The Martial Unity

“I must admit, I didn’t expect that you would try to strong-arm me into ceding our Blood Goddess.” The Blood Lord narrowed his eyes as he walked alongside Rui. “You are bold and brave. And yet you managed to solve the problem on the spot with a perfect solution. I’m half-convinced that this was a plot you planned ahead of time.”

Rui smirked with a wry smile. “Who knows? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.”

“Why do you desire the Blood Goddess even without her eggs?” the Blood Lord demanded to know. “Her greatest value to the outside world comes from her ovules. Without it, she isn’t as much of a desirable asset!”

“She’s a peak Master,” Rui reminded the man. “A strong one at that, the fact that it Amare needed to awaken to defeat her is truly impressive. She is a powerful asset for humanity once you Sages depart for the Central Highlands of the Beast Domain.

Rui was considering deploying her at the Sekigahara Confederate because they lacked a peak Master and a Master count in general. She would be able to ensure that the Sekigahara Confederate would not fall in battle due to weakness once the Sages were gone.

Peak Masters would be the stongest defenders of humanity in that time, after all. However, the main reason he decided to get her was because the Blood Cult couldn’t be allowed to keep such a revolutionizing treasure with them.

And because Amare asked him.

“Tsk, goddamn Kandrian Empire.” The Blood Lord cursed it in front of Rui. “Sending its prince to take away our goddess. Who do you think you people are?!”

Rui shrugged. “The most powerful nation in the world.”

He smirked while the Blood Lord gnashed his teeth together at the frustrating response. “Alright, don’t waste my time. Get the contract ready soon. I want to try the bloodwhirler blood evolution as soon as possible.”

If he had to choose between the Blood Goddess and the bloodwhirler treatment, he would have chosen the latte without even the slightest hint of hesitation, dumping the former to rot in the cult forever.

Thankfully, he was clever enough to propose a deal that allowed him to have his cake and eat it.

“It will take a few months for the treatment to be complete,” the Blood Lord explained, “you are willing to wait, yes?”

Rui fell into thought. “…It shouldn’t throw me off track too much, I suppose.”

He was sure that the Blood Goddess would not be pleased at having her freedom delayed for so long, but alas, she didn’t have any choice. Rui refused to leave the Blood Cult without a little reward for himself.

As for his schedule went, he still had more than two years left until the quasi-Transcendents would move their lazy bums and attack humanity. In that time, he didn’t have too many Sage-level powerhouses left.

He had the Gu, the Heaven Sect, the Marinaera Kingdom, the Namgung Dynasty, and Esocline Federation.

That was a manageable number for two years. “The treatment taking two months is well, unexpected,” Rui replied. “What is the time limit for if it regenerates and sustains the human body while it evolves my blood?”

“Hah, it all depends on how much strain your physicality can handle. Two months is the limit even for our Martial Bodies,” the Blood Lord snorted. “Let’s put your Hungry Pain technique to the test.”

“Alright,” Rui smirked. “This sounds fun.”

With the blood evolution, his body would grow tremendously stronger compared to before. His peak combat power would increase even more, leading him to wonder if he could win some of the fights that he had failed to win.

Specifically against Sage Himari and the Terrampager.

From what he could tell, there was a good chance that he could bag a victory against Sage Himari. He had gotten the Blood of Solaris and had also gotten the Scriptures of Terra, with the bloodwhirler evolution. He figured that he could more easily overcome her with his current prowess.

Of course, she had undoubtedly grown stronger in the past two years or so. Against the Terrampager, it was possible that this treatment would send him over the edge, but it was unlikely. He was fundamentally a cut below his opponent and needed a Hail Mary attack to catch him off-guard.

“Your blood needs to be stronger.” The Blood Lord shook his head. “You have consumed the Blood of Solaris, which is certainly very impressive, but you can do more to improve your blood.”

Rui simply stared at him, offering unsolicited advice with a blank expression. “You guys are too obsessed with blood.”

The Blood Lord snorted as he signed the drafted contract with blood. “In my view, it is the world that is not obsessed with blood. No other part of the body is as omnipresent across the entire body as blood is. Every improvement you make to it would be the equivalent of training all parts of your body at once. That is why our Martial Bodies are the most powerful in the entire world, and we are able to produce masterpieces of biotechnology, such as the Blood Goddess.”

That was not easy for Rui to deny. The Blood Goddess had a truly special Martial Body compared to pretty much any other he had ever seen in his entire life, short of perhaps the Gatekeeper himself.

Rui heaved a sigh, signing the contract.

The two men begrudgingly shook hands as the deal was final.

In exchange for the Hellbringer model, the breakthroughs, and the Hungry Pain technique, and the Divine Doctor’s services, the Blood Cult would yield the bloodwhirler blood treatment, the Water Sect development program, and half the eggs of the Blood Goddess, and the freedom of the Blood Goddess.

And thus, the deal was complete.

“While I’m in the treatment, treat the Blood Goddess like a companion of mine, subject to the same protections that I’m entitled to,” Rui told him. “She’s no longer your baby factory or your property. Got it?”

The Blood Lord closed his eyes. “She was a free woman the moment you signed this contract.”

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