In fact, Zhao Ya felt that if he were to compare his understanding and mastery of the Five Tiger Fist, no one in the entire Changlong Escort Agency could be his match, not even the Chief of the Escort, Meng Lei.

After all, not many people would devote so much effort to such a basic fist technique.

The heart unlock progress also increased to 28%, which made Zhao Ya's Qi Blood flow stronger than that of people in the same realm, and the benefits of this were self-evident.

At least in terms of endurance, Zhao Ya was able to easily outclass martial artists of the same realm.

Aside from that, the most significant improvement was naturally in the lightweight body technique.

Grasshopper advanced from a minor achievement to mastery, while Swallow's Three Dips leaped directly across several ranks, also reaching mastery.

As a result, even among Third Realm martial artists, Zhao Ya's lightweight body technique put him among the best.

This also gave Zhao Ya some confidence.

After all, if he really encountered an invincible opponent, at least he could run.

This is also Zhao Ya's consistent principle: run when you can't beat the enemy, and root out when you can.

Zhao Ya reviewed his gains during this period and returned home.

As soon as he entered, he saw Zui'Er practicing martial arts.

In the courtyard were many arranged blue bricks, all stood upright, and Zui'Er, wearing a neat outfit, was walking on top of them.

She moved very quickly, and her steps were extremely steady. With almost every step, the upright blue bricks remained unmoving, indicating she had already reached a certain level of mastery.

Zhao Ya didn't disturb her and just stood at a distance, watching silently.

Finally.

Zui'Er completed her set of body techniques and leaped off the bricks.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Zhao Ya couldn't help but applaud, "Wonderful technique!"

"Ah, Ya, when did you come back?"

Zui'Er finally noticed Zhao Ya and asked, a bit shyly.

Zhao Ya smiled faintly, "Just got back, saw you practicing and didn't want to disturb you."

As he spoke, Zhao Ya looked at the bricks, "Do you practice like this at home every day?"

"Yes, I don't have much to do at home anyway, so I practice for a while when there's nothing else. Is my practice okay?" Zui'Er asked.

"Okay, it's really more than okay!" Zhao Ya replied.

His praise was heartfelt.

One must know that it had only been a month, and most people at this time might not even have stabilized their practice with sideways bricks, yet Zui'Er was already confidently agile on upright bricks, as if walking on level ground.

The speed of progress was astonishing.

Receiving Zhao Ya's praise, Zui'Er's face flushed with excitement, and she happily returned to the house to cook.

Zhao Ya then considered that it might be time to buy some wooden stakes.

With Zui'Er's rapid progress, just running on bricks didn't have much effect anymore; it was time to start on pole running.

At the same time, Zhao Ya thought it might be time to teach Zui'Er some basic sword techniques in addition to lightweight body techniques.

After all, just running wouldn't suffice; she at least needed some self-defense skills.

Yes, that's the plan!

The next day, Zhao Ya bought many wrist-thick wooden stakes and buried them in the courtyard following the layout of Plum Blossom Stakes.

While running on poles, Zhao Ya began to teach Zui'Er to practice sword techniques.

Time flew, and within a few days, Zui'Er's sword techniques already showed some form and her pole running saw significant progress.

Seeing this, Zhao Ya nodded in satisfaction.

At this moment, although Zui'Er couldn't yet be called a martial artist, dealing with a few ordinary men was no challenge for her.

Even if she encountered someone stronger than herself, they might not necessarily be faster than her.

Only then did Zhao Ya feel relieved and made a decision.

He planned to inform the escort agency the next day that he had become a Second Realm martial artist.

There were two reasons for doing this.

First, after this much time, his breakthrough would no longer be outstanding.

Second, with Zhao Ya's strength increasing, his need for flesh also grew more intense.

Solely relying on the little money obtained from the Shuangsheng Gang and the Tan Family's earthworm dried meat was not enough to fully sustain Zhao Ya's training.

Once he became a Second Realm martial artist, he believed his treatment at the escort agency would improve further.

After all, a Second Realm martial artist under twenty was definitely a potential powerhouse in Wuxiang City.

The next day.

Zhao Ya came to the escort agency and paid his respects to Chief of the Escort Meng Lei, then informed him of a story he had prepared in advance.

"What? You say you successfully broke through and became a Second Realm martial artist last night?" Meng Lei could hardly believe his ears.

Zhao Ya nodded, putting on a slightly shy and apprehensive expression.

"Yes, last night, while practicing at home, I suddenly felt all my muscles and bones vibrate, and then the veins in my whole body made a resonant sound, resulting in a significant improvement in strength."

Impatiently, Meng Lei stepped forward, grabbed Zhao Ya's wrist, and carefully felt it.

Sure enough.

Zhao Ya's muscles and veins were strong and taut, like a tightly drawn bowstring, perfectly resembling the state after muscle strengthening.

Meng Lei could not help but be overjoyed.

He had been worrying about the escort agency's issues for a while.

On the surface, the Changlong Escort Agency seemed to be thriving, but only Meng Lei knew the underlying risks.

He was over fifty years old, which also meant he had no chance of advancing to the Fourth Realm.

Among his subordinates, only Lin Sheng, who was in his forties, was slightly younger; the others like Luo Qiang were also over fifty.

For an ordinary martial artist, after reaching this age, strength would inevitably decline.

Unless one could enter the Fourth Realm, the Skin Grinding Realm, which allows one to slow aging and reduce the rate of strength decline.

Upon reaching the Fifth Realm, the Blood Exchange Realm, one could live over a hundred years, and even until death, strength would not diminish considerably.

Meng Lei even heard that martial artists with profound Fifth Realm cultivation could live to be two hundred years old; some such ancient beings existed in sects with long histories.

However, that was too far distant for Meng Lei.

The immediate issue was that it had been a long time since a new face appeared among Changlong Escort Agency's escort masters.

Continuing like this, the Changlong Escort Agency would undoubtedly face a severe transitional crisis.

This was a significant problem for any gang or organization.

To resolve this dilemma, Meng Lei put in tremendous effort.

This was why he had personally overseen the testing of the apprentices.

Wei Yu's emergence had also given him hope.

Back then, Meng Lei genuinely wanted to cultivate Wei Yu as a successor.

However, an unexpected event shattered that hope.

Meng Lei had been troubled by this incident for days.

He never anticipated that the low-key, less noticeable Zhao Ya would give him such a surprise.

"Good, good!" Meng Lei patted Zhao Ya's shoulder twice and laughed heartily.

"Gather everyone, I want to announce this publicly."

Soon, everyone in the escort agency gathered around.

Upon hearing that Zhao Ya had broken through to a Second Realm martial artist last night, everyone was astonished.

No one expected Zhao Ya to rise so suddenly.

Only Tan Dong seemed to have anticipated this and felt honored by association.

Subsequently, Meng Lei publicly announced Zhao Ya's promotion to Escort Master, with a monthly salary increase to ten taels.

It was a thrilling moment for everyone.

After all, he was the only new escort master to emerge in Changlong Escort Agency in recent years.

After the announcement, everyone came forward to congratulate Zhao Ya.

"Master Zhao!"

"Seen Master Zhao!"

Zhao Ya thanked each person, especially showing great respect to veteran escort masters like Luo Qiang, Lin Sheng, without displaying even a hint of arrogance.

Seeing this, Meng Lei grew increasingly satisfied, calling Zhao Ya aside and leading him to the inner courtyard.

"Your lunchtime meal will be upgraded to the same standard as mine, and in addition, there's this!"

Saying this, Meng Lei took out a small medicine bottle reverently and handed Zhao Ya a pill.

"What is this?" Zhao Ya took it and felt a strong fragrance of Qi Blood, which stirred his appetite.

"This is a Blood Qi Pill, which I purchased for a high price from a noble family in the Inner City. It contains abundant and pure Qi Blood, greatly beneficial for Martial Dao cultivation, its effect far surpasses the Great Nourishing Soup and common exotic beast flesh. Starting today, you will be provided with one Blood Qi Pill every three days."

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