Early-Game Martial Arts Picks for The Scroll of Taiwu

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The early-game trap in The Scroll of Taiwu is not “my manuals are too low rank.” It is spending skill slots on manuals that look strong on paper but never actually perform. Books below sixth rank are everywhere; what actually decides whether your first thirty hours feel smooth — whether you survive the Monkey King and your first Sword Tomb — is usually a handful of low-rank techniques with clear effects and the right orthodox/reverse choice.

This guide covers opening through fourth-rank builds. For main inner arts, reading flow, and adoptive-father dialogue, start with our New Player Essentials. Here the question is narrower: slots are limited — what should you learn first?

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Three rules before you pick anything

1. Read the effect text, not the rank. Many lower-third-rank orthodox/reverse bonuses matter more than upper-third-rank stat padding. When you get a book, flip to the red pages and read both training directions before you break through.
2. Slots beat collection size. After Peiran Manual expands your bar, destruction and ultimate slots usually pay off more than protect-body. Low-rank protect-body manuals are weak as mains — fine as passives, not worth centering your build around.
3. Do not swap weapon lines for one destruction art. Even a great destruction manual is not worth training a weapon type you will abandon. Match picks to your current weapon and sect route.

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Movement skills: highest early return

I put movement first — not because it deals damage, but because distance and positioning decide whether you can cast destruction skills and whether you live long enough to finish reading.

Flying Needle Shuttle Technique (神·7th rank)

If I could recommend only one early movement skill, it would be Flying Needle.

Orthodox training is blunt and effective: with enough movement distance, the mobility stays relevant deep into the run. Many casual players find it easier to live with than several upper-third-rank light skills. Weaknesses are equally clear:

• Drop movement distance below 1 and the skill stops working — heal left-leg internal injury promptly;
• Some counters specifically punish displacement — you learn those opponents the hard way;
• Running only Flying Needle skips a lot of fun builds, but it is efficient if you just want progress.

Snap-Kick Earth-Shrink (神·9th rank)

Ask at Emei — cost is trivial. More micro-heavy than Flying Needle, higher ceiling — veterans sometimes call it “more perfect than Flying Needle,” at the price of more liver damage. Alternate between the two if one style burns you out.

Other lower-third-rank movement skills exist, but these two dominate enough that listing the rest adds little. Detour through Emei early and pick up Snap-Kick; extra tools rarely hurt.

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Protect-body: weak early, fine as passives

Of the four martial categories, protect-body is probably the worst served by low ranks — almost nothing low-rank both spikes power and stays relevant mid-to-late game. I do not recommend building around the main protect-body slot in your first run.

Books are cheap and easy to request, though — learn a few and leave them equipped as passives:

In v1.0, Water-Fire Hard Qi Method (下·9th) orthodox training gives steady protect-body / protect-qi reduction and works as a general early defensive pick. You can run it alongside the passives above — still keep your main slots biased toward destruction or ultimate.

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Ultimate skills: endless combos, a few reliable picks

There is no single mandatory ultimate. Combinations explode. The one universal rule: read orthodox and reverse text carefully — most “why isn’t my skill working?” posts come from training the wrong direction.

These low-rank ultimates still make my shortlist on repeat runs:

Thirty-Six Hands Easy Needle Method (绝·9th)

Rare all-rounder. “Higher success rate” is actually ×1.33. Fits many routes; community feedback is consistently positive.

Ice Pure and Jade Clean (神·9th)

Scales with Charm. Stack enough Charm and the attack/movement speed debuff is absurd — some players think the rank label is wrong. Skip on average-Charm characters; plan around it for Xuannü or non-human routes.

Wrath Aspect Skill (超·9th)

Roughly +20% damage, up to 50% proc rate. Less stable than Ice Pure, but no Charm gate — useful when Charm is bad or you inherit a non-human heir.

Four-Finger Green Salve (密·9th)

Extra heal opportunity — effectively fewer potion slots. Strong when resources are tight.

Soldier Hears, Clumsy Speed (神·8th)

Brawler-core. Worth two slots if you keep missing — and oddly stronger on higher difficulties once you try it.

Armor-Breaking True Steel Fourteen Chapters (神·7th)

Worth equipping even as a passive. Orthodox: weapon armor break and toughness. Reverse pairs with leg techniques and scavenged weapons — good if you do not want to invest in forging. Weak on internal-damage routes; orthodox wants high armor-break weapons.

Bone-Cutting Dissection / Chaotic Needle Wrong Acupoint (绝·7th / 绝·6th)

Both need flaw tiers, heavy injury, and skill damage literacy. Release injury has four stages: tier-1 flaw → tier-2 → tier-3 → permanent wound. Early fights often stall at tier-1; Bone-Cutting raises effective damage a tier. Study how to land heavy injury before committing.

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Destruction: strong, but not worth a weapon swap

Destruction comes last for two reasons: effect numbers have been rebalanced before — treat tables as orientation; and no destruction manual justifies a whole new weapon line.

Pick your main weapon first, then shop from the lists below.

Low-rank destruction worth maining

Niche or fun picks

• Groin-Lifting Leg (上·9th), Cuckoo Pecks Spider Form (上·7th): weak damage, fastest casts — memes welcome.
• Lion Phase Ground-Rolling Saber, Fall-Strike Plum Mountain Curse (中·9th): route-dependent.

One-slot hit-rate passives

Among single-slot destruction manuals, Ghost Butcher Blade Method (秘·5th) adds the most hit rate, then Parting Clutch Finger (秘·5th), then Killing Sword (极·5th) — the last two also fight fine, not just jewelry.

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Inner-art passives: hidden reading speed

Which manual owns your main inner slot ties heavily to birth month and target sect — out of scope here. But off-slot insight boosters are huge early:

• Spirit-Gathering Method (秘·5th)
• Spirit Awakening Skill, Thousand Hammers Hundred Refinements Chapter, and other strange 6th-rank insight inners
• Some divine 1st-rank insight inners (late acquisition — know the route exists)

Stacked passives can reach roughly +150 base Insight or +150% Insight expression — reading time gaps are massive. If you have empty off-slots, ask sects for insight manuals before grabbing another 9th-rank destruction book.

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Sect ultimates cheat sheet (orthodox vs reverse)

Low-cost requests with clear effects — good for ultimate or off slots:

Sword Forge sword arts generally reverse well. On Soul-Tribute Might routes, more reverse attributes → more damage — low-rank swords can scale late.

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A low-maintenance v1.0 loadout

No single correct answer, but if you want minimal churn through the first Sword Tomb:

You should not need full rebuilds for the first three tombs. Replace main inner and core destruction once fourth-rank books land.

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First-week mistakes

1. Rank without orthodox/reverse — reverse Baihua ultimates are different skills, not “worse orthodox.”
2. Five protect-body slots — early ROI usually loses to destruction + ultimate.
3. Eye-Poke forces a finger build — strong, but if you main sword, sword destruction saves time.
4. Ignoring Flying Needle left-leg injury — no distance, no movement skill.
5. Skipping insight passives — one insight off-slot beats another 9th-rank destruction long term.

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What to read next

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Patches tweak numbers and effects. If anything here conflicts with in-game text, trust the game.