The quiet dormitory held nothing but Zhang Ping's steady breathing.
At that moment, a gentle morning breeze blew in from the balcony, making the hanging human skin in front of him sway slightly.
Behind Luo Shiyu's bloodstained, pallid human skin, the Heavenly Fox quietly watched Zhang Ping as though watching a performance.
Its narrow fox eyes narrowed slightly. It extended a claw toward Zhang Ping's head, but stopped at the last moment.
After pondering for a moment, it slowly withdrew its claw, rose, and walked out of the dormitory.
"Your Highness, why didn't you kill him?"
A Heavenly Fox waiting outside the door saw "Luo Shiyu" emerge and asked in confusion.
"Luo Shiyu" looked coldly at the Heavenly Fox and said, "Not him. Also... don't waste food!"
"Yes!"
The Heavenly Fox immediately realized it had spoken out of turn. It promptly lowered its head and tail, looking completely submissive.
"Luo Shiyu" glanced back at the still-sleeping Zhang Ping, then left the boys' dormitory with her subordinates.
Half an hour later.
Zhang Ping, who had been sleeping soundly in the dormitory, suddenly opened his eyes.
"Sure enough, I can't let my guard down at all."
Zhang Ping casually glanced out the window. Only after confirming that the Heavenly Foxes had left did he finally relax.
Earlier, he had commanded his body to sleep while commanding his brain to remain awake. Thus, during "Luo Shiyu's" inspection, he had realized where he had slipped up.
At around four in the morning, the sky had still been dark.
In his Nightwalker state, everyone would subconsciously overlook him.
There were not many students at the school who woke up early to begin with, and even fewer knew that he got up so early to run.
But after five-thirty, the sky began to brighten. The Nightwalker state was greatly weakened as a result, and some early-rising students would inevitably notice him jogging in the morning.
Since he usually ran on the track after five in the morning but had not appeared today, the Heavenly Foxes had become suspicious of him.
Through appraising the Assassination Ring, he had seen footage of "Luo Shiyu" attacking. Whether in strength or speed, "Luo Shiyu" was overwhelmingly powerful compared to him.
He had no chance of survival before "Luo Shiyu."
Fortunately, through his observations during this period, he had determined that "Luo Shiyu" seemed to have no appetite for men.
Thus, the instant he woke in alarm, he had decided to gamble. He gambled that she did not know he had found the ring, that she could not spot his flaws, and that she ultimately would not eat him.
"Training is too slow. I need to find a way to get equipment."
Sitting on the edge of his bed, Zhang Ping keenly realized just how dangerous his situation had been.
What could be more miserable, more frightening, more terrifying than being meat on someone else's chopping block?
He absolutely could not make another mistake!
Since he was already awake, he would go to the cafeteria "normally."
Although Zhang Ping did not want to see "Luo Shiyu," failing to go to the cafeteria today would obviously seem even more suspicious.
However, when he arrived at the cafeteria, he heard many students discussing one thing: Black Death Star was dead.
Black Death Star was a notorious assassin in Mingzhu City. So long as the price was right, he would even dare assassinate the city lord.
It was said that the previous city lord had been injured by Black Death Star and had later died young when his old wounds flared up.
As Zhang Ping ate breakfast, he listened to the students' discussion and gradually learned some details.
It turned out that residents nearby had discovered Black Death Star's Corpse that morning.
Black Death Star had died in a filthy ditch not far from the school, and wild dogs or similar animals had bitten away more than half his body.
His once-white clothes were drenched in blood. The black mask on his face had shattered into several pieces, and the expression of death beneath it was exceptionally gruesome.
"Could Black Death Star have been the man in white who tried to assassinate 'Luo Shiyu' last night?"
The more Zhang Ping listened, the more Black Death Star sounded like the white-clothed man he had seen through Appraisal.
In other words, the man in white whom he had thought was an ally last night had actually been an assassin?
Wait.
That wasn't right!
Luo Shiyu, like him, had grown up an orphan. She was not some important figure, nor did she know anyone wealthy enough to hire an assassin.
Could it be that someone else had also noticed the Mutated Beasts in the city...
And so, with a fortune's worth of courage, directly spent money to hire a killer to kill the beasts?
Zhang Ping thought with an odd expression.
Still, that was a good idea.
After all, even if people had not realized that Mutated Beasts existed, as long as the target was clearly specified, an assassin would kill it whether it was human or beast.
There was no need to seek evidence or convince anyone.
All it took was money!
But anyone who could afford Black Death Star—
That mysterious person or organization that might have been an ally had considerable wealth.
What a pity.
Black Death Star had failed.
Not only had he failed, but he had also alerted the enemy.
During this period, the Heavenly Foxes would definitely investigate in secret.
Once someone behaved too abnormally, they could easily attract their attention.
Zhang Ping's emotions were complicated, but he calmly finished his breakfast on the surface.
After returning to the dormitory,
he prepared to begin his daily training.
No matter how many thoughts he had, he could only wait until night to act.
Before training, he sat on the bed and condensed a Contract Gem. After swallowing it, a sudden feeling that everything was ascending welled up from within him. He was dazed for a moment before realizing—had he gained another talent?
However, unlike Nightwalker, this time he could not immediately sense the changes brought by the ability.
Zhang Ping steadied himself and first used Appraisal on himself.
[Appraisal successful] [Summoned Beast: Zhang Ping] [Master: Zhang Ping] [Race: Human] [Potential: ????] [Lifespan: 89] [Tier: Novice Awakened] [Level: 2] [Talents] [Contract Gem: Physical Strength + 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 controlled by the summoner. At the same time, they will gain the summoner's potential and luck blessing. After taking it for the first time, every subsequent dose will slightly increase their potential, with a 1% chance of awakening a new talent. Note: This talent ability was obtained by summoner Zhang Ping at the cost of overdrawing his intelligence, potential, and luck. Though powerful, it possesses some enormous flaw. Being too ambitious does not seem to be a good thing.] [Absolute Command: You possess absolute authority over your Summoned Beasts. Your commands are absolutely impossible for Summoned Beasts to disobey.] [Absolute Obedience: You absolutely obey the summoner's commands. You will faithfully carry out the summoner's orders.] [Stable Appraisal: Can appraise a target. There is an extremely small chance of obtaining the target's information. The smaller the gap in strength between both sides, the greater the chance of successfully obtaining information. After the first successful appraisal, the success rate of subsequent appraisals on the same target will increase greatly. Note: A talent ability born from the thirst for knowledge of Summoned Beast Zhang Ping and summoner Zhang Ping.] [Nightwalker: Gains night vision. Presence is greatly reduced at night, movement speed greatly increases, body weight decreases, and the user becomes completely invisible while in shadows.] ...
So he had leveled up!
Zhang Ping thought to himself after reading his attributes.
However, he had not expected that he was only leveling up now.
He had estimated his own Level before and believed that he should be somewhere between Level 3 and Level 4.
Who would have thought that he had actually been a Level 1 rookie all along?
"After leveling up, Unstable Appraisal became Stable Appraisal, and my attributes gained Tier and Level.
"In other words.
"Can I now determine a Mutated Beast's Level without waiting until nighttime?"
Zhang Ping closed the status panel and guessed inwardly.
However, any verification would have to wait until night. For now, his plan remained unchanged—training came first.
"Today is a good day. I'll start with two thousand push-ups to celebrate."
Zhang Ping smiled, stood, and began warming up.
Once he finished warming up, he immediately gave the command in his mind, and his body began exercising automatically.
After leveling up, both his Physical Strength and energy had improved.
As he trained, Zhang Ping carefully sensed the changes in his body.
His Strength, speed, and other attributes had improved only slightly.
But his Mental Strength and Physical Strength had both increased by roughly five percent.
After finishing his push-ups, Zhang Ping estimated inwardly.
It seemed that, as an Awakened, his primary attributes were probably Physical Strength and Mental Strength.
Different Awakened had different physiques and abilities, so the attributes they gained upon leveling up also differed.
Some Awakened possessed astonishing Strength, some had vast Mental Strength, and some possessed incredibly powerful vitality. It was all because their primary attributes differed.
There were also some Awakened who chose the opposite approach.
Not only did they avoid specifically training their primary attributes, but they instead devoted themselves to compensating for their weaknesses.
Others happened to have abilities that complemented their primary attributes, leaving them well-rounded with no weaknesses.
Most of the diversity among Awakened stemmed from the differences in their abilities and primary attributes.
Night fell.
Zhang Ping put on the Assassination Ring and left the school.
Nightwalker already made his presence extremely faint. If he stood still, even people of a higher Tier than him would subconsciously overlook him. Now, with the Assassination Ring added on top of that, nobody noticed him along the way. Their gazes did not even land on him.
"In my current state, as long as I don't attack anyone, they probably won't notice me at all."
Zhang Ping stopped at a street corner and looked toward a shop in the distance as he silently thought.
He used Appraisal on the Heavenly Fox inside the shop. After failing once, the Appraisal succeeded.
[Appraisal successful] [Mutated Beast: Heavenly Fox] [Race: Mutated Fox] [Potential: ?] [Lifespan: 66] [Tier: Intermediate Mutated Beast] [Level: 15] [Talents] [Cognitive Distortion: You possess a field that twists the cognition of living beings and can alter a target's perceptions.] [Conventionality Reversal: When performing an action that does not conform to common sense, you can overturn the target's common sense and forcibly prevent them from noticing the abnormality.] ...
Before appraising it, Zhang Ping had already known this Heavenly Fox's Tier, but he had not known its exact Level.
He gave the attributes a quick glance, then continued onward. Since he could gather more information, he should know both himself and his enemy as thoroughly as possible. First, he would figure out the Levels of the Heavenly Foxes in the nearby area.
Before leaving, he had planned for tonight to mainly observe the Levels of some Heavenly Foxes and, while he was at it, inquire about the prices of supernatural equipment.
He was desperate to arm himself.
Especially after "Luo Shiyu" had inspected his room that morning, he had deeply realized how dangerous his current situation was.
If "Luo Shiyu" had wanted to kill him then, his Corpse would probably be lying in a garbage heap by now.
Half an hour later, he arrived at a weapon shop called Iron Soul.
He had noticed this weapon shop during his nighttime stroll two days ago, mainly because its owner was human rather than a Heavenly Fox.
At present, Heavenly Foxes could be found in many shops throughout Mingzhu City. In particular, most weapon shops, equipment shops, and potion shops were controlled by Heavenly Foxes, making it difficult to find a clean shop.
After observing it, he found that this shop had few customers, and most of them were adventurers.
Generally speaking, adventurers were Awakened who were not qualified to join the three major violent organizations.
Although some genuinely loved freedom, adventurer factions were generally loose and weak. They were a disadvantaged group among Awakened.
Newbie adventurers in particular had an extremely high casualty rate.
And when they died in the wilderness, they were treated as missing. There were no issues such as pensions or compensation.
In normal Mingzhu City families, parents would not support their children becoming adventurers, so orphans made up a large proportion of adventurers.
In short, adventurer was an orphan's profession.
Zhang Ping was currently an orphan himself, so the chance of being suspected upon entering such a shop was extremely low.
He observed for a full half-hour and only entered once there were no new customers in the shop.
The shop was quite spacious and displayed many large weapons. The most outrageous was a blade fully five meters long, probably something only a High-Level Awakened could wield.
The lighting inside was dim, and a large furnace stood at the very back.
The fire in the furnace had not gone out, so a dry, scorching heat could be felt the moment one entered the shop.
A frail old man sat beside the furnace. Half-squinting, he leaned against the wall and puffed away on a long-stemmed pipe.
Seeing that the old man ignored him, Zhang Ping walked to the display counter and lowered his head to inspect the weapons.
Awakened in Mingzhu City favored blades, so blades were the most common weapons in the shop.
Every blade on the display counter had a written description beneath it.
Zhang Ping stopped before an exaggeratedly designed broadsword and read its description: Nine-Ring Ghost Axe Blade, three meters long and three hundred fifty jin in weight. Half blade, half axe, specially designed for dealing with medium and large Mutated Beasts.
He continued forward. Ahead was a scythe.
The Ghost Scythe was 4.3 meters long and weighed 396 jin. A chain was concealed within its long handle, allowing the scythe to be launched to bind an opponent. It was designed specifically for agile, fast-running prey.
Looking farther ahead, Zhang Ping's eyes lit up slightly.
Displayed on the stand was an exceptionally beautiful blade. Its shape resembled an Embroidered Spring Saber, but it was much longer, and its entire body was snow-white, like White Jade.
Zhang Ping looked at the description, which read: Cold Maiden Slim Blade, 1.88 meters long, weighing 80 jin, forged from iron tempered with Frost Leopard blood. Its attacks carried an inherent chill. If it struck a target, the cold would seep into their marrow. If the chill was not dispelled in time, the victim would die from frozen blood vessels within three quarters of an hour.
What a fine blade!
But when Zhang Ping glanced at the price, it was as though he had been slashed by the Cold Maiden Slim Blade; his heart turned just as icy.