The Martial Unity

He was unperturbed by Rui’s meager attempts.

“Is that the best that you can do?” Master Kaijin narrowed his eyes. “You think you have the leeway to hold back?”

His expression flared with rage.

“Let’s see how long you can continue with that.”

WHOOSH!

With a single step, he arrived before Rui with devastating power and speed.

“Breathing Crucifix.”

The man froze as he choked, struggling to breathe.

BOOOM!!!

“Rgh…!” He grimaced as a thundering Yin-Yang Spear crashed into his abdomen, unguarded. Master Kaijin was shocked at the sheer amount of destructive power that Rui was able to impart in a single blow. He didn’t even understand where the power of the technique came from, considering how greatly it exceeded the visible momentum of his opponent’s body.

It was as though the technique was able to conjure up power out of nowhere.

“You’re right.” Rui’s calm and composed voice reached him. “I can’t afford to hold back much against you.”

A flash of determination flickered in his eyes.

“Hah!” Master Kaijin grinned. “Alright then, I’ll show you my full power!!”

His expression grew labored as he fought against Breathing Crucifix with all his might, barely able to activate a single breathing technique at all.

Ever since Rui broke through to the Master Realm, the hypnomatrix had become especially powerful due to the immense power of his mind. It could seal the breathing techniques of his opponents almost entirely, requiring them to struggle to use techniques that they would ordinarily be able to use effortlessly.

Yet, Master Kaijin’s eyes grew bloodshot as they began bleeding with effort. He pushed himself to the very limit, forcing his diaphragm to move with sheer will and determination.

The breathing technique he activated was special.

One that stirred the heavens.

“Heavenly Spear Style.” A whisper escaped him. “Convergence.”

Chills crawled across Rui’s skin as he leaped away at full speed, yet it was too late.

He had already been caught in his opponent’s domain.

BOOOM!!

A flood of air pushed him towards Master Kaijin. The sheer amount of force that pushed at him was so high that it beggared the imagination.

It was irresistible.

Master Kaijin grinned with anticipation as his domain refused to allow his opponents to escape him, pulling them to him against their will.

His domain was something he had constructed as a solution to ranged fighters and quick opponents who dodged his powerful palm jabs.

It created a steep pressure gradient from the exterior of the domain to the center, causing powerful wind currents to pull anybody within the field of his domain to him.

Once they were firmly within striking range, there was no escape from his grip.

“You’re dead!” he bellowed once Rui reached his striking range once more.

Master Kaijin’s body coiled as he drew even greater power than ever before as he stopped holding back. His palm jab brimmed with power as he prepared himself to kill his opponent with a single blow while his convergence domain refused to allow Rui to escape him.

“Die!” The powerful blow surged toward Rui at blinding speeds, threatening to blast a hole in him.

WHOOSH

Master Kaijin’s eyes widened as Rui evaded the attack despite being forced to remain within close quarters.

He gritted his teeth as he prepared another blow of devastating power and speed, re-activating Insightbreaker, a system of thought in his Martial Mind. The system of thought focused on defying his opponent’s expectations at the highest level, allowing him to overcome his opponent’s combat prowess with as little effort as possible.

It was what he had used to overcome Rui’s pattern recognition system.

Unfortunately for him, Rui’s Martial Mind had diversified a lot since then.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

His eyes widened as Rui evaded his blows despite the Insightbreaker working at full power. Not even the Convergence domain that forced Rui to stay within his striking range at all distances was enough for him to land a single blow on Rui.

WHOOSH

Rui calmly sidestepped a devastatingly powerful jab that threatened to take off his head.

Yet, as long as Master Kaijin couldn’t touch him, it didn’t matter.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH

Despite the pressure from the convergence domain refusing to let him step back, Rui still evaded each blow by a thin margin.

“Rgh…!” Master Kaijin struggled to maintain his domain under the shackles of Rui’s immensely powerful hypnosis. Yet it was as though maintaining this level of hypnosis was effortless.

“Why can’t I reach you?!” He gritted his teeth. WHOOSH!

Master Kaijin’s eyes widened as his attack crashed into an empty image.

A feint.

“I can see your SOUL.”

It was the last thing he heard before he died.

BOOOM!!!

An attack of extraordinary power struck his jaw, instantly knocking him out.

THUD

The domain ceased to exist as the man’s unconscious body fell.

CRACK!

Rui crushed his skull with little effort.

It was the second Martial Master he had killed in the battle.

“Hmph, I guess they weren’t wrong when they said you couldn’t evaluate a Master’s true power with instincts alone,” Rui muttered. “I didn’t think it was possible to overestimate them so much, though. What an idiot.”

Had Rui not been trying to preserve his stamina, he could have just used his own domain against him and peppered him with sound attacks. The domain, pulling everything in with fierce pressure, would accelerate the attacks, causing them to grow stronger and inflicting serious damage on him.

In other words, he would be able to use the man’s own power against him.

The only reason he went for a more time-consuming means of victory was because the Hypnomatrix and the SOUL System did not demand a lot of energy.

BOOOM!!!

Rui leaped away as several Sekigaharan Masters pounced on him the moment his battle ended.

“Tsk.” He tutted as he swiftly formed predictive models on them with the Angel of Laplace. “Goddamned numeric disadvantage.”

The Sekigaharans had more Martial Masters, which meant that they could choose to gang on any one or more Martial Masters.

And naturally, they chose Rui.

“Bring it on.” A fierce smile cracked at the edge of his mouth. “It’s time to grind for more experience.”

–