Among those floating tomes, their ranks varied, and the same was true for those that remained utterly still. In other words, the function of the brick was not related to rank.

As he thought of this, a word suddenly popped into his mind: fate!

Those that remained unmoved—his fate with them had not yet arrived.

He wandered through the military classics archive, and before he knew it, he had walked into a certain area. At the very center of this area stood an ancient bronze long table, upon which a bookshelf, cast from a mixture of gold and silver, was placed in a most distinguished manner, displaying a scroll of jade slips.

The slips were two fingers wide, all made from the finest white jade, so smooth and lustrous that it gave the illusion that grabbing it would feel like a handful of mutton fat.

Binding these slips together was a golden cord woven from nine strands of gold thread. Just from these external features, it was clear that this scroll of jade slips was an extremely precious tome in the entire military classics archive!

And from Edward Howard's memories, this was indeed the case.

This jade slip book was a first-grade martial art, "True Scripture of the Northern Wastes." Back in the day, Samuel Howard relied on this top-tier martial art to become the number one general of the Great Xia Dynasty, establishing himself as a top-tier powerhouse at the second-grade "Opening Spirit" level!

On the Qingyuan Continent, martial artists were ranked from ninth to first grade, but below the ninth grade were countless unranked martial artists.

Those who only practiced martial techniques but had not yet condensed martial qi were all classified as unranked. Although there were vast differences in strength among the unranked, no one was interested in further subdividing their levels.

Corresponding to the nine grades of martial artists, martial arts techniques were also divided into nine grades. The evaluation of a technique was based on its "potential"—that is, only by cultivating a first-grade technique could one possibly reach the first-grade "Unity of Truth" realm. However, cultivating a first-grade technique did not guarantee reaching that realm.

But if you only practiced a second-grade technique, then the possibility of stepping into the first-grade "Unity of Truth" was almost completely cut off.

Edward Howard reached out and picked up the jade slip book, unable to resist caressing it. Such exquisite jade truly felt wonderful in the hand. He gently unrolled it, and rows of ancient characters leapt before his eyes, expounding a profound and vast martial philosophy.

The current Edward Howard was no longer that prodigal, foolish wastrel. He had rushed into the military classics archive not to steal martial arts to sell for money, but because he genuinely wanted to see these precious things that allowed the The Howard Family to establish themselves.

Line by line, as Edward Howard read, his head began to spin. He came from a technologically advanced world where tradition had faded, and he knew nothing of the basic martial principles, acupoints, and meridians described in these tomes.

For example, those acupoints and meridians—he might know their names, but as for their exact locations and functions, he was completely in the dark.

After reading for a while, Edward Howard was already dizzy and disoriented, shaking his head with a bitter smile. He reached out and touched the hard brick in his bosom, which gave him a bit of confidence.

Just as he was about to take out the brick, a furious roar came from outside: "You little bastard, get out here right now!"

Edward Howard was startled—that was "Grandfather's" voice.

The two massive black iron doors of the military classics archive rumbled open. Samuel Howard's tall figure appeared at the entrance. Even at home, the broad, heavy "Sun-Stealing Saber" at his waist never left his side. At this moment, Grandfather's beard and hair bristled, his eyes glared with fury, and his hand rested on his war blade. An aura of authority surged forth like a flood, like a mountain, crashing down in an instant and making it hard for Edward Howard to breathe. His already frail body nearly collapsed under the pressure!

Grandfather was truly enraged, completely disregarding the feelings of others. The two third-grade "Manifest Saints" who entered with Samuel Howard couldn't help but take a step back. Behind them, Charles Howard and Grace Howard retreated more than a dozen steps to avoid Grandfather's oppressive aura. Charles Howard, seeing Edward Howard standing directly opposite Grandfather, couldn't help but shout, "Grandfather, Second Brother can't take it—"

Just as Edward Howard was about to collapse to the ground, in some unknown acupoint within his body, the novice monk's dharma image suddenly moved its lips slightly, as if faint Buddhist chants could be heard. Threads of golden light drifted from his mouth, circulating throughout Edward Howard's body.

Edward Howard immediately felt the pressure lighten and his breathing became smooth. Thus, he stood tall before his awe-inspiring, mighty general of a grandfather, as straight as an ancient pine!

Samuel Howard's face remained angry, but inwardly he was a bit surprised.

This grandson was always so useless—whenever he saw him, it was like a mouse seeing a cat. But today, in the face of his own fury, with his second-grade "Opening Spirit" cultivation erupting and the murderous aura honed through thousands of battles surging forth, he expected this grandson to either wet himself in terror or collapse on the spot.

Back in the day, the old general had once, during a campaign gone awry, shocked thirty thousand troops with a single outburst of anger!

Even those battle-hardened veterans couldn't withstand Samuel Howard's might—how could a useless, foolish wastrel like Edward Howard?

Yet today, Edward Howard stood tall before him, his eyes no longer filled with their usual cowardice, but instead showing a trace of guilt and stubbornness!

Samuel Howard had no need for guilt—the The Howard Family was a family of generals, and generals did not believe in tears, only in achievements! Edward Howard did not need to answer for his past actions, but he must repay them with his best achievements in the future!