If reaching peak performance in a martial art means having understood it to its extreme, then returning to the essence is a step further on this foundation.
Summarizing and absorbing everything understood, then evolving and improving it, finally integrating it completely into oneself, achieving a realm where the skill is akin to the essence of the way.
Right now, Zhao Ya has vaguely touched upon this mysterious feeling.
The saber in his hand gently swings, each movement seemingly effortless, as if without exertion.
But when the saber gleamed past, the rising saber wind was like a tidal wave, relentlessly surging towards any creature daring to enter the attack range.
With a soft sound, a giant tiger attempting a sneak attack from behind just leapt up when its head, like a broken grain spike, gently fell off.
Only upon landing did the blood spray from the chest of the giant tiger.
The massive tiger corpse hit the ground, and beside it a giant ape showed a hint of fear in its eyes.
As a primate exotic beast, the giant ape’s intelligence was far higher than those of similar levels.
So upon seeing this giant tiger being so easily slain by Zhao Ya, fear arose in the ape’s heart, causing it to subconsciously retreat.
But just as it took two steps back, the giant ape suddenly slipped and sat on the ground, its body abruptly lowering by half.
Two legs covered in black fur lay before it, with cuts so smooth.
Only then did the giant ape realize its legs had been chopped off, and it couldn’t help but howl in pain.
However, the pain didn’t last long, because soon, a saber light glided gently across its neck.
The head immediately flew up, leading a trail of blood.
The whole process seemed slow, but was quite fast; in just a moment, two peak Third Realm exotic beasts had fallen under Zhao Ya’s saber.
The remaining exotic beasts retreated repeatedly in fright.
At the same time, Zhao Ya launched into the air, applying the Gale Saber Technique while in midair.
The saber borrowed the momentum of the person, the person borrowed the saber wind, transforming into a terrifying tornado, striking straight at the ghost-faced giant ape.
The ghost-faced giant ape’s eyes also flashed a hint of fear.
As a Fourth Realm exotic beast, its intelligence was already no different from that of ordinary humans, naturally seeing the danger in Zhao Ya’s move.
Especially since it had just been burned by kerosene, though not injuring any vital parts, it was still wounded.
With these two factors combined, the urge to retreat arose uncontrollably in it.
But at this moment, a faint beast roar came into its ears, causing the ghost-faced giant ape to shudder all over, daring not to retreat any further, instead furiously charging at Zhao Ya.
This battle was indeed extremely brutal.
Though Zhao Ya was also a Fourth Realm martial artist and had just made tremendous progress in the Gale Saber Technique,
this ghost-faced giant ape with unique talents couldn’t be described as having iron skin and iron bones, yet it was thick-skinned and fleshy, making it impossible for Zhao Ya to deal with it at once, he could only choose to wear it down strategically, bit by bit depleting its blood.
After a full quarter of an hour, the giant ape covered in scars let out a final roar, slapping its palms viciously towards Zhao Ya.
Zhao Ya did not dodge this time but instead charged forward, pointing the Meteorite Iron Saber straight at the giant ape’s forehead.
Thunk!
The saber light flashed, a bloodline appeared at the center of the ghost-faced giant ape’s brow, a hint of confusion flashing in its eyes.
Then the bloodline swiftly extended up, splitting the giant ape’s skull into several parts, revealing the brain inside already scrambled by the saber wind.
With a thud, the ghost-faced giant ape collapsed, its body weighing several thousand pounds kicking up clouds of dust.
Zhao Ya slowly rose from beside a tree that had been snapped in half, his face also somewhat pale.
The battle with this giant ape consumed a large amount of his strength.
Especially the final slash, where Zhao Ya pushed his vitality and spirit to their peak, thus successfully splitting the giant ape’s head.
This could only be achieved by Zhao Ya, with his multiple inner organ talents; anyone else would have already failed even during the strategic fighting with the giant ape, succumbing to exhaustion.
Zhao Ya’s fingers trembling slightly, he pulled out a piece of jerky from his chest, threw it into his mouth, chewed a couple of times, and then swallowed.
This was the Seven-Star Blood Eel jerky Zhao Ya had specifically prepared in advance for this battle.
After consuming it, the surging Qi blood quickly replenished Zhao Ya’s strength.
His heart, which was pounding like a war drum, gradually calmed down.
Zhao Ya gently exhaled a breath of turbid air, finally feeling less exhausted.
After the fierce battle just now, the exotic beasts in the forest had long disappeared without a trace.
Zhao Ya stepped forward to the giant ape’s corpse, looking at its ferocious face, a flash of doubt in his heart.
Before the fight, he had clearly seen a sign of retreat in the eyes of the ghost-faced giant ape.
Yet why did it suddenly change and charge at him with bestial ferocity?
Could it be something was commanding it from the dark?
Zhao Ya pondered for a long time but couldn’t figure it out.
Just then, Shen Dao, Nie Jingnian, and others, along with disciples from the Martial Arts Hall, stormed into the forest as well.
Seeing the nearly four-meter-tall ghost-faced giant ape lying on the ground, they couldn’t help but show expressions of shock.
Shen Dao, originally full of worry, feared that his junior brother might encounter some mishap.
So, after fiercely defeating the beast herd, he rushed in immediately.
But upon witnessing the scene before him, Shen Dao was silent for a moment, then patted Zhao Ya on the shoulder.
"You’ve worked hard!"
He didn’t know what to say about his unbelievably strong junior brother.
Single-handedly breaking into the forest, killing a Fourth Realm giant ape on his own, Shen Dao admitted even he couldn’t do it.
As for the others, they were even more impressed, adding a touch of awe.
Someone brought several carts used to transport grain, assembled them to place the giant ape’s body, and pushed it into the city.
Upon hearing that a Fourth Realm exotic beast had been killed, the whole city was in an uproar.
Although it was just dawn, the streets were still crowded with people.
People looked at this enormous exotic beast, discussing it with a mix of terror and excitement.
"Hiss, such a big one, isn’t it the legendary demon?" an elder said.
"Pah, what do you know, kid, this is a Fourth Realm exotic beast, extremely powerful. If it weren’t dead, it could crush you with a single finger," an even older man beside him retorted.
The elder who spoke first didn’t dare to make a sound.
The people around were not surprised by this.
Because these two elders were parent and child, the younger one’s name was Zhai Xiaobao, aged sixty-eight this year.
The older one, aged eighty-nine, was known as Old Man Zhai, people didn’t know his real name and he was respected even by officials, truly a man nobody dared to offend.
At this moment, Old Man Zhai looked at the group of martial artists entering the city behind the flat cart and couldn’t help but sigh.
"Truly a fine group of young men. It’s a pity I’m too old. If I were a few years younger, I’d definitely pick up a weapon and fight those beasts outside the city."
"Dad, you’re old but I’m still young. How about I go?" Zhai Xiaobao said.
"Get lost, you and your little skills would only become food for those beasts outside the city." Old Man Zhai cursed fiercely.
Just then, Zhao Ya also entered the city.
He originally intended to head straight home, but was stopped by Shang Jingchuan, who had rushed over after hearing the news.
According to Shang Jingchuan, it was a rare victory that boosted morale, and as the one who achieved the greatest merit, how could Zhao Ya leave at such a critical moment?
With no other option, Zhao Ya had to follow the team into the city.
When people saw him, they erupted into cheers.
"Young Hero Zhao, well done!" This was pure praise.
"Is Young Hero Zhao married yet?" This was with ulterior motives.
"Young Hero Zhao looks so handsome!" This was stating a fact.
Zhao Ya greeted them with a smile.
The people knew he was quite tired after the battle, so they didn’t dare block him for long and let him leave quickly.
After he left, Old Man Zhai couldn’t help but sigh.
"To have a son like that!"
Zhai Xiaobao, beside him, wrinkled his face.
"Dad, ability can be trained, but that face is born. I can’t compare, blame it on you for not looking good, dragging me down..."
"You brat, are you trying to anger me to death?" Old Man Zhai roared, waving his cane.
But Zhai Xiaobao, "battle-hardened," knew for sure he would be beaten for what he said, so he ran away already.
Old Man Zhai chased him with nimble steps, not at all like an eighty-year-old man.
People watching couldn’t help but remark.
"No wonder Old Man Zhai is so old, running like that every day he might live to be a hundred."
Zhao Ya, of course, knew nothing of this little episode. At that moment, he returned home after politely declining Shang Jingchuan’s enthusiastic invitation.
Zui’Er had already heard about the events outside the city and was waiting at the door.
When she saw Zhao Ya return, she greeted him joyfully.
"Ya, you’re amazing."
Zhao Ya smiled.
When others praised him as amazing, it didn’t mean much to him.
But Zui’Er was different.
This little girl often complimented him like this, panting with admiration.
Zhao Ya reached out and patted Zui’Er’s head.
"Go make me something to eat!"
"Sure, sure! What would you like to eat, Ya?"
"Anything will do!"
Zui’Er eagerly went to prepare a meal.
Zhao Ya walked over to the box where the mother insect was kept. Opening it, he saw the mother insect was awake and had laid many plump eggs.
Zhao Ya picked one up and examined it closely.
He found these eggs were larger than those fed with store-bought bait, and their color was a greenish jade, looking like a beautiful gem.
The aroma of flesh wafting from it made Zhao Ya’s fingers itch to taste.
He tentatively ate one and after a brief taste was pleased.
The purity and quantity of Qi Blood contained in this egg were superior to the previous ones.
It seemed the quality of the mother insect’s eggs was closely related to the bait it was fed.
Thinking of this, Zhao Ya couldn’t help but recall the exotic beasts he had killed today.
Most of these exotic beasts were from the Second Realm, but they were numerous, so there had to be some Meat Fields among them.
If these Meat Fields were used to feed the mother insect, what would the result be?
Sadly, Zhao Ya didn’t find anything of value on that Fourth Realm Ghost-faced Giant Ape.
Aside from some parts that could be used for medicine, they were nearly worthless.
There’s nothing to be done about it.
The higher the realm of the exotic beast, the lower the probability it would yield a Meat Field.
But after reaching the Fifth Realm, the situation seemed different.
Zhao Ya thought again of the mysterious woman who had taken a pearl from the Giant-winged Blood Bat.
What was that pearl?
Just then, Zui’Er’s surprised voice came from the courtyard.
"Master... Master, why have you come?"
Zhao Ya was startled and quickly turned to the courtyard.
Sure enough.
There stood Lu Dingtai and Meng Shiwen in the courtyard.
Zhao Ya quickly walked over, a bit surprised, "Master, why have you come?"
Hearing this, Lu Dingtai laughed heartily, "What? I’m not welcome at your place?"
"Of course not, if there was anything you could have sent someone to call me, how could I let you come personally?"
"Enough with the formalities. You killed a Fourth Realm Giant Ape this time, bringing great honor to our Dingtai Martial Arts Hall. I’m delighted and naturally wanted to come and see." Lu Dingtai said, beaming with pride.
What he said was indeed true.
Hearing the news of what happened outside the city filled Lu Dingtai with great joy, so he brought Meng Shiwen along in a moment of excitement.
At this time Shen Dao, Miao Shaocheng, and Xu De also arrived.
The courtyard suddenly became lively.
"Come on, order a feast from Feixian Inn!" Lu Dingtai said with a smile.
"Today we’ll have a good drink with our master-disciple group!"