Soon, the events at the Chenfeng Martial Arts Hall spread like wildfire, shaking the entire Commandery.
It must be known that the Chenfeng Martial Arts Hall is one of the four major martial arts halls in the Commandery. Although it has been overshadowed by the Dingtai Martial Arts Hall recently, its strength is considerable.
Yet, such a powerful hall lost most of its disciples in a single day, with both direct disciples meeting their demise.
Moreover, on that same day, over a dozen disciples from the Guangrui Martial Arts Hall perished, and countless casualties were reported from smaller halls or factions.
The whole city was in an uproar.
From this point, people finally believed Lu Dingtai’s previous warnings. Those originally itching to make a move outside the city also ceased their thoughts.
In the Ren Yong Martial Arts Hall, Shang Tiefeng listened to the news, his face full of relief.
"Jingnian, fortunately, I heeded your advice earlier and didn’t act rashly. Otherwise, Ren Yong Martial Arts Hall might have been the next in trouble."
"Yes, Master. Yuan Chenfeng’s greed led to his downfall, but it’s a pity about those innocent disciples." Nie Jingnian sighed.
Regardless of Yuan Chenfeng’s actions, those disciples were innocent.
They were all in their prime, full of youthful vigor, yet due to someone’s selfishness, they perished in the wilderness. How heart-wrenching.
Shang Tiefeng also felt deeply moved.
After leaving his master, Nie Jingnian hesitated for a moment but didn’t return home. Instead, he headed straight for the Dingtai Martial Arts Hall.
The disciples guarding the hall recognized him, knowing that he was good friends with the senior uncle Shen Dao and junior uncle Zhao Ya, so they let him pass without obstruction.
He didn’t go home to look for Zhao Ya because he knew Zhao Ya would be in the hall at this time.
Indeed.
In the training ground of the Dingtai Martial Arts Hall, Nie Jingnian saw Zhao Ya.
He was in the middle of teaching martial arts.
Nie Jingnian didn’t interrupt and waited quietly from a distance.
"You’re executing the fist technique incorrectly; you have speed, but the power isn’t there. Imagine that such a punch wouldn’t be impactful on the human body. Continue to practice your strength, and when you master it, then pursue speed."
"You..."
Zhao Ya pointed out everyone’s shortcomings and gave corrections.
The disciples were convinced, their faces full of respect.
Seeing this from afar, Nie Jingnian couldn’t help but chuckle.
Most of these disciples were older than Zhao Ya, with some even over thirty, yet in front of Zhao Ya, they didn’t dare lift their heads, addressing him as junior uncle—truly amusing.
At this moment, Zhao Ya approached.
"Why do you have the leisure to come today?"
"Have you heard about what happened at the Chenfeng Martial Arts Hall?" Nie Jingnian got straight to the point.
"Yes, I heard."
"What do you think?"
"What can I think?" Zhao Ya chuckled lightly, "The warning was given to them ahead of time. If they didn’t listen, who is to blame?"
"I’m not talking about the Chenfeng Martial Arts Hall. What do you think of this sudden group of Ghost-faced Giant Apes? I heard one even reached the peak of the Fourth Realm." Nie Jingnian asked seriously.
Zhao Ya’s expression turned solemn.
"Ever since you and I encountered that Giant-winged Blood Bat in the earth cave, I’ve felt that this beast tide is unusual. So, an exotic beast at the peak of the Fourth Realm isn’t surprising."
"Do you think the Commandery can withstand this?" Nie Jingnian suddenly asked.
Zhao Ya remained silent for a moment, then shook his head, "I don’t know."
"If everyone could unite and work together, then surely we could withstand this beast tide. But you know, that’s never going to happen."
With worries in his heart, Nie Jingnian left.
After he left, Zhao Ya returned home as well.
"Hey, Ya, you’re back early today!"
"Yes, nothing much today, so I came back early. How’s your palm technique and saber technique practice?" Zhao Ya asked.
"Pretty good, the more I practice, the more interesting it gets."
"Practice a set and let me see."
Zui’Er began to perform, while Zhao Ya watched, nodding in approval.
He had been busy with hall matters lately and hadn’t paid much attention to Zui’Er’s training.
It was clear that she hadn’t been slacking and practiced diligently every day.
"Ya, how was my practice?"
After finishing, Zui’Er looked up, expecting praise.
Zhao Ya laughed heartily, feeling the weight in his heart lighten considerably.
"Yes, very well, keep it up."
"Hehe, got it! Ya, are you thirsty? I just made some sour plum juice, and it’s chilling with ice. Let me pour you a bowl to try."
Zui’Er cheerfully walked away.
Before long, a full bowl of sour plum soup was brought over.
Zhao Ya took a sip, finding it indeed icy, sweet, and refreshing, very delightful.
After drinking the whole bowl, Zhao Ya felt all the frustration accumulated from recent trivial matters vanish completely.
Zhao Ya’s spirits lifted, and he blurted out, "Refreshing!"
Then he gave Zui’Er a thumbs-up, "It really is delicious!"
Zui’Er smiled, her eyes squinting into crescents.
Her favorite thing was receiving compliments from Zhao Ya.
After handing the bowl to Zui’Er, Zhao Ya composed himself a little, then took out the last piece of fifth-grade dried meat, threw it in his mouth, and began practicing his daily exercises.
Currently, Zhao Ya’s Eight Vajra Skills had reached the realm of Peak Performance.
Upon reaching this realm, there was actually no need to stick to fixed movements. Even just standing there simply, with the tremors of his muscles, could achieve the same effect.
However, Zhao Ya was still used to performing the movements.
While practicing these movements, Zhao Ya felt an inner peace.
After the Vajra Skill came the Longevity Skill.
These eight movements were much more complicated than before, but relying on his strong muscle memory, Zhao Ya completed all the movements flawlessly.
After practicing, Zhao Ya suddenly felt a warm current pass through his body, and then a line of prompts appeared.
[Spleen Unlock Complete, Talent Acquired: Rising Clarity and Subtlety]
As expected.
After opening the panel, the Human Body Outline Map had already changed.
Beside the already unlocked stomach, the fog enveloping an organ shaped like a horseshoe gradually dissipated, then a warm glow lit up the area.
Zhao Ya felt his intestines and stomach were more comfortable than ever.
The residues that had been hidden in the folds of the stomach from grinding dried meat were now enveloped by a warm qi blood, quickly dissolving.
The whole intestines and stomach were refreshed, and the speed of circulating qi blood noticeably increased.
If the previous Water and Valley Essence was merely digesting dried meat to absorb the qi blood nutrition, now, with the Rising Clarity and Subtlety, not only had the absorption ability advanced to a higher level, but the transportation of qi blood and regulation of moisture had made leapfrog progress.
Simply put, this talent was equivalent to an upgrade patch for the previous intestines and stomach.
Actually, during the unlocking process, Zhao Ya had already noticed that the spleen’s unlock progress was noticeably faster.
This should be related to the inseparable relationship between the spleen and stomach.
After all, their functions overlap.
At this moment, Zhao Ya opened the skill panel.
Name: Zhao Ya. Age: 19 years. Remaining Life Expectancy: 211 (+61 days) years
Skills: Eight Vajra Longevity Skill (Peak Performance 20%)
Five Tiger Fist (Peak Performance 99%)
Gale Saber Technique (Peak Performance 98%)
Light as a Feather (Peak Performance 99%)
Concealing Breath Technique (Peak Performance 88%)
Great Stone-Throwing Hand (Refined Skill 3212/5000)
Great Vajra Fist (Mastery 1989/2000)
Golden Body Technique (Refined Skill 1149/5000)
[Kidney Unlock Progress: 87%]
The remaining life expectancy had surpassed the two-century mark.
It should be noted that only those Martial Artists in the Fifth Realm who have successfully completed Blood Exchange are likely to achieve such longevity.
In addition, martial arts skills like the Five Tiger Fist and Gale Saber Technique were on the brink of breakthrough.
But there always seemed to be a slight lack of advancement.
Zhao Ya knew this was likely due to the absence of a fortuitous encounter, as beyond Peak Performance lies Returning to the Essence.
At this point, what’s needed is not proficiency but whether your understanding of the martial arts has reached a new realm.
Only by simplifying complexity, summarizing and condensing, and creating new expansions can one advance.
So, Zhao Ya had been tirelessly teaching disciples at the Martial Arts Hall during this time.
This was also an opportunity to comprehensively sort and summarize the martial arts he mastered.
Besides this, the kidney unlock progress had also reached over eighty percent; even if the progress slowed due to the lack of fifth-grade dried meat, it could be successfully unlocked in at most one or two months.
However, he wondered whether the impending Beast Tide would provide him with these one or two months!
As Zhao Ya was lamenting, he suddenly heard a loud noise coming from the direction of the city gate, followed by someone shouting in extreme fear.
"Exotic Beasts are attacking the city!"