For instance, last year, Wang Tiancheng from the Golden Saber Institute and Xu Niannian from Wunian Academy left Yan Capital City under the pretense of learning from you and studying abroad.
Now, it’s said that they’ve made quite a name for themselves in the Jianghu outside.
Zhao Ya was naturally well aware of the strength of Wang Tiancheng and Xu Niannian.
When he left Yan Capital City, they were already at the Fifth Realm in strength. So much time has passed, and they’ve probably made progress. Choosing to venture out and hone themselves is quite normal.
But what Zhao Ya was most concerned about was another piece of news conveyed by Shang Luoluo.
That was, just a couple of months after he left, that Cong Bo from the Beast Taming Sect arrived in Yan Capital City.
Shang Luoluo, following the contacts that Zhao Ya had instructed him to establish, secretly connected with this Cong Bo.
Moreover, throughout the whole process, Shang Luoluo never showed himself, staying hidden in the background, so much so that this Cong Bo still doesn’t know who she is.
Using such high-level techniques and the poison that afflicted Cong Bo, Shang Luoluo managed him strictly and learned a lot of important information about the Beast Taming Sect through him, listing them all out in the letter.
Seeing the satisfaction between the lines, Zhao Ya seemed to see Shang Luoluo standing before him with hands clasped behind her back, her face lifted with a smiling gaze, waiting for his praise.
But she didn’t know that, for Zhao Ya now, this information was no longer important.
The reason was none other than the once mighty Beast Taming Sect was now as insignificant as mud chickens to Zhao Ya, not worth mentioning at all.
If Zhao Ya wished, he could single-handedly storm the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain and uproot the Beast Taming Sect’s lair.
So these dark lines and foreshadowing left behind then seem to hold little utility now.
However, Zhao Ya still appreciated Shang Luoluo’s actions quite a bit.
It’s crucial to know that Cong Bo, after all, was an elder in the Beast Taming Sect, and to have mixed in such a place for so long spoke to his cunning nature.
The result was that this old Jianghu was completely played around by Shang Luoluo.
This showed how skillful her methods were.
Thinking of this, Zhao Ya couldn’t help but take out the last piece of letter paper.
On it, Shang Luoluo spoke in a very relaxed tone.
"Since you left, Zui’Er and I haven’t been idle. We’ve been diving into martial arts every day, and with Master Lu’s wholehearted teaching, Zui’Er has now proven to the Fourth Realm, and I have reached the peak of the Third Realm. How about it? Pretty impressive, right?"
Who would have thought that the little girl Zui’Er had also proven to the Fourth Realm?
Zhao Ya was quite surprised by this.
But recalling her once-displayed exceptional talent, along with Lu Dingtai’s methods, this seemed nothing too extraordinary.
At the same time, Zhao Ya felt a tinge of heartache.
Because it’s conceivable that to achieve this goal, Zui’Er must have endured immense hardship and effort.
And at the end of the letter, Shang Luoluo, in a questioning tone, said.
"You jerk, saying you’d be back in three years, but you’ve failed to keep your word, even sending such a pretty girl to deliver your letters. What, are you trying to show off?"
Seeing this, Zhao Ya could only laugh and cry at the same time.
Luckily, Shang Luoluo changed the tone afterwards, saying.
"But considering the great achievements you’ve made in the Beyond the World, Zui’Er and I will begrudgingly forgive you."
"Also, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Rest when you need to, don’t just practice martial arts all day locked in your room."
"Whenever you have time, you must come back!"
The letter ended abruptly here.
Reading the last line, Zhao Ya seemed lost in thought.
Shang Luoluo was indeed exceedingly clever.
Despite not saying anything about the situation Beyond the World, with Wu Bao’Er also not daring to mention it,
She still sensed something was off.
But this girl had said nothing, not even a sentence to take care, just asking Zhao Ya to be sure to return.
That kind of earnest expectation between the lines was enough to move Zhao Ya deeply.
Moreover, Zhao Ya was sure that when writing this letter, Zui’Er must have been beside her, and perhaps she was the one who added the last sentence.
Thinking of this, Zhao Ya suddenly felt an urge.
A wish to drop everything and return to Yan Capital City, to see Zui’Er, to see his master and others.
But ultimately, Zhao Ya controlled this impulse.
Because Zhao Ya knew that if his suspicions were true, then any slacking now would plant the seeds of disaster for the future.
Succumbing only leads to harm for everyone.
Especially with Beyond the World situated right behind the Great Yan where his family and friends reside, Zhao Ya couldn’t afford any mistakes.
Thinking like this, Zhao Ya carefully packed up those letters again and stored them properly.
Then Zhao Ya got up and went outside, gazing at the distant giant Cliff Dragon Painting, and let out a slow breath.
By now, it has been more than a year since the Azure Dragon Temple has closed its doors, leaving less than a year and a half until the three-year period ends.
Zhao Ya plans, in this remaining year and more, to elevate the overall strength of the Azure Dragon Temple by another level.
This notion would be mere fantasy for anyone else.
Only Zhao Ya has full confidence in it.
Because even before entering secluded cultivation to push into the Primordial Sea Realm, Zhao Ya already had a comprehensive plan, only at that time he lacked a bit of strength.
Now that all the conditions are fulfilled, it’s time to implement it.
With this in mind, Zhao Ya headed to the grand hall while instructing the little disciples to invite Qin Jianji and Shen Yunshen and other elders over.
When Qin Jianji and Shen Yunshen arrived at the hall and heard Zhao Ya’s next plan, even the famously bold and audacious Shen Yunshen couldn’t help but be taken aback.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Absolutely!"
"But have you considered the difficulty of doing so?"
"Of course I have, which is why I’ve called you here to brainstorm. After all, no matter how strong I am as a person, my strength is very limited, and to complete this plan, it requires everyone’s concerted effort."
Shen Yunshen and Qin Jianji exchanged glances, seeing the eager looks in each other’s eyes.
Because if they truly execute Zhao Ya’s plan, they would surely make a historic mark in the history of the Azure Dragon Temple.
The allure of this is immense.
At least both Qin Jianji and Shen Yunshen found it hard to resist.
"Alright!" Shen Yunshen was the first to nod in agreement.
Qin Jianji also smiled, saying: "I have no objections either, and you’re right, even though those martial arts are classic, so many years have passed since then, and people today ought to be stronger than those ancient ones, it’s indeed time to keep the essence and discard the dross, and delve into them thoroughly!"
Indeed.
Zhao Ya’s plan was simple, which was to reorganize the unique skills of the Azure Dragon Temple, and then refine them, removing the dross and preserving the essence, and upgrading them.
This idea Zhao Ya had long ago.
Especially as his strength grew, and his vision broadened, Zhao Ya discovered the shortcomings in martial arts in the Azure Dragon Temple, or rather the entire Beyond the World.
That was the severe mismatch between martial arts and realm strength.
To put it plainly, whether it’s the Azure Dragon Temple or other sects Beyond the World, their unique skills are mostly derived from hundreds or even thousands of years ago.
And the biggest difference between then and now was the spiritual power wandering between the heavens and the earth.
The further in time, the weaker this spiritual power became.
This also resulted in the fact that nowadays, the overall strength of martial art realms Beyond the World actually declined.
But these martial arts were created based on the strength and realm of that era back then.
This led to severe mismatches.
Take, for example, the Great Vajra Fist, the sect’s unique skill Zhao Ya was most familiar with. There were many moves back then that felt odd to Zhao Ya, not knowing why they were set up that way.
At that time, due to the lack of sufficient realm and vision, Zhao Ya could only temporarily suppress this confusion in his heart.
Until now, with enough strength and realm, Zhao Ya realized.
Originally, those seemingly odd setups in the Great Vajra Fist, if placed in the era a thousand years ago, were precisely the essence of it.