After listening for a while longer, and finding that the people in the room could no longer provide any useful information.
Zhao Ya reached out quietly, extending his hand to a corner of the window.
As the weather was hot, a gap was opened in the window for ventilation.
Holding some medicinal powder in his hand, Zhao Ya let it drift into the room through the gap.
Then, Zhao Ya counted silently in his heart.
One, two, three...
When he counted to seventeen, he heard a terrified shout coming from the room.
"What’s going on? Why is my whole body numb?"
"Me too!"
"This is bad, someone poisoned us."
Amidst the chaos, there was the sound of chairs being kicked and dragged, indicating that someone was trying to get up and escape.
Soon followed by the thumping sounds of bodies hitting the ground, and then the room fell into a deathly silence.
Zhao Ya did not rush in immediately; he waited outside for half a cup of tea’s time, making sure there were no abnormalities, before lightly leaping through the window into the room.
Inside, four people were sprawled on the floor, three of them lying motionless, and only one person was sitting in the chair in the middle.
This person was a man around forty years old, with an eagle nose and hawk-like eyes.
According to Xiang Gui’s description, Zhao Ya knew this should be Li De, who was responsible for guarding this villa.
However, even Li De had lost his ability to move, unable to even blink, only able to stare at Zhao Ya with terror-filled eyes.
Zhao Ya did not rush to act against him but first kicked the three people on the ground to make sure they were deeply poisoned and would likely die of respiratory paralysis soon; only then did he smile slightly at Li De.
"Are you Li De?"
Li De couldn’t speak, only staring wide-eyed at Zhao Ya.
Yet Zhao Ya still did not let his guard down, suddenly flicking his fingers to send two pebbles flying towards Li De’s eyes.
Just as the pebbles neared, Li De suddenly sighed.
"You’re pretty cunning."
With that, Li De suddenly waved his hand, directly shattering the two pebbles.
"Likewise." Zhao Ya said with a smile, showing no surprise.
Li De looked at Zhao Ya and suddenly said, "I didn’t expect the famous Zhao Ya, Young Hero Zhao, in the capital city to also be a poison expert."
"You know me?" Zhao Ya asked.
Is my reputation already that big? Even people in this mountain backwater can recognize me at a glance?
"Haha, Young Hero Zhao’s reputation is indeed flourishing now; naturally, my Five Immortals Sect must gather information in advance. I’ve seen your portrait more than once, so recognizing you is no surprise. But I’m curious, how did you figure out that I wasn’t poisoned?"
"Your performance was flawless, even faking muscle paralysis convincingly, but you overlooked one point."
"What point?" Li De asked.
But at that moment, Zhao Ya suddenly drew his blade and charged, aiming directly for Li De’s neck.
"What an unprincipled young man."
Li De scolded, then leaned back, flipping himself over the chair to evade the slash.
After dodging the strike, Li De also drew his weapon, a fine iron ruler over a meter long, and engaged Zhao Ya in combat.
Once they started fighting, Zhao Ya was surprised to find that his previous assumption was wrong.
Li De was not at the level of Skin Grinding Great Success but was indeed solidly in the Fifth Realm.
Such a figure actually hiding in this small villa and fraternizing with someone like Xiang Gui, what was it all for?
But Zhao Ya didn’t know, while he was surprised, Li De was even more astonished.
Stationed not far from the Yan Capital City, he had naturally heard Zhao Ya’s name more than once.
But regarding Zhao Ya’s glorious deeds in the rumors, Li De sneered, dismissing them as exaggerated lies.
Fifth Realm defeating Meridian Opening, what a far-fetched tale?
So Li De didn’t believe a word of it.
Yet upon encountering Zhao Ya and engaging in combat, Li De realized the rumors were true.
Although both were in the Fifth Realm, Zhao Ya was unbelievably strong; after just a few moves, Li De was forced into a defensive stance, unable to counterattack.
In desperation, Li De had to resort to his trump card, throwing out a cloud of smoke.
But he never expected Zhao Ya to charge through the smoke unfazed, slashing towards him again.
Seeking death!
Although startled, a wave of unexpected joy surged in Li De’s heart.
The smoke he released was infused with Exotic Insect Fragrance and various poisons, meticulously concocted, such that even a Fifth Realm martial artist would suffer upon inhaling even a wisp.
Yet this guy charged straight through, showing no fear of the poisonous powder, truly like a newborn calf unafraid of the tiger.
So Li De dodged desperately, intending to wait for Zhao Ya to succumb to the poison.
But as a full minute passed, Zhao Ya showed no signs of poisoning and seemed to fight with increasing fervor.
Li De could hardly accept this fact.
"Why aren’t you afraid of poison?" he shouted hoarsely.
"Aren’t you the same?" Zhao Ya replied coldly, intensifying his attacks.
In fact, Zhao Ya was also puzzled, although his concocted nerve-paralyzing poison had only been tested on half-step Fifth Realm individuals, and not formally against a Fifth Realm.
But it should have at least some impact.
Yet Li De’s vigorous performance did not resemble someone poisoned at all.
So Zhao Ya was also pondering how Li De had neutralized his poison.
At this point, Li De was starting to panic.
His trump card was ineffective against Zhao Ya, and continuing the fight would only put him at more disadvantage.
Thinking of this, Li De felt an urge to retreat, planning to escape.
But just then, Zhao Ya’s swordsmanship became even more ferocious, sealing Li De’s escape routes, preventing him from leaving.
For the secret of his immunity to poison alone, Zhao Ya couldn’t let him go, not to mention he might hold secrets concerning the Beast Taming Sect, making it even more impossible to let him go.
A barrage of fierce sword strikes left Li De in distress.
Despite his efforts to resist, he made a careless mistake, and Zhao Ya slashed his iron ruler in two, quickly causing him to be defeated.
Thud.
A flash of the blade directly severed two of Li De’s tendons in his foot.
Li De fell to the ground with a howl of pain, still trying to struggle, but Zhao Ya swiftly followed with two slashes to sever his hand tendons.
No matter how strong a martial artist is, once the tendons in their hands and feet are cut, they’re like a fish out of water, unable to stir up any trouble.
Then Zhao Ya stepped on Li De’s chest with one foot, expertly and skillfully stripping everything from Li De’s body.
Among the items, one immediately stood out to Zhao Ya as unusual.
It was a pouch, small and delicate, yet Zhao Ya didn’t believe someone like Li De would carry something useless.
Sure enough, upon opening it, he found a round bead, translucent yellow, seemingly unremarkable at first glance. However, on closer inspection.
The bead was covered with many tiny holes and emitted a cool mint-like fragrance.
Zhao Ya, highly curious, picked it up and asked, "What’s this?"
Li De remained silent, his eyes filled with venomous resentment.
"Haha, even if you don’t say I can guess, this should be an antitoxic bead, right?"
"Is it filled with antitoxic powder? What is it made of?"
Li De sneered, "Do you think I would tell you...?"
Then he witnessed an unbelievable scene.
Zhao Ya rubbed the bead with his fingers, then sniffed it closely, even putting it in his mouth for a taste.
Li De was utterly dumbfounded.
How could this guy be so fearless?
Though it’s an antitoxic bead, tasting it so recklessly, doesn’t he fear poisoning?
Little did he know, with the deepening of his cultivation, Zhao Ya’s Five Organ Talent grew stronger and stronger.
His liver’s Immunity to Hundred Poisons rendered him fearless of worldly poisons.
So tasting poison was merely routine for Zhao Ya.
"Cyan Golden Grass, West King Sand, Turtle Shell Fruit Seed, and Nine-Refined Red Wood, am I right?"
Li De practically couldn’t believe his ears.
Just a single taste and able to identify the constituent herbs with such accuracy?
What an extraordinary ability!