Zhang Ping spent the entire morning picking the iron beads out of the dough one by one.
That afternoon, Liu Tiefeng arranged for him to familiarize himself with various materials. Most of Mingzhu City's special materials came primarily from Mutated Beasts and mutated plants.
Take the Crimson Refining Snake, for example. It had originally been an ordinary red-banded snake, a nonvenomous species.
But after becoming a Mutated Beast, it changed from a nonvenomous snake into a venomous one. Not only did it grow fangs capable of secreting Fire Poison, but its scales also mutated, giving it formidable defense and allowing it to radiate intense heat. Everything it passed would be left scorched.
Zhang Ping did not resist learning any of this. In fact, he was even more attentive than he had been when studying math, physics, and chemistry in his previous life. As Liu Tiefeng taught him, he would also casually share methods from his youth for gathering materials and dealing with Mutated Beasts.
Those methods were all precious experience.
For the next two days, Zhang Ping immersed himself in study until the night of the twenty-second.
The other party had asked him to meet at the small park behind the Beef Brisket Ramen Shop on the twenty-third, but he planned to scout the place first and familiarize himself with the surroundings.
After all, it had been three years since the original owner had last returned to the orphanage after enrolling at Pearl Ability Academy. Zhang Ping had no idea what changes That Place might have undergone.
After confirming that Liu Tiefeng had fallen asleep, Zhang Ping left Iron Soul under cover of night.
He was already wearing the Assassination Ring, like a phantom of the night.
Not far from Iron Soul, a Heavenly Fox with the human skin of a burly man pasted to its forehead stared listlessly at the shop's signboard.
It did not notice Zhang Ping leaving through a window on the side of the shop at all. It even subconsciously neglected its mission and merely stared blankly at the storefront.
Suspicious, suspicious.
How could a fox possibly not be suspicious?
"Luo Shiyu" had never put aside her suspicions of Zhang Ping.
But she believed that even if Zhang Ping was truly a suspect, he could not be the main leader.
Thus, she had dispatched subordinates to monitor Zhang Ping's every move, hoping to uncover the human resistance.
The problem was that Zhang Ping behaved normally during the day. At night, however, due to the effects of Nightwalker and the Assassination Ring, the Heavenly Foxes she sent out still remembered their mission, yet would always subconsciously overlook crucial information. After several days, they had gained nothing.
Tonight was the final surveillance attempt.
If they found nothing again, this Heavenly Fox would give up monitoring Zhang Ping.
The journey was uneventful.
Ten minutes later, Zhang Ping arrived at the small park.
This little park was already vastly different from the one in his memories. Many trees had appeared across the previously flat open space. They were neither particularly tall nor especially dense, yet entering the park gave him the feeling of being inside a forest.
Something was wrong.
Zhang Ping instinctively gripped the dagger hidden in his sleeve.
He had the feeling that someone was watching him. There were others in these woods.
Suddenly, he caught a flash of red light to his right. He immediately adjusted his stance, then saw a rat about the size of an adult house cat slowly emerge from behind a tree.
This was a Mutated Beast!
The instant Zhang Ping saw the rat, he made his judgment and activated Appraisal.
[Appraisal Successful] [Mutated Beast: Armored Venom-Tail Rat] [Race: Mutated Rat] [Potential: ??] [Lifespan: 50] [Rank: Basic Mutated Beast] [Level: 5] [Talents] [Venomous Tail: The bone spike at the tip of its tail contains potent venom] [Hardened Fur: Its fur is like armor, greatly increasing its defense but reducing its agility]
Fortunately, it was only a Basic Mutated Beast.
Level two against level five. There was a gap, but it was not too great.
Zhang Ping relaxed slightly after reading the results. If an Intermediate Mutated Beast had appeared, he likely would not have escaped death tonight.
But even a Basic Mutated Beast could not be underestimated.
After all, the appraisal result had already made it clear that the Armored Venom-Tail Rat's tail carried deadly poison.
Due to his lack of experience, Zhang Ping had not brought any Antidote with him when he went out.
As far as he knew, all Mutated Beast venoms took effect extremely quickly.
Without a universal Antidote on hand, being poisoned was practically a death sentence.
He could not let down his guard.
But there was no need to panic excessively either.
It was like encountering a venomous snake. As long as it did not bite him, he would be fine.
Zhang Ping tightened his grip on the dagger in his right hand, his gaze fixed on the Armored Venom-Tail Rat.
The Armored Venom-Tail Rat did not act rashly. Instead, it circled Zhang Ping, searching for an opening.
Mutated Beasts were not unintelligent. Many traps effective against ordinary animals were difficult to use against Mutated Beasts.
They would probe their prey more cautiously than ordinary animals. If the prey was too strong, they would retreat on their own. If they discovered weakness, they would exploit it.
Zhang Ping ordered himself to stay calm. He ran through all the knowledge he had learned at school about dealing with Mutated Beasts, then chose to take the initiative.
He exerted force through his feet in an instant, becoming like a cheetah in the darkness.
The Armored Venom-Tail Rat was covered in hard fur. Aside from elemental Awakened, most Awakened who encountered one would target its eyes, its most obvious weakness.
Beauty's Tear's sharp tip stabbed toward the Armored Venom-Tail Rat's weak point. Unable to dodge in time, the creature simply curled itself into a ball and spun clockwise to disperse the force. Zhang Ping's strike, aimed at its vital point, ultimately landed on its hard fur, with most of the force redirected away.
The Armored Venom-Tail Rat's fur was incredibly tough.
Even though the dagger in Zhang Ping's hand was exceptionally sharp, it still could not harm the Armored Venom-Tail Rat in the slightest after most of its force had been deflected.
After missing with his strike, Zhang Ping immediately retreated.
The Armored Venom-Tail Rat abruptly unfurled its curled body. Its scarlet eyes locked onto Zhang Ping as its tail stabbed out repeatedly.
Because of their difference in height, every tail strike targeted Zhang Ping's knees. He could not block them, so he could only rise onto the balls of his feet and retreat again and again, quickly widening the distance between himself and the Armored Venom-Tail Rat.
Seeing its string of attacks miss, the Armored Venom-Tail Rat immediately stopped attacking to conserve its strength.
A meter away, Zhang Ping panted, sweat already beading on his forehead.
His earlier attack had used almost all his strength, and the following chain of evasions had demanded his full attention.
Sure enough, actual combat consumed far more stamina than training.
Pearl Ability Academy had specialized courses teaching students how to distribute and conserve their stamina.
After thinking it over, Zhang Ping simply changed the way he held his dagger. His stance shifted as well, with his left foot forward and right foot behind, both hands gradually rising.
Pearl Fist: Rat-Chasing Form!
Zhang Ping knew very well that his fists alone could not unleash Rat Chaser's power.
So he did not abandon the dagger. Instead, he incorporated Pearl Fist techniques designed to deal with small Mutated Beasts.
He was faster than the Armored Venom-Tail Rat. After Zhang Ping widened the distance, the creature did not dare act rashly. In truth, he could simply keep retreating and completely escape it.
The problem was that the Patrol Team had already been taken over by Heavenly Foxes. He could not find anyone to ask for help.
If he did not deal with the Armored Venom-Tail Rat before him, children from the orphanage might come to the park tomorrow and be killed.
That was an outcome he could not accept.
He took a deep breath.
Then he stepped toward the Armored Venom-Tail Rat again.
The Armored Venom-Tail Rat's body contracted slightly, while its tail rose high into the air, making it look like a huge scorpion.
Suddenly, Zhang Ping accelerated sharply. He first attacked the Armored Venom-Tail Rat's right side, then switched to the left when its tail stabbed toward the right.
But the Armored Venom-Tail Rat reacted extremely fast. Its tail twisted into an S-shape and immediately stabbed toward Zhang Ping's extended arm.
An opening.
Zhang Ping's eyes lit up. He abruptly dropped into a horse stance, lowering his center of gravity.
As he sank into his stance, his hand changed trajectory as well, narrowly crossing past the Armored Venom-Tail Rat's tail.
The Armored Venom-Tail Rat's center was wide open. Faced with the suddenly changing punch, it had nowhere to evade and could only strain every muscle, desperately trying to retreat.
But it was too late.
Before it could move, Zhang Ping's fist struck its head.
The punch was heavy and powerful. Even with its hard fur protecting it, the Armored Venom-Tail Rat's vision went black from the blow.
When its sight returned, a flash of blade light struck instantly.
Zhang Ping drove the dagger in his hand into the Armored Venom-Tail Rat's eye. It pierced through the eyeball in an instant, then plunged straight through its brain.
But in the final second before its death, the Armored Venom-Tail Rat's body reacted instinctively. It curled up and lashed its tail toward Zhang Ping's wrist.
Zhang Ping had been guarding against the Armored Venom-Tail Rat's tail all along. The moment it curled up, he withdrew his hand and leaped back.
In the blink of an eye, the battle was over.
The Armored Venom-Tail Rat's final counterattack missed. Its Corpse fell to the ground, blood flowing from its eye socket.
"Whew."
Zhang Ping took two steps back and let out a slight sigh of relief.
The outcome was not unexpected.
After all, it was nighttime. With his Nightwalker talent, he already possessed a tremendous advantage.
On top of that, this Mutated Beast's weakness was obvious.
Because the Armored Venom-Tail Rat's fur had greatly increased its defense, its weight had increased accordingly, making it relatively slow. Zhang Ping moved faster at night because his body weight decreased. With one gaining as the other lost, it was difficult for the Armored Venom-Tail Rat to evade him.
Still, the appearance of this Armored Venom-Tail Rat was somewhat strange. In theory, with Nightwalker and the Assassination Ring combined, it should have been impossible for the creature to notice him at all.
He looked around. Considering that he had expended considerable stamina, he ultimately chose not to linger and decisively turned to leave.
A few minutes later, a woman in a light green military uniform appeared beside the Armored Venom-Tail Rat's Corpse. She crouched down to inspect its cause of death.
"Sisi, do you think that old friend of yours is human or a Mutated Beast?" She lifted the Armored Venom-Tail Rat with one hand and asked.
At some point, a woman in white had appeared behind her. She wore an Ice Mask, and faint white mist rose from her hair.
"I don't know, but I hope he is human," the woman said calmly.
Although the organization had confirmed that Mutated Beasts had infiltrated the city, it had identified only a handful of them. Every time an organization member entered the city, it was extremely dangerous.
If Zhang Ping's abnormal, even bizarre behavior had not drawn the organization's attention, she would not have rashly made contact with him.
"However... if my Life Talisman shatters tomorrow, detonate the Black Chamber immediately," the woman added after some thought.
After all, she had insisted on contacting Zhang Ping. If anything went wrong, she had to take responsibility.
The woman in military uniform fell silent for a moment before saying, "If you ask me, Zhang Ping is definitely a Mutated Beast. We should just kill him."
"No. At the very least, I can confirm that Zhang Ping's Killing Intent Power that night was genuine," the woman in white said, rejecting the suggestion.
The woman in military uniform stood and looked at the Armored Venom-Tail Rat's Corpse, sighing. "I hope you're right, Sisi. At least he didn't swallow this stinking rat whole. Maybe he really is human."
"Enough. We shouldn't stay here long. Let's go," the woman in white said.
The two of them then collected the Armored Venom-Tail Rat's Corpse and quickly vanished into the night.
The next day, Zhang Ping got up early.
Today, he decided to try the Dough-Kneading Forging Technique again in the morning.
Over the past two days, he had still taken a Contract Gem every morning as scheduled. Though he had changed his training method to kneading dough, it actually consumed more stamina than usual. Since he could feel himself improving, he had given up his usual exercises to focus on kneading practice.
After swallowing the Contract Gem, he picked up the prepared materials and placed them into the furnace. Liu Tiefeng smoked nearby as he guided him.
Perhaps because he had mentally prepared himself, the high temperature did not force him back this time. He gritted his teeth and maintained the movements of his hands, crushing and kneading the materials together.
Suddenly, he felt a burning pain in his stomach and could not help sucking in a breath.
Who would have thought that with that inhale, he would suck the flames out of the furnace? Like a stream of water, they flowed into his nose. The warm flames traveled down his throat into his stomach, leaving him feeling much more energized while making his kneading movements smoother.
Another new talent?
Zhang Ping thought this, but since the forging was not over yet, he did not dare lose focus. Instead, he concentrated even harder on his hands.
Liu Tiefeng watched from the side without saying anything. Every Awakened in Mingzhu City possessed different abilities, and those abilities came in every conceivable form. He had long since stopped finding such things strange.
But a moment later, he sensed that something was wrong and said, "The furnace temperature is too low. Add more firewood, quickly."
Zhang Ping also realized that he had just absorbed too much heat. He hurriedly freed one hand and added wood to the fire.
Once the flames became vigorous again, he continued with his work.