The Martial Unity

When Rui woke up, he knew exactly what had happened.

He would normally be momentarily lost and confused after waking up from a long nap, but this time he had complete clarity on his circumstances and situation.

“I’m so fucked,” he groaned. “They’re going to flay me alive.”

And they wouldn’t be entirely unjustified, either.

He had messed up.

He had messed up big time.

In his defense, he hadn’t the faintest idea that such a thing would happen.

However, when he had finished conditioning his blood-brain barrier to the very limit and had activated the Gigabrain technique in excitement, he had simply lost control.

It was as though his conscious mind had simply lost control of the steering wheel.

“No, it was deeper than that,” Rui murmured. “It was as though even my conscious mind was cooperating. It was one of the deepest trances I have ever been in my entire life.”

In that moment, he had just felt the urge to adaptively evolve.

He had felt the urge to Be Water.

He had felt the urge to embody and fulfill his Martial Path.

And thus, he had simply found the closest target to fulfill his urge against.

That had just so happened to be Sage Himari.

That was all that had happened. When activating Gigabrain, he had simply been turned into an adaptive evolution madman.

A Water machine.

He had ended up assaulting an entire population with his Martial Embodiment, something that was a war crime, according to the Panamic Martial Federation. He had also ended up attacking a Martial Sage who had been sent to suppress him.

He was in so much trouble.

And yet…

“I would do it all over again…” He grinned with immense excitement. “That has to be one of the most awesome things I have ever done! So much Water!”

He could have never even begun to fathom that the Gigabrain technique would have allowed him to fight a Martial Sage head on. He could have never even imagined that it would not only allow him to fight a Martial Sage head on, but all that it would have allowed him to even gain an advantage against her.

For the first time in his life, he has successfully bridged the gap between Realms with his own power without any aid or asterisk to the feat.

With each Realm he passed through, he had bridged the gap between Realms better and better. With each technique he developed, with each system of techniques or system of thought he developed, he grew better able to bridge the gap between Realms.

It had started with the VOID algorithm all the way back when he had merely been an explorer student and he had been able to use the more elementary systems within the VOID algorithm to gain an edge over his peers.

After he had broken through to the Apprentice Realm and mastered the Mind Palace technique, it had allowed him to finally make use of the pattern recognition system. In the Squire Realm, he had created the Metabody System that allowed him to draw out the full potential of his Body for his Martial Path, facilitating his breakthrough to the Senior Realm. From there on, each additional system had increased how divergent his power was relative to his peers. The Hypnomatrix, the Yggdrasil System and the Angel of Laplace, the SOUL System and the Tree of Life had all been created when he had been a Martial Senior, and they had allowed him to surpass his peers and the limits of his Realm far more than he ever could in the past.

And then came the Master Realm and its further additions to his power with an upgrade to the Metabody System with the Yin-Yang Spear, Megamind, and especially the Forge of Creation, and now the Gigabrain technique.

All of these systems and techniques were each extremely powerful by themselves.

All of them were truly extraordinary even by themselves.

Together, they yielded an astronomical amount of power.

Together, they allowed him to overcome the colossal gulf of power that existed between Realms.

It was deeply validating.

So much so that Rui truly couldn’t be bothered by the devastating political consequences of his actions.

It was deeply validating to know that thirty seven years cultivating his Martial Art had allowed him to accomplish this extraordinary feat, once thought to be absolutely impossible.

A deep sense of excitement and motivation filled him as he looked forward to cultivating even more Adaptive Evolution.

His attention shifted more specifically to his latest development, the Gigabrain.

Its power truly exceeded his wildest expectations and yet, the same could be said for its consequences.

The sheer amount of power that the brain received appeared to have the indirect negative consequences of self-hypnosis.

Normally, self-hypnosis required a lot of effort, even for Rui. And yet, when he had entered the Gigabrain technique, he had spontaneously self-hypnotized with the sheer power of his thoughts. From the looks of it, the self-hypnosis had been centered around the one matter that consumed most of his mind: his Martial Path.

“When using the Gigabrain technique, it’s almost as if…” A faint murmur escaped him. “Almost as if my Martial Path takes over.”

It was truly an astounding claim that was nonsensical on its face.

And yet, Rui couldn’t help but believe that the persona who had assumed control during the hypnosis was the person he truly was.

Just observing himself in Gigabrain mode felt like it could potentially accelerate him to the Sage Realm with the insights he gained into the core of who he was that was normally hidden deep inside, having only temporarily come out during the trance.

“Damn, I have no way of confirming that, either,” he cursed with a hint of frustration.

Only time would tell. He would surely know the answer if he broke through to the Sage Realm.

But if he was right, then it truly begged the question.

“What is the Martial Path?”

It was a question he had asked many times, but he had no idea. It certainly appeared to be the case that nobody else understood what it actually was.

CLACK

The sliding doors in his compartment opened as a maid entered, bowing to him.

“Prince Rui, the clan leaders have sent for an urgent summon for you.”