At 4 AM, Liu Sishan returned.

Her eyes, visible beneath her mask, appeared weary and melancholic.

She circled the campfire, entering the tent only to find Zhang Ping doing push-ups.

"Sisi, you're back," Zhang Ping said, drenched in sweat, pausing his exercise to greet her with a smile.

After reaching level 9, while his physical attributes had not significantly increased, his main attributes, both physical and mental energy, had improved substantially. The most noticeable change was that he now only needed about three hours of deep sleep each day to fully recharge, and he even felt a surplus of energy, almost like an overly energetic husky.

With nothing else to do, he decided to push his body further, doing 5,000 push-ups as a warm-up.

Liu Sishan knew that Zhang Ping woke up early. She walked over and sat down, nodding at him. "Mm, good morning."

"Sisi, how’s the situation in Mingzhu City?" Zhang Ping asked, catching his breath.

Liu Sishan pulled out a silk pouch, spilling a collection of miscellaneous items onto the wooden bed and began sorting them, her expression somber. "With the Illusory Sky Veil in place, the Skyborn Fox has been trapped in the Lord's Manor. Over the last couple of days, Lunara Prince has come out with his subordinates to hunt, and there have been over two hundred victims."

"My teammate, Jin Bo, couldn't stand it and insisted on testing its strength, but Lunara Prince is far stronger than expected. Jin Bo was seriously injured, and two of our other teammates died in battle."

"Your training is going to be paused. As soon as daylight comes, we return to the city."

"What abilities did Lunara Prince use?" Zhang Ping's expression grew serious.

Liu Sishan stopped her task and replied, "It only used its tail. Its tail can split and extend at will. It's not only incredibly penetrating but also extremely flexible and fast."

Zhang Ping's thoughts briefly turned to the earlier vision he had seen in the lookout tower. If he had used Identification Skill back then, his head would have been instantly destroyed by Lunara Prince’s tail.

Half an hour later, Zhang Ping finished his 5,000 push-ups.

He sat down on the wooden bed opposite Liu Sishan, wiping the sweat off his face with a towel.

His gaze landed on the various metals and materials on Liu Sishan's bed, and he asked, "Sisi, did you come back to Mingzhu City just to collect these things?"

"Yes, didn't you say you have the ability to gain a corresponding physique by eating certain foods? These materials are for testing that ability of yours." Liu Sishan nodded.

If Zhang Ping could transform his body into steel or even an alloy, his defense would improve greatly. And compared to transforming into soft water, harder and heavier metals would undoubtedly have a stronger offensive capability.

Water, however, required immense mental energy and control to be effective. She had developed her lethal techniques only after enhancing her mental energy. At first, manipulating pure water in combat had been rather weak.

Zhang Ping's main attributes were strength and mental energy, whereas hers was purely mental. Therefore, every time Zhang Ping leveled up, both of his attributes increased, while hers only affected her mental energy.

For Zhang Ping to master Body of Pure Water to her level, the difficulty was far greater than hers.

To give an example:

At level 1, Zhang Ping’s mental energy was 2, and strength was also 2, while hers was 4.

At level 2, Zhang Ping’s mental energy and strength were 3 each, while hers was 6.

At level 3, Zhang Ping’s mental energy and strength were 4 each, while hers was 8.

At level 4, Zhang Ping’s mental energy and strength were 5 each, while hers had reached 10.

Looking only at mental energy, the difference between them was obvious.

So Liu Sishan had been thinking about how to train Zhang Ping effectively, to play to his strengths and minimize his weaknesses. Unfortunately, with Jin Bo injured and other members of the Slaughter Unit wounded, Liu Sishan had to return and take Jin Bo's place, abandoning her plan to personally train Zhang Ping.

After careful consideration last night, she applied for these materials to see if they could help Zhang Ping gain a more suitable physique. Once they returned to Mingzhu City, he could experiment and refine the process on his own.

Zhang Ping reached out and grabbed a black iron block from the bed, asking, "What if I get metal poisoning?"

"I brought the antidotes, don't worry, just eat it," Liu Sishan encouraged him.

Zhang Ping thought for a moment, then transformed his mouth into pure water, opening it like a snake's jaw to swallow the iron block.

His stomach didn't turn into pure water, so he could feel the iron block settling there.

After a short while, he started feeling discomfort and asked, "Sisi, what metal was that iron block made of?"

"You just said it was iron," Liu Sishan replied with a smile.

Zhang Ping frowned, his stomach transforming into pure water as he reached in and pulled out the iron block, saying, "This is definitely not ordinary iron. Even if it were, it wouldn’t make me feel this bad. What metal is this really?"

"Why didn’t you ask before eating?" Liu Sishan chuckled.

Zhang Ping rolled his eyes. He had been too lazy to think earlier, and he trusted Liu Sishan, assuming there was no reason for her to harm him. But that lack of vigilance had led to him being in this awkward situation.

He wasn’t the sharpest person.

Like everyone else, he could get lazy and have all sorts of little thoughts. When he first came to this world, he had even been ready to give up.

If not for the Contract Gem’s special ability, he would have either been eaten by the Skyborn Fox or ended up working the fields or sweeping the streets.

Seeing Liu Sishan teasing him, he decided to use Identification on the iron block, revealing that it had been coated with poison.

It was indeed just iron—poisoned iron!

He looked at Liu Sishan and asked with a furrowed brow, "Sisi, why poison the iron?"

"To test your resistance to toxins and harmful substances. Since Mutant Eater can absorb my pure water, why can't it absorb toxins and turn your body into a deadly one?" Liu Sishan explained.

Although her pure water seemed harmless, it was more lethal than any poison.

If someone else drank it, not only would she control their life and death, but if it entered their brain, she could manipulate their thoughts as well.

She had originally wanted to teach Zhang Ping a lesson about not eating or drinking anything others gave him without question. But before she could start, Zhang Ping had already digested her pure water.

Now that she knew about Zhang Ping's Mutant Eater ability, the lesson was unnecessary.

Zhang Ping felt a bit dizzy but couldn't help but joke, "The results are out, and it turns out I'm almost poisoned to death."

"Why not try becoming the Body of Pure Water?" Liu Sishan suggested.

Zhang Ping froze for a moment, and the next moment, his body transformed into pure water. Sure enough, the feeling of poisoning disappeared.

He was amazed. "It really worked! I didn't know the pure water form could detoxify and remove negative states."

He then tried to switch back to his Body of Flesh and Blood form, and sure enough, the poisoning symptoms were gone.

Liu Sishan wasn't surprised because pure water has a special property—it rejects and purifies all impurities. The dust on Zhang Ping's body was expelled in this way, and even hidden toxins inside his body, like impurities or waste, would be purified. This was far more efficient than cleansing marrow or other methods.

"Zhang Ping, I asked the captain how someone with your abilities should train. His advice was to focus on one or two abilities, using the others as supplementary tools. Your abilities will keep growing, but you can't master them all. You can’t make every ability your strength."

Liu Sishan looked at Zhang Ping seriously.

Upon hearing that it was Situ Shibai’s advice, Zhang Ping humbly accepted it. He knew who Situ Shibai was and how powerful the man was—an ability replicator. Just hearing the name made it clear that Situ Shibai possessed numerous superpowers. His advice was of great value to Zhang Ping.

Most Awakeners only had one ability, so they had no choice but to deepen their expertise in that one. Their proficiency in that single ability would naturally be high. But people like Situ Shibai and Zhang Ping, who had multiple abilities, would have their attention divided, and their proficiency would inevitably be lower than that of a single-ability user.

For example, Body of Pure Water.

Zhang Ping had just discovered that the pure water form could detoxify. This was a sign of low proficiency. It showed he wasn’t familiar enough with the ability. If he knew it better, he would have been able to change forms at the moment of poisoning and eliminate the toxins right away.

Identification Skill could tell him the basic information about his abilities, but it didn’t provide everything. How to develop and train an ability required time and effort. The higher the development of an ability, the more familiar one became with it, and the easier it was to use effectively in battle.

So, Situ Shibai’s advice was very timely. At least, Zhang Ping now understood that having more abilities was beneficial, but he had to prioritize which ones to develop and treat the rest as supplementary.

Currently, excluding the Contract Gem, Night Walker, and purely supportive abilities like Identification Skill and Mutant Eater, his strongest ability was Body of Nether Mist, followed by Body of Pure Water, and Fire Eater was the weakest. These three abilities presented a dilemma.

Body of Nether Mist was powerful, but Zhang Ping didn’t understand its essence. An unfamiliar ability was dangerous when faced with enemies who knew how to exploit its weaknesses. In a fight, being unaware of those weaknesses could lead to fatal consequences.

Body of Pure Water was great for survival, but its essence was too easy to counter, making it vulnerable to certain enemies. For example, a Fire Element Awakener of the same level could easily overpower Zhang Ping if he relied solely on Body of Pure Water. Fireballs would bomb him, and even if Body of Pure Water could absorb moisture to heal, his body could still be evaporated in an instant.

Fire Eater had similar issues—it was too easy to target, and its fire-storing capacity was limited, making it difficult to last through a fight.

He pondered for a moment before turning to Liu Sishan. "Sisi, what’s our captain's strongest ability?"

"You want to refer to our captain’s ability? As far as I know, the most powerful ability he shows is light element control," Liu Sishan responded, realizing Zhang Ping’s intent.

Light element control?

It seemed like that kind of ability wasn’t easy to counter, and its attack speed was incredibly fast and powerful. But how could he acquire that ability? Did he need to consume light?

Zhang Ping thought about it and quickly dismissed the idea—it seemed utterly impractical.

"Don’t rush into a decision. Let’s finish these materials first and see if any better abilities emerge. We can choose later," Liu Sishan said when she saw his troubled expression.

Zhang Ping looked at the various materials on Liu Sishan's bed and couldn’t help but ask, "Sisi, you didn’t poison these, did you?"

"Some are poisoned, and some are inherently toxic. Just try them. Even if Body of Pure Water can’t detoxify them, I have antidotes with me," Liu Sishan answered.

Zhang Ping took a deep breath and decided to proceed. Sometimes, being hard on oneself was the only way to achieve something. You couldn’t expect to have everything—comfort and success both.

He picked up the materials and began eating them one by one. Whenever he felt discomfort, he would expel it, continuing the cycle.

Several hours later, he felt he couldn’t continue. Despite expelling everything from his stomach, he still felt full.

"Sisi, I can't do it. This method doesn’t seem to be working." Zhang Ping collapsed on the bed, looking miserable.

He hadn’t gained any new abilities. The metals had not been absorbed, and the toxins were making him feel awful.

To obtain abilities, he endured the excruciating pain, turning into pure water form to detoxify each time it became unbearable. But still, no new abilities had appeared.

"Why is this happening?"

Liu Sishan looked at Zhang Ping, puzzled. Yesterday, he had gained three abilities in a row, and she had thought it would be easy for him to gain more. But his current situation suggested otherwise.

After some time, Zhang Ping simply transformed into pure water and collapsed on the bed. In this form, all discomfort disappeared, replaced by a keen sense of temperature.

He could feel the heat of the campfire outside the tent, the warmth of Liu Sishan’s bed, and the temperatures of Salt Carrier eating breakfast in another tent. Everyone’s temperature was different, and he could sense it all.

"So there’s this ability in pure water form too."

Zhang Ping marveled at how abilities became stronger the more they were used. The more you used them, the better you understood them.

He manipulated his body into the shape of a snake, twisting around on the bed, then transformed into a wolf, trying to walk on all fours. Finally, he became a bird, but no matter how he adjusted, he couldn’t fly.

The bird’s wings were three meters wide, and its abdomen was hollow. Although it couldn’t fly, it could glide if it jumped from a height.

Finally, he turned back into his Body of Flesh and Blood and said to Liu Sishan, "Sisi, it’s clear now—abilities need constant practice to become stronger. For now, I’ll focus on practicing Nether Mist and Body of Pure Water. Once I acquire new abilities, I’ll reconsider."

For now, he had no other choice, and he was too lazy to continue agonizing over it.

He had an idea for the development of Nether Mist, and after his recent training, he also had a preliminary plan for Body of Pure Water.

Body of Nether Mist would follow the death god path in the future. With a black cloak, a skull mask, and a huge scythe, his appearance would be quite intimidating. Most enemies would lose half their courage even before engaging in battle.

Body of Pure Water would focus on versatility. The priority would be improving the speed of transformation between Body of Flesh and Blood and pure water forms, while simulating various animals. This would allow him to adapt to most environments.

These two abilities could also be used together. He could use Nether Mist to cover Body of Pure Water with a protective layer, which would block high temperatures and form new shapes.

Thinking about it, the combination of these two abilities had great potential for the future!