The Martial Unity

Rui grew curious at her words, following her about as she guided him to a particular region. A valley.

One where countless people meditated.

The closer they got, the more Rui realized that the region was special. Even with his enhanced senses, he couldn’t hear a single thing.

The entire region was muted.

“This…”

“It’s due to a special plant species that grows there,” Maitreyi Bodhisattva informed him. “We isolate sound to minimize sensory stimulation distraction. Something similar happens with all the senses until the only thing left to focus on is one’s self. We serve them only the freshest and most healthiest of food with detoxing agents as they begin a long process of inner purification.”

“Inner purification?” Rui raised an eyebrow.

“They lose material greed and worldly attachment,” she answered nonchalantly. “Under these circumstances, the body and mind heal, reaching a state of immense peace without depending on their vices. We detox not just their body, but also their entire life from the poisons that they have consumed their entire lives.”

Rui returned his gaze back to the valley with a hint of curiosity. “Does this actually work? They achieve this so-called inner peace?”

“Not quite yet,” Bodhisattva Maitreyi shook her head. “Inner purification is merely the first step and also the bare minimum that one needs to do in order to be accepted as a member of the Gen Temple.”

“So, every single person in this nation has undergone inner purification?” Rui swept his gaze across the rest of the Gen Temple. “That’s… incredible.”

“It is indeed a miracle, but it is a miracle that is possible with the path of Genism,” she informed him. “Well, are you interested?”

“Hm?”

“In inner purification?” she gestured at the valley. “It can help you in your quest for Nirvana.” Rui fell into thought. “…Does Martial ambition count as worldly pleasure?”

“That depends on your ambition,” she remarked.

“…Will this training help me get to the Sage Realm?”

She smiled at his words. “What do you think our Bodhisattva breakthrough rate is?”

“Normally, I would say ten percent, as is the case for Sage-level powerhouses,” Rui replied. “But based on the way you asked that question, I’m guessing it’s more. Maybe twelve percent? That alone would be quite impressive.”

“Twenty percent.”

Rui did a double-take. “Wait, what?!”

“Our Masters have a twenty percent chance of breaking through and achieving Nirvana,” she reiterated. “In other words, if you live here, you will have a much higher chance of breaking through to the Bodhisattva Realm.”

Rui stared at her. “That’s twice the breakthrough rate!”

She smiled at him. “Indeed.”

“Wait, does that mean you have twice the number of Sages as ordinary powerhouses?!” She heaved a sigh, shaking her head. “Unfortunately not. While our Bodhisattva breakthrough rate is twice as high, our Senior and Master breakthrough rates are twenty-five percent lower than the norm for Sage-level powerhouses. This means that the number of Bodhisattva we have is not too much higher than the average for Sage-level powerhouses at about seventeen Bodhisattvas.”

Rui’s sharp mind immediately deduced the reason for this outcome. “It’s precisely because of the inner purification process, isn’t it? It gets rid of baser urges, worldly pleasures, and material greed, which means that those things can no longer serve as Martial drives. This, in turn, means that people who have undergone the purification process have less drive, which is needed to activate the Martial Heart and Mind.”

“That is astute of you,” she nodded with appreciation. “You have instantly understood exactly what was happening. Indeed, around the world, greed for money and sexual and power lust constitute a significant portion of the Martial drive of Martial Artists around the world. But here in the Gen Temple, we have purified people’s minds of such filth. But the unfortunate consequence is that some people lose their drive to pursue their Martial Path.”

Rui nodded as he grew immersed in the thought of the fascinating matter. “Desire, no matter how impure it is, is the driving force in human beings. The more you get rid of it, the more you get rid of the very drive that fuels one forward. It is no wonder that this affects the Senior and Master Realm, which need particularly intense drives to discover the Martial Heart and the Martial Mind.”

Rui couldn’t help but think of Master Zeamer.

If that man was born in the Gen Temple, he would have never become a Martial Master or Senior. His entire drive was driven by his insatiable lust for women, after all. If that degeneracy was exorcised from him, he would have no drive to become a Martial Artist whatsoever.

Hell, he might very well die on the spot!

“Indeed,” the Bodhisattva closed her eyes. “People pursue their Martial Path to fulfill their desire, no matter how impure they are. Inner purification seeks to erase much of the drive, the impure portions of it. But that inevitably means that we will have fewer Martial Artists in the Senior and Master Realm. This is a dilemma that has truly proven to be difficult.” “However, the fact that your Senior and Master breakthrough rates are only twenty-five percent lower than the Sage-level powerhouse average means that you have partially solved this problem,” Rui realized. “Because it would be much lower. The impure desires that you exorcise are a dominant portion of people’s drive around the world. If you got rid of it elsewhere, there would be way more than just a twenty-five percent drop. It would be more like only twenty-five percent of Martial Artists would still be Martial Artists with seventy- five percent of Martial Artists entirely without the drive to pursue their Martial Paths.”

Rui knew for a fact that vices like greed, lust, and even darker emotions formed a large portion of people’s Martial drives, especially in the Lower Realms. Getting rid of that would cause a massive Martial crisis around the world.

Yet, the Gen Temple only experienced a twenty-five percent drop.

“…Which means that you guys must have had some success over the centuries in replacing the exorcised impure Martial drives with pure drives, correct?” Rui gazed into her eyes

knowingly.