The Martial Unity

Ieyasu’s eyes widened as he experienced a devastatingly powerful offensive attack. Rui’s attack was much more powerful than anything he had ever struck him with in their previous battle.

The sheer amount of pressure that this new attack put on him was extraordinary.

BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM!!!

The collisions between their strongest offenses and defenses shook the world around them with the amount of power they radiated. Neither of them were specialized in defense or offense but their outputs were so great that even defensive and offensive high-grade Martial Artists could not help but marvel at just how remarkable their attacks and guards were. “Well, let’s put this to an end.” Rui smirked as he activated Hypertrophic Surge, causing his raw power to spike to extraordinary levels as he unleashed an astronomical attack of unprecedented power. And that was when it came.

A nameless attack.

One imbued with the power of chaos.

It struck whenever.

It struck wherever.

It struck without cause.

It struck without intent.

It struck without awareness.

It struck in defiance with the past.

It struck in defiance with the future.

An attack of chaos.

CLASP!

Ieyasu’s eyes widened with shock as Rui’s palm effortlessly caught the attack before it struck his jaw.

“To think I lost to such a weak attack…” Rui murmured as he glanced at the fist. “It pisses me off just thinking about it.”

Rui had not forgotten about the strike that had caused his defeat.

It had been an attack that completely bypassed the VOID algorithm and the SOUL System that he had been heavily dependent on. He had no idea how Ieyasu managed to obtain such an attack but one thing was extremely clear.

“This attack is useless against anyone that isn’t me,” he grumbled as his gaze returned to Ieyasu. “You wanted to beat me so bad that you found a technique that was absolutely antithetical to me and me alone at the cost of being almost entirely useless against other people.”

Rui had no idea yet how Ieyasu did it, but he relied on a myriad of esoteric principles that allowed his body to send neural impulses to his muscles from sources other than his brain at random intervals, or what appeared to be random intervals. Additionally, he ensured that it was a set of movements that entirely defied the patterns that comprised of his mind and brain.

This was a technique that was hyper-tailored to being antithetical to Rui alone because this would allow Ieyasu to bypass the SOUL System and the VOID algorithm. Of course, Rui could have just reacted to it normally, but in their battle it had come at a moment where he was extremely injured and exhausted, impeding his reaction time significantly.

However, in turn, it was weak because it exclusively relied on muscular power.

Rui knew there was a good chance that Ieyasu would use it again. Thus, he had already prepared a counter by simply not relying on the two systems of thought and relying more on the Forge of Creation.

However, he had yet to create a perfectly antithetical counter for this particular technique when he relied on the VOID algorithm and the SOUL System. And more importantly, the principles of chaos in general were a threat to the VOID algorithm and SOUL System.

Thus, it wasn’t enough to merely adaptively evolve to this particular attack either. He needed to learn more about chaos as a principle and a field and figure how to adaptively evolve against it.

He put it on the long list of things he was to do. Rui deactivated his Heart and Mind as he glanced at his hands. “Testing phase completed. Preliminary analysis reveals no systematic issue with the CREATION System. However, I have identified an avenue for improvement.”

He had noticed it during the battle, but there was a clear difference between muscle memory for the building blocks of the technique and the muscle memory for the technique itself. He didn’t have muscle memory for the brand-new sequence of actions that was the technique itself, even if he had plenty of muscle memory for the foundational building blocks.

However, as proven in his testing spar with Ieyasu, the end product was still extraordinarily effective even without it. He could negate entire fields effortlessly by just choosing the most antithetical technique possible.

“This is an upgrade that I will have to keep in mind in the future.”

All in all, this testing phase was extremely fruitful and successful. Rui had plenty of reason to be happy with the sheer magnitude of what he had accomplished. The fact that he could reach such supremely effective adaptive evolution without any of his other systems of thought or techniques was just an incredible achievement and a massive stride down his Martial Path.

He turned to Ieyasu with an appreciative nod. “Thanks for everything. Our agreement is complete, so let’s continue this another time. Bye.”

He unceremoniously concluded their spar mid-battle before heading away from the combat arena, leaving the spectators disappointed and Ieyasu grim with reckoning at the sheer amount of power that Rui had recently accrued.

Rui, on the other hand, was very eager to leave the manifold.

Only five months had passed outside, but nearly six years had passed inside. He had completely immersed himself in his training that he had been entirely separated from what was happening on the outside. For all he knew, human civilization might very well have been wiped out without his awareness. That was the reason that he looked forward to not only catching up with everything that had happened on the outside but also everyone that he had not spoken to in years. In addition, he was truly yearning to leave the Kandrian Empire by now, having finished the one and only reason that he was still remaining within its territories.

It was time to explore the length and breadth of the Panama Continent and experience everything that it had to offer to him and his Martial Art.

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