Sign a Magical Contract with Me!

Early the next morning, outside the work-study student dormitory.

Tang San had long since packed his luggage and had been waiting here for quite some time.

Seeing his teacher approach, Tang San hurried forward and bowed.

"You child, there's no need to be so polite."

Xu Linjiu smiled and reached for the luggage in his hand.

Tang San quickly pulled his hand back. "Teacher, I can carry it myself. I can't trouble you."

Xu Linjiu said nothing more. A faint glimmer flashed in his hand, and the luggage vanished.

"This is...!"

Tang San's eyes widened. His luggage had actually disappeared into thin air.

"It's merely a storage soul tool. No need to make such a fuss."

Xu Linjiu removed a ring from his finger and handed it to Tang San.

"Take this ring and use it for now. It'll be convenient for storing books and daily necessities. Consider it a meeting gift."

Tang San hurriedly waved his hands and stepped back. "This is too valuable, and you already gave me something so precious yesterday. I can't accept anything more."

"If I tell you to take it, then take it. It's not worth much anyway!"

Xu Linjiu directly stuffed the ring into Tang San's hand. "Just pour soul power into it to use it. Figure it out yourself later and you'll understand."

"You've been waiting here since before dawn. You probably haven't eaten breakfast yet, have you?"

Xu Linjiu suddenly remembered something. Before he had even finished speaking, another faint flash appeared in his palm, and two steaming white buns materialized in his hands.

He stuffed the buns into Tang San's arms. "Fill your stomach first. Eat them slowly on the road. Don't go hungry."

Holding the warm buns, Tang San was speechless for a moment.

In all his life, this was the first time anyone had cared for him like this. Not even his father had shown him such concern.

His nose stung slightly, and his voice was somewhat hoarse. "Thank you, Teacher."

Xu Linjiu smiled and patted his shoulder. "Why be so polite between teacher and disciple?"

"Oh, right. Since we have the time, let me tell you about my martial soul."

Xu Linjiu raised his right hand, and the Pokédex martial soul appeared in his hand once again.

"My martial soul is called the Pokédex. It can form contracts with Soul Masters or soul beasts."

Xu Linjiu tapped it with a fingertip, and the Pokédex display suddenly lit up. "Once this kind of contract is formed, it is permanently bound. You live and die together, with no possibility of ever breaking it."

His tone became more solemn, losing the easygoing manner he had shown while giving gifts earlier. "Of course, great restrictions come with great benefits."

"First, it boosts cultivation. Successfully forming a contract increases your cultivation speed by ten percent, and that increase will grow as the number of contracts I form rises."

Tang San's breathing caught slightly. He had cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill since childhood, so he understood better than anyone how difficult it was to advance one's soul power.

This effect alone was enough to offset every restriction of the contract.

"Second, it passes down soul skills. The Pokédex contains hundreds, even thousands, of special soul skills. They can be cultivated without relying on soul rings and cover every kind of attribute."

Xu Linjiu continued, "Once the contract is formed, I can use it to impart the soul skills recorded in the Pokédex to you, freeing you from the limitations of soul rings."

This time, Tang San was completely speechless.

Why had he jumped off that cliff in his previous life? It was precisely because he had yearned for the Tang Sect inner sect's cultivation methods but could not obtain them.

Although he only had a partial understanding of the path of martial souls in this life, he still knew how important a soul skill was to a Soul Master.

Ordinary Soul Masters relied entirely on soul rings for their abilities, and the skill granted by each ring depended on luck. Yet his teacher's contract could bestow skills suited to one's martial soul out of thin air?

"Third, it nourishes your essence."

Seeing his shocked expression, Xu Linjiu smiled. "After the contract is formed, the fundamental nature of your martial soul will improve. As your soul power rises, it may even be able to evolve."

The underlying logic behind the third point was that, after forming the contract, the system would transform the contractor into a Pokémon template.

So-called martial soul evolution was fundamentally derived from Pokémon's own ability to evolve.

Once the conditions were met, the martial soul could evolve. In the future, it might even be capable of Mega Evolution and Dynamaxing.

Xu Linjiu looked at the youth before him, whose expression kept changing, and softened his tone again. "I'm not saying this to force you into making a decision right away. Once you sign this contract, there's no turning back. If you have any concerns, you can think it over some more, even if..."

"Teacher, I'm willing."

Before Xu Linjiu could finish, Tang San had already raised his head. His eyes were filled with determination, without the slightest hesitation.

"A teacher for a day is a father for life. Tang San will sign this contract!"

"Good!"

Xu Linjiu said no more and reached out to tap the Pokédex.

Three crimson beams shot from the top of the Pokédex, crisscrossing in midair. In the blink of an eye, they formed a classic red-and-white Poké Ball.

Xu Linjiu reached out, took down the Poké Ball, and placed it before Tang San.

"This is the contract medium. When you're ready, just reach out and touch the round button in its center."

Without the slightest hesitation, Tang San reached out and poked the Poké Ball.

The instant his fingertip touched the central button, a crimson beam abruptly shot from the ball and landed directly on the back of Tang San's hand.

Before he could react, the red-and-white ball began to shrink rapidly, turning into a mark that attached itself to Tang San's hand.

The entire process was as fast as lightning. Tang San did not even have time to circulate his soul power and examine it before the Poké Ball had completely disappeared.

Tang San instinctively raised his hand and examined it carefully in the sunlight.

A red-and-white mark briefly appeared on the back of his hand, identical in shape to a Poké Ball. Yet in the blink of an eye, the mark drew inward and completely sank beneath his skin.

He rubbed the back of his hand twice with his fingers. It was smooth and even, no different from usual.

None of the soul power surging or martial soul trembling he had expected appeared. The entire contract process had been so quiet that it was as if nothing had happened.

Tang San looked up, obvious confusion in his eyes, and looked toward Xu Linjiu beside him. "Teacher, this... is it done?"

"It's done."

As Xu Linjiu spoke, his gaze had already fallen on the Pokédex. The information on Tang San had quietly updated.

[Tang San (Named)]

[Attribute: Grass, Steel]

[Level: Lv.10]

[Abilities: Overgrow, Keen Eye, Tough Claws, Technician]

[Skills: Calm Mind, Agility]

[Evaluation: Exceptional talent, extremely high potential. Recommended for core training.]

Holy shit, a golden legend!

Xu Linjiu's eyes lit up. Tang San's aptitude far exceeded his expectations.

Two skills, four abilities!

Overgrow likely came from the power of Blue Silver Grass itself, while Keen Eye came from Tang San's Purple Demon Eyes.

Tough Claws was the combination of the Mysterious Jade Hand and the Clear Sky Hammer, while Technician stemmed from Crane Control, Dragon Capture's precise control over strength.

Calm Mind and Agility were specialized versions of the Mysterious Heaven Skill and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track respectively.

There was also the exceptional talent brought by innate full soul power.

Xu Linjiu could only use two words to describe this situation: invincible!

Just then, the system notification sounded once more.

[Trainer has captured their first Grass-type Pokémon. Obtained: Random Grass-type TM Lottery Ticket ×1, Experience Candy M ×3]

[Trainer has captured their first Steel-type Pokémon. Obtained: Random Steel-type TM Lottery Ticket ×1, Experience Candy M ×3]

[Trainer has captured their second Pokémon. Trainer level has advanced to Novice rank. Reward: Random TM Lottery Ticket ×1, Experience Candy M ×5]