Sparring with Zhou Jielin, Zhang Ping gained quite a lot.
After class ended, Zhang Ping found Wang Jieming bruised and battered.
It was obvious that the adventurer sparring with Wang Jieming had a rather bad temper.
But that was perfectly normal.
They had paid expensive tuition to learn, all so they would have a better chance of surviving when they eventually left Mingzhu City to adventure.
Who wouldn't want to spar with a genius and improve together?
Anyone would be annoyed to get a partner like Wang Jieming.
Zhang Ping got along well with Zhou Jielin because Zhang Ping's Ape King Form was more advanced than Zhou Jielin's, giving Zhou Jielin plenty to learn from.
That was why Zhou Jielin was willing to teach Zhang Ping some basic knowledge that all veteran adventurers knew.
What everyone hated most was getting a partner who could not help them improve and might even turn them into a sparring partner instead.
"Are you alright?" Zhang Ping asked as he looked at Wang Jieming.
Wang Jieming shook his head slightly, then forced a smile. "I'm fine. I just didn't learn much. I don't know if I can master it in five days."
He had assumed there would be another teaching session today.
But from beginning to end, Bai De had no interest in explaining it again. He only stepped forward to correct some of the students' mistakes while everyone sparred.
Most importantly, Bai De did not teach Wang Jieming again.
It was like some teachers from Zhang Ping's past life, who only paid attention to good students while turning a blind eye and deaf ear to poor ones, completely neglecting them.
If things continued like this for the next few days, Wang Jieming would never be able to learn the Ape King Form.
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Ping asked, "Are you free at noon normally?"
"At noon? Yes, I am." Wang Jieming froze for a moment before answering.
Zhang Ping invited him, "Then you can come find me. You know Iron Soul, right? You can come to Iron Soul, and I'll teach you the Ape King Form then. But whether you can get started will depend on yourself."
"Iron Soul? I haven't heard of it, but I can go find it then," Wang Jieming immediately said.
Zhang Ping nodded. "Alright, then come find me tomorrow."
Iron Soul and Wang Jieming's residence were only separated by one street, so it would not be hard to find.
After agreeing on it, the two headed back together.
The next day.
At noon, while Zhang Ping and Liu Tiefeng were eating, Wang Jieming came over.
After Liu Tiefeng returned to the second floor for his nap, Zhang Ping began teaching Wang Jieming. Wang Jieming's learning ability was extremely poor, so Zhang Ping simply broke the Ape King Form's movements into several smaller movements and taught them one by one. In the end, he found that even this did not work, so he simply had Wang Jieming spend an entire hour doing nothing except practicing one movement.
He discovered that this method actually worked. At the very least, after an hour, Wang Jieming really had learned one of the movements.
"Not bad. Next movement. Watch me do it once, then follow along," Zhang Ping said with a smile when he saw that Wang Jieming had learned the first movement.
The lesson continued until nightfall. Wang Jieming went home to eat first, and they agreed to go to the martial arts hall together that evening.
Most martial arts halls started class at eight and ended at eleven. Some started at six in the evening and ended at ten, but Beast King Fist Hall followed the former schedule.
Although the former had one less hour of instruction, it actually charged more.
Zhang Ping had never experienced classes at other martial arts halls, so he was not sure how good their teaching was. But Bai De's teaching was at least not bad. Other than the odd case of Wang Jieming, most students could get started quickly.
Over the next two days, basically nothing major happened.
The Cleanup Team became even more cautious in its operation against the Heavenly Foxes. At least, Zhang Ping only noticed that one Heavenly Fox was missing, and he was not even sure whether it had been killed or had gone somewhere else on its own.
He did not ask Liu Sishan either. He simply continued identifying newly discovered Heavenly Foxes for her, and he appraised the Heavenly Foxes he had identified before once more, but found nothing.
This left him uncertain whether it had been a trap laid by the Heavenly Foxes or merely an accident.
Then the weekend arrived.
Mingzhu City did not have a two-day weekend, but it generally took a day off on weekends.
Beast King Fist Hall was also closed that day, so the students did not need to attend class.
That morning, Zhang Ping did not knead dough. Instead, he tried forging the Pearl Saber again. This time, he successfully forged a qualified Pearl Saber, or at least he felt that he had succeeded.
Holding the Pearl Saber, he walked over to Liu Tiefeng, who was smoking, and asked, "Grandpa Liu, does this count as a success?"
"Huh? What did you say? Where's Dashan?" Liu Tiefeng looked up and asked with a bewildered expression.
Zhang Ping froze, then looked toward the shop entrance. After quite some time, Qiu Qiang finally appeared, carrying large and small bags on his back.
"Brother Zhang Ping, I'm back," Qiu Qiang said with a grin.
Then he set the packages down on the counter, plopped down beside Liu Tiefeng, and said to himself, "Damn it, I nearly got killed this time. I don't know what the hell happened, but there were far fewer wild beasts and Mutated Beasts outside. We had no choice but to go deeper into the mountains north of the city, and in the end we ran into a wolf pack. And every last one of them was a Mutated Beast."
"Uncle Qiang, are you alright?" Zhang Ping looked Qiu Qiang over but did not spot any obvious wounds.
Qiu Qiang gritted his teeth and rolled up his sleeve, revealing several gruesome wounds on his arm. He sneered. "The wolf pack wouldn't stop chasing us. There was no other way, so I had the others leave first while I stayed behind to cover their retreat.
"When you run into wolves, especially Mutated Beasts, you must never let them surround you. Otherwise, you're finished.
"I fought while retreating, then ran into a group of bastard savages in the woods. The moment we met, I got hit by a wind blade. It nearly cut my waist in half. Luckily, I had a one-use burrowing shovel. I couldn't afford to feel bad about it then, so I had no choice but to use it.
"Just so happened, the wolf pack couldn't find its prey, so it attacked those savages instead. I took advantage of the chaos, and not only did I get away safely in the end, I also got my hands on something good."
As he spoke, he took out a green gemstone.
"Isn't that a Wind Gem?"
Zhang Ping looked at the gem in surprise.
A Wind Gem was not actually a gemstone.
It was an extremely rare biological crystal.
Almost all Mutated Beasts containing wind elemental energy could potentially form a Wind Gem within their bodies. Even some Awakened with wind-type talents could form similar gems in their bodies.
Wind Gems could store wind elemental energy. Through Mental Strength guidance, the wind elemental energy within a Wind Gem could be released to form attacks such as wind blades and storms.
In fact, other elements also had corresponding Elemental Gems.
For example, Liu Sishan most likely had a Water Gem within her body, because her advanced talent was Energy Compression, and talents like Energy Compression were the most likely to form Elemental Gems.
However, having an Elemental Gem in one's body did not mean it could be easily removed.
Normally, when a Mutated Beast or an Awakened died, the Elemental Gem would dissipate together with the element. Only a tiny chance existed for it to remain behind.
Since an Elemental Gem was equivalent to giving someone another ability, it had always been a priceless commodity in Mingzhu City, an ultra-rare piece of equipment that could not be bought.
"I dug this out of one of those savages' weapons. You could say I got my revenge," Qiu Qiang said smugly.
As he spoke, he handed the Wind Gem to Zhang Ping and laughed generously. "Here, get a feel for it. Genuine ones of these are rarely seen. There are plenty of fakes in the city, though. If you've never seen the real thing, don't buy one carelessly. It's very easy to get scammed."
Zhang Ping carefully accepted the Wind Gem.
Part of his knowledge about Elemental Gems came from school, while the rest came from Liu Tiefeng's teachings.
But even Iron Soul did not have a Wind Gem, only some fakes that had been bought by mistake.
The moment the gem landed in his hand—
Zhang Ping felt a faint chill in his palm.
When he concentrated, he realized that the Wind Gem was giving off a weak breeze.
The breeze was extremely, extremely faint, like placing a hand against the surface of water and vaguely sensing tiny, cool ripples.
"Wind elemental energy is invisible inside living creatures. Once released outside the body, it turns into wind. Only inside an Elemental Gem can you see what it looks like in its energy form. Look carefully at the center of the gem. See that cluster of milky-white energy? That's wind elemental energy," Qiu Qiang said seriously as he leaned closer to explain.
Zhang Ping nodded. He had indeed seen that milky-white energy.
"With these things, first you need to know the feel, and second you need a good eye. Once you've seen the real thing, you can tell the fakes apart. Remember how this feels, so you don't get fooled in the future," Qiu Qiang said with a smile.
Zhang Ping gave a response, then closed his eyes and carefully felt the Wind Gem's texture, hardness, and temperature.
Suddenly, he heard a soft pop in his ears.
Then came a burst of static, like the sound from an old television when it could not receive a signal and the screen turned to snow.
A moment later, he heard the voices of many men and women.
His eyes widened slightly, and he immediately used Appraisal on himself.
[Appraisal successful] [Summoned Beast: Zhang Ping] [Master: Zhang Ping] [Race: Human] [Potential: ??] [Lifespan: 89] [Rank: Novice Awakened] [Level: 3] [Talents] [Contract Gem: Can consume stamina + Mental Strength to condense a Contract Gem. Once a target willingly accepts a Contract Gem, their life, soul, and consciousness will all be ruled by the summoner. At the same time, they will also gain the summoner's potential and luck enhancement. After taking it for the first time, every subsequent dose will slightly increase their own potential, with a 1% chance of awakening a new talent. Note: This talent ability was gained by summoner Zhang Ping at the cost of overdrawing his intelligence, potential, and luck. Although powerful, it also possesses some enormous flaw. Excessive ambition does not seem to be a good thing.] [Absolute Command: You possess absolute authority over your Summoned Beasts. Your commands cannot be disobeyed by Summoned Beasts.] [Absolute Obedience: You absolutely obey the summoner's commands. You will faithfully carry out the summoner's orders.] [Strategic Appraisal: Can appraise a target. There is an extremely small chance of obtaining the target's information. The smaller the gap in strength between both sides, the greater the chance of successfully obtaining information. After the first successful appraisal, the chance of successfully appraising the same target again will increase greatly. Note: A talent ability born from the thirst for knowledge of Summoned Beast Zhang Ping and summoner Zhang Ping.] [Nightwalker: Gain night vision. Presence is greatly reduced at night, movement speed is greatly increased, body weight decreases, and you become completely invisible while in shadows.] [Fire Eater: Can restore stamina by devouring flames, and convert excess flames into fire elemental energy stored within the body. After releasing this energy, you will temporarily gain a flame-wreathed effect until your fire elemental energy reserves are depleted. This ability will gradually improve the user's resistance to high temperatures. Note: Potential is ultimately only potential. Only when it is turned into strength does it become true power.] [Wind Whisperer: The wind will bring you all kinds of news, whether you want to know it or not. Note: There are no walls that do not let wind through, nor are there secrets the wind does not know.] ...
It really was a new talent.
Zhang Ping thought to himself, even feeling a little like complaining. Was the chance of awakening a new talent really one percent?
However, Wind Whisperer was a passive skill. He could not control whether it was activated or deactivated, which meant he could only passively receive the information brought by Wind Whisperer.