The Martial Unity

It had returned to exactly how it was as the pluripotent exotic matter remained in its organic matter form, seemingly content to remain as alive cells. Rui found it fascinating how a non-living substance could almost spontaneously come to life just by being turned into the materials to create new cells.

That meant that the Primordial Seed had itself come to life with cell form.

His eyes lit up with fascination as an exotic theory formed in his mind.

“Is that how abyssfeeders came to be?”

Among the myriad of strange lifeforms that he had ever seen in his entire life, the abyssfeeder was easily the strangest creature that he had ever seen. It was thought to be a variant of a slime species that integrated this strange matter into its body.

But Rui couldn’t help but note how strange the explanation was. He had never heard of a slime that was partially comprised of pluripotent exotic matter. No intermediate variant had ever been discovered, which was evidence that abyssfeeders were not slimes who had integrated primordial seed into their very being.

“What if slimes are essentially primordial seed spontaneously coming to life due to coming in contact with bacteria and other microbes,” Rui murmured. “It would explain why no one has ever found a means of reproduction for the abyssfeeder. It would explain a lot.”

Of course, this was just conjecture.

He had no evidence that this was the case or any evidence that the current consensus on the matter was wrong.

His attention returned to the perfectly healed wound as he flexed his muscles and moved his arm around. It felt entirely normal. He couldn’t detect even the slightest bit of a change to the sensations or the familiarity he had with his arm. He couldn’t notice anything, even with his extraordinary senses, when he studied the healed tissue as closely as he could. Even when he brushed his hand across the healed tissue, it generated the exact same kind of sensory response that he would have expected it to.

“Perfect.” He was satisfied with the result.

“I don’t know how well I will be able to use it against the Beast That Roared.”

He didn’t have as much mastery over it as he would have liked to. But it was certainly still a major improvement to his current healing and regenerative power. This alone was worth the year that he had spent in isolation, allowing him to deal with far greater damage than he had ever come before.

Of course, he would also be equipped with a Healing Fruit, as would all the other Martial Sages of human civilization. However, it was still worth it to have all the power at his disposal that he was able to garner. With the triple combination of Weaving Blood, the Primordial Core, and the fruit, he had reached a truly unfathomable level of invincibility. “I need to test how strong I am.”

This was crucial.

He couldn’t simply get into one of the most important battles of his life without having a perfect understanding of what he was capable of in his current state. Any miscalculation of his ability could be disastrous, especially since he played an important role along with the three Transcendent candidates of human civilization. The four of them were expected to be the greatest impediment to the Beast That Roared. The four of them were meant to ensure that they wouldn’t get wiped out in the blink of an eye, prolonging the battle so that the sum totality of hundreds of Martial Sages could bombard the powerful creature with all their power.

The rationale was that the hundreds of Martial Artists could, in net power, equal the power of one or two Martial Artists of a higher Realm. The hope was that the power of hundreds of Martial Sages who also mastered the Hellbringer Model that Rui had imparted to them would allow them to theoretically represent a Transcendent-level force together as a whole.

Of course, they had no evidence of whether this was the case or not.

But it was their best hope. If Rui were to accept such a heavy responsibility, it would only be after he was fully certain of his current level of power.

“…Then, I suppose it’s time.” He directed a gaze towards the end of the shuttle, walking towards it before opening the jet up.

VMMM

The shuttle of the jet extended as it descended, forming steps for him to exit.

STEP

STEP

STEP

Even as he descended, he could feel the immense attention that his descent drew from his fellow Martial Sages, who hadn’t seen him in a year. Martial Sages of a variety of nations gaped as they beheld the lone distant jet opening up, unveiling the Dawnbringer to the entire world.

STEP

Rui set foot on the large open field of gray mud, which served as their little makeshift base, surrounded by a thick canopy of exotic forests. The fresh air of nature drifted by him as the light of dawn cracked at the edge of the horizon.

A wave of murmurs spread across the gathered Martial Sages, each engaging in their own little training and preparations for the impending final battle with the Beast That Roared. “Your Divinity.” The Martial Sages of the Virodhabhasa Theocracy immediately knelt before him in a pious display of devotion, with the most ardent of supporters being none other than Sage Sariawar, situated at the very front.

The Martial Sages quickly gathered around him as they regarded him with a curious and awed expression.

Something about him had physically changed.

His very existence seemed to have ascended past material limitations.

As though he had transcended his humanity.

As though even his very being is uncertain, waiting to change in form to adaptively evolve to his opponent.

It was an unfathomable sensation, unlike anything any of them had ever seen before.

And yet, even as they gazed at his form sparkling with power.

They could tell.

It was evident.

STEP

Bodhisattva Maitreyi gazed at him with wise, knowing eyes amid the group of the Martial Sages of the Gen Temple.

“Amitabha. The light within him grows brighter even as his being grows dark.”

The Reverend of Reckoning stood at the very forefront of the Martial Sages of the Namgung Dynasty, gazing at him with a shocked expression.

“The order within his being…” A faint whisper escaped him. “…Is disappearing?”

He wasn’t the only one of the gathering Martial Sages who was taken aback by what he saw in Rui.

“You…” Kane arrived, stopping before him with a stunned expression. “You’ve gotten stronger…!”

Kane could tell.

He could tell better than anyone else could.

He understood just how impactful the past year had been on Rui. He gazed at his best friend with a stunned expression as he faintly felt that Rui had taken a profoundly important step toward the absolute fulfillment of Project Water.

He had taken a profound step towards greater power.

The Martial Sages of the Kandrian Empire were most eager to understand just how much stronger he had gotten.

But only one of them was willing to find out.

RUMBLE!!!!!

The world shook as heaven and earth quaked with unbridled destruction.

Chills crawled across their skin.

Shivers ran up their spine as they parted ways, turning behind them to the source of the extraordinary maelstrom of destruction that flared with unfathomable power.

The Devil’s eyes crackled with boundless battle lust.

His maniacal smile widened as his expression lit up with a ferocious battle spirit.

His menacingly fearsome gaze fixed itself on one and only one man.

On none other than Rui.

“I’ve waited long enough…” the Devil grinned as his eyes flared with primal aggression. “I won’t be denied any longer.”

RUMBLE!!!!!!!

The world boiled with the peril of his destruction.

–