But Zhao Ya had heard from others that Jiao Yousong was born with immense strength, perfectly suited to the Horizontal Refining Technique. Although he had only recently broken through to the Fourth Realm, his strength was not weak at all.
Today’s encounter truly confirmed this.
However, Zhao Ya could also tell that after a prolonged battle, Jiao Yousong was already at his limit, and the giant axe in his hand was swinging slower and slower.
Suddenly.
Two giant birds flew in from the left and right diagonally, while another dove down, its sharp claws aiming straight for Jiao Yousong’s face.
Jiao Yousong let out a furious roar, his muscles trembling like flowing water, and suddenly threw the giant axe in his hand.
With two loud whooshing sounds, the two giant axes struck the giant birds charging in from the sides, splitting them into pieces.
But by then, the diving giant bird was already close at hand.
Jiao Yousong had no time to dodge, his eyes showed a hint of determination. He once again mustered his last bit of Qi Blood, his skin turning an iron blue, then crossed his arms in front of him.
He intended to use the Horizontal Refining Skill he had trained hard for years to withstand the giant bird’s attack head-on.
Yet, the anticipated fierce collision never came.
Only a mournful cry from the giant bird was heard.
Jiao Yousong raised his head in confusion.
He saw that the diving giant bird had already been cleaved into two by Zhao Ya with a single saber strike, who then smiled at Jiao Yousong.
"Senior Brother Jiao, you rest for now, leave the rest to me."
Seeing it was Zhao Ya, Jiao Yousong couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
He was indeed exhausted, so he didn’t stand on ceremony, only reminding him.
"Be extra careful, these damned feathered creatures are very cunning."
Saying this, he picked up the giant axe on the ground, found a corner that could shield him from the giant birds’ view, and sat down, gasping for air.
At the same time, Zhao Ya wielded his saber. The Gale Saber Technique, which had reached the Transformation Realm, cut down all the giant birds that dared enter his attack range.
For a moment, feathers filled the air and dead bodies littered the ground.
Such a fierce scene invigorated all the Martial Artists at the North City Gate.
"Those unable to hold on, retreat into the gate tower. Reserves, take their place," Zhao Ya commanded loudly while fighting.
The reserves at the North City Gate were composed of the Governor’s Mansion’s guards. Hearing Zhao Ya’s words, they quickly climbed up to the city wall.
And the Martial Artists who had been fighting for a long time finally got a precious moment to breathe and retreated into the gate tower to rest.
Zhao Ya wasn’t merely reaping these giant birds; his eyes constantly observed the surrounding situation.
By then, fires for alert had been lit at all the city gates, alarming the entire Commandery.
The usually brightly lit brothels, taverns, and tea houses went dark, and many people hid at home, trembling.
As for those Noble Clans, they dared not go anywhere except having their Manor Guards tightly guard their gates.
But that wasn’t the main point. The main point was that Zhao Ya vaguely heard the sounds of shouting and killing from the distant Jade Belt River.
Simultaneously, shadows moved in the dark outside the city, clearly indicating the Beast Tide had arrived.
Zhao Ya’s heart gradually sank.
If the Exotic Beasts outside the city launched a simultaneous attack, the Commandery was likely indefensible.
Fortunately, Zhao Ya had prepared in advance, and Zui’Er had already been sent to a safe place.
While contemplating, Zhao Ya’s Meteorite Iron Saber suddenly halted.
Then he saw a bird, much larger than the other giant birds, clutch the Meteorite Iron Saber with its claws.
The razor-sharp Meteorite Iron Saber proved ineffective before these pale golden claws, and it creaked under the grip.
For a moment, Zhao Ya was unable to pull his saber free.
Moreover, the giant bird suddenly flapped its wings, the row of bird feathers at the wing’s edge glinted like iron, slashing towards Zhao Ya’s body.
Evidently, this unusually large giant bird was a leader-level existence, launching a surprise attack to eliminate Zhao Ya.
After all, in just a short while, Zhao Ya had slain at least twenty or thirty giant birds.
In this critical moment, Zhao Ya suddenly exploded with the blood sea stored in his liver, managing to forcibly pull the Meteorite Iron Saber free.
But by then, those iron-like bird feathers were already upon him.
Zhao Ya raised his saber to block, preparing to counterattack.
A figure suddenly leaped across the sky at great speed and threw a punch at the giant bird.
Boom!
A loud explosion of flesh resounded.
The giant bird was directly blown apart, half its body pulverized, and its corpse fell to the ground.
Then Zhao Ya could see clearly the person who came and exclaimed with surprise and joy, "Master!"
The visitor was none other than Lu Dingtai.
Today, he was dressed not as a wealthy gentleman, as he usually did.
In simple black clothes, Lu Dingtai’s expert demeanor was fully revealed.
Upon seeing Zhao Ya, he laughed heartily.
"Good disciple, you all have worked hard. Now, leave it to me."
As he spoke, Lu Dingtai lightly tapped his toe on the ground, soared into the air, stepped on a giant bird swooping down, and then punched like a dragon.
The sound of flesh and blood bursting in mid-air was incessant, bird feathers and carcasses fell like rain, and within a moment, the flock above the city wall was completely cleared.
Lu Dingtai then landed on the city wall, his expression calm and composed.
The entire process was swift to the extreme.
Everyone watched, dumbfounded.
Even Zhao Ya was somewhat tongue-tied.
He had always thought that, though his strength might be somewhat inferior to his master’s, the gap shouldn’t be too large.
But now it seemed otherwise, this mastery of fist technique was beyond his reach.
Zhao Ya even suspected that Lu Dingtai’s Great Vajra Fist had reached the level of Returning to the Essence.
"Master, how are the other city gates?" Zhao Ya asked.
"No need to worry, the Iron Peak of Ren Yong Martial Arts Hall, the Master Zhenming of Guangrui Martial Arts Hall, and the masters of Mountain Guardian Boxing Hall, Tan Family Leg Hall have all gone to support," Lu Dingtai said lightly.
Hearing this, Zhao Ya couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
The masters of the major martial arts halls had finally taken action.
At this time, Jiao Yousong and the martial artists on the city wall all came over to salute Lu Dingtai.
Lu Dingtai waved his hand and laughed, "No need for so much ceremony now. You juniors did well this time; now it’s our turn, the old ones, to take the stage."
Saying this, he gazed outside the city.
At this moment, the beast horde outside was already clearly visible.
Dark shadows were everywhere, mingled with the low growls of exotic beasts, chilling to the bones.
Seeing this, Lu Dingtai was not alarmed but rather excited.
"It’s been a while since I last fought, looks like I’ll have a good kill tonight!"
He then instructed in a deep voice, "Ya, watch the city wall well!"
After that, he leaped off the city wall, charging directly into the beast horde.
Zhao Ya wanted to stop him, but before he could say anything, Lu Dingtai had already rushed down.
Helpless, Zhao Ya could only watch with a face full of resignation.
He had often heard people say that Lu Dingtai, in his youth, had a fiery temper and would fight at the drop of a hat. Zhao Ya had thought it was just a rumor.
After all, since Zhao Ya came to the Martial Arts Hall, he always saw Lu Dingtai smiling like a wealthy gentleman.
But now, it seemed the rumors were not false at all.
Bang, bang, bang.
A dull thud sounded continuously below the city; not a single exotic beast was a match for Lu Dingtai.
Sometimes it only took a gust of fist wind to blow an exotic beast to bits on the spot.
Watching the blossoming flowers of blood and flesh below the city, the silent Jiao Yousong said in a muffled voice, "Your master... sure has a fiery temper."
Zhao Ya could only smile wryly at this.
At this rate, Zhao Ya even suspected Lu Dingtai could single-handedly wipe out this wave of beasts below the city.
But just then, a low roar came from the distant mountains, causing the low-level exotic beasts to retreat like a tide, and a group of boars as strong and robust as bulls surrounded Lu Dingtai.
Bam.
Lu Dingtai punched a boar, but the expected sound of flesh exploding did not occur.
The boar was merely sent flying several yards, landing and rolling over, then standing up and charging at Lu Dingtai again.
Seeing this, Lu Dingtai was somewhat amazed.
"Such thick boar hide!"
However, his reaction was extremely quick; as more boars charged, Lu Dingtai grabbed a boar’s mouth with both hands, let out a cold humph, and exerted force with both arms, tearing the boar’s mouth and the head behind it in two.
Even the eyes of the boars showed a hint of fear at this.
Lu Dingtai sneered towards the mountains, "Show all your tricks; today, I, Master Lu, will slaughter to my heart’s content!"