"Controlling Crane Catching Dragon?"
"You even stole my Controlling Crane Catching Dragon as well?!"
Tang San was furious.
Stealing Tang Sect secret techniques—and then using them right in front of an authentic Tang Sect disciple like him—was a blatant slap across his face.
How dare you!
Tai Chu, you've already invited your own death!
Originally, Tang San had harbored deep resentment toward Tai Chu for using illusions to kill with a borrowed knife last time. But since he himself hadn't been injured, that hatred had gradually faded over the past few months.
All he really wanted was to defeat his opponent.
But now—
This guy truly deserved to die!
"Do you really think I need to steal your little tricks?"
"In front of my Mangekyō Sharingan, these are things I can learn with a single glance!"
Tai Chu said contemptuously.
"You—!"
Tang San was seething.
He didn't know whether the other party had truly stolen the technique or whether his Spirit genuinely possessed the ability to imitate it.
But stealing a Tang Sect secret art and still acting so arrogantly—
No. He had to strike back hard.
Swish!
Tang San flicked his wrist, throwing two small stones using Tang Sect hidden weapon techniques.
"First Spirit Ability—Blue Silver Binding!"
At the same time, his first spirit ring lit up with a yellow glow.
"Boring."
Tai Chu stepped forward using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, effortlessly dodging the attack. He completely ignored the binding ability. Honestly, he couldn't understand what kind of thinking Yu Xiaogang had to waste a spirit ring slot just to add a poison attribute to Blue Silver Grass.
His figure flickered like a phantom as he closed in.
"Sink beneath my Mangekyō Sharingan!"
Tai Chu activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and locked eyes with Tang San.
"You think I didn't prepa—"
Tang San sneered, a faint purple light flashing in his eyes.
Last time had only been negligence. The eye-training method recorded in the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record—the Purple Demon Eye—also possessed countermeasures against illusions and could see through them, so—
One second.
In that single second, Tang San's vision blurred.
Then—bang!
Tai Chu's fist slammed into Tang San, who was trapped in the illusion, sending him crashing to the ground.
The blow snapped Tang San out of the illusion.
But by then, Tai Chu already had one foot planted on his chest. In his hand was the sleeve arrow he had just seized with Controlling Crane Catching Dragon, its tip pressed against Tang San's neck.
"I thought you had a way to deal with the illusions cast by my Mangekyō Sharingan. Looks like I overestimated you."
"With strength like this, you dare challenge me? How laughable."
Stepping on Tang San, Tai Chu shook his head in disappointment.
"You…"
Anger split Tang San's eyes. He had wanted to wash away his past humiliation, yet instead he had only added to it.
"The challenge is over. Get lost."
"If you want to challenge me again, you're welcome—but remember to bring something that actually interests me."
Tai Chu withdrew his foot and casually tossed the sleeve arrow onto the ground.
When he had pressed the weapon against Tang San's neck, he had truly considered killing him. But he restrained himself.
If he killed Tang San now, Tang Hao's retaliation would be inevitable.
He wanted revenge for his parents—but that meant more than just killing Tang San.
Tang Hao also had to die by his own hand.
Moreover, Tang San's transmigration was extremely special. He had been sent by the Asura God himself. During the God Realm War, Tang San could be forcibly resurrected even after death. Who could guarantee that killing him now wouldn't cause the Asura God to intervene directly in the mortal world and revive him?
It wasn't a gamble worth taking.
Nor was it necessary.
Tang San clenched his teeth, picked up the sleeve arrow, and turned to leave.
He wanted to kill his opponent—but he knew it was impossible.
Swallowing the humiliation, he left.
After Tang San departed, Tai Chu took out the Spirit Beast data in his possession. He walked over to the stone table in the courtyard, sat down, and began reading.
This was where the Mangekyō Sharingan truly shone.
Ten lines at a glance. Never forgetting anything he saw.
In just one hour, he finished reading the thick volume of Spirit Beast data.
"Absorbing so much information at once is giving me a headache…"
After finishing, Tai Chu rubbed his temples with both hands, easing the swelling sensation in his head.
—
On the other side, after his defeat, Tang San wandered in a daze until he reached Yu Xiaogang.
"Teacher… I lost."
Tang San lowered his head, looking like a child who had made a grave mistake.
When he had borrowed the Spirit Beast data from his teacher to challenge Tai Chu, he had confidently declared that he would not lose.
Yet now he had returned in disgrace.
Yu Xiaogang felt like he was about to suffer a heart attack.
That Spirit Beast data had been painstakingly copied, line by line, from Spirit Hall!
"It's fine. It was just one loss," Yu Xiaogang said, forcing himself to stay calm. "You are a true genius, possessing twin spirits. In this world, no one is more outstanding than you. He's only a step ahead of you for now."
"Life isn't about the present—it's about the future. Once you begin cultivating your second spirit, he won't even be able to see your back. There's no need to take this defeat to heart."
Even as his heart bled, Yu Xiaogang comforted Tang San. Tang San was his lifeline—he couldn't let him lose confidence over a single failure.
But when he thought about that cursed piece of trash obtaining his Spirit Beast data, the area below his abdomen began to ache faintly again.
"Teacher, I will definitely defeat Tai Chu and trample him beneath my feet."
Tang San was fired up by Yu Xiaogang's words.
"Your teacher believes in you," Yu Xiaogang replied with a gratified expression, feeling that his guidance had not been in vain.
—
That night, Tai Chu experimented with guiding his spirit power through his meridians.
"Self-created Spirit Ability—Binding!"
He slammed one palm into the ground.
Spirit power surged out, pouring into the earth—but nothing happened.
"Why can't I execute it?"
Tai Chu frowned in confusion.
The flow of spirit power recorded by his Mangekyō Sharingan had been through those exact meridians. There was no way it was wrong. He had followed the pathway perfectly, yet the spirit ability still failed to activate.
"Did I miss something?"
After pondering again and again, a hypothesis formed in his mind.
"Could it be an attribute problem?"
Ninjutsu required corresponding elemental attributes, combined with hand seals, to be executed.
Wasn't a Spirit Ability the same?
Every Spirit possessed inherent attributes. Plant-type Spirits corresponded to the Wood attribute; fire-type Spirits to Fire; ice-type Spirits to Ice—and so on.
Spirit abilities attached to spirit rings were inherently matched to the Spirit itself.
"So… is it because my spirit power lacks the Wood attribute that, even though I perfectly copied the meridians and spirit power flow, I still can't execute the 'Binding' spirit ability?"
At that moment, Tai Chu felt he had finally grasped the correct answer.