There were still three months until graduation, and the students had already begun going their separate ways.
Zhang Ping had not left the school, but he no longer went to the teaching building either. His daily routine consisted of the dormitory, the track, and the cafeteria. He trained every day, calling it laying the foundation for his future life as a farmer.
He was not the only one doing this. Quite a few students did the same. After all, once they left school, they could only take the worst jobs, with little to look forward to in the future. They might as well stay at school and enjoy themselves for as long as they could.
Moreover, he discovered that these students were actually very safe. Hardly any of them had been replaced by the Heavenly Fox.
In other words, the Heavenly Fox either targeted highly promising students or those joining key departments such as the Patrol Team. The rest posed little threat, so it had no urgency to act against them.
Take him, for example. A summoner who could not obtain a summoned beast was destined to become a farmer. Naturally, he posed no danger, so the Heavenly Fox had not immediately acted against him.
The opposite example was Luo Shiyu. He remembered that she had awakened an incredibly powerful ability two years ago. She had probably caught the Heavenly Fox's attention the day she was judged exceptionally talented.
Every day now, Zhang Ping could feel himself improving. His physical condition grew stronger by the day.
If his stamina and Mental Strength had not been limited, he would definitely have eaten Contract Gems like candy. Unfortunately, after several days, he had not awakened any new talents. His potential had merely continued to rise.
The clearest change was that, in just a few dozen days, he could already do a thousand push-ups in a row.
And after finishing, his stamina recovered quickly. He no longer collapsed on the floor like a dead dog, too exhausted to move.
Night fell.
Zhang Ping sat cross-legged on his bed, glanced at the night outside the window, and condensed another Contract Gem.
He tossed the gem into his mouth, chewed it lightly, then swallowed it.
This time, he suddenly felt all sound vanish. It was as if the entire world had gone silent. Only after a while did he emerge from the stillness, and the chirping of crickets and croaking of frogs returned.
He immediately cast Appraisal on himself.
[Appraisal successful] [Summoned Beast: Zhang Ping] [Master: Zhang Ping] [Race: Human] [Potential: ????] [Lifespan: 89] [Talents] [Contract Gem: Stamina + Mental Strength can be consumed 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 gain the summoner's potential and luck blessing. After consuming one for the first time, further consumption will slightly increase one's own potential, with a 1% chance of awakening a new talent. Note: This talent ability was obtained by summoner Zhang Ping through overdrawing his intelligence, potential, and luck. Although it is powerful, it possesses some enormous flaw. Excessive ambition does not seem to be a good thing.] [Absolute Command: You possess absolute dominion over your summoned beasts. Your commands cannot be disobeyed by summoned beasts.] [Absolute Obedience: You absolutely obey your summoner's commands. You will faithfully carry out your summoner's orders.] [Unstable Appraisal: Can appraise a target, with an extremely small chance of obtaining information about that target. The smaller the difference in strength between both sides, the higher the chance of successfully obtaining information. Once the first appraisal succeeds, the success rate of subsequent appraisals on the same target will greatly increase. Note: A talent ability born from the thirst for knowledge of summoned beast Zhang Ping and summoner Zhang Ping.] [Nightwalker: Gain night vision. Your presence is greatly reduced at night, movement speed is greatly increased, body weight decreases, and you become completely invisible while in shadows.]
Sure enough, he had gained another talent!
Zhang Ping had actually felt it through his body before even using Appraisal.
After all, it was nighttime. Improved vision and reduced body weight were both extremely obvious sensations.
He got out of bed and tested it. His body felt much lighter. With a gentle jump, he could touch the ceiling, and when he landed, he made almost no sound.
Under his night vision, the pitch-black city outside the window became bright.
He even saw a gigantic bird of prey with a wingspan of twelve meters flying through the sky, trailing billowing black smoke.
If that bird of prey swooped down to attack the city, the consequences would be unimaginable.
This world was too dangerous.
Zhang Ping let out a soft breath, then turned and entered the bathroom.
He had just noticed that his potential had risen by one star. It had originally been three stars, but it was now four. The most obvious physical change was the additional talent, but there were many hidden changes that he would have to uncover himself.
In the bathroom, he did two thousand five hundred push-ups in one go. If he used Absolute Command, he could probably do around three thousand.
Of course, that was related to his lighter body weight. It would probably be greatly reduced during the daytime.
His five senses had also become sharper.
Many sounds that he could not hear before could now be faintly heard as long as he concentrated.
For example, the sound of someone grinding their teeth in their sleep next door.
"I wonder what Level I'm equivalent to now?"
After coming out of the bathroom, Zhang Ping lay on his bed and thought to himself.
Awakened had Levels, and the classification was not complicated.
Anyone who had just awakened an ability could be classified as a Level 1 Awakened.
Novice Awakened ranged from Level 1 to Level 9. Upon breaking through Level 10, one became an Intermediate Awakened.
When an Intermediate Awakened broke through Level 20, they naturally became a High-Level Awakened. Beyond that were Top-Tier Awakened.
As for above Top-Tier Awakened, there were supposedly King-Level Awakened. However, no King-Level Awakened had ever appeared in Mingzhu City. Even the city lord was only a Top-Tier Awakened.
King-Level was merely a legend that had always been passed down among the Awakened.
The next day.
Zhang Ping woke up half an hour earlier than usual. When he woke, he was already on the track, his body automatically running.
He did not change the command. Instead, he carefully sensed his mental state.
Excellent. He felt extremely alert.
He did not feel sleepy at all despite waking so early.
Zhang Ping guessed that his increased potential had reduced the amount of sleep he needed.
After finishing his run, his body automatically walked to the cafeteria. Everything proceeded as usual until "Luo Shiyu" appeared.
"Good morning, Luo Shiyu!"
"Luo Shiyu, I'll line up for you. What do you want to eat?"
"I was a little sleepy, but the moment I saw Luo Shiyu, I felt completely awake."
The enormous fox with Luo Shiyu's human skin pasted across its forehead slowly approached amid the crowd. Even though Zhang Ping's strength had improved, he still felt a chill run through him.
Suddenly, the Heavenly Fox walked up to a girl, grabbed her by the neck with its claws, and lifted her up. Like it was choosing from a buffet, it dragged her onward.
Zhang Ping lowered his head and gripped his chopsticks tightly. Only after the Heavenly Fox passed by him did he clench his teeth slightly and command himself to continue eating, striving to finish everything before the bloody smell drifted over.
When he left the cafeteria, quite a few people inside were still envying the girl for being chosen by "Luo Shiyu" and getting to have breakfast with "Luo Shiyu."
In the students' eyes, the Heavenly Fox was eating with that girl. But in Zhang Ping's eyes, the girl was having her body torn apart by a hideous, terrifying fox and being cruelly devoured.
He had to figure out the true situation in Mingzhu City as soon as possible!
He had to confirm the gap in strength between friend and foe!
Zhang Ping clenched his fists, returned to his dorm, shut the door, and began training.
"One thousand push-ups!"
He gave himself the command in his mind, and his body immediately began moving.
"Five hundred sit-ups!"
After a thousand push-ups, Zhang Ping was drenched in sweat, but he immediately gave himself another command.
"Three hundred frog jumps!"
"Again!"
Fire burned in Zhang Ping's eyes. He gritted his teeth and roared in his heart.
He trained madly for the entire morning.
Pearl Ability Academy taught students how to judge whether their bodies were overloaded, so as long as he had not reached his limit, he would never stop!
At noon, he rested for two hours after eating, then got up and began practicing his punches again.
Pearl Ability Academy had martial arts classes. Before students awakened abilities, they mainly trained physical fitness, boxing, and weapon usage.
Besides basic boxing, the martial arts class also taught a style called Pearl Three Fists.
It was a boxing style jointly created by many veteran Awakened specifically to deal with Mutated Beasts. It originally had nine moves, but it was gradually streamlined into three.
Its name also gradually changed from Pearl Nine Fists to Pearl Three Fists, though everyone generally referred to it simply as Pearl Fist.
The first move of Pearl Fist was called Rat Chaser.
It was a low attack specifically aimed at Mutated Beasts smaller than oneself. The move was heavy and forceful, emphasizing overwhelming the beast through momentum and crushing the enemy through one's size advantage.
The second move of Pearl Fist was called Wolf Charge.
This move was specifically for Mutated Beasts roughly the same size as oneself. It emphasized landing a decisive blow, targeting vital areas such as the eyes, ears, and spine.
The third move of Pearl Fist was called Ox Prison.
This move demanded extremely high footwork. It did not seek merit, only the avoidance of mistakes. It was specifically used against Mutated Beasts much larger than oneself, focusing mainly on maneuvering and deflecting force.
Though there were only three moves, they could be adapted differently for different situations.
Many physically enhanced Awakened spent their whole lives studying these three moves. It was said that the city lord was a Grandmaster of Pearl Fist and could even kill Mutated Beasts above Level 30 barehanded with Pearl Fist.
Although Zhang Ping was not a physically enhanced Awakened, the Contract Gems constantly increased his potential. His physical strength might not necessarily be weaker than that of physically enhanced Awakened in the future, so he had no intention of abandoning training in either boxing or weapons.
He trained until evening, went to the cafeteria for a hearty meal, then returned to his dorm to continue training.
Night descended.
At nine o'clock, Zhang Ping changed into black clothes after bathing, then walked out of the dormitory.
Some lower-year students were still sparring in martial arts under the cover of night on the track. Zhang Ping walked out along the edge of the track, glanced from afar at the girls' dormitory, and silently clenched the fist hidden in his pocket.
He was still too weak.
After leaving the school, he moved through the night. Because of the Nightwalker talent, none of the passersby noticed his existence.
Like a ghost, he moved through the streets around the school, silently recording information about the Heavenly Fox in his mind.