The Martial Unity

The news of Emperor Rael’s return shook the ruling class of human civilization. The entire world reacted as innumerable statements from all ruling polities converged from around the continent.

[The Republic of Gorteau condemns Emperor Rael for his fascist regime. In the past three centuries, the Kandrian Empire has suffered at the hands of a power-hungry madman. His unfortunate recovery is a threat to democracy…]

[The Commonwealth Duchy of Vinfrana offers its sincere congratulations to the Emperor of Harmony for his recovery…]

[The Kingdom of Violis celebrates the return of the Emperor of Harmony…]

It only intensified as it captured the interest of everybody.

Well, almost everybody.

FSSS…

A pair of enormous, heavily-bolstered doors opened, letting out a cloud of smoke.

A medical team waited on standby as a masculine silhouette emerged from it.

“…How do you feel, Your Highness?” a doctor asked.

Rui gazed at his hands, clenching his fists. “…Like I can fight forever.” The doctor smiled at those words. “It’s not unusual to feel that way, but please keep in mind that it is merely euphoria. Due to the stamina boost varying from person to person, we strongly recommend that you test it out in training rigorously before entering the field.”

Rui nodded. “Will keep that in mind.”

He had undergone two procedures in rapid succession. The first procedure was the life-prolonging procedure, where he consumed a longevity potion. The second was the Sandflower Nectar Potion, enhancing his stamina significantly.

The former was to prolong his prime as much as possible. He didn’t do it before because he hadn’t entered his absolute prime. But now, however, he had entered his prime phase. Thus, he immediately arranged for and consumed an extremely potent longevity potion.

This way, he could prolong his phase of rapid growth even more than the prodigiously early breakthrough to the Senior Realm did.

Thus, for him, consuming a longevity potion was more for his growth as a Martial Artist than it was in desire for more life.

In addition, it would ensure that his Martial Body would grow much quicker than his peers due to the fact that he had severely slowed down his aging.

Martial Bodies possessed an evolved capacity to grow stronger in response to stress, far greater than that of the human body. So much so that the growth due to the naturally responsive evolution of the body outpaced the decline due to age, which was why elder Martial Artists only grew stronger even if they no longer retained their youthful energy.

Yet, their growth was despite their old age. Rui’s Martial Body would reach much greater heights than others quicker, even after years and even decades.

That was what truly excited him.

All his life, his lack of accumulation had been the reason that he fell behind older Martial Artists, and now, he had solved that problem in the long run.

However, in the short term, the stamina potion mitigated the gap between him and centuries-old Martial Artists.

In addition, the boost from the Divine Doctor had also made noticeable improvements to his Martial Body. Step by step, he was making significant progress in mitigating the weakness of his Body.

‘However, it’s not important enough to just consume potions. I need to ensure that I make the most of it.’ Rui grew engrossed in thought. For now, however, he looked forward to measuring his newfound power after the stamina boost.

And, naturally, if he was going to measure his new combat level, he might as well get it measured objectively and officiously.

That was why he had already arranged for an evaluation exam ahead of time, scheduling it right after he finished his procedures.

He immediately headed to the Daracol base up north for Martial Artists.

He could sense numerous Martial Masters waiting in the base, yet his evaluation of them was limited and hazy. Not that that even mattered anymore.

He had already experienced that Masters were inscrutable and complex beings that could not be evaluated by one’s gaze alone.

This time, he could not sense as many Martial Masters as last time.

He had fought two battles, which gave them enough to satisfy their curiosity.

In addition, this time, he missed the presence of his Martial Master friends. None of them were around this time, which was hardly strange.

They were Martial Masters.

Their time was valuable.

Half of them were probably outside the nation, completing important operations for the Martial Union.

Martial Masters like Master Aronian were busy guiding the Martial Artists of tomorrow.

Martial Masters like Master Vericita led an entire Martial Clan.

They cared about him, but they did not live for him.

That was all fine by him, of course. He had come for one purpose: to gain an accurate understanding of exactly how strong he was. STEP

They were already there.

“Master Rui.”

Six Martial Masters stood before him.

Each had a radically different Martial Body, indicating a drastically different Martial Path.

The Tree of Life provided further insights into their Martial Bodies by allowing him to see exactly what kind of environment would be perfectly antithetical to their Martial Bodies. It gave him a better understanding of who he was dealing with.

“Masters,” Rui greeted them with respect. “We are the Martial Masters who will be testing your caliber as a Martial Master,” the one in the center remarked. “You will face all of us in combat, and the track record will be used in gauging whether you are of the same grade as us.”

“…I thought that grades were supposed to be computed after a large number?” Rui inquired, raising an eyebrow. Though, he had already surmised the reason.

“In theory, you are entirely correct. In practice,. hHowever, it is utterly impractical to round up all Martial Masters for a lengthy set of battles. While this was easy enough to do back in the day when there were only a handful of Martial Masters, it is no longer practical. Thus, we make do with what we have at any given moment…”

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