Manuals That afternoon, after finishing morning training and watching Lin happily skip off with a log twice her size, Alex finally found a moment of peace. Or as close to peace as you could get when living on top of a mountain with two overly affectionate disciples, one mysterious slime, and a death sentence from a system that sounded like a game developer on caffeine. He sat cross-legged on a flat stone under the shade of the peach tree behind the main hut. With a sigh, he opened his system's scroll interface and stared at the grayed-out "Skill Book Editor.
I wonder if this'll finally work For once, the system didn't insult him. Instead, it blinked to life with a soft glow. [Skill Book Editor: Active] Wait it worked?
He blinked. Then blinked again. A soft breeze passed through the trees. Birds chirped. Nothing exploded.
Oh. Okay then. He started dragging and dropping random book templates into the editor. Martial arts manuals, qi circulation techniques, meditation guides, and whatever that dusty scroll titled Tai Chi Panda Power Magic Style Vol. 1 was supposed to be. It looked like something from a bootleg martial arts movie starring a talking raccoon. He hesitated. Wasn't this the one with the flying pig?
He shrugged and hit update anyway. The scroll glowed gold. Then it shimmered.
A message appeared in the corner of his vision.
[New Skill Book Created: Divine Grade – Tai Chi Panda Power Magic Style] What the hell?" he whispered. He grabbed another one. This time something ancient and serious sounding: Heavenly Finger of the Rising Sun.
Updated. [New Skill Book Created: Divine Grade – Kung Fu Finger Death Explosion Style] That doesn't even sound like a real technique. He kept going. He didn't stop. Every single book he wrote even the random napkin he doodled a kick combo on turned into a divine-grade cultivation technique.
The best part? As soon as the disciples opened the books, the technique would shoot into their brains like a bolt of enlightenment. No struggling, no meditating under a waterfall for six years just bam, knowledge absorbed. Later that evening, Lin Feng stood under a tree flipping through one of the scrolls Alex had just handed her. Her jaw slowly dropped.
Master.
Alex was writing another one nearby, licking the tip of a brush as he scribbled something called Donkey Kick Qi Reversal. Lin stared at the book in her hands, speechless. This this is divine grade. Divine! How the hell did you write this in twenty seconds? Alex didn't answer.
He was too focused on drawing what looked like a backflip donkey kick. Lin's voice cracked. This is better than what the elder of my old sect gave me after three years of begging! Are you secretly an old monster in a young man's body?! A hidden dragon? A reincarnated sword god?
No, Alex said without looking up. I'm just... good with a brush. And what's with these names? She flipped the cover. Kung Fu Panda Thunder Palm Style'? That's not even a style! Alex looked at her.
It is now. She didn't know whether to scream or bow. Xiao Xiao appeared behind her, holding a scroll titled Slime Style: Squish and Destroy. She nodded seriously.
Master. This changed me. I feel like I can squish a mountain. Alex scratched his head. What was Jackie Chan again? He remembered the name from some movie poster his mom once kept on her wall.
Was he a cultivator? A master? Maybe even a god? He looked down at the scroll titled Drunken Monkey Style and whispered reverently. Maybe he was the first sect master of Earth.
That evening, with the scrolls scattered, his disciples sparring with newfound power, and the sun setting over their little run-down sect, Alex sat on the porch, legs stretched out, brush still in hand. He didn't know if this would win them the tournament, save his life, or just get him in even deeper trouble.
But one thing was clear.
His disciples now had divine-grade techniques. And one of them was called Donkey Kick Qi Reversal. He was definitely going to die. But maybe not today.