A secret manual, a stack of gold notes, a box of jerky, plus a few bottles of drug powder.

This was all Zhao Ya found on the masked man.

The gold notes amounted to over a thousand taels, quite a windfall.

But compared to the jerky and the secret manual, it was still lacking. After all, Zhao Ya had realized many precious resources were beyond the reach of money.

He picked up a piece of jerky and examined it, discovering it was made from an Exotic Beast from the waters, and it contained good Qi Blood, likely of the same grade as the Seven-Star Blood Eel exclusively provided by Dingtai Martial Arts Hall.

This box contained about thirty or forty pieces, worth much more than that stack of gold notes when converted to gold value.

Moreover, one could never have too much jerky.

So Zhao Ya happily packed away the entire box of jerky.

Finally, Zhao Ya picked up the secret manual.

There was no title on the pages of this secret manual; when he opened it, he discovered it recorded a Palm Technique.

Zhao Ya's eyes lit up.

During his fight with the masked man, the Palm Technique he used left an extremely deep impression on Zhao Ya.

Its strange moves, the sinister Palm Power, were not inferior to the Heaven-Flipping Palm of Chenfeng Martial Arts Hall.

If this secret manual recorded the same Palm Technique as that used by the masked man, Zhao Ya had struck gold.

Zhao Ya immediately began a careful examination.

After a long while, Zhao Ya finished reading through the manual thoroughly, then sighed softly, showing a hint of disappointment on his face.

This Palm Technique was not the one the masked man used, but rather a Palm Technique called the White Crane Palm.

Despite this, Zhao Ya was still quite pleased.

Because this Palm Technique had graceful moves and gentle force, with decent power, making it very suitable for women to practice as a means of self-defense.

Currently, Zui'Er's Body Technique was gradually reaching new heights, and her swordsmanship was barely passable, but she still lacked in unarmed skills.

It's well known that even those who have profound mastery in weaponry can't afford to be negligent in unarmed combat.

Because weapons can't always be by your side, but your fists and feet are always there.

In truly urgent situations, a suitable unarmed fighting technique can be lifesaving.

And this Palm Technique was just right for Zui'Er to practice.

As for the few bottles of drug powder, Zhao Ya identified them and found them to be similar to those seized before, so he replenished his stock.

Recent battles made Zhao Ya increasingly aware that poison could turn the tide at critical moments.

If he hadn't secretly poisoned that masked man, he couldn't have killed him so easily.

So Zhao Ya decided that alongside his training, he wouldn't neglect research on poisons.

Currently, Exotic Beasts outside the city were increasing daily, many of which were highly poisonous, presenting a rare opportunity.

If he could find some strange and rare Exotic Beast poisons, the potency of the poisons mixed would undoubtedly be much stronger.

Five days later.

Zhao Ya watched Zui'Er practicing the White Crane Palm diligently, nodding silently.

Nothing much to say, Zui'Er's perception was quite good.

In just a few days, she had managed to practice the White Crane Palm to a decent level.

Though she had only just begun and learned just the basics, this progress was commendable enough.

The rest depends on her continued effort to hone her skills bit by bit.

There's no shortcut in such matters; it takes time to refine.

After a few reminders, Zhao Ya took his gear and went to the forested areas outside the city.

In recent times, apart from teaching Zui'Er at home and attending to responsibilities at the Martial Arts Hall, Zhao Ya spent most of his time in the forest capturing poisonous creatures and Exotic Beasts.

Smack.

A small stone struck a Second Realm Exotic Beast, a black-spotted cobra, right on its vital spot.

The black-spotted cobra fell from the tree trunk.

Zhao Ya approached, bent down, and picked up the unconscious cobra, placing it in a specially crafted bag, which he hung at his waist.

The whole process was extremely skillful.

By now, Zhao Ya already had seven or eight bags of varying sizes hanging from his waist, containing venomous snakes, centipedes, and even a toad as big as a bowl.

After capturing this Second Realm cobra, Zhao Ya was ready to return.

These poisonous creatures were enough for another experiment.

However, Zhao Ya felt a bit regretful.

Despite wandering in the forest for so long, all he encountered were common poisons.

This implied that the poisons he mixed wouldn't be very distinctive.

But Zhao Ya also knew that capturing rare poisonous creatures required a bit of luck.

Zhao Ya packed up, ensuring the bags were tied tightly, and then left the lowlands, following a rugged mountain path towards the Commandery.

This area was about seventy miles from the Commandery; given Zhao Ya's pace, he would definitely be home before dark, so he walked leisurely, observing the surrounding forest, trying to find some rare Exotic Beast poisons.

Yet after walking just twenty or thirty miles, Zhao Ya suddenly heard faint cries for help from the distant forest.

Zhao Ya stopped, listening intently.

Indeed, someone was calling for help.

After confirming the source of the cries, Zhao Ya quickly slipped into the forest.

With a few swift leaps, Zhao Ya arrived at the scene.

However, Zhao Ya did not rush to show himself but instead hid behind a large tree to observe carefully.

After all, the forest was rife with bandits.

Even though this place wasn't far from the Commandery, it was still quite unsafe.

Some bandits would deliberately cry for help to attract travelers into their ambush.

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