"A genius, truly a genius seen only once in a thousand years!"
After Li Guangye dragged Zhang Qingyuan to the sect leader's room and told them that Zhang Qingyuan had finished his secluded cultivation and successfully created a peerless cultivation method, Daoist Master Bright Mountain could not stop praising him.
Even the usually stern Daoist Master Bright Candle could not help smiling.
"Heaven has truly blessed our Daoist faith, sending us such a favored son of heaven. Martial Nephew Qingyuan has a promising future, and so does our Daoist faith!"
Heaven knew how miserable these Daoist leaders had been over the years, with the Buddhists constantly holding them down.
Though Daoism was a native religion, ever since Buddhism entered the Central Plains two thousand years ago, it had developed like bamboo shoots after rain, swiftly growing into a vast forest.
It had squeezed the space in which Daoism could survive ever smaller.
The struggle between Buddhism and Daoism had existed since ancient times and had never stopped.
Daoists might always speak of non-action, but whose heart did not harbor a pent-up breath of resentment?
Only five Daoist sects ranked on the list, while the Buddhists had seven.
Their foundations were much the same, but in influence, Buddhism had indeed pulled far ahead of Daoism.
And now the common people called Shaolin the greatest sect under heaven. What could Daoists do, however much they disagreed?
Ever since Patriarch Damo shook the world with his fame, Buddhism's prominence had continued unbroken to the present day.
Even when rulers of certain dynasties disliked monks and campaigns to eradicate Buddhism arose, it could swiftly rise again after the suppression ended.
Now Zhang Qingyuan, not yet twenty, had displayed such world-shaping talent in martial arts and Daoist cultivation. How could they not be excited?
He might not belong to the Taiyin Dao Palace, but what did that matter?
This was no time for disputes between Daoist sects. They needed to aim their weapons outward together. As long as he was a Daoist, who cared whose lineage he belonged to?
Seeing the Daoist masters' reactions, Zhang Qingyuan knew he had been right to make the Taiyin Dao Palace his first stop.
These elders' broad-mindedness truly commanded admiration.
After all, the world had no shortage of people who treasured their own worn-out brooms and envied others.
Had his first stop brought him before a petty sect leader rather than these men, receiving explanations of Daoist scriptures would have been out of the question. He would have been lucky not to be bullied.
"Martial Uncles, you flatter me. I'm nowhere near as good as you say." Zhang Qingyuan scratched his head, speaking the most pretentious words in the humblest tone.
Everyone caught the humblebrag in his voice, but rather than finding it distasteful, they appreciated it.
After all, how many young geniuses were not arrogant?
The present age's sword immortal, Li Qinglian, had been arrogant from childhood to adulthood. Compared to him, Zhang Qingyuan's behavior was nothing.
Tears glimmered in Daoist Master Bright Heart's eyes. "Martial Nephew Qingyuan, there's no need for modesty. The last time our Daoist faith shook the world with its fame was over a thousand years ago, when Patriarch Pure Yang was still alive.
"I imagine Patriarch Pure Yang was much like you back then."
Reminiscence and yearning appeared in everyone's eyes.
Zhang Qingyuan sighed as well. Over a thousand years ago, Daoism had been at its lowest ebb.
It was then that Patriarch Pure Yang emerged among the Daoists. He began cultivating the Dao at seven, practicing the sword at ten, entered the martial world at twenty, became the strongest under heaven at twenty-seven, and withdrew from the martial world at forty to establish the Pure Yang Sect, leaving Daoism countless scriptures, classical texts, ideas, and martial arts.
But later, Pure Yang declined as well. Although all Daoist sects under heaven revered Pure Yang's ideas as classics, his martial arts had not been passed down.
There was no other reason than that Patriarch Pure Yang's talent was too great-so great that ordinary people could not emulate him.
Only he himself could master all the martial arts manuals he left behind. His other disciples could spend their entire lives mastering only one or two.
It was the same principle as the greatest scientists: after their deaths, ordinary people could gaze up at their inventions and theories, yet could not learn them.
Countless Daoist cultivators had inherited the Pure Yang lineage, but no sect or temple that inherited the Pure Yang Palace's lineage could regain Patriarch Pure Yang's glory.
On Mount Jiuhua, the Pure Yang Daoist Sect the patriarch left behind still existed, but it was now merely a pilgrimage site for Daoists throughout the world. The Pure Yang Daoist Sect could not even squeeze into the five great Daoist sects under heaven.
It stood there now only on the strength of its ancestral glory, scraping out an existence.
Its lofty standing came from the Pure Yang lineage, Patriarch Pure Yang's ideas and theories, and the scriptures and classical texts he left behind. Judged solely by martial arts, it did not even qualify as second-rate.
All one could say was that the gulf in attainment between geniuses and ordinary people was far more than a little.
Zhang Qingyuan was thrilled. Being compared with Patriarch Pure Yang made even someone as thick-skinned as him blush a little.
"No, no, no, Martial Uncle Bright Heart, you're embarrassing me with all this praise. I'm nowhere near as good as you say."
"Boy, don't celebrate too soon. Since ancient times, no small number of geniuses have bloomed like flowers that last only a night. Few have made it to the end.
"Keep at it. I'd like to see just how far you can go!" Daoist Master Bright Candle delivered a sharp wake-up call.
"Your admonition is right, Martial Uncle."
Zhang Qingyuan accepted it. He was right, too.
There had been countless geniuses since ancient times, yet exceedingly few truly left a name that endured for a hundred generations.
There were many reasons. Some became conceited and stopped working hard later on.
Some were boundlessly arrogant and died along the way.
Others fell onto the demonic path and were attacked by everyone.
In short, no one knew whether success or the unexpected would arrive first.
Sect Leader Bright Moon had remained silent, carefully examining the Mystic Yin Manual. By the time he reached the end, he was nodding repeatedly.
"If this martial art entered the martial world, it would surely unleash a struggle-a rain of blood and a wind reeking of slaughter."
"Surely it wouldn't go that far?"
"Heh, why wouldn't it? You can't be unaware of its value. In my view, it's worth no less than our Taiyin Radiance Heart Method. There's even a sense that the two reach the same destination by different paths."
"You're right, Martial Uncle."
It had been created with reference to their Taiyin Dao Palace's secret manuals and Daoist ideas in the first place. Of course there would be similarities.
Zhang Qingyuan bowed slightly and said frankly, "Martial Uncles, if you don't consider the cultivation method I created too inferior, I'd like to make a copy of this Mystic Yin Manual and give it to you."
Everyone was greatly surprised by these words.
Li Guangye, who had stood silently to one side all this time, stared at him with wide eyes and said excitedly, "Qingyuan, you..."
"Are you serious?" Daoist Master Bright Moon asked.
Zhang Qingyuan nodded. "After all, this internal cultivation method was created based on the ideas of our Taiyin lineage. Besides, over these past few months, I've received plenty of guidance and care from you, Martial Uncles. Without the Taiyin Dao Palace, this martial art wouldn't exist, so I believe I ought to share it."
"Qingyuan... I wasn't wrong about you!" Bright Mountain's fondness for Zhang Qingyuan was all but written across his face.
Zhang Qingyuan smiled, as unruffled as drifting clouds in a light breeze.
In the martial world, a martial arts manual could draw countless people into a scramble for it. Fierce battles and the extermination of entire households happened from time to time.
In The Legend of the Condor Heroes, everyone fought over the Nine Yin Manual. In The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, a single Bixie Sword Manual made the Mount Qingcheng Sect and the Mount Hua Sect exhaust their schemes, and even the Lin Household was wiped out. That showed how precious secret manuals were.
Was the Mystic Yin Manual good?
It certainly was.
Was it precious?
Very precious, too.
But to Zhang Qingyuan, was this even an issue?
It was no issue at all!
He now had Zhang Sanfeng's talent template, after all.
Old Zhang was someone who had founded the greatest Daoist sect under heaven and created countless Wudang martial arts with only half of the Nine Yang Divine Skill.
If he wanted to create martial arts, he could now draw on Taiyin ideas to imitate a few more manuals largely similar to the Mystic Yin Manual and no worse than it.
Only the weak would enshrine a single martial art as a classic and cling to it for dear life.
The strong never complained about their circumstances.
Had anyone ever seen Zhang Sanfeng steal another sect's martial arts?
Tch!
If I want it, I can create it myself.
Besides, this was sharing, not giving it away to them.
Trading a martial arts manual useless to him for the unwavering friendship of the Taiyin Dao Palace, one of the five great Daoist sects of the age, was more than worth it.
Yes, Zhang Qingyuan had no use for this internal cultivation method.
His main practice now was the Yin-Yang Limitless Art, and the Mystic Yin Manual absolutely could not compare to it.
Practicing the Mystic Yin Manual a little would merely give him another strand of True Qi. He was not stupid. How could he possibly abandon the Yin-Yang Limitless Art to switch to something else?
That would be throwing away a watermelon to pick up a sesame seed.
"Qingyuan, you possess such great talent and such breadth of mind. Whatever you encounter in the martial world in the future, you need only say the word. Our Taiyin Dao Palace will stand behind you and do everything in our power to safeguard your journey."
Daoist Master Bright Moon's words meant he had accepted it, and also meant Zhang Qingyuan now had someone backing him.
Zhang Qingyuan formed hand seals and said, "Thank you, Martial Uncle Bright Moon!"
Daoist Master Bright Moon handed the manual to Li Guangye and told him, "Copy it out tonight and put it on the top floor of the scripture repository, to the right of the Taiyin Mystic Understanding Manual."
"Yes, Master!"
Indeed, the Taiyin Radiance Heart Sutra was not the Taiyin Dao Palace's only internal cultivation method.
What major sect had only one respectable cultivation method to its name?
The Taiyin Heart Method was the introductory internal cultivation method, practiced by all disciples who had just come up the mountain.
The Taiyin Radiance Heart Sutra was a top-tier martial art, practiced by direct disciples of the inner sect.
And the highest-tier Taiyin Mystic Understanding Manual was what the elders and sect leader practiced.
The three internal cultivation methods complemented one another and formed a progression, so switching between them did not require dispersing one's cultivation and starting over.
"Wait, leave it with me for now." Daoist Master Bright Moon took it back again.
"I've suddenly had an inspiration. A few of the sequences for circulating internal power in here could actually be altered to follow cultivation routes closer to the Taiyin Heart Method. That way, when disciples choose to practice this method in the future, there won't be any incompatibility."
"Excellent. A wise decision, Senior Brother," Bright Candle said.
Zhang Qingyuan joked as well, "Since it'll be different, why not change the name while you're at it and add a few words?"
"Oh?"
Everyone looked at him, and Zhang Qingyuan said, "Add Taiyin at the beginning!"
"Hahaha..."
Just as everyone happily reached an agreement, the door was suddenly pushed open, and two young disciples charged in with swords in hand.
Pointing their swords at Zhang Qingyuan, they cursed, "You heretical Daoist! Where do you think you're running?"