After a loud "bang," an invisible ripple swiftly spread out from where the fist and palm met.
A nearby Fourth Realm Martial Artist was directly blown away by this wave of energy, vomiting blood in mid-air, clearly suffering from significant internal injuries.
Simultaneously, the surrounding trees and bushes were affected, trees fell, and grass bent, showing the terrifying power.
Then He Town let out a muffled groan and was forced back seven or eight steps, feeling half of his body go numb, his eyes revealing a look of horror.
What a powerful fist technique.
Who is this young man really?
How does he possess such terrifying strength?
Zhao Ya, however, didn’t even sway and slowly raised his fist to take a look.
He saw a faint layer of black mist appearing on his originally fair jade-like palm, quickly spreading up his arm.
Seeing this scene, He Town couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, then sneered.
"Kid, you indeed have some skills, but you’re still too green, daring to take my Hundred Poison Palm directly. Do you even realize...?"
He Town was about to boast when his eyes practically popped out of their sockets.
Because at that moment, the rapidly spreading black mist on Zhao Ya’s hand suddenly began to retreat, as if it encountered a natural enemy.
He Town stood there dumbstruck.
Zhao Ya just smiled slightly, "The poison is somewhat interesting, but unfortunately, it’s too aggressive, falling into the lower ranks."
With that, the black mist receded entirely to Zhao Ya’s index finger, and seeped out from the fingertip, forming into a black droplet of water.
Seeing this, He Town felt his scalp tingle, losing all will to fight.
What a joke.
His power couldn’t match, and the Poison Palm he relied on was easily neutralized, as if it were child’s play to force the poison out.
How could he continue to fight this battle?
Thinking of this, He Town was filled with regret.
If he had known it would turn out like this, he wouldn’t have caused troubles, and should have left immediately after capturing Yun Yuan.
But now it was too late for regrets.
He Town could only force himself to appear calm, laughing coldly with a fierce facade.
"Indeed, you have some skills, but our Four Seas Gang isn’t easy to provoke. You’ve killed so many of our members, don’t you owe us an explanation?"
At this moment, He Town was trying to use the gang’s name to intimidate.
After all, nearly everyone in the Capital City had heard of the Four Seas Gang’s reputation.
Unfortunately.
His thoughts were of no use.
Zhao Ya didn’t even twitch an eyelid, "Can’t fight so now you’re resorting to threats?"
He Town’s expression stiffened, about to speak, when suddenly he felt a stabbing pain in his chest, and next his whole body’s muscles began tingling as if electrified.
Such a strange occurrence naturally terrified He Town greatly.
"What did you do to me?" he roared at Zhao Ya.
"Not much, just added a little something when we exchanged strikes," Zhao Ya said with a smile.
"Despicable!"
He Town was gripped by panic, though his strong Qi Blood constantly mitigated his body’s oddities, the tingling in his muscles did not decrease, in fact, it only intensified.
"Same goes for both sides. It’s impolite not to reciprocate. Since you used Poison Palm on me, I naturally intend to give you something back,"
said Zhao Ya coolly, keeping a keen eye on He Town’s condition.
When he saw He Town’s eyelids drooping uncontrollably, Zhao Ya knew that the drug had taken full effect.
The poison that He Town was afflicted with was the same kind Zhao Ya used previously at Cyan Bamboo Ridge against Huo Tianxiao and his men.
It’s designed to paralyze people’s muscles and nerves.
And though it had undergone several improvements, making the toxin more concealed and potent, Zhao Ya knew full well that just this bit of poison wasn’t enough to kill the tattooed muscular man before him.
After all, upon reaching halfway to the Fifth Realm, most of the Acquired Muddy Qi in the body had been expelled, with resistance to poison significantly increased.
Therefore, it couldn’t achieve the effect it had on Huo Tianxiao and others before, but even half its effectiveness would suffice.
Because the fight among experts often comes down to the slightest differences.
Though Zhao Ya’s power was enough to crush He Town, to utterly kill him would require some effort, so using poison was more convenient.
When He Town’s eyelids drooped uncontrollably, Zhao Ya knew the time had come, and he leapt forward, his saber moving like a gust of wind, enveloping He Town in a fierce blade aura.
He Town was utterly horrified.
He realized that most of his muscles were not responding.
Faced with Zhao Ya’s attack, he had lost all will to fight, desperately attempting to stir his Qi Blood, and turned to flee.
But even in his prime, he couldn’t defeat Zhao Ya, let alone after being poisoned.
Zhao Ya easily caught up, his saber swinging like the wind, striking directly at the neck.
He Town knew the situation was dire, but his muscles were stiff, unable to evade, and he could only emit a cry of despair, desperately turning to barely avoid a fatal blow.
Though the neck was avoided, the shoulder was not, falling prey to Zhao Ya.
With a "puff," a shoulder was diagonal cut and fell to the ground.
"I am the Vice Gang Leader of the Four Seas Gang, if you kill me, the Four Seas Gang won’t...,"
He Town was making his last struggle, but Zhao Ya paid no heed, the Meteorite Iron Saber lightly swung by, directly severing his head from his shoulders.
Then Zhao Ya grabbed the head soaring through the air, shouting to the fray in the distance,
"Your leader has perished by my blade, do you still want to resist stubbornly?"
The voice echoed far and wide.
The members of the Four Seas Gang turned back to see Zhao Ya holding He Town’s head, their faces were all filled with terror.
They could never have imagined that He Town, the Vice Gang Leader of the Four Seas Gang, who enjoyed a formidable reputation in the underground Jianghu of the Capital City, would die just like that.
And he died in the desolate wilderness, under the blade of a young man.
But He Town’s grinning head was right before their eyes, leaving them no choice but to believe.
So, after the shock, those quick on the uptake turned and darted into the forest by the roadside.
With someone leading the way, the rest naturally rushed headlong into the forest as well.
Zhao Ya would not let these people escape.
The so-called eradication of evil must be thorough, once action is taken, one must eliminate the roots.
So Zhao Ya wielded his saber in pursuit.
These people were no match for Zhao Ya’s speed.
Zhao Ya’s figure moved like a ghost, weaving through the forest.
Some had barely run far before a flash of the blade took off their heads.
In just the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the remaining members of the Four Seas Gang had all joined He Town in company.
When Zhao Ya emerged from the forest, his saber was stained red, blood dripping steadily from it.
The guards watched this scene with awe, as if Zhao Ya were a Celestial Being.
Though they claimed to be jointly resisting the enemy, in reality, they had only hidden behind the caravan defending for a while.
The true extermination of this band of rogues was carried out by Zhao Ya alone.
Now, the guards finally had a more direct understanding of Zhao Ya’s power.
Earlier, in the forest, Zhao Ya killed while scavenging the corpses, sparing neither those in the Third Realm nor the Fourth Realm.
After emerging, Zhao Ya paid particular attention to He Town, meticulously searching his corpse before giving the order.
"Clean the battlefield!"
"Yes!" the guards hurriedly set to work.
Zhao Ya then stepped over to a distant grassy area.
Tied up there was Yun Yuan.
At this moment, his mouth was gagged, leaving him only able to plead with his eyes as he looked at Zhao Ya.
Zhao Ya raised his saber and lightly swung it.
Yun Yuan shuddered all over, nearly believing he too was about to meet his end.
Yet fortunately,
the blade only sliced through the ropes binding him.
Yun Yuan hurriedly pulled the cloth from his mouth, then gasped out his thanks to Zhao Ya.
"Thank you, Young Hero, for saving me. I am Yun Yuan, in your debt."
"Huh, the surname Yun! Could it be... are you a descendant of Elder Prime Minister Yun of the Capital City?" Shang Jingchuan asked in surprise.
Having seen the band of robbers exterminated, Shang Jingchuan, Shang Luoluo, and others had come over, thus overhearing Yun Yuan’s self-introduction.
Yun Yuan nodded, "He is indeed my grandfather."
"A scion of a noble family," Shang Jingchuan remarked.
As a civil servant of Great Yan, he held Elder Prime Minister Yun Guang in high esteem, so upon learning Yun Yuan was his descendant, naturally saw him from a different perspective.
Zhao Ya, however, felt indifferent.
To him, the Yun Family and the Yu Family were all the same.
Yun Yuan could perceive Zhao Ya’s coldness, yet at this point, he needed the young expert to safely reach the Capital City, so he solemnly said,
"Young Hero, and you, Old Sir, I am of the Yun Family. This conflict stemmed from some family matter causing disputes. I hope the Young Hero can lend assistance and escort me to the Capital City, and I assure you a substantial reward."
"What kind of reward?" Zhao Ya asked bluntly.
Yun Yuan was taken aback.
He hadn’t interacted with someone like Zhao Ya before.
Aren’t the Young Heroes in Jianghu supposed to be spirited, known for their chivalry and righteousness?
Why ask for a benefit right off the bat?
But Yun Yuan soon relaxed.
This was actually better.
After this incident, he wasn’t inclined to trust in emotions anymore.
Apart from kinship, relationships with others are best maintained by benefits.
"Gold or cultivation resources are both acceptable, not less than twenty thousand taels of gold," Yun Yuan said, gritting his teeth, offering the most he could.
"I want cultivation resources, preferably high-grade jerky!" Zhao Ya stated outright.
"Alright, I’ll do my best!" Yun Yuan nodded firmly.
Thus, the deal was struck.
Yun Yuan first returned to his caravan; although all his companions were dead, some luggage remained.
As for what He Town and others had looted, then subsequently by Zhao Ya during corpse looting, Yun Yuan acted as though he hadn’t seen it.
After packing their belongings, Yun Yuan came, with a sorrowful expression, to the body of Old Ding, his steward.
Earlier, Old Ding had fought these rogues to the death for his sake, ultimately dying under He Town’s palm.
Old Ding had been with Yun Yuan since he was very young, almost like family, so his grief was understandable.
He thus requested Zhao Ya’s help in burying Old Ding, and upon hearing of his valiant deeds, even the guards acted admirably, quickly digging a deep pit.
Then they buried Old Ding’s corpse, avoiding the disgrace of being left exposed in the wild.
As for the other guards who had died in battle, they were all laid into a large pit. Once everything was done, Yun Yuan wiped away his tears and set off with Zhao Ya on the road to the Capital City.