Awakened often fought in the wild, and injuries inevitably left scars.
Male Awakened treated scars as badges of honor. Unless a scar was truly unsightly, they rarely bothered to remove it. Female Awakened were different. Even if they came back from a fight scarred, they would find a trusted healer in Mingzhu City to remove the marks.
Mingzhu City had plenty of healing-type Awakened who could remove scars. It was nothing difficult.
Zhang Ping did not know what Liu Sishan had been through, or why she had kept her scar.
But as a member of the Cleanup Team, Liu Sishan would have had an easier time removing a scar than an ordinary Awakened. He could think of only two possibilities.
Either Liu Sishan did not want it removed.
Or the scar on her face was no ordinary scar, and ordinary abilities could not remove it.
If you had not suffered what someone else had, you had no place telling them what to do.
Zhang Ping was not Liu Sishan, so he had only mentioned his ability in passing. If she wanted to try having him remove the scar, she would tell him.
If she did not want it removed, he would not press her. It was her choice.
To him, Liu Sishan was a resilient young woman. She was only nineteen, but she was steady and dependable, never petty or temperamental. She was a capable comrade, someone he could trust to watch his back.
As for romance, there was none.
He preferred girls who were smaller and cuter. Liu Sishan was not his type.
They returned to the safe house.
Liu Tiefeng was fast asleep on the bed. Zhang Ping supported himself with Nether Mist and floated silently to his side. He turned his right hand into Pure Blood, then gently touched a bloody finger to Liu Tiefeng's severed arm.
His blood slowly seeped through the pores around the wound and into the capillaries.
Once his blood mingled with Liu Tiefeng's, he could control it to begin repairing his injuries.
It was a strange sensation. He needed no medical knowledge at all. When he closed his eyes, it was as if he could see countless crumbling walls, and all he had to do was repair them one by one.
Liu Tiefeng had many hidden injuries.
His waist was especially bad. Though the injury had healed, Zhang Ping could see that it had not healed properly.
He expended his own blood as he continued treating Liu Tiefeng. Gradually, Liu Tiefeng's breathing grew even and smooth, and his tightly furrowed brow relaxed.
Once Zhang Ping had repaired the hidden injuries throughout his body, he turned his attention to the severed arm.
It was Liu Tiefeng's most serious injury.
Zhang Ping knew the blood in one arm would not be enough to heal it, so he transformed his entire body into Pure-Blood Form and slowly seeped into Liu Tiefeng's blood vessels.
This felt completely different from before.
He could sense Liu Tiefeng's breathing and heartbeat. He could even feel some of his blood flowing through his body. He knew how much longer Liu Tiefeng could live. If nothing unexpected happened, he even knew how Liu Tiefeng would die.
In fact, Zhang Ping had used the Appraisal Technique on Liu Tiefeng when they first met.
Back then, Liu Tiefeng's attributes had read:
[Name: Liu Tiefeng] [Species: Human] [Affiliation: Investigation Team (retired)] [Potential: None] [Lifespan: 86] (Subtract current age for remaining years) [Tier: Intermediate Awakened] [Level: 18] [Talent] [Golden Binding Rope: Expend stamina to control gold, turning it into ropes that bind a target. The stronger the user's Mental Strength, the stronger the binding force.] [Advanced Skill] [Intermediate—Multiple Golden Ropes: Expend more stamina to control three golden ropes at once.]
But by Zhang Ping's current reckoning, Liu Tiefeng had only five years left to live.
According to the Appraisal Technique, Liu Tiefeng was seventy-four and should have had about twelve years left. This injury had cost him seven years of his life.
Knowing that made Zhang Ping's heart ache. He resolved to repair Liu Tiefeng's severed arm, whatever the cost.
The Pure Blood Body could repair physical damage.
With enough blood, he could theoretically rebuild someone's entire body even if only their head remained.
Fresh tissue began to grow from Liu Tiefeng's severed arm. The new arm pushed against the bandages around the wound, then snapped them, sprouting like a new shoot from a cut branch.
Zhang Ping did not need to understand blood vessels or bone structure. He only had to keep supplying blood, and Liu Tiefeng's body would repair itself.
By the time Liu Sishan came back in, most of Liu Tiefeng's arm had regrown. Only the hand was missing.
Liu Tiefeng had woken up long before. The regrowing arm itched and hurt so badly that he could not possibly have slept through it.
"Young lady, what medicine did you give me? How is my hand growing back?" he asked as soon as he saw Liu Sishan.
"Zhang Ping is treating you," Liu Sishan replied.
"Zhang? He... where is he?" Liu Tiefeng asked in surprise.
"You'll find out in a moment," Liu Sishan said with a faint smile.
"What exactly is that boy's ability? He can eat fire, and now he can heal people too." Liu Tiefeng sounded curious.
"You can ask Zhang Ping that yourself," Liu Sishan replied.
She admired what Liu Tiefeng had done, but she had not let down her guard around him.
In truth, she trusted no one. Her loyalty belonged to Mingzhu City, and Mingzhu City was what she protected. Even with Situ Shibai, whom she respected most, she held something back. She did not trust him completely.
Half an hour later, Liu Tiefeng's hand had regrown too. But the new arm was so young and fair that it looked utterly out of place on his body.
It looked as though someone had attached the arm of a man in his twenties to him.
Then a large amount of blood seeped out of the arm. Liu Tiefeng felt a wave of dizziness. When it passed, he saw the blood on the floor gradually take human form.
One of Zhang Ping's arms turned back into flesh. Nether Mist poured from it, and he dressed behind the cover of the mist before dispersing it.
"Zhang, were you inside my body just now?" Liu Tiefeng finally understood what had happened.
Zhang Ping nodded and smiled. "Yes. Grandpa Liu, check whether there's anything wrong with your arm. I only just gained this ability, and it happened to be perfect for treating your injury."
"What exactly is your ability? You swallow fire, control fire, release smoke, and turn your whole body into blood. Are you... one of the legendary Ability Copiers?" Liu Tiefeng paid no attention to his hand. He stared at Zhang Ping in astonishment.
"My ability's a little complicated," Zhang Ping said, looking troubled. "It'd be a pain to explain. It's a bit different from an Ability Copier's, but broadly speaking, it's similar. I'll keep gaining more abilities."
"Then your ability is... Infinite Tier!" Liu Tiefeng's eyes widened as he stared at Zhang Ping in shock.
An Infinite-Tier Ability User.
As Liu Tiefeng looked at Zhang Ping, his excitement grew.
Mingzhu City had not seen another Infinite-Tier Ability User in over two hundred years. He had never imagined he would see one in the flesh—a living, breathing, young Infinite-Tier Ability User.
Zhang Ping was precious to Mingzhu City.
Liu Tiefeng immediately realized why Liu Sishan had appeared just in time to save him: she had been protecting Zhang Ping all along.
Back when nations still existed thousands of years ago, Zhang Ping would undoubtedly have been considered a national treasure.
Every Infinite-Tier Ability User was a national treasure!
"Grandpa Liu, don't get worked up. Take a deep breath and calm down. Please don't get too excited."
Seeing Liu Tiefeng's face flush red, Zhang Ping hurried over to reassure him. He patted Liu Tiefeng's back to help him catch his breath as he spoke anxiously.
"I'm fine. I just never thought I'd live to see a new Infinite-Tier Ability User." Liu Tiefeng's cheeks were still flushed, but his expression was serious. "Remember this: Awakened have countless different abilities. Even at Infinite Tier, you may meet enemies you can't handle. Until you're absolutely certain it's safe, never reveal that you're an Infinite-Tier Ability User."
Before, he had seen Zhang Ping as the heir to the Liu family's forging craft, a young man under his care. Now he saw him as Mingzhu City's brightest jewel—a savior who might one day safeguard its fortunes and bring happiness to countless people.
Zhang Ping nodded. "I know."
"Good, good, good! Mingzhu City finally has another true pearl," Liu Tiefeng said happily.
After such a rush of grief and joy, he insisted on talking with Zhang Ping a little longer. Only when his strength gave out did he fall fast asleep again. Zhang Ping simply sat by the bed and kept watch.
Vast Sea Academy.
Chen Xueli sat upright in his room, a long sword gripped in his hand.
He had remained like that since his granddaughter Chen Juntaing disappeared, as though guarding against something.
"Scholar Chen, everything's packed. Shall we leave tonight?" A servant stepped lightly into the room and asked in a soft voice.
Chen Xueli opened his eyes and sighed wearily. "Still no sign of Juntaing?"
"..."
The servant kept his head down and said nothing. The answer was obvious.
Chen Xueli considered it for a moment, then said, "Then we'll leave Mingzhu City through the secret passage. Prepare to depart."
"Yes!" the servant replied.
Everyone at Vast Sea Academy mobilized. Many brought their families with them as they left Mingzhu City through the secret passage.
Though Vast Sea Academy resembled a martial arts school, it operated more like a sect. Its students were selected directly from orphanages and raised by the academy from childhood. As a result, they were fiercely loyal to it.
"Teacher, why do we have to leave?"
In the secret passage, Chen Xueli walked at the front with his sword in hand. Behind him, a middle-aged disciple asked the question, unwilling to accept it.
Vast Sea Academy had spent over a hundred and fifty years building its place in Mingzhu City. Leaving meant abandoning everything it had there, and the road ahead was uncertain. They did not even know where they would go next.
Of Vast Sea Academy's 1,645 people, how many would survive to reach their destination?
The cost was too high.