they were not required to stick together.

It was only because Teng County and Zou Feng shared a profound connection and mutual trust that they decided to travel as a pair.

Before he left, Tian Yun had wanted to remind Zou Feng to be careful.

But then she remembered that he had always been exceptionally cautious, and his strength had reached an incomprehensible level. There was really nothing to worry about, so she refrained from spouting such nonsense.

If Tian Yun kept silent, Bian Yixia was even less likely to say anything.

Bian Yixia, however, dearly wished to attend in person and witness the duel at the Forbidden City Peak, an event that was likely to be a once-in-a-millennium spectacle.

But she knew full well that if she went, she would only make things more difficult for Zou Feng and cause unnecessary trouble, so she gave up the idea.

"Zou Lang, how confident are you about facing that Fire Fierce Sword, Chen Jun?" Seeing that Zou Feng was about to depart, Tian Yun couldn’t help but ask.

Before answering, Zou Feng glanced at the List of Gods.

To his surprise, despite being tormented by the side effects of the Formless Divine Skill for over a month, the man’s name on the list had barely dimmed.

In fact, it had acquired a rather bizarre fluorescent glow.

This was the first time Zou Feng had ever encountered such a thing.

’Could there really be a heaven-sent genius who could turn the side effects to their advantage and strengthen themselves through some alternative method?!’

The more Zou Feng thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

After all, the side effects of the Formless Divine Skill didn’t ravage the physical body but rather wreaked havoc on the spirit.

Therefore, it was entirely possible that after finding his "true self," Chen Jun had actually managed to improve his strength.

It was a similar principle to the saying, "To master this skill, one must first castrate oneself." By sacrificing something, one could become stronger in a purer fashion.

’This Fire Fierce Sword, Chen Jun, has probably severed his "root of impurity" to achieve his own Dao, stepping into an entirely new realm of the Sword Dao...’

’To me, however, it was all utterly meaningless.’

’All my Cultivation Skills are at the Peak of Perfection, and my Primary Cultivation Skill has reached the level of Extraordinary to Saint. Even if Chen Jun has advanced to Second Grade, I have absolutely nothing to fear.’

"Confident? A hundred percent, I’d say..."

"It was a suicidal challenge from the very beginning."

Zou Feng gave a decisive answer, then waved dismissively and turned to leave.

Outside the city gates, Teng County was already perched barefoot on the tip of a tree branch.

Zou Feng suspected Teng County’s habit of going barefoot was likely influenced by Su Qingyu.

And sure enough, after coming out of seclusion with the help of Su Qingyu’s special tutelage, Teng County had logically advanced to the True Qi Realm.

One could say she made it just in the nick of time to join the ranks of Biyou Palace’s support squad.

As Zou Feng looked at the high-spirited Teng County, fresh from her successful breakthrough, he suddenly found himself thinking about the previous Cave Master of Silk Cave.

The previous Cave Master’s sudden death had been extremely suspicious, and Teng County clearly had her own doubts about the cause.

’Is it possible... that the Leaders of the five divisions are all Su Qingyu’s Great Medicine...’

’These Great Medicines aren’t needed under normal circumstances, but if the need arises, would one of them suddenly drop dead?’

’As for that question, I’ll probably have a rough answer soon enough.’

’In her battle with Gongsun Xiang, even if Su Qingyu wins, she will surely pay a heavy price.’

’An injury to a First Grade Poison Cultivator is no trivial matter.’

’And if she wants to recover as quickly as possible, she’ll probably...’

"Brother Feng!" Teng County began waving from far away.

To others, she was the feared demoness of Silk Cave, but before Zou Feng, she was no different from a personal handmaiden.

"Let’s go!"

Teng County immediately leaped down. Just as she was about to land beside him, Zou Feng suddenly sensed something and reached out, catching her.

Before her feet could touch the ground, the tips of her toes came to rest on Zou Feng’s palm.

"Brother Feng?" For a moment, Teng County didn’t understand what he was doing.

’Why the sudden change in attitude? Is he interested in feet again?’

After a moment of sensing with his palm, Zou Feng said, "The poison in your body..."

Before Zou Feng could finish, Teng County understood and quickly explained, "To help me break through to the True Qi Realm, the Palace Master personally infused me with her True Qi and gave me many Poison Pills I’d never even heard of."

"She also had me refine a Gu King Level poison spider."

’So that’s why. No wonder I sensed some traits of Su Qingyu’s Hundred Poison Sacred Body on her.’

’This is looking more and more like the cultivation of a Human Gu...’

Zou Feng didn’t voice his suspicions to Teng County. For one, he wasn’t completely sure. For another, telling her now would accomplish nothing besides causing her to panic.

The two then continued their journey toward the Forbidden City.

After traveling for a while, Teng County spoke up. "Brother Feng, during my seclusion, I had a conversation with the Palace Master."

"The Palace Master mentioned that the path beyond First Grade ultimately leads to the East Sea..."

Having advanced to the True Qi Realm, Zou Feng had heard of this before. "Is she referring to the East Sea Immortal Island?" he asked. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

To his surprise, Teng County shook her head. "From what the Palace Master implied, to those in the East Sea, our Great Yan is the one that’s just a small island!"

"If the path is over there, why hasn’t the Palace Master gone already? And why haven’t the other First Grade Experts gone either?" Zou Feng had long suspected there was something fishy about this matter.

Ever since advancing to the True Qi Realm, Zou Feng had discovered that the Great Yan Territory was not very suitable for Cultivation.

With the aid of massive amounts of Heavenly and Earthly Treasures and an environment like the Heaven-Reaching Blessed Land on Cloud Mist Mountain, one could indeed reach First Grade. But to progress beyond that was clearly impossible.

Otherwise, First Grade wouldn’t be the highest known rank for a Martial Artist in all of Great Yan, with such masters only appearing on rare occasions.

"The Palace Master seemed quite troubled by this herself. She was vague, only saying that one must be thoroughly prepared to go over. Otherwise, even if you managed to cross the East Sea safely, you would only be reduced to..." At this point, Teng County trailed off.

"Reduced to what?" Zou Feng instinctively turned his head.

Teng County smiled wryly. "That’s as far as the Palace Master would go before she fell silent."

Tsk...

Although he didn’t have the full picture, it seemed that Su Qingyu and the other First Grade Experts were all quite apprehensive about crossing the East Sea.

Furthermore, even if they succeeded, they were worried about other issues.

So in the end, it was all just fear born from a lack of power.

Su Qingyu’s insistence on fighting the Emperor of Great Yan was most likely a way to elevate her strength and prepare for the road ahead.

While Zou Feng was traveling, the many experts of the Celestial Essence Sword Sect were also assembled and ready to set out.

Since the Fire Fierce Sword, Chen Jun, had issued a challenge to the Evil Hand Squad Leader, Zou Feng, and received a response, this trip to the Forbidden City was not merely for spectating.

They were also there to witness a fellow disciple slay a vile demon.

The aptitude Zou Feng had shown made it almost certain he would become the next great titan of the Evil Dao, on par with Su Qingyu—if not even greater.

Therefore, they had to seize this opportunity to eliminate him while he had only just entered the True Qi Realm.

Otherwise, if another "Su Qingyu" were to rise in the Southern Border, the Righteous Sects of the Central Plains might no longer be able to prevent the Evil Sects from re-establishing a foothold in the Central Plains.

Fortunately, many of them were full of confidence in Chen Jun.

After all, anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the Sword Intent emanating from Chen Jun recently was something extraordinary.

His significant improvement in strength was a given, but the truly incredible development was that his Sword Skill had likely "Entered the Dao."

Yet amidst all the admiring gazes, Zhang Changchun, who stood closest to Chen Jun, wore a peculiar expression.

He could faintly smell that Chen Jun, standing beside him, seemed to be wearing some kind of fragrant powder...