Awakeners Have Limits

Zhang Ping followed Liu Sishan with difficulty along a small path in Salt Mountain Valley.

Both sides of the path were covered in a salt-tolerant plant called Hydrochloric Acid Grass. Its fruit was rich in hydrochloric acid and highly corrosive. Once ripe, the fruit would burst and shoot into the sky, then explode overhead and scatter its seeds in every direction.

When the fruits reached maturity, the area within a hundred miles of the Hydrochloric Acid Grass became extremely dangerous, often facing sudden acid rain.

Besides its fruit, the leaves of Hydrochloric Acid Grass were also extremely sharp and secreted a special sap. If someone was cut by its leaves and the wound came into contact with the sap, the pain would be amplified hundreds of times, possibly even sending a living creature into fatal shock.

This Hydrochloric Acid Grass sap was both a medicinal ingredient and a poison in Mingzhu City.

After appraising the Hydrochloric Acid Grass, Zhang Ping had been extremely careful along the way. Liu Sishan, who walked ahead of him, remained completely calm and unconcerned by the grass around her.

"That's your opponent. Get ready and go."

Liu Sishan stopped halfway down the path, pointed at a white rabbit eating Hydrochloric Acid Grass nearby, and spoke softly.

Though this rabbit was a Mutated Beast, its size had not changed. It was still as small as an ordinary rabbit.

Zhang Ping looked at the rabbit and immediately used Appraisal without another word.

[Appraisal successful]

[Mutated Beast: Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit]

[Race: Mutated Rabbit]

[Potential: ???]

[Lifespan: 30]

[Rank: Beginner Mutated Beast]

[Level: 9]

[Talents]

[Corrosive Water Bullet: Can fire highly corrosive water from sweat glands hidden in its ears]

[Water-Storing Fur: Its fur can store liquids and release them when necessary]

[Rapid Reproduction: Reproduces offspring faster than normal creatures]

Corrosive water?

Zhang Ping carefully examined the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit's ears but found nothing unusual.

He could not imagine how this rabbit fought. Moreover, it was eating Hydrochloric Acid Grass, and the surrounding grass provided it with excellent protection. He could not even get close easily.

"How should I deal with it?"

Zhang Ping frowned in thought. He truly had no means of dealing with distant targets right now.

The flames provided by Fire Eater could only attack targets at close or medium range. Beyond two meters, they could not reach.

Since Liu Sishan had chosen the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit as his opponent, she surely had not done so without reason. Perhaps he really did have some means of countering it.

"I have no long-range methods, and getting close will be restricted by the Hydrochloric Acid Grass. Then the answer must lie with the grass."

Zhang Ping simply crouched down and carefully observed the Hydrochloric Acid Grass first.

The edges of its leaves were serrated, and they were far harder than ordinary leaves. Zhang Ping glanced at the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit grazing nearby, then released a tiny flame from his fingertip. The moment the leaf touched the flame, it softened, and its texture changed completely.

"So that's it!"

Zhang Ping suddenly understood.

Hydrochloric Acid Grass feared fire. Once exposed to flames, it softened.

He roughly understood how to clear this stage.

Then he stood up, took off his shoes, used his dagger to cut his long pants into shorts, and finally removed his shirt as well.

After putting his clothes away, he gripped his dagger and charged at the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit.

The instant he stepped into the Hydrochloric Acid Grass, flames surged from the soles of his feet just before they touched the leaves. The grass immediately softened, and it felt surprisingly comfortable beneath his feet.

Flashes of fire continued to flicker across his body.

Whenever he was about to touch the Hydrochloric Acid Grass, flames would erupt from the corresponding part of his body.

Although the Nightwalker talent weakened his presence, the constant flashes of fire from Zhang Ping's body still alarmed the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit. Its long ears flicked, spraying drops of black liquid from their tips.

The black liquid was like buckshot and flew at an incredible speed. Zhang Ping had no way to evade it. The instant the liquid touched him, flames ignited across different parts of his body, instantly evaporating it.

However, the black liquid struck the dagger in his hand, leaving it riddled with tiny holes.

He had no time to feel sorry for it. He pushed off the ground and closed in on the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit, gripping the dagger and stabbing down fiercely. Yet the rabbit curled into a ball, and a large amount of green liquid seeped from its fur.

Hydrochloric Acid Grass sap!

But it was too late.

The dagger plunged down, and when he pulled it back out, it had been completely corroded away, leaving only the handle in his hand.

"Damn it!"

Zhang Ping could not help cursing. He threw away the handle, ignited flames around both fists, and punched directly at the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit.

But the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit was not stupid.

Before Zhang Ping's fist could hit, it sprang away with both hind legs and swiftly dodged the attack.

It even twisted its body rapidly after dodging, whipping its ears through the air and firing drops of black liquid at Zhang Ping again.

Boom!

Zhang Ping swept his left arm out. Flames surged forth and formed a wall of fire in an instant, blocking every drop of black liquid.

When the firelight faded, Zhang Ping looked around and discovered that the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit had vanished.

He was dumbfounded.

That rabbit had actually run away?

But he quickly came to his senses. Rabbits naturally ran when faced with predators.

At most, the Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit had gained some defensive and offensive methods. Fundamentally, it was still a grass-eating rabbit.

Since it did not need to eat Zhang Ping, why would it risk its life fighting him? Of course it would run the moment it got the chance.

Zhang Ping looked at Liu Sishan and said helplessly, "Sister Sisi, what do we do now? The rabbit ran away."

"If it ran, then chase it," Liu Sishan said flatly.

She picked up Zhang Ping's clothes and walked directly toward him. Everywhere she passed, all the Hydrochloric Acid Grass instantly froze before she crushed it underfoot.

"Look for it? Where am I supposed to look?" Zhang Ping asked with a bitter smile.

Liu Sishan did not answer. Instead, she passed Zhang Ping and continued onward. Zhang Ping had no choice but to follow. After walking for a while, they reached the edge of the Hydrochloric Acid Grass field. Ahead lay a stretch of Drylands, its ground covered by a thin layer of white frost that was actually salt.

They continued forward, and gradually, Zhang Ping caught the smell of rotting Corpse.

[Chirp chirp!]

[Hiss hiss!]

[Crunch, crunch!]

Through Wind Whisperer, Zhang Ping began hearing strange sounds.

He frowned. "Sister Sisi, something's wrong. I can hear the sounds of many creatures."

"At the deepest part of Salt Mountain Valley, there is a mutated plant called the Salt Frost Tree. Every year when it bears fruit, large numbers of mutated creatures gather and fight. In the end, the victor can obtain a Salt Frost Fruit.

"Although Salt Frost Fruit is extremely salty and requires a great deal of fresh water to consume, eating one for the first time can increase the potential of both awakeners and Mutated Beasts. That is why many Mutated Beasts and awakeners compete for it every year," Liu Sishan said slowly.

Zhang Ping's eyes widened. "It can't be tonight, can it?"

"Judging by the time, if nothing unexpected happens, it will be tonight," Liu Sishan said calmly.

Zhang Ping stopped walking and frowned. "It's too dangerous. With my current strength, Sister Sisi, do you think I can get involved in something like this?"

This time, he refused very firmly.

He possessed the Contract Gem and did not lack potential at all. What he lacked was the time to turn that potential into strength, so he truly had no interest in the Salt Frost Fruit.

"If I'm not mistaken, your Wind Whisperer ability should have awakened after you came into contact with the Wind Gem, right?" Liu Sishan suddenly asked.

Zhang Ping's eyes widened at once. He looked at Liu Sishan in surprise and asked, "Sister Sisi, how do you know about my abilities?"

"You don't actually think you're the only person in the world with the Appraisal Technique, do you? We've known about your abilities for a long time. It's just that you seemed particularly eager to keep them secret, so I didn't expose you," Liu Sishan said with a faint smile.

In fact, after Zhang Ping displayed the abilities of Fire Eater, she had realized that his abilities were unusual. That was why she had asked an appraiser from the organization to appraise Zhang Ping's attributes.

Zhang Ping was left speechless.

He could appraise others, so why had he assumed others could not appraise him?

It was perfectly normal. No wonder most awakeners in Mingzhu City did not care if others knew their abilities.

"We studied your abilities, especially the fact that you suddenly gained Wind Whisperer. We can be certain of one thing: your ability likely still contains some mechanism that can trigger new abilities, such as coming into contact with rare treasures or encountering special environments. So the Salt Frost Fruit might allow you to awaken other abilities," Liu Sishan said.

Zhang Ping was not truly a teenager. Though he was somewhat embarrassed that Liu Sishan had seen through his thoughts, he quickly calmed down and frowned. "Sister Sisi, since you know my abilities, you should understand that as long as I stay alive, I'll become very strong sooner or later. So why should I take risks?"

"There have actually been quite a few cases like yours in the past. For example, there was an awakener whose ability was Supernatural Adaptation. In different environments, he could awaken different abilities to adapt to those environments. But as he grew older, the intensity of his abilities rapidly declined. After seventy, he never awakened another new ability. Finally, at ninety, he chose to take one last risk. He died in the Magma Layer, leaving not even his bones behind," Liu Sishan said as she looked at Zhang Ping.

Seeing that Zhang Ping had taken her words to heart, Liu Sishan continued, "Awakeners are not gods. In the end, they are only humans. Although some awakeners can live for hundreds of years and even maintain their bodies at their peak, most awakeners will see their strength rapidly decline once they pass their prime. Not only will their strength stop improving as they age, it will fall quickly.

"Not all potential can be turned into strength. You should seize every chance to become stronger instead of constantly thinking that you'll become stronger later. There will always be another later. How long are you planning to wait?"

"..."

Zhang Ping fell silent. This was the first time he had learned of such a thing.

He had known that an awakener's strength would decline somewhat with age, but he had never expected even supernatural abilities to weaken.

In fact, he had once held many unrealistic fantasies, such as awakening abilities like "eternal life" or "immortality," then living freely and happily ever after, becoming an immortal ancestor.

But Liu Sishan's words had just poured cold water over him, and he finally realized that he had been thinking too ideally.

"Sister Sisi, have you been here before?" he asked Liu Sishan.

Liu Sishan looked into the distance. Only after a long while did she answer, "I came here when I was still a member of the Investigation Team. Back then, I could only use my abilities for defense. I barely survived."

"Then let's go," Zhang Ping said with a nod.

Liu Sishan smiled faintly and immediately followed Zhang Ping.