The Martial Unity

His return to the Quarrier Orphanage was boisterous as the children grew excited at beholding the famed Dawnbringer and Prince of the Kandrian Empire in the flesh.

“It’s the prince!”

“Waaah!”

“He looks exactly like in the bedtime stories!”

Rui’s eyebrows twitched. “Bedtime stories…?”

“You have become something of a legend in Quarrier Town,” Alice smiled at him with an elderly tranquility. “We tell your stories to the children at night and folklore about your life in the Quarrier Orphanage has passed across this entire town. There’s an even a museum that details your time here, although you had already moved on from that phase in your life by the time even the village came about.”

Rui did a double-take as he stared at her with a surprised expression. “What?”

She chuckled at his reaction. “It can’t be helped, you have become such an important figure across the entire nation. Naturally people will be curious about your home and origin. Why do you think this place became so large in the past decade? The more famous you become, the more people visit and migrate to the Quarrier Town.”

Rui stared at her with a stunned expression. “This…”

“Haha, it appears you have not fully comprehended the full impact you have had on the Kandrian Empire,” she smiled, “it actually used to be quite troublesome initially, but we eventually fully adjusted to the new setting, allowing us to achieve something of a stable environment and ward off all the tourists and other interested parties.”

Rui’s sharpened, “did you experience any harassment?”

She heaved a sigh. “Lots initially, but not since Mana and Max have grown stronger. They have fiercely protected this orphanage and other residents who knew you.”

Before Rui could even respond, he sensed two familiar Master-level presences approaching from across town.

STEP STEP

“Big brother!”

“It’s good to see you after so long!”

Rui’s eyes widened as he beheld their Master-level forms with a fully developed Martial Mind within them. “You two…”

They had grown tremendously strong in the time that he had been away.

He also found it jarring that they were biologically older than him now, clearly having ground in the manifold many, many years, allowing them to reach the Master Realm at a pace that broke through the old record before Rui’s record.

It appeared that they had benefited from Ieyasu conducting breakthroughs.

And yet, they were even more shocked than he was.

“Amazing…!” Max gasped as he felt the bottomless power within Rui.

“To think that even with the manifold, we couldn’t catch up…!” Mana whispered with a stunned tone.

The manifold essentially multiplied ordinary growth speed by fourteen, leaving many with the expectation that they would eventually surpass even the famed Dawnbringer and his prodigious growth rate. No one knew why the Dawnbringer didn’t abuse the manifold to the extent that many other Martial Artists were desperate to, but they had assumed that this blunder would allow them to outpace his growth and surpass him. And yet, they were wrong.

Not even with the manifold could many of his peers catch up with him, with Kane being the sole exception due to how extraordinary he was.

It was a humbling revelation to many Martial Artists.

Not even a Transcendent-grade treasure could allow them to hold a candle to Rui.

“…To think you guys are already Martial Masters,” Rui smiled with a hint of pleasant surprise. “Truly astonishing.”

“It’s not that surprising when one considers all the hard work that they have put into mastering their Martial Art over the past few years within the manifold,” a familiar voice emerged from inside.

Rui turned with an eager expression.

“Julian.”

He smiled, taking off his spectacles before folding them and tucking them on his collar. “We didn’t have the time to speak when you woke up, but I’m glad that we have some time now.”

He looked older, but not by a particularly significant amount. He had already consumed a longevity potion that slowed down his aging significantly and gave him an extra century. Rui was glad that there were people who could stick around for longer. It would be truly sad if he was the only one left after a few more years.

But with Max, Mana, and Julian, he still had people. “So…” Julian remarked as they settled down after welcoming Rui. His tone was serious.

“What are you going to do about your shortened lifespan?”

Max and Mana grew stunned, turning towards Rui with widened eyes.

Rui heaved a sigh. “So you knew after all.”

Julian huffed. “Of course we did. We observed your body for months in a highly advanced medical lab. You have lost centuries with whatever you did in the Gu. You will have to consume dozens of longevity potions to get those centuries back.”

Even Alice stirred with concern, turning towards Rui with a worried expression.

Rui simply shook his head. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine.”

Julian frowned. “…The Divine Doctor himself has issued this diagnosis. You are not fine. You will still outlive a normal human, but your condition is—”

“I’m immortal.”

Julian froze at those words.

Even Max and Mana looked shocked at his words.

Alice had already reached the limit of how much shock she could experience at her elderly age, simply gazing at him with surprise.

“…What?” Julian asked with a stunned whisper.

Rui smiled wryly.

“I cracked the code.”

Julian stared at him, bewildered. “The code…?”

“The code to life,” he remarked. “I can undo death imperfectly. And the same principles that allowed me to do that can be applied to halt and even reverse my aging.”

The Life Decryption technique that he had created in part as a part of his Resurrection technique allowed him to decode his DNA. With the Womb of Reincarnation, he could extend his life span by molecularly fixing his shortened telomeres and imperfect DNA copying, which was the fundamental reason for aging and eventual death.

He called the technique Save State.

With the power of the Sage Realm, he had cured the fundamental flaw of life itself.

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