First, one thing must be made clear.
Leo Young's current request could only be described as ill-mannered and impolite, at worst a bit offensive, but it could not be called taboo.
If this were two strangers from the martial world, the damaging effect of his words would be no less than saying, 'Let me sleep with your wife.' But this was the Scripture Pavilion of Zhenwu Mountain, and Jiang Qiu was Leo Young's Martial Uncle. Therefore, the nature of the matter ended there; it was by no means enough to warrant any particularly serious accusations.
Even so, it still seemed very abrupt.
Although neither Jiang Qiu nor Perfected Master Zhou had ever said anything, the disciples of Zhenwu Mountain all understood that the manuals Jiang Qiu read were most likely given to him by Perfected Master Zhou and were considered private secrets. This sort of thing should be obvious without being said... and yet Leo Young actually just asked for it out loud?
It was simply far too capricious...
Jiang Qiu said slowly:
"...Can you understand it?"
In contrast to Jiang Qiu's slow speech, Leo Young's reply was quick and casual, as if he hadn't given it a thought:
"I can."
"But you haven't even read it yet?"
"No problem. I can definitely understand it. If it's me, I can do it."
"..."
Jiang Qiu fell silent. He didn't care about others' opinions, but even so, his mind couldn't help but flash with the potential consequences if Leo Young's words got out. Spoken on this occasion and in this situation, they were simply too arrogant.
For some sects, arrogance wasn't necessarily a bad thing. A martial artist's personality could influence the unique traits they acquired, and history's famous swordsmen and saber masters were often extremely self-centered individuals. But this was Zhenwu Mountain. A personality like Su Tianqing's still had to be tempered by Perfected Master Zhou forcing him into the Sect Master position, to say nothing of Leo Young's even more exaggerated case...
"Fine. Since you are so confident, then come and have a look."
Jiang Qiu's gaze was profound. He actually handed the Scroll of Innate Mysteries in his hands to Leo Young!
Leo Young didn't stand on ceremony. He reached out, took it, and plopped himself down right next to Jiang Qiu, then began to read as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
["So this is the Scroll of Innate Mysteries..."]
Leo Young's gaze swept over it. The supreme martial principles recorded within were profound and complex, far surpassing any martial art Leo Young had seen to date. But this Heavenly Tome was not merely profound.
On his end, Leo Young, using its cultivation formula supplemented by his world-shocking wisdom and intuition, vaguely captured some potential self-contradictions.
If one cultivated only a single Heavenly Tome, then this contradiction would not manifest. But if the subsequent Heavenly Tomes were also like this, these contradictions would erupt all at once, making each tome more difficult to cultivate than the last. Especially after the sixth one, the core principles of Internal Breath would intertwine, and the martial arts theories would be a case of the left brain fighting the right. If one did not possess heaven-defying ability, they would absolutely be unable to cultivate it.
After reading it through once, Leo Young, looking thoughtful, returned the Heavenly Tome to Jiang Qiu.
"How was it?"
Jiang Qiu took it and calmly asked. The Heavenly Tome of the Innate was not long; its language was refined, every word a gem, totaling just over eight hundred characters. It wouldn't be strange for a martial artist with a good memory to memorize it in one go—of course, it also wouldn't be strange to look it over and find your mind blank, not having remembered a single word.
Human memory has certain requirements for the logical structure of character combinations. For a passage of the same length, if the former is logical and the latter is a random arrangement of characters, it goes without saying that the former is easier to memorize. And the martial principles contained in the Heavenly Tome of the Innate were so profound and obscure that if one lacked a foundation, the brain would truly filter it out as a 'meaningless, random arrangement of characters'.
"It is indeed profound," Leo Young said with a smile. "No wonder Martial Uncle Jiang can't understand it."
"...You understand it?"
"Of course," Leo Young smiled. "But just understanding it is useless. If your cultivation level isn't there, you can't practice it. It's the same for you, Martial Uncle. Even if you learned it, I estimate you'd have a hard time mastering it... However, this is just my speculation. If you have any questions, you can come and ask me. Consider it my repayment for you lending me this book."
Putting aside for a moment whether this was arrogant or not, the line 'if you have any questions, you can come and ask me' wasn't a major issue in itself. Leo Young could indeed provide help.
The cultivation requirements listed for martial techniques and arts are not absolute rules. For instance, for someone with slightly lower Comprehension or martial aptitude, if an expert elder were to teach them meticulously, breaking down the mysteries and explaining them clearly, then even if the martial artist didn't fully meet the cultivation requirements, they could still begin to practice. It's just that their subsequent progress would be very rough, and their final experience multiplier might even drop to a few tenths or lower.
The master leads you through the door; cultivation is up to the individual.
...But then again, how could one possibly put Leo Young's words aside? Even if Leo Young genuinely just wanted to repay Jiang Qiu's kindness for lending him the book, who in the world would believe him?
"I do indeed have some areas I find difficult to understand." Jiang Qiu didn't get angry. In fact, he was actually going to ask Leo Young some questions. Expressionless, he slowly recited a core principle. "Do you know what this means?"
Leo Young raised an eyebrow slightly, because the passage Jiang Qiu recited was not from the Scroll of Innate Mysteries, but from a martial arts manual Leo Young had read... Moreover, the difficulty of explaining this core principle was by no means high. Forget Jiang Qiu; any ordinary Zhenwu disciple who had practiced for ten years could have answered it.
"Heh heh..." Leo Young chuckled, but still answered Jiang Qiu.
Following that, Jiang Qiu asked several consecutive questions, with the difficulty increasing from low to high. He was clearly testing Leo Young's level.
Leo Young's expression remained normal as he answered fluently. For a string of a dozen or so questions, neither the questioner nor the respondent paused for even a moment. They spoke so fast it was as if their mouths were borrowed.
"...Not bad." After asking a dozen or so questions, Jiang Qiu's pace slowed. He withdrew his gaze from Leo Young and said calmly, "You should have started practicing martial arts earlier. But it's not too late now. With talent like yours, it's never too late."
Few of the Zhenwu disciples present realized that this was the only time in their lives they would ever hear Jiang Qiu praise someone... It's worth mentioning that Su He would occasionally praise Leo Young's astonishing talent when chatting with his martial brothers and sisters, but it had little effect. The man's words were unreliable; one must know that when he went to Zhenwu Hall, even Su Tianqing, who was both his father and his master, had to doubt him, let alone the other Zhenwu disciples.
In contrast, this simple sentence from Jiang Qiu spread throughout the entirety of Zhenwu Mountain in just a single afternoon.
It could only be said that the weight of their words was on completely different levels.
"Heh heh, of course." Leo Young's gaze swept over the registration form as he asked casually, "No more questions?"
"Regarding this book," Jiang Qiu responded, "even if I really had questions, I would not be asking you."
"Haha, that's not wrong either."
Leo Young shrugged and left the Scripture Pavilion with a calm and composed stride, leaving behind a floor of dumbfounded Zhenwu Mountain disciples.
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