The Fire Eater's True Purpose

Outside the city, at the rocky shoals.

It was Zhang Ping's first time leaving the city, and the strongest feeling he had along the way was... safety.

He had thought that once they left the city, they would face endless dangers. Yet after following Liu Sishan all this way, they had not encountered a single Mutated Beast.

"Sis Sisi, what are we doing here? Didn't you say we were doing special combat training?" Zhang Ping asked as he picked up a pebble and played with it.

Liu Sishan had her back to Zhang Ping when a stream of water suddenly swept out from her side.

Whoosh!

The pebble Zhang Ping had been playing with was instantly cut in two. Only then did he react, hurriedly tossing the stone away and retreating.

"To make sure my special training is effective for you, you may attack me with everything you have next. I will also strike appropriately to test your limits," Liu Sishan said slowly as she turned to look at the wary Zhang Ping.

Zhang Ping frowned. "Sis Sisi, are you sure you won't slip up and accidentally cut me in half?"

"Hard to say. You'd better pray that I don't," Liu Sishan replied blandly.

As she spoke, four floating water spheres appeared around her. They revolved around her and could turn into Water Whips at any moment, slicing through everything nearby.

"Come on."

Liu Sishan beckoned to Zhang Ping.

Dressed in white, she stood motionless where she was.

Water vapor gradually filled the surroundings. Under the refracted light, she looked like a fairy maiden from the moon palace.

Zhang Ping had no idea where to begin. After thinking briefly, he bent down to pick up several pebbles and decided to use them as concealed weapons to probe Liu Sishan's methods.

He flicked his wrist and threw the pebbles.

The water spheres around Liu Sishan immediately transformed into flat shields, blocking the pebbles. Then countless tiny water spheres split off from the larger ones and shot toward Zhang Ping like bullets.

"Not good!"

Zhang Ping hurriedly dodged backward as the pebbles in front of him were pierced through by water bullets.

If those water bullets hit a person, the consequences would be unimaginable.

At that moment, Zhang Ping realized that Liu Sishan was serious.

He took a deep breath, drew the Beauty's Tears Dagger, and used Ape Step to rapidly close in on Liu Sishan.

The essence of Ape King Form was its footwork.

The footwork was endlessly variable and highly unpredictable. Once mastered, unless someone possessed an ability like mental locking, it was very difficult to target.

Zhang Ping's Ape Step was nowhere near mastery. He had only just gotten started.

But Liu Sishan was not attacking at full strength either. Otherwise, the water bullets would have been faster and possessed tracking effects. With Zhang Ping's current strength, he would not have stood a chance.

With Liu Sishan deliberately holding back, Zhang Ping used Ape Step to evade the water bullets. But when he got close to her, before he could attack, a huge palm formed from water swept him five meters away.

"Ouch."

Zhang Ping landed butt-first on the pebbles, instantly baring his teeth in pain and sucking in a sharp breath.

But Liu Sishan had no intention of giving him time to catch his breath. Another barrage of water bullets swept toward him, and he hurriedly rolled aside.

Next, he got up and tried approaching Liu Sishan again, but the result was exactly the same as before.

After several attempts, Zhang Ping was already panting heavily and drenched in sweat.

"Is that all you've got?" Liu Sishan stopped attacking and looked at Zhang Ping.

Zhang Ping panted heavily. Hearing that, he could not help rolling his eyes. "Sis Sisi, what other tricks do you expect from a level-three newbie like me?"

"But the strength you're displaying now isn't even as good as when Heavenly Fox attacked you before. It seems... perhaps I haven't pushed you hard enough," Liu Sishan said lazily, narrowing her eyes.

As soon as she said that, Zhang Ping's squinting eyes widened, and a bad feeling rose in his heart.

Sure enough.

In the next instant, dozens of slender Water Whips formed at once.

However, these Water Whips did not flow or vibrate at high speed. They were simply whips made of water.

Caught off guard, Zhang Ping took a lash. His hair immediately stood on end, and his squinting eyes widened like saucers from the pain. He sucked in a sharp breath as his entire body trembled.

It hurts so much!

His back felt like it was on fire. Seeing more Water Whips lashing toward him, he hurriedly stretched out one hand. Fire Element energy surged forth, forming an enormous flaming palm that blocked all the Water Whips.

Zhang Ping flailed about, leaping up and down, rolling left and right, but he was still struck several more times, grimacing in pain.

During the struggle, he had no choice but to cast aside all unnecessary thoughts and focus completely on resisting Liu Sishan's attacks.

Gradually, he entered a state free of distracting thoughts and began to sense the rhythm carried by the wind.

No matter which angle the Water Whips attacked from, he could react a step ahead and block every attack with flames at just the right moment.

Liu Sishan watched Zhang Ping, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. The Water Whips gradually attacked faster and faster, and their angles became increasingly tricky.

One minute later.

The Fire Element energy inside Zhang Ping was completely depleted, and he collapsed weakly to the ground.

"I can't do this anymore. I'm exhausted."

He glanced at the Water Whips around him, closed his eyes, and said helplessly.

However, the Water Whips did not fall. Instead, they gradually contracted back to Liu Sishan's side and turned into water spheres again.

Liu Sishan walked over to Zhang Ping and said, "You're actually very strong, at least among Novice Awakened."

Whether it was his reaction speed or his control over his ability, Zhang Ping's performance had been commendable. His only weakness was probably his lack of long-range methods, but that weakness could be gradually remedied in the future.

"Of course I know I'm strong among people at my level. Sis Sisi, if you were at my level, could you beat me?" Zhang Ping asked, looking up at Liu Sishan.

Liu Sishan answered honestly, "No. Before becoming an Intermediate Awakened, I only had defensive methods. It was only afterward that I gradually developed combat power."

"How long did that take?" Zhang Ping pressed.

"One year," Liu Sishan answered.

"How is that possible?" Zhang Ping said in shock.

She had advanced from Novice Awakened to Intermediate Awakened in just one year?

"Nothing is impossible. Different abilities inherently advance at vastly different speeds," Liu Sishan said.

Her ability stored water elemental energy by drinking water, so she differed from ordinary people. Drinking too much water would give normal people water poisoning, but drinking water only increased her water elemental energy. As long as she released that energy in time, she could continuously train her ability simply by drinking water.

The more an ability was used, the stronger it became.

Compared with abilities that had demanding activation conditions, her ability was exceptionally easy to activate. Therefore, as long as she was willing to train, she could advance extremely quickly.

Of course, that was also related to her astonishing potential.

If her potential had been insufficient, she likewise could not have advanced so quickly.

They rested where they were for ten minutes.

Then Liu Sishan had Zhang Ping get up and led him onward.

"Sis Sisi, where are we going now?" Zhang Ping asked as he ate a compressed energy bar.

"Do you know why Mingzhu City was built here?" Liu Sishan asked.

"Why?" Zhang Ping genuinely did not know the answer.

"Because Changsha River lies east of Mingzhu City, Salt Mountain Valley is to the south, abundant iron ore lies ten kilometers to the west, and endless mountains stand to the north. Building a city here means never needing to worry about lacking resources such as water, salt, iron, and meat," Liu Sishan explained.

"Then we're south of the city now?" Zhang Ping asked after looking up at the sun and making his judgment.

Liu Sishan nodded. "The Investigation Team and Patrol Team regularly clear the road leading south to Salt Mountain Valley, so the Mutated Beasts there are generally low-Level. It's perfect for you to get some practical experience."

"Now?" Zhang Ping's eyes widened.

"We'll rest at the camp for half a day first, then act at night," Liu Sishan replied.

"That's good, that's good." Zhang Ping sighed in relief.

He was in terrible condition right now. Not only had he used up all his Fire Element energy, but most of his stamina was gone as well. Forget Mutated Beasts—he might not even be able to beat an ordinary wild animal.

Salt Mountain Valley was a place name.

It was actually a valley containing large quantities of salt ore.

It took about two hours to walk from Mingzhu City to Salt Mountain Valley.

Sometimes, salt haulers could not make it back to Mingzhu City in time, so they simply rested near Salt Mountain Valley. Gradually, camps formed one after another.

The problem was that spending the night in the wilderness was unsafe.

Wild beasts and Mutated Beasts often attacked in the middle of the night, and most salt hauler casualties were related to this.

Later, some adventurers saw a business opportunity and built better, safer camps near Salt Mountain Valley.

Guests only needed to pay a small amount of Pearl City Coin to stay for the night, and dedicated Awakened kept watch after dark, driving away wild beasts and Mutated Beasts.

The lodging was inexpensive and relatively safe.

The salt haulers gradually became accustomed to spending the night in such camps.

In Salt Mountain Valley, camps slowly became a fairly profitable business.

Two hours later.

Zhang Ping and Liu Sishan arrived at a camp.

The camp was built atop a small hill. A huge pit had been dug in its center, and roaring flames burned inside it, making it look somewhat like a tiny volcano.

Many tents had been set up around the bonfire. Anyone with the corresponding numbered tag could check in and rest.

Zhang Ping and Liu Sishan's tent was very close to the bonfire, so Zhang Ping simply sat beside it and absorbed the flames to quickly recover his stamina.

"Let me ask you something. Can you eat the flames you release yourself?" Liu Sishan asked thoughtfully when she saw this.

Zhang Ping froze, then gave it a try. "I can, but there is still some loss. Still, that's a new idea!"

The Fire Eater's main ability was devouring flames to restore stamina.

Only when his stamina was full would it become Fire Element energy stored inside his body. Therefore, after expending his stamina, he could completely release Fire Element energy, then devour the flames created by that energy to recover his stamina.

Could this actually be the Fire Eater's true use?

Zhang Ping muttered inwardly.

In truth, many Awakened did not understand the true purpose of their own abilities.

They trained and used their abilities according to their own understanding. Even if their understanding was wrong, the ability would gradually take the shape the Awakened had become accustomed to through constant use.

Therefore, most Awakened never considered whether their abilities might be different from what they thought.

"Since you can restore your stamina by absorbing flames, don't idle around now. Start with five hundred push-ups."

While Zhang Ping was muttering to himself, Liu Sishan immediately realized the Fire Eater's true purpose as well.

With the Fire Eater.

Zhang Ping could fully take the route of physical enhancement.

He did not need to worry about stamina consumption at all. As long as there was fire, he could train endlessly.

"Sis Sisi, five hundred is too stingy. I'll start with five thousand just to warm up."

Zhang Ping said with a smile, then gave himself the command in his heart and began training.

Working out beside the bonfire, he could devour flames while doing push-ups, barely feeling tired at all.

After finishing five thousand push-ups, Zhang Ping simply began doing frog jumps around the bonfire.

It was broad daylight.

All the salt haulers had gone out to search for salt ore, so no one was around to disturb them.

Other than the crackling of the bonfire, the camp was filled only with Zhang Ping's heavy breathing.