The Martial Unity

Rui smiled as he returned her embrace. He was glad to see that she had bounced back into a better mood after her defeat against the Dragon Emperor. Although it certainly wouldn’t be easy for him to edit Amare’s memories, he didn’t mind going through some labor to help her master some high principles without having to train for it the way that other Martial Artists would have to.

“When do we start?” Amare asked with a serious expression. “I want to get to work on growing stronger right away.”

“Well, we can get started now, but there are some things you should know before we get started,” Rui explained. “For one, using Soul Retcon on somebody else is much harder than it is to use it on myself. This is going to be extremely energy-consuming, not to mention time-consuming. In order for it to succeed, I’m going to have to put you in a deep trance. One where you will be completely vulnerable and in my control. So you might want to consider that very seriously.”

She nodded. “What’s the issue? Let’s go on ahead.”

Rui smiled. “When I say completely vulnerable and completely in my control, I mean it. You would be surrendering your mind and soul to my absolute discretion. It’s not the kind of thing that you do unless you trust a person with every fiber in your being.”

She huffed, gazing deep into his pitch-black eyes with a profoundly serious gaze. “Of course, I trust you with every ounce of my being. Let’s get it done with already!”

Rui’s smile widened before he shook his head. “You’re exhausted and emotionally charged. Let’s do it late after you’ve gotten proper rest from the consequences of the Martial Mind and Soul and have calmed down.”

Her expression fell at those words, but she didn’t protest like he expected her to. She simply heaved a deep breath before nodding. “Alright. But when I’m awake, this is the first thing that we’re going to do, okay?”

“You have my word.”

Amare immediately fell back into bed, closing her eyes, trying to go to sleep, while Rui heaved a sigh as he fell into thought. It was an idea that he had come up with on the spot, but had yet to properly refine, even though he was confident in his skill to workshop a solution to any unforeseen problems on the spot.

In the worst-case scenario, he could just scrap the whole process if he detected that something wasn’t going the way he wanted. He was eager to see how strong Amare would become once she gained a much deeper mastery of a lot of high principles within the Martial Path. Given how strong she was without something as important as high principles, he had a feeling that she would jump to an extremely high echelon of power, perhaps even the same echelon of power that he occupied.

That was how important and powerful high principles were.

His gaze shifted to his drowsy lover with affection in his eyes before turning away. ’I should get some work done before she wakes up, and it’s time for her procedure.’

Rui disappeared from the inn as he surged through the port city, heading towards the imperial palace in the capital city of the country, coursing through the afternoon sky at high speeds.

The ocean winds washed over him as he cut through them with great agility, causing his hair and his Martial attire to flutter in the dancing winds while the salty humidity of the sea hung in the air.

His eyes swept across the port town even as he crossed it.

The mid-day bustle of the Hlakaschken Trade Empire slowly started to return as the state of national emergency was lifted. The citizens, a pragmatic set of people, immediately got back to work the moment they were all to, unwilling to let time and daylight burn. The noise of the crowds rapidly returned as all the citizens returned from their evacuation and hiding places while teams of pathwalkers from the government conducted brief check-ups and surveys to ensure that nobody had gotten injured in the whole ordeal.

What caught his attention, however, were the screens placed atop some of the larger buildings, featuring a livestream of a speech given by Empress Schlieffen, being broadcast to the entire nation.

“…And in these difficult times, I wish to wholly acknowledge and offer my gratitude to the Martial Artist ’Omni-Martial’ of human civilization of the Panama Continent,” her projected image continued. “It is not an exaggeration to say that we would have suffered great losses if not for the invaluable contributions of the Omni-Martial to the protection of our country. As Empress, I personally thank her and Panamic Human Civilization for their contributions to our safety…”

“I’m glad she isn’t trying to retcon what happened,” Rui murmured with a pleased tone. “That’s a good sign.”

It meant that she was likely not going to continue allying herself with the Evolutionary Army against human civilization. That meant that he could finally get her to commit to remaining neutral and being open to everybody, putting her faith in the power of human civilization to act as a counterbalance to the Evolutionary Army.

Or at least, she was more open to the possibility.

Rui hadn’t written off the possibility that he would need to reveal seemingly confidential information or go for the prophecy technique solution anyway.

“Amare was right,” Rui murmured with a smile. “Saving the Hlakaschken Trade Empire was a good idea. We gained a lot more than we would by letting them be exterminated by the Dragon Emperor.”

WHOOSH

He arrived at a prominent, densely packed place in the Capital City Schleme, one packed with a huge crowd of spectators and even a thick layer of press, documenting the Empress’s long speech on the Empire’s survival of the Dragon Emperor. Given how momentous the occasion was, she couldn’t skimp on the event with a simple two-minute speech before bidding adieu.

Rui watched as the Empress poured her heart out to all the citizens she spoke to with sincere words despite the exhaustion she was undoubtedly feeling.

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