I Contracted Myself

Zhang Ping had advanced.

The process was quiet, without any golden flowers filling the sky, no clear springs gushing from the ground, and certainly no earth-shattering tribulations.

However, on a mental level, he experienced a significant elevation, akin to a state of life flashing before his eyes.

Memories from his past life and this life replayed vividly in his mind. Every person he had met, every word he had heard, appeared clearly before him, only to retreat back into the depths of his consciousness.

After about half an hour, he exhaled deeply and slowly opened his eyes.

Though the advancement took only half an hour, the experience felt like living another long life.

It was as if he had shed his mortal coil and was reborn anew.

To put it pretentiously: Today, I finally know who I am.

Zhang Ping felt a deep sense of satisfaction within, every cell in his body seemed to be rejoicing, and a wave of joy surged through him.

"Did you successfully advance?" Situ Shibai asked.

Zhang Ping nodded and smiled, "Finally... I advanced."

As he spoke, he prepared to appraise his attributes, but before doing so, he blocked Liu Sishan and the others from sharing his status.

Things that were impossible before had become simple after his advancement.

He activated the appraisal skill and looked at his attributes.

[Appraisal Successful]

[Summoned Beast: Zhang Ping]

[Master: Zhang Ping]

[Race: Human]

[Potential: ????]

[Lifespan: 99]

[Rank: Intermediate Awakener]

[Level: 10]

[Talents]

[Contract Gem: Can consume stamina and mental strength to condense a Contract Gem. Once the target voluntarily accepts the Contract Gem, their life, soul, and consciousness will be dominated by the summoner. However, they will also receive the summoner's potential and luck. The first consumption will slightly enhance their potential, with a 2% chance to awaken a new talent. Note: The talents acquired by Summoner Zhang Ping through overextending his IQ, potential, and luck are powerful but come with significant drawbacks. Overambition might not be a good thing.]

[Absolute Command: You have absolute control over your summoned beasts. Your commands cannot be disobeyed.]

[Absolute Obedience: You must absolutely obey the summoner's commands and execute them loyally.]

[Collector's Edition Appraisal Skill: Can appraise a target with a 60% chance of obtaining information. After the first successful appraisal, subsequent appraisals of the same target will have a 100% success rate. Note: This talent was born from the curiosity of both Summoned Beast Zhang Ping and Summoner Zhang Ping.]

[Night Walker: Gains night vision, significantly reduces presence at night, greatly increases movement speed, reduces weight, becomes completely invisible in shadows, and greatly reduces presence when shrouded in Nether Mist.]

[Fire Eater: Can restore stamina by consuming flames and convert excess fire into fire elemental energy stored within the body. After releasing the energy, temporarily gains a fire-wrapped effect until the fire elemental energy is depleted. This ability gradually increases the user's resistance to high temperatures. Note: Potential is just potential; only when realized does it become true power.]

[Wind Whisperer: The wind will bring you all kinds of information, whether you want to know it or not. Note: There are no walls that the wind cannot penetrate, and no secrets the wind does not know.]

[Unusual Eater: When consuming special items, there is a 10% chance of acquiring a corresponding special physique. Note: Why does this kid eat everything?]

[Misty Body: Can absorb fear from living beings and convert it into controllable Nether Mist. Note: Your fear is my sustenance!]

[Pure Water Body: Can transform the body into pure water, absorbing moisture to restore stamina and heal injuries in this form.]

[Pureblood Body: Can transform the body into pure blood, merging with the target's body to rapidly heal their injuries. Note: Love who I love, hate who I hate, leave no regrets!]

[Old King's Blood: Can draw strength from personal pain, with more painful experiences yielding stronger effects. Note: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger! Oh, please, I don't want to get any stronger, sob sob.]

[Advanced Skills]

[Intermediate - Limited Contract: During the creation of a Contract Gem, you can modify the contract terms with your will, and the Contract Gem gains three special forms.

First form, Contract Gem - Martial Contract: Can infuse attack abilities into the Contract Gem, enhancing the lethality of those abilities.

Second form, Contract Gem - Treasure Contract: Can integrate the Contract Gem into special equipment, enhancing the potential of the equipment.

Third form, Contract Gem - Storage Contract: Can shrink items wrapped by the Contract Gem to the size of a grain of rice for storage, with a maximum storage capacity of ten cubic meters.]

...

Although his level only increased by one, the difference between a Primary Awakener and an Intermediate Awakener was immense.

Zhang Ping's stamina and mental strength saw a significant boost, and his control over his abilities became more precise. Although not explicitly stated in the appraisal, he could now sense the location of his "blood splits" and even their states.

At this moment, Liu Sishan was sleeping in a room about fifty meters away, while Cheng Xuejie was meditating. The farthest one, Chen Weihua, was too distant for clear perception, but he knew she was alive and awake, though he couldn't tell what she was doing.

"No wonder Sister Sisi only gained combat power after reaching the intermediate level; the control improvement is substantial."

Zhang Ping transformed one finger into pure blood, controlling it to rotate into a spiral, forming a spinning drill. If an ordinary person were pierced by this finger, it would likely create a bloody hole in their body.

He then attempted to create a Contract Gem.

He found that during the creation, he could control the shape, hardness, and specific terms of the Contract Gem.

Suddenly, an idea struck him, and the forming Contract Gem grew larger, eventually becoming a jade-green dagger.

He slashed the dagger against the ground, leaving a scratch while the dagger remained undamaged.

As a novice forger, he estimated the dagger's hardness to be comparable to the Mingzhu Blade.

Such a dagger could probably sell for eighteen thousand.

With this skill alone, he would never lack money again.

He continued creating other Contract Gems.

He discovered that the three special forms of Contract Gems described in the advanced skills could not be altered.

The Martial Contract Gem was round, the Treasure Contract Gem was diamond-shaped, and the Storage Contract Gem was square.

These special Contract Gems were not only fixed in shape but also extremely hard, almost indestructible unless their abilities were activated.

After confirming the hardness of these gems with Nether Mist, a thought emerged from the depths of his mind: he had once wanted to make chainmail from Contract Gems, and now it seemed possible.

However, even if it was possible, he didn't plan to do it.

It was too wasteful.

With his current stamina and mental strength, he could create ten Contract Gems in one go under normal conditions.

But after making ten Contract Gems, he would need to rest for two hours, and those two hours would be deep sleep.

Therefore, each Contract Gem was precious and couldn't be wasted lightly.

Although the hardness of the Contract Gems had increased, their essence remained consumable. Once in the mouth of someone willing to eat them, their hardness would be no different from soft candy.

After consuming the dagger, he stored the remaining Contract Gems.

From now on, he had to cultivate the habit of storing Contract Gems, whether normal or special ones, to maintain a certain quantity.

Before advancing, his potential had seven stars, but after becoming an Intermediate Awakener, he consumed three stars.

These three stars were mostly spent on advanced skills, making the advanced skills so powerful, equivalent to four abilities of others.

In other words, to gain stronger advanced skills during advancement, one must have enough potential. So Zhang Ping planned to store some Contract Gems and consume them all at once before the next advancement, maximizing his potential before advancing.

Some might ask, why not consume them now?

The problem is that other abilities also consume potential. For example, frequent use of the appraisal skill could evolve it into a more advanced version if potential allows, and its evolution would also consume potential.

Consuming as many as you make each time might be satisfying, but what if one ability consumes too much potential and delays advancement?

So storing them is the best choice.