If You Can't Beat Them, Run; If You Can, Uproot Them (Please Follow, Please Vote)

Zhao Ya even felt that, in terms of understanding and mastery of the Five Tigers Fist, no one in the entire Prosperity Escort Agency could match him—not even Chief Escort Meng Lei.

After all, few people would put so much effort into such a rudimentary fist technique.

His heart unlock progress had also risen to 28%, making his blood and qi circulation stronger than that of others at the same realm. The benefits of this went without saying.

At the very least, Zhao Ya could utterly crush martial artists of the same realm in terms of endurance.

Naturally, his greatest improvement had been in his lightness skill and movement techniques.

Grass-Treading Flight had advanced from initial mastery to complete proficiency, while Swallow Three Skims the Water had crossed several levels at once and likewise reached complete proficiency.

With that, Zhao Ya's lightness skill and movement techniques ranked among the best even compared to third-realm martial artists.

That gave Zhao Ya a measure of confidence.

After all, if he encountered an opponent too strong to defeat, he could at least run.

This had always been Zhao Ya's principle: if he could not beat an enemy, he ran; if he could beat them, he wiped them out root and branch.

As Zhao Ya took stock of his gains over this period, he returned home.

The moment he entered, he saw Zui'er practicing martial arts.

Many blue bricks had been arranged in the courtyard, all standing upright. Dressed in neat, practical clothes, Zui'er was walking across them.

She moved swiftly, yet her steps were remarkably steady. With nearly every step she took, the upright bricks did not budge at all. She had clearly developed some skill.

Zhao Ya did not disturb her. He simply stood at a distance and watched quietly.

Finally.

Zui'er finished her set of movement techniques and leaped down from the bricks.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Zhao Ya could not help applauding. "Excellent footwork!"

"Ah, Brother Zhao Ya, when did you get back?"

Only then did Zui'er notice Zhao Ya. She asked somewhat shyly.

Zhao Ya smiled faintly. "I only got back a little while ago. I saw you practicing, so I did not interrupt."

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

"Mm. I do not have much to do at home anyway, so I practice whenever I have time. Is it all right?" Zui'er asked.

"It is all right. It is more than all right!" Zhao Ya said.

His praise came from the bottom of his heart.

Only a month had passed. Most people might not even have mastered walking steadily over bricks laid on their sides by now, yet Zui'er was already striding over upright bricks as though walking on level ground.

Her rate of improvement was downright terrifying.

At Zhao Ya's praise, Zui'er's little face flushed with excitement. Beaming, she hurried back inside to cook.

Meanwhile, Zhao Ya began considering buying some wooden stakes the next day.

Zui'er was improving so quickly that simply running across bricks no longer served much purpose. It was time for her to begin stake-running practice.

At the same time, Zhao Ya felt that, besides lightness skills and movement techniques, it was time to teach Zui'er some simple saber techniques.

Knowing only how to run would not do. She needed at least some means of defending herself.

Mm, that settles it!

The next day, Zhao Ya bought many wooden stakes as thick as bowl mouths and planted them throughout the courtyard in the pattern of Plum Blossom Stakes.

While practicing stake-running, Zhao Ya began teaching Zui'er saber techniques.

Several more days passed in the blink of an eye. Zui'er's saber techniques had begun to take shape, and her stake-running had also improved by leaps and bounds.

Zhao Ya secretly nodded in approval.

Though Zui'er could not yet be called a martial artist, handling several ordinary men would no longer be difficult for her.

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

Only then did Zhao Ya set his mind at ease and make a decision.

He planned to tell the escort agency tomorrow that he had already become a second-realm martial artist.

There were two reasons for doing so.

First, enough time had passed that his breakthrough would no longer draw as much attention.

Second, as Zhao Ya's strength increased, his need for meat had also become increasingly urgent.

The little money he had obtained from the Double Victory Gang, along with the dried earthworm meat provided by the Tan Family, was still not enough to fully support Zhao Ya's training.

Once he became a second-realm martial artist, he believed his treatment at the escort agency would also improve further.

After all, a second-realm martial artist under twenty years old was an absolute rising star in Dancing Elephant City.

The next day.

After arriving at the escort agency, Zhao Ya went to see Chief Escort Meng Lei and told him the story he had prepared beforehand.

"What? You said you successfully broke through last night and became a second-realm martial artist?" Meng Lei could hardly believe his ears.

Zhao Ya nodded, putting on a shy and uneasy expression.

"Yes. While practicing at home last night, I suddenly felt the sinews throughout my body trembling. Then all my tendons snapped with a bang, and my strength improved greatly."

Meng Lei hurried forward, grabbed Zhao Ya's wrist, and carefully examined him.

Sure enough.

Zhao Ya's sinews were thick and powerful, like taut bowstrings. This was precisely the appearance of having completed sinew transformation.

Meng Lei was overjoyed.

For some time now, he had been worrying over matters at the escort agency.

On the surface, the Prosperity Escort Agency appeared to be thriving, but Meng Lei alone knew of the hidden danger.

He was already over fifty, which meant he no longer had any chance of advancing to the fourth realm.

As for the escorts under him, apart from the somewhat younger Lin Sheng, who was in his forties, people like Luo Qiang were already over fifty as well.

For an ordinary martial artist, once they reached that age, their strength would inevitably decline.

Unless they could enter the fourth realm, the Skin Tempering Realm. Upon reaching that realm, one could slow the effects of aging and reduce the rate at which one's strength declined.

And upon entering the fifth realm, after replacing all the blood in one's body, one could live beyond a hundred years old, with little decline in strength even up until death.

Meng Lei had even heard that some deeply cultivated fifth-realm martial artists could live to two hundred. Such ancient monsters existed among those famous great sects with long inheritances.

Of course, all that was far too distant for Meng Lei.

The problem before him was that the Prosperity Escort Agency had not seen any fresh faces among its escorts for a long time.

If this continued, the Prosperity Escort Agency would inevitably face a severe generational gap.

For a gang or organization, that was a huge problem.

Meng Lei had put in tremendous effort to resolve this shortage of new talent.

That was why he had personally overseen the martial examinations for the menial workers before.

Wei Yu's appearance had also given him hope.

At the time, Meng Lei had sincerely wanted to cultivate Wei Yu as his successor.

But an accident had directly crushed that hope.

Meng Lei had been troubled by this matter these past days.

Never had he expected Zhao Ya, who had always kept a low profile and lacked much presence, to suddenly give him such a pleasant surprise.

"Good, good!" Meng Lei patted Zhao Ya on the shoulder and said "good" twice in a row before bursting into laughter.

"Gather everyone. I will announce this matter publicly."

Before long, everyone at the escort agency had assembled.

When they heard that Zhao Ya had broken through to become a second-realm martial artist the previous night, they were all astonished.

No one had expected Zhao Ya to rise so suddenly.

Only Tan Dong wore an expression as though he had expected it all along, as if sharing in the honor.

Meng Lei then publicly announced that Zhao Ya had been promoted to escort, with his monthly salary raised to ten taels.

For a time, everyone was exhilarated.

After all, Zhao Ya was the only new escort to appear in the Prosperity Escort Agency in recent years.

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

"Escort Zhao!"

"Greetings, Escort Zhao!"

Zhao Ya thanked them one by one. In particular, he treated the congratulations of veteran escorts such as Luo Qiang and Lin Sheng with great respect, showing not the slightest hint of arrogance.

Seeing this, Meng Lei became even more satisfied. He called Zhao Ya over and led him into the rear residence.

"The meat meal provided to you at noon will be raised another level, to the same standard as mine. Besides that, there is this!"

As he spoke, Meng Lei carefully took out a small medicine bottle, poured out a pill, and handed it to Zhao Ya.

"What is this?" Zhao Ya took it and immediately caught a rich, fragrant scent of blood and qi. His stomach stirred restlessly.

"This is a Blood Qi Pill. I spent a great deal of money to purchase it from the great families of the inner city. It contains abundant, pure blood and qi and is greatly beneficial to martial arts training. Its effects far surpass restorative soup and ordinary exotic beast flesh. Starting today, you will receive one Blood Qi Pill every three days."