After a general tour of Zhenwu Mountain, Leo Young was dead tired.
He had spent the entire day running around with Su He, taking at least forty thousand steps—a lethal amount of exercise for his frail body.
"Haaa..."
As dusk fell, Leo Young, having no appetite, forced down a few bites before dragging his weary body straight to the bathhouse. Sinking into the hot water, he let out a long sigh, feeling as if he were coming back to life.
Speaking of which, he had originally planned to visit the Scripture Pavilion first. The immense appeal this place held for him needed no explanation. However, after walking all day, he was truly exhausted and had to come to the bathhouse to recover first.
["Heh, how pathetic..."]
Leo Young knew massage and was intimately familiar with the human body's meridians and acupoints. He had also confirmed that the human anatomy in both worlds was more or less the same. But right now, his entire body was sore and weak, his arms lacked strength, and his flexibility was abysmal. He couldn't even give himself a massage to relieve his muscle fatigue...
["I need to switch to a decent internal art, and fast..."]
Leo Young's body was so frail, a fact inextricably linked to the weakness of the Qi Nourishing Scripture. This internal art was only suitable for laying a foundation; calling it a health-preserving method was a stretch.
After soaking in the bathhouse for half an hour, Leo Young, feeling somewhat recovered, changed into a new set of Daoist robes he had just received and immediately headed for the Scripture Pavilion.
——————
The Scripture Pavilion.
There was no greater testament to Zhenwu Mountain's eleven-hundred-year heritage than this place. Although it had gone through periods of decline and been plundered several times, it remained one of the greatest sacred grounds for martial arts in the world.
Leo Young walked inside. At the entrance sat a young man with a stern face and a gloomy disposition, engrossed in a book. In front of him were paper and a brush, used for recording the borrowing activities of Zhenwu Mountain disciples.
He never looked up, yet everyone who entered or exited seemed to feel his bone-chilling gaze. It was as if it could physically pierce their very souls, leaving those with ill intentions nowhere to hide.
Su He had briefly mentioned this person to Leo Young. Perfected Master Zhou had taken three disciples. The eldest was Su Tianqing; the second was not mentioned for now. The youngest was a woman named Jiang Han, who had been deceived by a member of a demonic sect years ago. She died after giving birth to a son—the dark-haired young man before him. He had taken his mother's surname and was named Jiang Qiu. He was the only disciple of this generation personally taught by Perfected Master Zhou and was rumored to have inherited seventy percent of the master's true teachings, possessing unfathomable strength...
Leo Young gave him a casual glance and was about to head further inside when a panel suddenly appeared over the ancient book in the young man's hands.
[Mayfly's Reckless Life Scripture]
[The morning mushroom knows not the waxing and waning of the moon; the summer cicada knows not spring and autumn...]
[Cultivation Requirements: Comprehension 45, Constitution 40, Clear Mirror lv6, Innate lv7, Adversity lv6, Adamantine lv5, martial aptitude 40000]
[Cultivation Formula: x^3*A/(60-B)]
(In this formula, x is Constitution, A is the cultivation art's realm, starting at 1 and increasing by 1 for each breakthrough, typically with a maximum of 5. B is the lifespan lost due to the art's special effect, measured in years. If the number in the parentheses calculates to less than 1, it is treated as 1)
[Internal Breath Lethality: A+]
[Internal Breath Solidity: A]
[Internal Breath Explosiveness: A+]
[Overall Physique Enhancement: C+]
[Internal Art Effect: For every one hundred cycles of this art, lose one year of lifespan. After losing sixty years of lifespan this way, the cost changes to one year of lifespan lost per five hundred cycles.]
[In the cultivation formula, the increase in B will greatly affect the growth of the final experience acquisition multiplier.]
[Each time this art is broken through, Overall Physique Enhancement will receive a massive increase]
[Upon breaking through with this art to the 'Grandmaster of a Generation' realm, reduce your own lifespan to half a year. The more lifespan reduced in this manner, the greater the enhancement to the nature of your Internal Breath. (Note 1)]
[If you possess the unique trait 'Boundless Cycle of Life and Death' or 'Unyielding Wheel of Reincarnation', you can break through with this art to 'Unity of Heaven and Man'. If successful, you will regain all lifespan lost due to this art and gain an additional sixty years of life.]
Because Leo Young had not learned this cultivation art, the columns for the final experience acquisition multiplier and realm were missing.
Leo Young raised an eyebrow slightly.
["...Hah, interesting. A demonic art that burns through your life force. Quite dangerous, isn't it? Is it really okay to leave this here? It doesn't seem appropriate for any floor."]
["No, with such strict cultivation requirements, anyone capable of learning it would surely understand the side effects. Besides, practicing an art isn't its only use; one can also comprehend the martial principles within it."]
The art's side effects were commensurate with its heaven-defying power. If this were a game, players wouldn't care about a side effect that was practically nonexistent and would even enthusiastically launch speedrun competitions. In reality, however, this side effect was truly fatal. Still, the difficulty of obtaining it couldn't be generalized. In the game, players would probably have a hell of a time acquiring an art of this level, whereas in reality, there were many shortcuts available.
Regarding cultivation arts, Su He, considering Leo Young's family background, had thought he might be desperate for revenge. He had specifically given him a word of advice: Su He would be the one to teach him in the future, progressing step-by-step. This was fine for a normal person, as most advanced cultivation arts required various common traits as prerequisites. This was why some advanced arts had a whole host of simplified preliminary versions, like the four-piece ancestral set for the Sect Masters of Zhenwu Mountain.
Flowing Cloud Mind Art → Taiji Mind Sutra → Zhenwu Taiji Divine Art → Martial Scripture.
These were perfectly tailored for the Zhenwu Mountain martial system. Once the common trait requirements were met, one would switch to the next book. This was the normal procedure for most martial artists.
However, since Leo Young could ignore a cultivation art's requirements, why would he need to follow this procedure?
As for what this might expose, what of it? The mysteries of the human body were infinite; who could explain them all? Zhenwu Mountain was a renowned and righteous sect; would they really be afraid of a disciple having some special talents?
Therefore, Leo Young's gaze lingered on the Mayfly's Reckless Life Scripture for only a moment before he looked away.
Following that, Leo Young began to wander through the Scripture Pavilion.
Zhenwu Mountain's collection contained approximately thirty thousand volumes. Of course, not all were martial arts manuals. Some were Daoist scriptures, others were miscellaneous studies like medicine, toxicology, and smithing—basically, anything that looked decent and had been confiscated from vanquished demonic sects was also placed here. The remainder, about six thousand volumes, were the actual martial arts manuals.
Among these, one hundred and sixty-two volumes had panels—meaning they were martial skills and cultivation arts explicitly 'created' for the game.
He didn't have time to go through the ones without panels one by one to see if they suited him. As for those with panels, how could he not be familiar with them?
Soon, Leo Young selected a scroll containing the cultivation art most suitable for him.
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