Beast-Taming Family

Zhang Ping looked at Situ Shibai after a long while and could not help asking, "Mr. Situ, is the process of making special equipment always this cruel?"

However, Situ Shibai did not answer. He merely held his teacup, closed his eyes, and savored the tea.

In truth, with his strength, he could have ignored Zhang Ping's wishes and forcibly copied Zhang Ping's ability.

But he did not do so. Instead, he respected Zhang Ping's choice.

Naturally, Zhang Ping understood this.

Moreover, the moment he asked the question, he remembered that Situ Shibai's offer was two pieces of equipment and answers to anything he asked. He had yet to agree to the deal, so Situ Shibai naturally would not readily answer any of his questions.

He looked at the Fear War Scythe and the Golden Treasury, sinking into thought.

If he had not just ordered himself to stay calm, he knew he would have agreed in a moment of impulsiveness.

The main reason was that the two pieces of equipment were simply too tempting.

The Fear War Scythe was undoubtedly the weapon best suited for him at present.

Meanwhile, the Golden Treasury was an invaluable spatial storage item, a strategic treasure in any faction.

Time passed bit by bit. Neither Zhang Ping nor Situ Shibai spoke. Like a grandfather and grandson who shared a tacit understanding, they sat together and quietly drank tea.

After they finished a pot of tea, Zhang Ping rose to refill it, then poured Situ Shibai another cup.

"Mr. Situ, your offer is too generous. I agree."

Zhang Ping set down the teapot and finally decided to accept Situ Shibai's conditions.

First, Situ Shibai was offering too much.

Second, Situ Shibai had no reason to deceive him.

Through his Wind Whisperer ability, he knew quite a lot about the Cleanup Team. Situ Shibai had copied every ability within the Cleanup Team, so the chance of harm was extremely low.

What truly worried him was the unknown possibility. Situ Shibai had never copied an Infinite Tier ability before. No one could say what would happen when two abilities collided.

But as he had said before, Situ Shibai was offering too much—enough for him to take a risk.

Situ Shibai set down his teacup and smiled. "Good. Then they are yours from this moment onward. Hold out your hand."

He then reached out and pressed his palm against Zhang Ping's. The entire process lasted only about a second. When it ended, he let out a faint sigh.

"Mr. Situ, that's it?" Zhang Ping withdrew his hand and asked in confusion.

He could not help guessing that perhaps the condition for Situ Shibai's copying was simply touching palms.

Situ Shibai nodded. "It's over. I cannot copy your ability, nor can I copy any of its derived abilities. It seems your ability is extremely special. Every one of your abilities may have the potential to become Infinite Tier."

The abilities he copied did not possess such limitless potential. At most, they could only be trained to the limits inherent to the abilities themselves.

For example, if he copied a Nation Guardian Tier ability, then even if he trained it to its utmost, it would only remain Nation Guardian Tier. It could not possibly break through to Infinite Tier.

Furthermore, in his early years, he had not realized that his own potential was limited. He had spent that potential on many abilities with little room for growth. As a result, his potential was now exhausted, and even if he acquired new abilities, it would be difficult for him to increase their Proficiency.

That was also why he had taken an interest in Zhang Ping's ability.

If he could obtain an ability like Contract Gem, he could slowly restore his potential and ultimately break through to King-level.

Unfortunately, the result of the experiment was clear. Infinite Tier abilities could not copy Infinite Tier abilities.

Still, although Situ Shibai was disappointed, he was not surprised.

This outcome had originally been within his expectations.

Even when he made the decision, his intuition had vaguely given him the answer. He had merely been unwilling to accept it and decided to try anyway.

Next, he helped Zhang Ping bind the Fear War Scythe.

The method of binding was simple.

As its original owner, he transferred it to Zhang Ping. Otherwise, no one could take ownership of the Fear War Scythe.

After Zhang Ping stored the Fear War Scythe in the Golden Treasury, he asked again, "Mr. Situ, are all special equipment-making methods this cruel?"

"Two hundred years ago, they were more or less all like this. Later, after Mingzhu City underwent hundreds of reforms and periods of governance, methods such as sacrificing people to create artifacts were gradually prohibited. Only death-row prisoners were treated this way," Situ Shibai explained.

Two hundred years ago?

Zhang Ping suddenly realized that the knowledge taught at school indeed mentioned very little about events from two hundred years ago.

"Mr. Situ, what was Mingzhu City like two hundred years ago?" Zhang Ping asked curiously.

Situ Shibai looked at the bracelet on Zhang Ping's wrist and answered, "Two hundred years ago, Mingzhu City was not yet called Mingzhu City. Back then, its name was Zhu City, and the family ruling the city was the Beast-Taming Zhu Family."

"The Beast-Taming Zhu Family? What did they do?" Zhang Ping asked.

Situ Shibai fell into reminiscence. "What did the Zhu Family do?"

His eyes seemed to cross more than two centuries of time, seeing scenes from the past:

"Under their rule, everyone in Zhu City was a slave of the Zhu Family. No one could see a future, no one could see hope."

"Men labored day and night but received only a tiny amount of food. Any woman with even a little beauty would be selected as a servant of the Zhu Family and become a plaything for their wastrel sons."

"All children were centrally managed and indoctrinated day and night with loyalty to the Zhu Family, while elderly people incapable of labor were used as feed for Mutated Beasts."

"At that time, whenever someone became an Awakened, they were either controlled and enslaved or turned into material for making equipment."

"Because of this, many Awakened fled outside the city. Some established camps beyond the walls, while others with lofty aspirations quietly gathered strength, hoping that one day they could overthrow the Zhu Family's rule."

"I see."

After hearing this, Zhang Ping could imagine the situation back then. Perhaps Awakened had suffered even more than they did now.

"Do you have any other questions?"

Situ Shibai let out a wistful sigh before finally speaking after a while.

He had plenty of time and could slowly answer Zhang Ping's questions.

In fact, when Liu Sishan first came into contact with Zhang Ping, he had already determined through the changes in Liu Sishan's luck flames that Zhang Ping was not a Mutated Beast.

After learning that Zhang Ping's ability was Infinite Tier, he had wanted to meet him in person.

Only an idiot would send an Infinite Tier Awakened to work as an undercover agent.

Any faction that acquired such a precious seedling would be afraid of letting him melt in their mouths or break in their palms.

Let alone send him out as an undercover agent.

Even for an ordinary mission outside the city, several powerful experts would surely protect him in secret, afraid that such a treasure might die young.

Situ Shibai had come this time merely to try copying Zhang Ping's ability. Giving him treasures and answering his questions were his true purposes.

At present, the situation in Mingzhu City was unclear, and Zhang Ping understood little about it. He could easily step into an enemy trap by mistake.

For example, that little Heavenly Fox in the park earlier.

Under normal circumstances, how could a child possibly be swinging on a playground swing in the middle of the night?

In Liu Sishan's and the others' eyes, it was obviously a trap, yet Zhang Ping had nearly stumbled into it foolishly.

That was why Situ Shibai had come specifically to answer Zhang Ping's questions and analyze Mingzhu City's situation, so Zhang Ping would not unknowingly fall for the enemy's schemes.

"Mr. Situ, you're so powerful. Why don't you take action and deal with Prince Yue?"

Zhang Ping had many questions to ask, but after thinking it through carefully, he decided to ask the one he found hardest to understand first.

He was certain that Prince Yue was absolutely no match for Situ Shibai. If Situ Shibai acted, Prince Yue would undoubtedly die, and more people would not have died in the city over the past two days.

Yet Situ Shibai had not acted. Instead, he had watched as the Heavenly Foxes came out to capture and devour people.

Situ Shibai shook his head. "It isn't that I won't act. It's that I cannot."

He then rose and walked to the window. Looking at the distant streets, he continued, "You may think Mingzhu City's defenses are extremely weak, that it did not even notice the Heavenly Fox Clan infiltrating it, but... that is wrong!"

Wrong?

Zhang Ping felt even more confused.

"In truth, Mingzhu City's defense system is quite perfect. Not only does the Investigation Team investigate and drive away newly appearing Mutated Beasts on the outskirts, but the Patrol Team also regularly clears threatening Mutated Beasts outside the city. Within the city, there is also the King's Divine Artifact, the Sun-Moon Pearl, suppressing all foreign races.

It is a precious treasure left behind by Zhu City. Once a King-level Mutated Beast invades, it automatically activates.

When a King-level Mutated Beast enters the Sun-Moon Pearl's domain, it will automatically be reduced to a top-tier Mutated Beast, and among top-tier Mutated Beasts, I am unquestionably the strongest," Situ Shibai explained seriously.

That meant any King-level being entering Mingzhu City would surely die.

"But now..."

Zhang Ping had just begun to speak when he suddenly stopped. He had already realized where the problem lay.

His face turned ashen as he looked at Situ Shibai and asked, "Elder Bai, are you saying... there are human traitors in the city?"

"Yes. Since the Zhu Family's rule was overthrown, aside from the city lord and me, only the remnants of the Beast-Taming Family know how to control the divine artifact," Situ Shibai said.

Zhang Ping clenched his fists. Scenes he had seen before surfaced in his mind: Su Jingyao's human skin weeping tears of blood, the girl Prince Yue had torn apart, the limbs being gnawed by the Heavenly Foxes...

It seemed as if flames were about to burst from his eyes.

"Why didn't you wipe out those scum completely back then?"

Zhang Ping clenched his fists. He could not understand why the Zhu Family, after committing so many atrocities, had not simply been exterminated.

Hearing this, Situ Shibai smiled bitterly. "The Zhu Family had operated in Mingzhu City for centuries. Their foundations ran unfathomably deep. Besides, after the Zhu Family's rule was first overthrown, order within Mingzhu City was chaotic. Many people who had been brainwashed from childhood even hated us deeply. Under those circumstances, there was truly very little we could do."

The situation at the time could not possibly be explained clearly in a few words.

Although they had defeated the Beast-Taming Zhu Family, many brainwashed fools still secretly remained loyal to the Zhu Family.

Those people could not threaten the Awakened, but they could secretly help the Zhu Family conceal the whereabouts of their descendants. They would even kill their own children without hesitation, allowing Zhu Family children to take their places.

Those people were beyond saving, yet they hid among the masses. By the time Situ Shibai and the others had the strength to investigate, all evidence had long since been destroyed.

Over the past two hundred years, the remnants of the Beast-Taming Family had actually remained active in the shadows of Mingzhu City.

They simply acted discreetly and secretly. They had also inherited many of the Zhu Family's treasures and possessed a large quantity of special equipment, so even after the Cleanup Team investigated them repeatedly, it had failed to find any trace of them.

This Heavenly Fox Clan invasion contained too many suspicious points.

Why had the Sun-Moon Pearl failed to take effect?

Was the city lord dead or alive now?

What was the Beast-Taming Zhu Family's objective?

What abilities did the King-level member of the Heavenly Fox Clan possess?

Until these questions were answered, Situ Shibai had to act with extreme caution. Otherwise, if he fell into the enemy's trap and died in battle, Mingzhu City truly would be beyond saving.

It was like warfare in his previous life.

Nuclear weapons were merely deterrents and could not be used lightly unless the moment was critical.

After calming down, Zhang Ping realized Situ Shibai's importance after giving it some thought.

At a time like this, Situ Shibai truly could not act rashly. Even if Prince Yue continued provoking others and killing people, anyone could act impulsively—except Situ Shibai.

The situation in Mingzhu City gradually became clear. Zhang Ping felt as though the fog of war had been swept aside.

The most important thing now was to find the human traitors and investigate the Heavenly Fox Clan's background, especially that Moon King. What abilities did he possess?

However, the Moon King was currently feigning sleep within the City Lord's Manor, guarded by countless Heavenly Foxes. There was simply no way to begin investigating him.

The only thing Zhang Ping could do was investigate Prince Yue. Since Prince Yue was the Moon King's bloodline, perhaps by examining Prince Yue's attributes, he could indirectly learn about the Moon King's abilities.

Others with the Appraisal Technique could not see through the Heavenly Foxes' disguises. This was something only he could do.