After taking complete control of the Coiling Dragon Venerable, Zhang Ping himself had not grown stronger, but his overall combat strength had far surpassed Situ Shibai's.
Judging by Situ Shibai's earlier fight with the Coiling Dragon Venerable, it would take at least ten of him to have a chance of holding their own against it.
And under Zhang Ping's control, the Coiling Dragon Venerable had not grown weaker. Thanks to his abilities, it had grown stronger.
Zhang Ping could use the activated King's Gem to turn his own abilities into gems, then install them on the Coiling Dragon Venerable so it could use those abilities in his place.
The Coiling Dragon Venerable's energy was not infinite, but its vast reserves could amplify many of Zhang Ping's abilities by thousands, even tens of thousands of times.
Take Laser Eye. When Zhang Ping used it, he could at most slice through a mountain. Installed on the Coiling Dragon Venerable, it could even split the moon in half from the ground.
Abilities were part of one's strength. The more abilities someone had, the more ways they could respond to any situation.
So when Zhang Ping installed the abilities he seldom used on the Coiling Dragon Venerable as gems, it grew even stronger!
After subduing the Coiling Dragon Venerable, Zhang Ping did not return to Rescue Team headquarters right away.
He took a fishing rod from his belt and leisurely fished from the cliff. Only after completing Immortal Leopard Guidance's fishing task did he stroll back to the Mysterious Sewer with his catch.
While the Coiling Dragon Venerable had been suppressing Situ Shibai, Zhang Shouzhong, Cheng Xuejie, and the others had each recruited quite a few members. Rescue Team was still small, but it was already far livelier than when it had first been