Chapter 558: Abyss Walker

Fabricating an Incarnation after so long felt both a little strange and nostalgic to Zheng Xiu.

The last time he’d created one was Zheng Baimei.

Zheng Xiu now had three Incarnations: Zheng Shan, Zheng Er, and Zheng Baimei.

Zheng Xiu had always believed that since he walked the Path of the Prisoner and possessed the special ability to create different Incarnations to walk the world, he should ensure his Incarnations were sufficiently diverse. They didn’t need to be masters of everything; they just needed to focus on one thing and reach the Peak of Perfection. That was the ideal Incarnation.

RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE!

In the corner, the Broken Foot strained against its chains, struggling weakly. Zheng Xiu glanced expressionlessly at the newly acquired Deceitful Object. Since Qing Shisan had refused it, and Zheng Xiu couldn’t think of anyone else to give it to, he had no choice but to reluctantly keep it for himself.

He hadn’t been interested in the Path of Foot Traveling, but there was no denying the outrageous boost a Deceitful Object provided a Miracle Master. Zheng Xiu now considered Zhu a mortal enemy. Not knowing how many trump cards and tricks Zhu had up his sleeve, it was only natural for Zheng Xiu to want as many cards in his own hand as possible.

‘Whether it’s running fast, passing through walls, walking on water, or the Celestial Deformed Leg, no matter what Miracle Technique is ultimately derived, it all comes down to a pair of feet. That’s the most fundamental rule of the Path of Foot Traveling.’

‘He has to be able to run.’

Zheng Xiu mused, nodding. He muttered to himself, “A speed type.”

After a moment, Zheng Xiu nodded emphatically and added through gritted teeth, “An *extreme* speed type.”

‘As they say, in all of Martial Arts, only speed is absolute. No matter what Miracle Technique someone uses, there’s always a tell before they cast. While they’re still in their wind-up, I’ll just WHOOSH, flash over, SWISH forward, and CHOP-CHOP! Wouldn’t that give me the ultimate upper hand?’

As he mulled this over, Zheng Xiu sat on the Game Table, occasionally poking the “face” of the Feng Bei Post Station and watching its dark door open and close shyly. While toying with it, he grabbed the Sheepskin Scroll that recorded information about his Path and examined it.

[Host]: [Zheng Xiu]

[Path]: [Prisoner] (Jiazi Seventh Gate)

[Restriction]: [Surprise Cage (Incomplete)]

[Fitting]: [Forty Percent]

[Derivation]: [Observing the Sky from Prison (Masterful)][Divine Travel (Masterful)][Projection (Masterful)][Unbreakable (Masterful)]

[Talent]: [No merchant is honest (Masterful)][Foreign Language (Peak of Perfection)]

[Experience]: [White Carp’s Initial Search for Secrets, Tumultuous Times Shock Waves (Newcomer to the Martial World)][Chang’an’s Escape from Danger, Vast Righteous Qi (Retired from the Jianghu)][Ruthlessly Slaying the Immortal Lady, Angrily Rescuing the Fair Maiden (Heroic Youth)][A Glimpse, A Century in a Painting (A Hundred Years of Solitude)]

After he cleared the “Cannibal Painting,” his Path of the Prisoner advanced. Consequently, all its related derived abilities rose to the “Masterful” level.

“Huh? How did Foreign Language reach ‘Peak of Perfection’?”

Zheng Xiu was baffled. He hadn’t made any special effort to practice it.

‘It was just at ‘Masterful’ a little while ago. How did it reach Peak of Perfection in the blink of an eye?’

Zheng Xiu couldn’t figure it out for the life of him. He rubbed the tense spot between his eyebrows and fell into deep thought.

‘No wonder communicating with Cat Cat has been so effortless lately. It’s because my Foreign Language skill reached Peak of Perfection!’

Zheng Xiu suddenly understood.

Currently, he only had three abilities at the “Peak of Perfection” level:

[Foreign Language], [Heaven and Earth Sword Intent], and [Coiling Dragon Eighteen Slashes].

Among them, the increase in [Foreign Language] was completely baffling.

[Foreign Language (Peak of Perfection)]: You spend your days and nights in the company of a non-human creature, never leaving its side. Over time, you have begun to understand Them.

When [Foreign Language] was at the “Expert Skill” level, the description said he could only “vaguely understand Their ravings.” Now it had changed to “beginning to understand Them.” The subtle difference was hard to define.

Needless to say, [Heaven and Earth Sword Intent] had been at the golden Peak of Perfection level from the moment he acquired it. [Coiling Dragon Eighteen Slashes], on the other hand, had been leveled up through genuine effort—it upgraded the moment Zheng Xiu mastered all eighteen slashes and unleashed the nineteenth, “Sacrificial Dragon Slaying.”

Therefore, Zheng Xiu understood clearly that to raise an ability from “Masterful” to “Peak of Perfection,” one couldn’t just mechanically grind for experience. It required a certain degree of “epiphany” or a “fated opportunity” to advance.

His gaze shifted, and Zheng Xiu looked at [Surprise Cage].

This was Zheng Xiu’s “Restriction.”

“Restrictions” and “Rules” complemented each other, and in the end, they could enhance the power of a Miracle Technique.

Zheng Xiu was gradually figuring out the rules for increasing the [Surprise Cage]’s Fitting percentage. Unlocking a new Deceitful Object Form would increase the Fitting by five percent, and using the [Surprise Cage] to draw out Deceitful Objects for experience grinding could also increase it by a maximum of five percent.

Zheng Xiu had now unlocked four forms: “Purgatory,” “Jing Hong,” “Broken Moon,” and “Cat Scissors,” accounting for a twenty percent increase. He had also done some periodic grinding, which added up to another twenty percent. In total, the Deceitful Object’s Fitting had now reached forty percent.

What Zheng Xiu found strange, however, was that the math didn’t seem to add up. The Prisoner Deceitful Object had twenty sides, which clearly meant he could unlock twenty “forms.” At five percent per form, that should have been a perfect one-hundred-percent Fitting. But with the influence of the [Surprise Cage]’s grinding bonus, it seemed he would reach one hundred percent Fitting after unlocking just the tenth form.

‘Then what’s the point of the remaining forms?’

Gazing at the Sheepskin Scroll, Zheng Xiu mentally organized the cards in his hand. Looking back, he was surprised to realize that in the short year since he was thrown in prison last autumn, he had already opened the Seventh Gate. His progress was at a Divine Speed, traversing a path that would take others ten or even twenty years to complete.

And on top of all that, he was filthy rich.