Chapter 429: Chapter 273: Prodigies of the Potential Ranking

For Zou Feng, the Outer Sect’s monthly exam was a crisis he had to face.

He had publicly humiliated the Purple Cloud Association, and even if only to save face, they weren’t about to let it slide.

Yet, for the past month, the Purple Cloud Association had made no moves.

Of course, it wasn’t that they didn’t want to act, but that there was little they could do.

Frankly, as long as Zou Feng wasn’t foolish enough to accept every challenge to a duel on the Dao Discussion Platform, his position as the Dining Hall’s Head Chef made it genuinely difficult for the Purple Cloud Association to cause him trouble.

They couldn’t possibly have their leader, that True Inheritor, personally step in to target an Outer Sect rookie, could they?

In truth, the Inner Sect members of the Purple Cloud Association wouldn’t have dared to report such a trivial squabble to the True Inheritor anyway.

The monthly exam, however, was a different story. Inside those specially prepared Alternate Spaces, freed from the constraints of sect rules, there would be countless loopholes to exploit.

This was exactly why Zou Feng considered the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect’s Outer Sect a place for Cultivation Gu—brutal trials like these exams and the campaigns to conquer certain Outer Realms.

In short, while the Sect provided for them well in their daily lives, when it was time for training or deployment, they wouldn’t find it so easy to just lie back and do nothing.

Therefore, Zou Feng was certain the Purple Cloud Association would make their move during the exam.

However, since Zou Feng had long known this trial was coming, he was naturally confident he could handle it.

After all, this was the monthly exam for Outer Disciples, which meant only Outer Disciples could enter.

With the strength he had painstakingly cultivated for the past month, while he wouldn’t claim to be invincible in the Outer Sect, he feared no one who might come for him.

The source of his confidence, naturally, was his arsenal of Evil Skills.

Zou Feng now understood that although the Cultivation Skills of the Great Yan Dynasty were far inferior to the Daoist Arts of the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, the situation changed completely once a skill was cultivated to the realm of Extraordinary to Saint.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to successively kill both Tang Jingqiang and Yang Haoyu.

In simple terms, a Cultivation Skill at the Extraordinary to Saint level was equivalent to a Daoist Art at the Minor Success Realm.

Furthermore, Zou Feng estimated that the power of his primary Cultivation Skill, the Five Poison Holy Lotus Skill, had already reached a strength comparable to many Daoist Arts at the Great Success Realm.

In other words, if his combat power were measured entirely in terms of Daoist Arts, counting his Yin-Attraction Art which was already at Minor Success, Zou Feng possessed one skill at the level of a Great Success Daoist Art and another at Minor Success.

He also had five other skills, each one equivalent to a Daoist Art approaching the Minor Success Realm.

Among the Outer Disciples, not even the greatest prodigies would dare to cultivate so many Daoist Arts simultaneously.

Or, even if they tried, they could never hope to achieve the same results as Zou Feng.

Thus, Zou Feng was brimming with confidence. As long as he was cautious during the monthly exam, there shouldn’t be any major problems.

Now that Gongsun Jinghong was back and Teng Jun had prepared a late-night snack, it was... time to cultivate!

As he cultivated, Teng Jun was by his side, feeding him the snack.

With days like these, Zou Feng wasn’t sure if he was undergoing arduous training or simply indulging himself.

During a break, Zou Feng couldn’t resist checking the two elixirs he needed to purchase to forge his Spirit Body.

Seven Emotions Quenching Fire Pill. Price: three hundred Immortal Fate points.

Gathering Spirit and Bone Generating Pill. Price: three hundred fifty-eight Immortal Fate points.

’Outrageously expensive!’

Over the past month, Zou Feng had earned over one hundred Immortal Fate points from looting Wu Cong and his cronies.

He also made over one hundred Immortal Fate points from the tuition paid by disciples in the Dining Hall who wanted to learn his Spirit Chef techniques.

Furthermore, his personal menu had become a huge hit ever since its launch, with disciples from other mountain peaks even coming to seek it out.

But not all the money from his personal menu went into his own pocket. After deducting the cost of ingredients, he also had to give a cut to Elders like He Wenxuan.

Thus, from his private-kitchen venture, Zou Feng had netted just over one hundred Immortal Fate points in total.

Right now, after accounting for his expenses over the past month, Zou Feng’s total net worth was 421 Immortal Fate points.

He was still over two hundred points short of what he needed to buy the two elixirs.

In reality, Zou Feng’s income for the month was already quite impressive for an Outer Disciple.

But the Spirit Body he wanted to forge was a Three-in-One entity—an absurdly ambitious goal. No amount of Immortal Fate points burned on it would be considered too much.

Buying only those two elixirs was already the most economical option Zou Feng had conceived.

For the safest, most ideal plan, Zou Feng estimated he would need to buy the Creation Rebirth Pill, which cost a staggering three thousand eight hundred Immortal Fate points...

Of course, in the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect, you didn’t have to throw money at every problem.

If Zou Feng were willing to bide his time and grind it out slowly, he could probably forge a decent Spirit Body in five or six years with even fewer Immortal Fate points.

But Zou Feng would never consider such a slow, long-term Immortal Cultivation approach. Even without the threat of the Purple Cloud Association, the fast-paced, results-driven nature of an Evil Cultivator was ingrained in his very bones.

「At that very moment」

A rather private banquet was underway at the residence of Chen Bogong, a member of the Purple Cloud Association.

Chen Bogong was the one who had previously tried to recruit Zou Feng.

"HEH HEH HEH... The taste of a snake-woman... truly exquisite!"

A young man with messy hair and sloppy clothes stumbled out of an inner room, drunk.

This man was the guest of honor at Chen Bogong’s little banquet.

In truth, aside from Chen Bogong, who was an Inner Sect Disciple, everyone else present was an Outer Disciple.

But unlike other Inner Sect Disciples, who tended to look at Outer Disciples as if they were stray dogs on the roadside, Chen Bogong’s attitude toward these few Outer Disciples was surprisingly respectful.

The reason was simple: of the four Outer Disciples present, three of them—while not on the official prospect list—were nonetheless outstanding figures within the Outer Sect, possessing exceptional strength and potential.