With the manual in hand, the world is mine

It was none other than Mysterious Jade Hand. This technique made his hands as hard as jade, protecting them from poison and increasing their toughness. It could not have been more suitable for grappling and defense right now.

Tang San was confident that, with his current finger strength, a light pinch on the joints in Pikachu's back would be enough to render him completely incapable of fighting.

Yet just as his fingers were about to touch Pikachu, the electric arcs around the little golden creature suddenly surged.

When the golden light struck the palm of his Mysterious Jade Hand, Tang San felt a tremendous impact explode against his palm. The numbness and scorching heat peculiar to electricity spread up his arm all the way to his shoulder.

"This is bad!"

Tang San inwardly cursed.

Things turned out exactly as he had feared. That momentary loss of strength robbed him of all control over his body.

Even forcing himself to exert strength in midair could not change his trajectory. He fell straight to the ground on his back, slamming heavily into the grass. The impact left his chest feeling stifled, and his entire right arm was too numb to lift.

Naturally, Pikachu would not let such a heaven-sent opportunity slip away.

The instant he landed, he used his momentum to brake hard with his forepaws and pivot with his hind paws, whipping his entire body through a sharp hundred-and-eighty-degree turn. Amid a burst of current, he launched a thunderous butt slam at Tang San, who was still on the ground and had yet to recover.

By then, it was too late for Tang San to react. He could only watch helplessly as Pikachu, flashing with lightning, hurtled toward his abdomen.

"Come back, Pikachu."

Just then, a flash of white light forcibly drew the airborne Pikachu inside, sparing Tang San a serious injury.

[Your battle report has been generated]

[Your Pokémon, Lightning Rat, experienced an easy battle, defeated a powerful opponent, and gained 15 experience points]

Su Lin put away the Poké Ball and approached Tang San. "Are you all right?"

"I lost."

Tang San rolled over and stood up, brushing the grass clippings and dust from the hem of his clothes. He accepted his defeat quite frankly, without much dejection. After all, he had only used Blue Silver Grass and basic movement techniques throughout the fight. He had not used any of his truly lethal Tang Sect Hidden Weapons, and had even deliberately held back most of his poison. It could not really count as a loss.

Besides, he did not consider this a flaw in his teacher's theory. In his view, it was merely an accident.

Mutated Soul Beasts already fell outside the scope of deductions for ordinary Soul Beasts, so some discrepancy with his teacher's research was nothing strange. When he returned this time, he could take the opportunity to add to his teacher's samples.

He raised his hand and lightly brushed the jade ornaments of Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges at his waist. A brand-new, thread-bound book appeared in his palm.

"This is the manual for Perplexing Track Step." Tang San held the book out to Su Lin and instructed him as though going through a routine formality, "I hope you'll swear not to pass it on."

"Except to Xiao Wu." After speaking, he glanced at Xiao Wu beside them and hastily added that qualification.

His words were solemn, but he had few concerns in his heart.

The book he handed over was actually nothing more than a commonplace lightness technique from the martial world. He had removed all the methods for circulating internal force unique to the Tang Sect, leaving only fundamental essentials such as footwork patterns and shifts in the center of gravity. Even mastering it would only improve one's evasion speed a little. It could not bring out the true mysteries of Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track at all.

It was not that he was deliberately withholding things specifically from Su Lin. Rather, this footwork was a movement technique that accompanied the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record. It had to be combined with the circulation of internal breath from Mysterious Heaven Skill to unleash its full power. Without the corresponding internal cultivation method, practicing it was bound to yield half the results for twice the effort.

And Mysterious Heaven Skill was the foundation on which he had established himself through two lifetimes. Never mind a peer he had met by chance-even a personal disciple he took in someday would have to pass numerous trials before gaining access to its core.

"Don't worry." Su Lin closed the book and solemnly raised his head to meet Tang San's gaze. "I swear on my parents' integrity that I will never teach it to anyone else."

With Su Lin having gone that far, Tang San nodded and put his mind at ease.

To his way of thinking, swearing on one's closest family was the weightiest of promises. Since Su Lin dared to make such an oath, he would surely never break it.

He turned to head down the mountain, but after only two steps, he could not help stopping and looking back, his eyes still carrying a hint of persuasion. "Will you really not consider taking him as your teacher at all? My teacher's theories really would be a tremendous help to your Poké Ball Martial Soul."

Su Lin looked at him and firmly shook his head.

"All right." Tang San sighed softly, a trace of regret passing through his eyes.

In his view, Su Lin had outstanding talent and a decent disposition. Aside from some issues with his character, there was nothing particularly wrong with him. His teacher also genuinely cherished talent. Becoming teacher and disciple should have been a mutually beneficial arrangement. Missing this opportunity was truly a loss for both of them.

He said nothing more and turned to enter the woods, his figure soon disappearing among the yellowing shadows of the trees.

Only after Tang San's departing figure had vanished completely did Su Lin sit down on the spot with the manual in his arms.

Xiao Wu, who had been squatting nearby to watch the fight, immediately hopped over. Holding the newly released Pikachu in her arms, she clung to Su Lin's shoulder and craned her head curiously toward the pages.

Fresh from his fight, the little fellow's fur still had a fluffy look from the static making it stand on end. He nestled obediently in Xiao Wu's arms, looking very pleased with himself for his great contribution.

Su Lin rubbed the short fur on his back, then opened the dark blue book and began reading carefully from the first page.

The pages were densely covered in footwork diagrams. Every foot placement, twist of the body, and shift in the center of gravity was clearly marked. The intricate paths linked together in continuous chains, revealing the foundations of a superior movement technique. Yet after looking through the entire book, he found, just as expected, not a single method for circulating internal breath. It consisted purely of externally practiced footwork patterns, without even the most basic method of guiding Soul Power.

He was not surprised in the slightest. In fact, he had anticipated this.

He was not worried that Tang San had given him a knockoff manual. Without either trashing him or singing his praises, although this guy had double standards and was shortsighted, he generally would not go back on something he had agreed to do.

But holding something back was inevitable. Never mind a movement technique-even the inner disciples of the Tang Sect in later generations practiced an abridged Mysterious Heaven Skill. Not a scrap of its core methods had been passed down.

Obtaining this complete set of footwork diagrams was already enough for him. At the very least, it would let him build the framework first.

So what if he lacked the accompanying cultivation method?

He had ways to stimulate his meridians with electric arcs and strengthen his body. As long as he memorized the footwork patterns thoroughly, then tempered the muscles and meridians in his legs with lightning, he might well bring forth something new from the old.

And as a modern man with principles, he would not break his promise by teaching this basic technique to others.

As for whether teaching an entirely new version, developed by bringing forth the new from the old, to his future disciples would count as breaking his oath...

All he could say was that he had been an orphan in both lifetimes, so breaking it would not matter anyway.

Not to mention that he cultivated both Valorant and Arknights. With mothers being called out in Valorant and bridges being camped at Space City, his supply of mothers got refreshed every day. There was absolutely no reason to panic.