Zhao Ya carefully secured the booklet close to his body, packed the poison into the deer hide pouch, and then returned to the tiger’s carcass. He meticulously stripped the flesh, extracting the bones and anything else of use before quietly heading back to the city.
That evening, after finishing his daily mandatory exercises, Zhao Ya began to delve into the little booklet.
After reading it, Zhao Ya felt he had gained some insight.
According to the booklet, human breath can generally be divided into two categories: one includes breathing, heartbeat, and involuntary muscle tremors.
Though these movements are subtle, they are very apparent to a Martial Dao expert.
Zhao Ya truly understood this point.
Even though he was currently just a Martial Artist at the Second Realm, both his eye power and ear power were very keen.
Within a radius of about twenty steps, if Zhao Ya concentrated, he could hear people’s breathing and heartbeats.
The second factor is the body’s scent, whether sweat or fragrance, which ultimately leaks out through pores.
Experts can lock onto your position based on these faint scents.
To conceal one’s breath, it is essential to work on these two aspects.
The bulk of the booklet explains how to control breathing and heartbeat, briefly mentioning that to regulate pores and prevent the release of scents, one must achieve skin grinding at its peak, which only a Martial Artist in the Fourth Realm can achieve.
The booklet’s author had not yet reached the Fourth Realm and thus didn’t know how to achieve this.
Nonetheless, the techniques it disclosed made the booklet incredibly valuable.
After studying it closely a few times, Zhao Ya began to practice it.
First, concentrating with undivided attention, then gradually slowing his breathing to reach a state of harmonized breath.
Simultaneously, with this special breathing technique, his heartbeat gradually slowed as well.
In the end, his entire body entered a peculiar hibernating state, almost like a wintering turtle.
At the same time, his senses became exceptionally sharp.
After several attempts, Zhao Ya entered this state.
[Skill Acquired: Concealing Breath Technique.]
Seeing this line of prompt, Zhao Ya knew he had entered the initial stage.
He opened the panel and indeed saw.
[Concealing Breath Technique (Entering the Hall 1/500)]
As soon as he learned the Concealing Breath Technique, he unexpectedly advanced two realms, reaching the level of Entering the Hall.
Zhao Ya was a bit surprised by this, but after a brief thought, he understood.
The Concealing Breath Technique is, after all, a special breathing technique. It might be difficult for ordinary people to practice, but for Zhao Ya, a Second Realm practitioner, it was relatively easy.
Thus, he mastered it right off the bat.
Next, Zhao Ya experimented several times and found that he could enter the Concealing Breath state in just thirty-five seconds.
While this speed was still relatively slow, Zhao Ya was quite satisfied.
With gradual practice, the speed should improve.
While Zhao Ya was engrossed in practicing the Concealing Breath Technique in the courtyard, Zui’Er’s voice suddenly came from the house.
"Eh, where did Ya go?"
Saying that, she walked towards the outside.
Hearing this, Zhao Ya chuckled to himself, knowing that his Concealing Breath state successfully fooled Zui’Er into thinking he had left.
Zhao Ya didn’t rush to speak but quietly moved to the shadows, ready to scare the little girl.
By then, Zui’Er had already walked into the courtyard, completely unaware of Zhao Ya hiding in the shadows.
Seeing Zhao Ya’s clothes scattered on the ground, she picked them up.
"The weather is getting colder. I should make some thicker clothes for Ya; he’s been so busy he hasn’t noticed these things."
"Oh dear, there are bloodstains on the clothes. I really wonder what danger he encountered again. What should I do? When will I be able to help Ya?"
"No, I must practice more diligently tomorrow, even if I can’t help Ya, at least I won’t be his burden."
Zui’Er muttered to herself, then took the dirty clothes inside to wash and mend.
Zhao Ya walked out of the shadows silently, suddenly finding his earlier desire to scare Zui’Er quite boring.
This girl has truly devoted all her heart to him.
In such a situation, Zhao Ya was reluctant to even play a little joke on her.
He exited the Concealing Breath state, cleared his throat, then walked into the house.
"Oh Ya, where did you just go?" Zui’Er asked joyously.
"Oh, nowhere, just took a stroll."
Saying that Zhao Ya suddenly lifted Zui’Er.
Zui’Er exclaimed, "Ya, what are you doing?"
"What do you think?"
"I haven’t even finished washing the clothes!"
"Do it tomorrow."
Another peaceful night passed. The next morning, Zui’Er, despite feeling sore and weak all over, struggled to get up and prepared provisions and drinks for Zhao Ya.
Zhao Ya picked up his pack and ventured into the wilderness once more.
Now, only the wild boar brain was missing from the ingredients needed for the blood replenishing powder.
Zhao Ya was confident about this.
He first went to the spot where he encountered the four people yesterday and found that only fragments of bones remained.
Indeed, this deep forest is an excellent place to dispose of bodies—any corpse tossed in here will soon vanish into the bellies of wild beasts, leaving no trace.
Zhao Ya ventured further in.
By noon, a torrential rain suddenly began to pour down.
The mountain forest’s climate is indeed unpredictable.
Having no choice, Zhao Ya climbed into a large tree, using the dense leaves as shelter from the rain.
Even so, Zhao Ya inevitably got wet.
With a gust of cold wind, even Zhao Ya couldn’t help but feel a bit chilly.
He took out a wine gourd, uncorked it, and drank a mouthful of spirits to warm himself while secretly making a resolution.
He decided that next, he would start building some temporary hideouts as a precaution.
No sooner thought than done. Once the rain cleared, Zhao Ya prepared to build a small wooden house on the tree where he had taken shelter from the rain.
With a crack, Zhao Ya broke a sapling with his bare hands, trimmed off the branches, and dragged it onto the large tree.
With Zhao Ya’s current strength, such a task was exceedingly simple.
So, a small wooden house was quickly built.
Though rather crude, it was well-hidden, making it an ideal spot for temporary shelter and supplies.
In the ensuing days, Zhao Ya constructed several more hideouts throughout the forest, stocking them with salt and food.
In this way, even if something significant happened in the city, Zhao Ya could bring Zui’Er here for temporary refuge.
After a few more days, Zhao Ya finally captured a mutated wild boar. After extracting the boar’s brain, the ingredients for the blood replenishing powder were finally complete.
Immediately, Zhao Ya followed the formula recorded in the booklet, grinding and processing the various ingredients, and attempted to concoct a dose of blood replenishing powder.