Zhang Ping weighed the Corpse-Eating Hound's paw in his hand and asked, "Grandpa Liu, what's the difference between Corpse-Eating Hounds and ordinary dogs?"
"Corpse-Eating Hounds all have black fur and red eyes. Their most obvious feature is that they have human-like teeth. As long as you see their teeth, you can basically tell that they're Corpse-Eating Hounds," Liu Tiefeng answered.
That really was easy to identify.
Zhang Ping thought about it, and a photo he had once seen online of a dog accidentally wearing dentures surfaced in his mind. He nearly laughed out loud.
Next, he carefully examined the Corpse-Eating Hound's paw.
The paw was very heavy. Though it was the size of an ordinary dog's paw, it weighed nearly ten pounds and carried a rotten smell.
"Come over here. This is the grinding tool. I'll teach you how to use it," Liu Tiefeng said as he walked over to a green machine.
"Yes!"
Zhang Ping carried the Corpse-Eating Hound's paw over.
Zhang Ping spent the entire morning learning.
Compared to the knowledge taught at school, what Liu Tiefeng taught was far more practical. Liu Tiefeng had a wealth of life experience and had even joined the Investigation Team in his early years. He knew the monsters around Mingzhu City extremely well. Through his teachings and example, Zhang Ping could avoid many detours in the future.
After lunch.
While Liu Tiefeng took his afternoon nap, Zhang Ping sat beside the stove and practiced the Fire Eater's ability.
For now, this ability could only wrap around his hands.
If he wrapped it around other parts of his body, his clothes would burn away first.
He did not possess the ability to control flames. Even with constant training, at most he could concentrate the Fire Element energy in his body at a single point and release it.
Doing so formed flames in the shape of a palm print, which could be used both to attack and as a shield.
He had named this move Flame Palm.
Besides Flame Palm, he had also figured out quite a few other ways to use it.
For example, he could make flames erupt beneath his feet in an instant, or jet flames from the area around his shoulder blades. But the former would destroy his shoes first, while the latter damaged his clothes too badly. Neither could be used carelessly.
When he returned last night, he had felt distressed for quite a while because the soles of his shoes had burned through.
Still, when his life was truly on the line, he would definitely use them. But when it was unnecessary, he would avoid using such moves whenever possible.
In truth, the eruption beneath his feet and the jets from his back did not involve much technical skill.
Zhang Ping had only given them a little thought. The move that truly required technique was another one: Flame Blade.
The way Flame Blade worked was simple. He released Fire Element energy from three points along one side of his palm. When he increased the output, two streams of flame compressed the middle stream, forming a sharper flame.
That way, when he chopped at an enemy with his hand, it could achieve a very effective attacking result.
"How much is this saber?"
At that moment, a weak voice came from behind him.
A customer?
Zhang Ping turned around in surprise and saw a slender boy with somewhat feminine features looking at him timidly.
He stood up, turned around, and went over to look at the saber the boy had asked about. "This saber isn't for sale. Only the sabers marked with prices are merchandise."
The saber the boy had taken a liking to was a Pearl Saber Qiu Qiang had casually forged earlier and then casually set aside. If the boy had not asked about it, Zhang Ping probably would not have remembered it for quite some time.
"Those sabers are all too expensive," the boy said awkwardly.
Zhang Ping said helplessly, "I'm just an apprentice helping watch the shop. Sorry, I can't make that decision."
"Okay. Sorry for the trouble," the boy said in a low voice.
Zhang Ping looked at him and asked curiously, "What grade are you in? How come I've never seen you before?"
Mingzhu City had only one school. Zhang Ping remembered most students around his age, but this boy was not in his memory.
"Huh? I've never gone to school. I've always studied at the fist hall my family runs," the boy replied after a brief pause.
Mingzhu City did not have compulsory education. Better-off families chose to hire private tutors, while some parents were strong themselves and chose not to send their children to school, teaching them personally instead.
Fist hall.
Zhang Ping silently remembered the term. By the time he looked up, the boy had already left.
He returned to the stove, but his mind remained on the matter of fist halls. The organization behind Liu Sishan might be powerful, but it definitely was not as powerful as a King-level Mutated Beast. Perhaps he could find some additional support elsewhere.
Anyone capable of opening a fist hall should have strong people, right?
After thinking it over, Zhang Ping decided that when he went out tonight, he would also observe the fist halls in Mingzhu City.
At night.
Zhang Ping climbed out through the window and left Iron Soul.
He had not gone far when he saw Liu Sishan flash past in an alley. He immediately entered the alley and headed into the darkness.
"Something wrong?"
The two met at a dead end, and Zhang Ping asked in a low voice.
The next moment, he felt the ground vanish beneath his feet. Then he had already fallen into the Dark Room. Liu Sishan also dropped down from above and landed steadily.
"The organization has already conducted a preliminary autopsy on the Heavenly Fox and made a detailed analysis of its abilities. There's one problem: when a Heavenly Fox attacks, other people automatically rationalize the act. If a Heavenly Fox attacks you, I need you to give me a signal. Otherwise, what I see may very well be you talking to an ordinary person," Liu Sishan said as she looked at Zhang Ping.
Zhang Ping nodded, then pondered aloud, "The signal can't be something like calling for help, or it'll definitely be distorted. Let me think..."
This really was a problem.
When "Luo Shiyu" ate that girl, everyone had mistaken it for the girl being fortunate enough to dine with "Luo Shiyu." In everyone else's eyes, it had been an exceptionally harmonious and beautiful scene. Only in Zhang Ping's eyes had it been bloody, cruel, and horrifying.
"The signal might not necessarily work. How about this? Let's prepare several backup plans. If I shout, 'The wind's getting tight, let's scram,' it means I'm under attack. If I take out a coin and toss it into the air, it also means I'm under attack. Whenever I encounter a Heavenly Fox, I'll use my left index finger to touch the ring on my right hand, then point at the Heavenly Fox with the finger wearing the ring. Pay attention to my movements," Zhang Ping said.
Liu Sishan did not think Zhang Ping was being overly cautious. Instead, she felt that he was not cautious enough. She took out a wooden ring and said, "This ring is a pair with the one I'm wearing..."
"Wait, is it fireproof?" Zhang Ping interrupted.
Liu Sishan frowned. "No. This is equipment created by our logistics personnel using their abilities."
"Then I'm afraid it's useless." Zhang Ping gave a wry smile. As he spoke, he raised his hand, and flames suddenly ignited in his palm.
Liu Sishan froze for a moment and asked, "Isn't your ability the Greed Gem?"
"This is one of the Greed Gem's abilities."
Zhang Ping stopped releasing Fire Element energy and did not explain further.
After all, his abilities would only continue to increase. There was no need to hide them completely, but neither was there any need to reveal everything.
"Your ability seems quite special, but that's your own business. Since you have this ability, then this is perfect for you." Liu Sishan did not continue probing Zhang Ping's abilities. Instead, she took out a jade token and handed it to him.
She then introduced the jade token. It was also part of a pair: one was called Cold Jade, and the other was called Warm Jade.
When Cold Jade encountered flames, it transferred the heat to Warm Jade. When Warm Jade encountered low temperatures, it would intensify its absorption of Cold Jade's temperature, causing Cold Jade to become even colder.
What Zhang Ping received was Cold Jade. Once he encountered danger, he only needed to cover Cold Jade with flames, and the Warm Jade in Liu Sishan's hand would become scorching hot. Then Liu Sishan would naturally know he was in danger and could immediately come to his rescue.
After settling the plan, the two returned to the dead-end alley.
Zhang Ping left the alley first. When he looked back, he discovered that Liu Sishan had vanished.
He guessed that Liu Sishan could either manipulate Water Element energy to become invisible, or she possessed an invisibility item.
Unfortunately, his Appraisal Technique was still not strong enough.
It would be great if he could appraise the equipment possessed by a target as well.
After leaving the alley, Zhang Ping continued wandering through the city at night. With Liu Sishan secretly protecting him, he had more confidence to visit places he had not dared to enter before.
Mingzhu City had no department like an urban planning bureau, so its layout was extremely complicated and chaotic. If building too high did not risk attacks from flying Mutated Beasts, Mingzhu City would probably have quite a few architectural marvels.
Half an hour later, Zhang Ping found a fist hall.
The fist hall occupied a considerable area and had an extremely imposing name: Beast King Fist Hall.
Even at night, the fist hall was brightly lit, with many adventurers coming and going. Zhang Ping guessed that its customers were mostly adventurers.
After thinking about it, he simply walked inside.
Under the lights, the Nightwalker effect was weakened.
"Welcome. Is there anything I can help you with, student?"
A young woman in a martial arts uniform immediately approached with promotional materials in hand. She smiled warmly as she spoke and casually handed Zhang Ping a flyer.
Zhang Ping accepted the flyer. It listed the detailed pricing standards.
Basic fist techniques, 500 Pearl City Coins.
The first three forms of Beast King Fist, 3,000 Pearl City Coins.
The middle three forms of Beast King Fist, 3,500 Pearl City Coins.
The final three forms of Beast King Fist, 5,000 Pearl City Coins.
The ultimate meaning of Beast King Fist, 9,999 Pearl City Coins.
One glance at the prices told Zhang Ping that Beast King Fist was not meant for a poor bastard like him.
He put down the flyer and asked, "Can I go in and look around?"
"Sorry, you can't. A copying-type Awakened once secretly learned the fist hall's techniques while visiting, so the inner rooms where martial techniques are taught cannot be visited," the young woman refused.
Zhang Ping asked in confusion, "But the problem is... if they truly had copying abilities, they wouldn't need to come to the fist hall. As long as they saw one of your apprentices using Beast King Fist outside the fist hall, couldn't they learn it just the same?"
"I'm not sure about that. Sorry, those are the fist hall's rules," the young woman said with a wry smile after a brief pause.
Fine.
Those were the rules.
Zhang Ping left the fist hall and continued his nighttime wanderings.
Through Beast King Fist Hall, he roughly understood why fist halls existed.
Even adventurers had a need to learn new skills, especially adventurers with physical enhancement abilities. Their combat required various fighting techniques and weapon-handling skills.
If they relied solely on comprehending such things through life-and-death battles, then unless they had several lives, they would find it difficult to achieve much before dying.
Thus, fist halls came into being, finding fertile ground for their existence.
Next, Zhang Ping continued gathering information about fist halls and investigated several more with exorbitant fees.
Most hall masters qualified to open fist halls had at least one martial technique to rely on. Some had even been powerful Awakened before opening their halls, or highly renowned adventurers.
The fist halls themselves also possessed considerable cohesion.
The apprentices, and even Awakened who had graduated from the halls, would consciously protect their fist hall's reputation. Some adventurer groups also used fist halls as a bond, accepting only Awakened from the same fist hall.