The quiet dormitory was only filled with the sound of Zhang Ping’s steady breathing.

A gentle morning breeze blew in from the balcony, causing the human skin hanging in front of him to sway slightly.

Behind the bloodied, pale human skin of Luo Shiyu, Skyborn Fox quietly observed Zhang Ping, as if watching a performance. Its narrow fox eyes narrowed slightly, and it extended its claws toward Zhang Ping’s head but stopped at the last moment.

After a brief moment of contemplation, it slowly retracted its claws, stood up, and left the dormitory.

"Your Highness, why not just kill him?"

A Skyborn Fox, waiting outside, asked with confusion as it saw 'Luo Shiyu' exit.

'Luo Shiyu' glanced coldly at the Skyborn Fox and said, "It’s not him... also... don’t waste food!"

"Yes!"

The Skyborn Fox immediately realized it had spoken out of turn, lowering its head and tail in subservience.

'Luo Shiyu' glanced back at Zhang Ping, who was still fast asleep, before leaving the boys' dormitory with his subordinates.

Half an hour later.

Zhang Ping, who had been deep in sleep, suddenly opened his eyes.

"As expected, I can’t let my guard down for a second."

Zhang Ping casually glanced outside the window, confirming that the Skyborn Fox had already left. Only then did his tense mind finally relax.

Just now, he had commanded his body to sleep but kept his brain awake, which allowed him to notice the details he had missed during 'Luo Shiyu’s' inspection.

It was still around 4 AM, and the sky hadn’t yet lightened.

In his Night Walker state, others instinctively overlooked him. Few students in the school were early risers, and even fewer knew he was up for an early morning run.

However, once it hit 5:30 AM and the sky began to brighten, the effect of Night Walker weakened significantly. Early risers would inevitably notice him running.

Because he hadn’t appeared for his usual morning run, the Skyborn Fox had become suspicious.

After identifying the Assassin Ring, he saw the image of 'Luo Shiyu' making a move—both in power and speed, 'Luo Shiyu' was overwhelmingly strong compared to him.

He had no chance of survival in front of 'Luo Shiyu'.

Fortunately, through his observations over the past few days, he had confirmed that 'Luo Shiyu' didn’t seem to have any appetite for men.

Thus, the moment he woke up, he decided to take a gamble—that the other side hadn’t realized he had found the ring, and that they wouldn’t discover his flaws, and ultimately, would not eat him.

"My training speed is too slow. I need to find a way to get better equipment."

Zhang Ping sat on the edge of his bed, deeply realizing how dangerous his situation had been earlier.

What could be more tragic, terrifying, and horrifying than being a fish on the chopping block, with someone else wielding the knife?

He couldn’t afford any more mistakes!

Since he was awake, he decided to go to the cafeteria 'normally'.

Though he didn’t want to see 'Luo Shiyu', if he didn’t go to the cafeteria today, it would definitely raise more suspicion.

However, when he arrived at the cafeteria, he overheard many students talking about the death of Black Death.

Black Death was a notorious assassin in Mingzhu City—he would kill anyone as long as the price was right, even targeting the City Lord if paid enough.

It was said that the previous City Lord had been fatally wounded by Black Death and had later died from the complications of those injuries.

While eating breakfast, Zhang Ping listened to the students’ discussions and gradually gathered more details.

It seemed that this morning, some residents had discovered Black Death’s body.

Black Death had been found in a smelly ditch not far from the school, his body badly mauled by wild dogs or similar animals. His once pristine white clothes were drenched in blood, and the black mask on his face was shattered into pieces, revealing a horribly tragic death.

“Could Black Death be the white-clad man who tried to assassinate ‘Luo Shiyu’ last night?”

The more Zhang Ping listened, the more he felt that the Black Death being discussed resembled the white-clad man he had identified last night.

That is to say, the white-clad man he had thought was an ally was actually an assassin?

Wait a minute.

That didn’t make sense!

Luo Shiyu, like him, was an orphan and not a big shot. There was no one he knew who could afford to hire an assassin.

Could it be that someone else had also noticed the Mutated Beast in the city...

Someone rich and daring enough to hire a "killer to slay the beast"?

Zhang Ping thought to himself with a strange expression.

But this actually seemed like a good idea.

After all, even if no one had realized the presence of the Mutated Beast, hiring a killer to kill a beast was a straightforward job—whether the target was human or beast, an assassin would simply kill it for the right price.

No need to look for evidence, no need to gain anyone’s trust.

As long as there was money!

But to be able to hire Black Death...

That mysterious person or force behind him must have considerable financial power.

What a pity.

Black Death had failed.

Not only had he failed, but he had also alerted the enemy.

During this time, Skyborn Fox would surely be investigating in secret. If his actions became too unusual, it could easily attract its attention.

Zhang Ping’s thoughts were complicated, but he calmly finished his breakfast without showing any signs of worry.

Back in his dormitory, Zhang Ping prepared to start his daily training.

Even though his mind was filled with thoughts, there was nothing he could do for now but wait until nightfall to act.

Before beginning his training, he sat on the bed and focused, manifesting a Contract Gem. After swallowing it, a sudden sensation of "all things elevating" spread from within him outward. He lost focus for a moment, only to snap back to reality. Did he just acquire a new talent?

However, this time, it wasn’t like with Night Walker, where he immediately sensed the changes brought on by the new ability.

Zhang Ping took a deep breath, steadying his thoughts, and decided to perform an identification on himself.

【Identification Complete】

【Summoned Beast：Zhang Ping】

【Master：Zhang Ping】

【Race：Human】

【Potential：⭐⭐⭐⭐】

【Lifespan：89】

【Level：Beginner Level Awakener】

【Grade：2】

【Talent】

【Contract Gem: Consuming physical and mental energy to condense a Contract Gem. Once the target voluntarily accepts, their life, soul, and consciousness will be controlled by the Summoner, but they will also gain the Summoner's potential and luck. After the first use, subsequent uses will slightly enhance the user’s potential and have a 1% chance of awakening a new talent. PS. The talent abilities gained by Summoner Zhang Ping, derived from overdrawn intelligence, potential, and luck, are extremely powerful, but they also carry a great flaw—ambition may not always be a good thing.】

【Absolute Command: You have absolute control over Summoned Beasts. Your orders are unconditionally obeyed.】

【Absolute Obedience: You must obey the Summoner's orders without question.】

【Stable Identification Skill: This skill allows the user to identify a target, with a very small chance of acquiring detailed information. The probability of success increases when the strength difference between the user and the target is smaller. Once an identification is completed for the first time, the chances of success for subsequent identifications of the same target will rise significantly. PS. This talent ability was born from the curiosity of both the Summoned Beast Zhang Ping and the Summoner Zhang Ping.】

【Night Walker: Gain Night Vision, significantly reduced presence at night, dramatically increased speed, reduced weight, and complete invisibility in shadows.】

...

It turned out he had leveled up!

After checking his attributes, Zhang Ping thought to himself, silently impressed.

But he hadn’t expected it to happen now. He had estimated his level before and thought he was somewhere between level 3 and 4. Who would have guessed that he had actually been a level 1 newbie all along?

"After leveling up, the Identification Skill changed from Unstable to Stable, and my attributes now include rank and level," Zhang Ping mused. "So, does this mean I can now determine the level of Mutated Beasts without waiting for nightfall?"

He closed the attribute window, his thoughts lingering on the possibility, but decided that all verification would have to wait until night. For now, his plan remained unchanged—focus on training.

"Today’s a good day. Let me start with 2,000 push-ups to get in the mood," Zhang Ping chuckled and stood up to begin his warm-up.

Once the warm-up was complete, he commanded his body to begin exercising automatically. With the level-up, both his physical and mental energy had increased.

As Zhang Ping exercised, he carefully observed the changes in his body. His strength and speed attributes had only seen a slight increase. However, his physical and mental energy had both risen by about five percent.

After finishing his push-ups, Zhang Ping estimated in his mind, “It seems that as an Awakener, my main attributes are physical and mental energy.”

Different Awakeners had varying main attributes and abilities, and that dictated how their attributes improved upon leveling up. Some Awakeners were incredibly strong, while others had overwhelming mental energy or an exceptionally strong life force. It all depended on the main attribute.

There were also some Awakeners who went against the grain, choosing not to focus on their main attribute but instead worked on covering up their weaknesses. Some were lucky enough to have abilities that complemented their main attribute, making them all-rounded with no weaknesses.

The diversity of Awakeners stemmed largely from differences in their abilities and main attributes.

---

Nightfall arrived.

Zhang Ping put on his Assassin Ring and left the school.

Thanks to Night Walker, his presence had always been minimal. If he stood still, even those with higher ranks than him would instinctively ignore him.

Now, with the Assassin Ring added, no one noticed him as he moved through the streets. Not even a glance was cast his way.

"With my current state, as long as I don’t attack anyone, they probably won’t even notice me," Zhang Ping thought as he paused at a street corner, his gaze fixed on a nearby store.

He used his Identification Skill on the Skyborn Fox inside the store. After one failed attempt, the identification was successful.

【Identification Complete】

【Mutated Beast：Skyborn Fox】

【Race：Mutated Fox】

【Potential：⭐】

【Lifespan：66】

【Level：Intermediate Level Mutated Beast】

【Grade：15】

【Talent】

【Cognitive Distortion: You have the ability to twist the biological cognition of others, altering their perceptions.】

【Common Sense Disruption: When performing abnormal actions, you can forcibly break the target’s common sense, making them unable to detect the anomaly.】

...

Before Zhang Ping used his Identification Skill, he already had a general idea of the Skyborn Fox's rank, though he wasn't sure of its exact level.

He glanced briefly at the attributes and continued walking forward. Since he could gather more information, he planned to gather as much knowledge as possible. His priority was to determine the levels of the Skyborn Foxes around him.

He had already decided that tonight, he would mainly observe the levels of these Skyborn Foxes and also inquire about the prices of superpowered equipment. He was eager to arm himself.

After the room inspection by Luo Shiyu earlier in the morning, Zhang Ping had become acutely aware of how dangerous his situation was. Had Luo Shiyu intended to kill him, his body would likely be lying in a garbage heap by now.

---

Half an hour later, Zhang Ping arrived at a weapon shop named Iron Soul.

He had noticed this shop two days ago while nightwalking, mainly because the owner was human, not a Skyborn Fox. In Mingzhu City, many shops were run by Skyborn Foxes, especially weapon shops, equipment stores, and potion shops. Finding a "clean" store, one not influenced by Skyborn Foxes, was no easy feat.

Upon observing, he noticed that this shop had few customers, and most of them were Adventurers. Typically, Adventurers were Awakener individuals who had not been able to join one of the three major violent factions. While some Adventurers loved their freedom, the group was generally disorganized, with weak overall strength, making them a disadvantaged group among Awakener.

Newbie Adventurers had a particularly high mortality rate. Most died in the wilderness, their disappearances marked as such without any compensation or pensions. Families in Mingzhu City typically didn’t support their children becoming Adventurers, meaning many Adventurers were orphans.

In short, being an Adventurer was essentially a career for orphans.

Zhang Ping, now an orphan, had a low chance of being suspected when entering such a store. After observing for half an hour, he waited until no new customers arrived before entering the store.

The shop was spacious, with a variety of large weapons displayed. The most extravagant item was a five-meter-long blade, likely only wieldable by an Advanced Level Awakener.

The lighting inside was dim, and at the back, there was a large furnace. The fire inside still burned brightly, and the heat could be felt as soon as Zhang Ping stepped inside.

By the furnace sat an elderly, frail man with half-closed eyes, leaning against the wall and puffing away on a long pipe.

Zhang Ping noticed the man didn't pay him any attention, so he proceeded to the display table to examine the weapons.

In Mingzhu City, Awakener favored blades, so the shop had an abundance of them. Each weapon on the display table had a description underneath.

Zhang Ping approached a particularly striking large sword and read the description: Nine-Ring Phantom Axe—3 meters long, weighing 350 pounds. It was a half-sword, half-axe designed specifically for dealing with medium to large-sized Mutated Beasts.

He moved on, finding a scythe. Ghost Scythe—4.3 meters long, weighing 396 pounds. The long handle concealed a chain, allowing the scythe to be thrown to ensnare an opponent, made for hunting agile and swift prey.

As he walked further, Zhang Ping’s eyes lit up when he saw a particularly beautiful sword. The blade was narrow and slightly curved, its entire body a pristine white, resembling white jade.

He glanced at the description, which read: Chill Maiden's Featherblade—1.88 meters long, weighing 80 pounds. Made from the blood-forged iron of the Frost Panther, its attacks exuded a chilling aura. Anyone struck by the blade would feel their bones freeze unless the chill was expelled within three breaths, or they would die from their blood vessels freezing.

What a fine blade!

However, after seeing the price, Zhang Ping felt as though he had been struck by the Chill Maiden's Featherblade—his heart dropped cold.