The Martial Unity

Even after he left the ritual, he could only see people die. Every time he gazed at a lifeform, the only thing he could see was their death. He saw in what way they would reach death. He saw in what way they were closest to death.

Enlightenment of Death.

And he could see their death. He could harness it to his convenience, killing a thousand adults as a child effortlessly, overcoming every gu ritual that he was thrown in. It shaped him, giving him a deathly aura and gaze.

It shaped his Martial Path and his Martial Art.

He became a bringer of death, one who repulsed all life. For many decades, no one had voluntarily touched him. They had gazed upon him with fear.

The effect it had had on his psyche was indescribable. It had subconsciously caused him to think of himself as different from all other manner of beings. It had subconsciously caused him to think of himself as special from all other manner of beings.

He had pedestaled himself.

It was a coping mechanism.

He could either have drowned himself in despair at living a life feared by all manner of sentient beings who could smell death on him, or he could use that to place himself above others.

The subconscious mind would warp itself in any way needed to ensure that the conscious mind returned to a state of calm and composure.

In order to justify and validate the fear and hatred that he experienced all his life, he needed to find a purpose for his capacity to kill. Some profound purpose that would make him feel that the hatred and fear he had received ever since he became a Squire was worth it. That his suffering had a reason. That there was a profoundly important reason why all of Gaia shunned him.

“We now declare you as a Virodhabha Seed. Come with us to the Virodhabhasa Theocracy. Find your purpose in the Antithesis.”

A distant memory that formed the core of who he thought he was all this time. He had found that purpose.

He embodied the identity of the Antithesis.

It gave him purpose.

It gave him reason. It helped him cope with the hatred and fear that all living beings seemed to have towards him. It helped him cope with the pure suffering of watching death every second of every day.

He was the Antithesis.

He had to be. For the sake of his sanity, he had no choice but to believe that all of his suffering was for a divine reason.

Over the span of a hundred and fifty years, this cope had become a mask that covered his entire being. With each victory, with each Realm he crossed, this mask only grew stronger and stronger, refusing to budge.

Until now.

BOOOOOM BOOOOOM BOOOOOM BOOOOOM BOOOOOM!!!!!

With each blow that Rui blasted him with, he broke not just his Body but also the mask of cope that had formed around his mind, refusing to let him not believe that he wasn’t the Antithesis. With each blow, Rui shattered the illusion of divinity and superiority that the Anti-Life had fed into over more than a century.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!

His bones broke.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!

His muscles tore.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!

His flesh sheared.

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!

His Body bled.

A maelstrom of emotions flooded his mind.

Negative and positive fought for supremacy in his conscious mind.

On one hand, the despair that he had long averted for more than a century came back flooding his mind. It came back stronger than ever, fiercely eroding away his sanity bit by bit. It drowned him in more misery than he had ever even imagined was possible. All his suffering thus far had been for nothing. There was no divine purpose waiting for him. There was no godly meaning behind the horrors he had lived his life through. There was no heavenly salvation and silver lining.

He suffered for nothing. This realization brought him more despair than any other realization.

CRACK…! CRACK…! CRACK…!

A profound flood of Water crashed into his Martial Path, as it slowly began eroding it bit by bit.

It threatened to destroy his Martial Path.

The many Martial Masters and Martial Sages rose from their seats with shock as they understood what they were looking at.

Their facades of composure crumbled as they gazed at Rui with a shocking realization. “You…”

And yet, as fast as the despair that Rui inflicted upon him spread to his Martial Path, something else spread even faster through the mind of the Anti-Life.

Understanding.

“…I am not the Antithesis.”

The moment he understood this truth, as despairing as it was, he also gained a tremendous amount of relief from shedding the burdens and responsibilities that came with it. He looked at himself, who he truly was, for the first time in a century.

And he found himself looking at a man who was broken by the suffering thrust upon him by his unfortunate circumstances.

He understood what manner of being he was.

He understood the flow of causality that had defined him to be what he was today. The circumstances of his birth and his horrific childhood, how it shaped him, how it had broken his spirit, causing him to drift to the identity of the Antithesis to prevent himself from drowning in despair and losing his sanity.

He understood all of it. And he accepted.

What he didn’t have the strength to do a long time ago, on the verge of death and on the verge of destruction of his Martial Path, he understood and accepted.

And in turn, he obtained peace.

“I am not the Antithesis…” A whisper escaped him. “I am not the Anti-Life…”

A serene smile emerged on his face.

“I am just Nathen.”

His true name.

One that he had thought he had shed many years ago, adopting the moniker of the Anti-Life instead.

The moment he uttered those words, he attained it.

He attained enlightenment.

Enlightenment of Self.

Moments before his Martial Path sustained permanent damage and destruction, he attained Enlightenment of Self as the ephemeral barrier between mind and soul disappeared.

And thus, he attained Sagehood.

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