What does a 90% decline in learning ability feel like?

Zhang Ping knew very well that some Awakener abilities had very strict conditions for use, but up until now, the only one he had seen in action was Wang Jieming.

By the end of the class, Wang Jieming still hadn't mastered the Monkey King Style.

Zhang Ping had to admit that Instructor Bai’s skills in cultivating energy were top-notch. Even though Bai was clearly impatient, he still persevered, breaking down the Monkey King Style and teaching it to Wang Jieming with incredible detail. However, no matter what, Wang Jieming just couldn’t get it.

On the other hand, Zhang Ping, who was eavesdropping from the side, had gained a deeper understanding of the Monkey King Style. With a bit more practice, he felt he could master it.

This was a direct quote from Bai De.

Among all the apprentices, Zhang Ping was indeed the fastest learner.

If it weren’t for the need to follow the progress of all the apprentices, he could have learned the first three moves of the Beastlord Punch in a single day.

After leaving the Beastlord Punch Gym, Zhang Ping and Wang Jieming happened to be walking the same way.

Through casual conversation along the road, Zhang Ping learned that Wang Jieming's father was a member of the Investigation Unit. He had grown up receiving elite education from both his mother and father.

Recently, his mother had been teaching him repetitive things, and Wang Jieming suspected that she had run out of new material and was just keeping up appearances. As a result, he decided to dip into his savings and enroll in the Beastlord Punch Gym.

In reality, Wang Jieming wasn’t lacking in strength.

Whether it was basic boxing techniques or the Ming Fist, he had already mastered them to a high level and could easily go toe-to-toe with Zhang Ping. However, ever since awakening his ability, his learning speed had slowed drastically. This meant that if they were to use the Beastlord Punch, it would be a long time before he could match Zhang Ping in strength.

On their way, the two of them agreed to go to the martial arts gym together the next day, and then they parted ways.

Zhang Ping returned to Iron Soul, skillfully climbing through the window. As soon as he entered, he saw Liu Sishan sitting at the desk. He closed the window and asked, “Sisi, something up?”

“Did you forget to mention some intelligence?” Liu Sishan asked.

Zhang Ping was taken aback, then frowned. “What intelligence?”

“Does the Skyborn Fox have any abilities beyond its race’s inherent traits?” Liu Sishan asked seriously.

Zhang Ping nodded. “There are indeed some Skyborn Foxes with extra abilities, but the ones I pointed out to you are just normal ones without any additional powers. That’s why I didn’t mention it.”

“During the Skyborn Fox elimination operation earlier, one of them seemed off, and someone got hurt,” Liu Sishan said in a low voice.

Zhang Ping sat on the edge of the bed and frowned. “Are you sure it was another ability?”

“Yes, according to the information I received, it seems to be some ability related to gaining trust through language,” Liu Sishan said.

Zhang Ping immediately understood what that ability was and spoke up. “I know this ability. It’s called Unexplained Trust. But the Skyborn Foxes I pointed out definitely didn’t have any extra skills.”

“Could they have switched identities?” Liu Sishan frowned.

Zhang Ping responded, puzzled. “The thing is, I picked the Skyborn Foxes randomly. You guys also acted randomly. Before you took action, no one should have known who you would target.”

“It could be some kind of prophetic ability,” Liu Sishan added.

Zhang Ping sighed. “I’ll try to observe and see what’s going on. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

“Mm,” Liu Sishan nodded.

She then stood up, gradually becoming transparent and vanished without a trace.

Zhang Ping glanced around the room and quietly called out, “Sisi?”

After a moment, he still wasn’t sure if Liu Sishan had left. Deciding not to dwell on it, he shrugged and figured there was no harm to him either way.

He went to bed.

In fact, he had considered that the Skyborn Fox might be able to exchange identities, like swapping the human skin tags on their foreheads. But whether that was even possible, he couldn’t say for sure. His plan for now was to re-check the Skyborn Foxes he had identified before and see if anything new came up.

The next day, 6:00 AM.

After getting up, Zhang Ping first practiced a set of Ming Fist, then spent some time working on the Monkey King Style.

After finishing his morning workout, he took a shower and then went out to buy groceries.

In addition to managing the store, Zhang Ping was also responsible for taking care of Liu Tiefeng’s daily meals. Generally, he handled breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The original host couldn’t cook.

But Zhang Ping, in his previous life, had been a single guy, so he knew a few basic home recipes, and even had a special trick up his sleeve: Instant Noodles with Chili Sauce, Pickled Mustard, and Tofu Relish.

After preparing breakfast, Liu Tiefeng had already gotten up.

The two of them ate breakfast, then went upstairs to begin their training. While practicing kneading dough, Zhang Ping also prepared some clean flour to make noodles for lunch.

When the dough practice was finished, they entered the materials room to continue learning to distinguish different materials.

This was Zhang Ping’s favorite part.

As Liu Tiefeng explained each material, he would also tell its origin, and whenever Mutated Beasts were involved, he would speak more carefully. Zhang Ping could even imagine the appearance of the Mutated Beasts in his mind.

"Grandpa Liu, what is this material?" Zhang Ping asked curiously, noticing a deep blue finger sealed on the counter. It looked strikingly like a human finger. If not for the deep blue skin and purple-black nails, he might have suspected it was taken from a human.

"That's an Oceanian's finger. About sixty years ago, a group of Oceanians landed from the east, near the Changsha River, attempting to invade Mingzhu City. The old City Lord led the Patrol Squad and Investigation Unit to fight against the Oceanians," Liu Tiefeng said with a touch of nostalgia. "At the time, I was still a rookie, following the seniors around, helping them out. After that group of Oceanians was wiped out, their bodies were distributed, and I got one of their fingers."

Zhang Ping was surprised. "Oceanians, are they also Barbarians?"

"You’ve never heard of them? That’s normal. It was only after Elder Scholar Chen researched countless ancient texts that he found them. There’s a group of Oceanians who live in the sea, with pale blue skin, red hair, and tusks. They evolved from fishermen who once lived by the sea. They worship the Sea God and regard land creatures as taboo enemies, so they are called Oceanians."

The evolution of humans in this world was indeed diverse. In Mingzhu City, people had the chance to become Awakener, while Barbarians with an unknown power system existed in the wild. To think that there were even branches like the Oceanians.

Although Barbarians and Oceanians couldn't really be called humans anymore, Zhang Ping felt like his world had just expanded. He even wondered, could there be more human branches out there?

He quickly dismissed the thought. After all, it was too far removed from his current life.

Liu Tiefeng did not mention the Oceanians again but returned to the main topic and continued teaching about the 'Fire Bird.' The Fire Bird was a mutated sparrow that looked like an ordinary sparrow, but when it flew at high speeds, its feathers would ignite from the friction with the air, making it resemble a small fireball. Its feathers were very special, and when incorporated into weapons, they would cause the weapon to produce flames.

There had once been a strongman in Mingzhu City who always carried flying knives enhanced with Fire Bird feathers, which made the knives even more powerful than the Fire Birds themselves. However, this weapon had one major flaw. If its speed reached a certain level, it would burn itself out, so a protective sheath made of 'Frost Snake' skin was necessary.

"Grandpa Liu, do we have this kind of weapon in the shop?" Zhang Ping felt this weapon would suit him perfectly, especially since he had the 'Fire Eater' talent, which allowed him to absorb fire to restore stamina. It was like having unlimited stamina.

"No," Liu Tiefeng shook his head. "The Fire Bird is incredibly fast, and it's hard to hunt. A single feather can cost around 50,000 Mingzhu Coins, and there's no fixed price. Most Fire Bird feathers are kept in collections and rarely used to forge weapons." Liu Tiefeng carefully placed the only Fire Bird feather he had back into its maintenance container.

Zhang Ping felt a bit disappointed, but he understood. If he had a precious material, he wouldn't use it hastily either, at least not until he was sure of its best use.

After the lesson, Zhang Ping and Liu Tiefeng had ramen for lunch. In the afternoon, Liu Tiefeng needed a nap due to fatigue, while Zhang Ping was full of energy and continued practicing his Fire Eater ability by the furnace. Although Iron Soul was still open, very few customers came, and most just browsed before leaving after seeing the prices. Most weapon shops followed a "three years without business, three years with business" model. The rarer the weapons, the higher the prices, and Iron Soul mainly sold small, high-quality weapons, with one prized item that was the shop's treasure. Selling just one weapon each year was enough to keep the shop running.

Zhang Ping didn't have much to do while watching the shop. No customers came by until closing time, and after dinner, they closed up.

Liu Tiefeng went to bed early. Zhang Ping had told him earlier that he had signed up at a martial arts gym, so he didn't need to climb over the wall but could leave through the back door of the shop. On his way, he saw Wang Jieming waiting for him under a tree.

Due to the effects of Night Walker and the Assassin Ring, Zhang Ping approached Wang Jieming without him noticing. It wasn't until Zhang Ping tapped his shoulder that Wang Jieming realized he was there.

"How did you do that? Invisibility spell?" Wang Jieming asked in surprise.

Zhang Ping smiled. "You were just daydreaming. Let’s go, we’re going to be late."

"Yeah, I hope I can learn the Monkey King Style today," Wang Jieming nodded seriously. He had promised Instructor Bai De that he would master the basics of the Monkey King Style within five days, or he would have to drop out. The worst part was that when practicing at home, he couldn't remember anything from the lessons at the gym.

The two arrived at Beastlord Punch Gym, where the focus of the day's training was on consolidating what they had learned. Zhang Ping was assigned a new apprentice partner, a 25-year-old named Zhou Jielin. Zhou Jielin was an experienced Adventurer who had started at 18 and had been working for six or seven years. Although he was still unfamiliar with the Monkey King Style, he was stronger than Zhang Ping and had rich combat experience. Every time Zhang Ping attacked, Zhou Jielin could easily see through his intentions.

"Your eyes, don't focus on just the spot you're trying to strike," Zhou Jielin dodged Zhang Ping’s punch and said with a smile.

Zhang Ping, moving like a monkey, jumped back to avoid Zhou Jielin's counterattack and asked, "So where should I focus?"

"Don’t concentrate on one point, look at the whole picture, like you're looking at a painting," Zhou Jielin explained.

Zhang Ping tried to follow his advice, but changing old habits was harder than it seemed. It was like someone who had never been trained—if an attack came, they would instinctively close their eyes.

Without training, it was difficult to correct such automatic reflexes.