Tricked Out of the Soul Beast Compendium by Tang San

Jiede nodded, led the cow away, and turned to leave. But instead of going straight home, he pretended to dutifully carry out Old Jack's so-called task.

Tang San watched Jiede from afar atop the hill, looking down at him with unbearable impatience. He could only wait until the next day.

Before the sun had risen, Tang San was already sitting on the hilltop, waiting for Jiede.

He sat cross-legged atop a huge rock, in no mood to cultivate.

When the sun rose and revealed a faint glimmer of light, he finally began cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes with patience.

After all, if he missed the sunrise, he had truly missed it.

Only after the sun had completely risen and the east no longer held any purple hue did he slowly finish his cultivation.

After waiting bitterly for quite a while longer, Jiede finally arrived late.

Tang San had no time to blame Jiede. His gaze was fixed firmly on the book in Jiede's hands.

"I risked getting my legs broken for this, Brother Tang San. We agreed beforehand—you were going to teach me your cultivation method," Jiede complained.

"Fine, but let me take a look at the book first." Tang San pointed at it.

"...Fine." Jiede handed the book to Tang San.

Tang San glanced at the cover and impatiently opened it.

Tang San had originally been illiterate in the writing of Douluo Continent, but Old Jack had once given him a book for learning to read.

Relying on his own intelligence, he had forcibly learned some basic characters.

When Tang San saw the Blue Silver Grass recorded on the first page,

for some reason, his heart suddenly trembled. It was a feeling that came from deep within his bloodline, impossible to explain.

Suppressing the distracting thoughts in his heart, he flipped through another two pages before suddenly asking in confusion, "Why is this only half a book? Some pages are missing too, so parts don't connect."

"Sigh, don't mention it. This is all my dad's fault."

Jiede made it up on the spot without even blushing.

"When he was little, he was naughty and used this book as toilet paper. My grandfather said he got a good beating afterward."

Tang San's mouth twitched. What a pity.

Little did he know that Jiede had done it deliberately. He had left himself a backup plan. After all, he knew what kind of person Tang San was, and he was afraid Tang San would try to get something for free.

If Tang San truly taught Jiede the Mysterious Heaven Technique,

Jiede would not be stingy either. He would get Tang San a complete Soul Beast Compendium later and even tell him to stay away from the mediocre teacher Yu Xiaogang.

And all of that depended on Tang San's next choice.

Jiede snatched back the Basic Soul Beast Compendium and urged, "All right, Brother Tang San, it's time for you to teach me the cultivation method."

Tang San had been engrossed in reading. Being stopped right in the middle irritated him greatly, but there was nothing he could do.

"Fine. I'll teach you. Follow me."

Tang San slowly demonstrated the movements of the cultivation method to Jiede.

"First, sit cross-legged. Then hold your hands like this, bringing them together as one..."

A few minutes later.

"That's it?" Jiede's expression stiffened somewhat.

"That's it. There's nothing else." Tang San took the book from Jiede's hands and began reading again.

Jiede cursed inwardly. You bastard, Tang San. You only taught me the movements and not the mental formula?

He could only patiently pretend to follow the movements without letting Tang San become suspicious.

After all, he could not beat Tang San either.

Although his physical condition was more than twice as strong as Tang San's, when it came to combat experience, he was a complete novice.

Jiede patiently went through the movements several times, then snatched the book from Tang San's hands.

"Hmph, the cultivation method you taught me is completely useless. I don't feel like I've become a Soul Master at all."

Tang San had been reaching an exciting part when he was interrupted. His teeth itched with anger.

"Fine. I'll teach you another cultivation method. If you can't learn this one, then it's a problem with your talent."

"What cultivation method?"

"It doesn't have a name. Staring at the sun can make your eyes especially powerful."

Jiede's face lit up. Could it be the Purple Demon Eyes?

If Tang San was willing to teach that, then perhaps it would work. Through the Purple Demon Eyes, he could cultivate powerful spiritual power. In the future, he might have a chance to develop soul power.

"Fine." Jiede agreed immediately.

"Just blink while looking at the sun every day, like me." Tang San demonstrated.

Jiede mechanically turned his head. "Just look at the sun like this?"

Although he had never learned the Purple Demon Eyes, he knew from the original story that when cultivating it, one had to look directly at the first ray of dawn at sunrise and absorb the first strand of purple qi between heaven and earth.

The sun was already fully up. What the hell was he supposed to look at?

Tang San snatched the book from Jiede's hands again and flipped through it rapidly, casually saying, "Yes, just like that. If you can't learn it, then there's something wrong with your talent!"

Jiede nearly laughed from anger. He pretended to stare at the sun for a while until his eyes stung and began to tear up.

Then he snatched the book from Tang San's hands, threw a childish tantrum, and ran off without looking back.

"Hmph! Your cultivation method is useless. I'm ignoring you now."

Tang San flicked the dust from his sleeve, a mocking gleam appearing in his eyes.

"How could an outsider possibly learn the cultivation methods of my Tang Sect?"

As for the contents of the Basic Soul Beast Compendium in Jiede's hands, Tang San had already memorized them.

Jiede turned around, a cold glint in his eyes.

"What a Tang San. You even deceived a five-year-old child."

Jiede returned home, sat on a stone stool outside, clenched his fist, and smashed it hard against the stone table.

With this grudge formed, he and Tang San were destined to become enemies.

"Enemies?"

"Heh..."

Thinking that he would most likely fail to awaken Innate Soul Power next year, Jiede could not help but laugh bitterly at himself.

"I don't even have the qualifications to be Tang San's opponent."

"No!"

"I can't give up just like this!"

Jiede rubbed his temples in frustration.

"Tang San could cultivate soul power with the Mysterious Heaven Technique. I've received higher education, for heaven's sake. If I don't have a cultivation method, I'll create one myself!"

Jiede once had an elderly fishing buddy with a bad back. Every time he sat fishing for too long, the old man would take time to perform a round of Tai Chi and Eight Brocades.

Whenever Jiede came back empty-handed from fishing, he would get up and exercise with the old man. Over time, he learned both sets of fitness exercises.

With that thought, Jiede immediately began practicing Tai Chi on the spot, using intent rather than force, softness containing strength, his movements flowing like clouds and water.

After two rounds of Tai Chi, Jiede only felt his entire body grow warm and his muscles and bones loosen. Yet his dantian seemed to produce no soul power.

"Is this not working?"

Jiede tried Eight Brocades as well, but the result was the same. He immediately frowned.

"This is going to be difficult!"

"Could it be that even after living another life, I can only live as an ordinary person?"

Unwilling to accept it, Jiede threw the half-volume Basic Soul Beast Compendium in his hand onto the ground.

Looking at the table of contents opened on the ground, he saw that the final entry read: Basic Soul Power Cultivation Method!

Jiede's heart stirred. He hurriedly pulled out the other half of the Basic Soul Beast Compendium and opened it to the final page.

The Basic Soul Power Cultivation Method contained barely a hundred words. It was the most basic qi circulation method for beginner Soul Masters.

Without activating one's martial soul and possessing Innate Soul Power, forcibly cultivating it could not produce soul power.

"What if I combine the Basic Soul Power Cultivation Method with Tai Chi and Eight Brocades?"

"Could it create a miracle..."

Jiede did not hesitate for long. After thoroughly understanding the Basic Soul Power Cultivation Method, he practiced Tai Chi while slowly circulating qi and regulating his breathing.

Once, twice, three times...

Over the course of one day, Jiede practiced Tai Chi and Eight Brocades no fewer than fifty times.

Yet he never felt the slightest fluctuation of soul power within his body.

Jiede refused to give up, still holding a breath of resentment in his heart.

"You little bastard, you dared to trick me. If your Mysterious Heaven Technique can cultivate soul power, there's no reason Tai Chi can't produce soul power!"

The next day, Jiede had practiced so excessively that his legs hurt too much to lift, but he still gritted his teeth and persisted.

Old Jack watched from the side in complete confusion. It was better for his grandson to mess around in the yard than wander by the river all the time, so he simply left him alone and treated it as the boy going crazy.

On the third day, Jiede felt as though even his brain was spinning, and he had the sensation of collapsing from exhaustion.

By the fifth day, Jiede even began to wonder whether the Basic Soul Power Cultivation Method simply could not be connected with Tai Chi and Eight Brocades, making it impossible to cultivate soul power.

He did not give up. He continued adjusting the details of the Basic Soul Power Cultivation Method, trying to integrate it into the fitness exercises as he tested it again and again.

Until noon on the seventh day.

The sun was high in the sky, blazing fiercely.

Under the scorching sun, Jiede finally felt a trace of soul power slowly gathering from his limbs into his abdomen.

"Holy shit, it worked! I really am a genius!"

The moment Jiede became excited, the soul power that had finally gathered within him immediately went out of control. Like a wild horse breaking free of its reins, it crashed about wildly before exploding in the meridians of his left leg.

"Ahhh!"

"Fuck, that hurts!"

Jiede clutched his thigh in agony and rolled all over the ground.

Hearing the noise, Old Jack hurried out of the house and anxiously asked, "Xiao De, what happened?"

"I'm fine. I banged my leg."

"You scared me to death."

Old Jack shot Jiede an irritated glare. After the incident of his grandson falling into the water, he had become somewhat jumpy.

Hearing that Jiede had merely knocked his leg, Old Jack turned and left, leaving him grinning foolishly where he was.

A few minutes later, Jiede climbed up from the ground and patted the dust from his clothes.

"Tang San, don't think my book was so easy to read."

Jiede walked into the house and shouted, "Grandpa, I want to write a letter to Dad."