The Martial Unity

When Master Sehen woke up from his EoS neural procedure, he was no longer a Martial Master. He had become a Martial Sage and was to be known as Sage Sehen. “Rgh…” The old Martial Artist got up from his pod, groaning with a groggy tone of voice as he gazed at his hands with a knowing expression. “It finally happened… I’m finally a Martial Sage. After all these centuries…”

His expression grew emotional while the old creases on his wrinkled face seemed to have vanished. His Martial attire was drenched in sweat, while the chill of the facility cooled him in a comfortable sensation. The air had the tint of vegetation to it, owing to the fact that the organic facility was in the beast domain and that the walls were made of wood. Yet, his attention was focused entirely inwards. He clenched his hands into fists as his expression crumpled with frustration. “…It has taken long, but I have finally ascended.”

He had been among the very first wave of Martial Masters that triggered the Second Martial Revolution and the Reign of the Master Realm, one of the pillars of the Martial World at the time.

However, since then, he had stagnated at peak Master-level. No matter how much he trained or meditated or introspected, he had never been able to achieve Enlightenment of Self.

He had become just another Martial Master.

Just another Martial Master in what was now an ocean of Martial Masters in the Panama Continent, each only as significant as what Martial Seniors used to be.

The importance and significance of each Realm had diluted considerably as their numbers ballooned at an unprecedented rate during the Era of Darkness, not just due to the pressure of extinction and the Martial drive for survival, but also due to the many waves of mass breakthroughs that the Dawnbringer had brought about.

Just thinking about it made Master Sehen’s blood boil. The Master Realm once used to be king, and he had lived during that era. Martial Masters were essentially treated as gods in flesh and blood because of the effect that their Martial Embodiments had on people.

Back in the day, Master Sehen even used to have a little shrine of worshipers who would pray to him and make offerings to him to get him to help them with his tremendous power.

But these days? As a Martial Master, he used to be just another insect among others. Returning to a level of power where he could achieve the renown he used to was his greatest Martial drive, and it has sustained him for centuries. It was why he hated the mass-triggered breakthroughs of the Dawnbringer with a vicious passion that made his life achievements feel small. And it was why his greatest humiliation was that he even needed one himself to break through to the Sage Realm. Yet, he harbored no goodwill to the extraordinary Martial Sage. He, in fact, wanted to destroy all triggered breakthroughs now that he had broken through to the Sage Realm. By destroying the source of all these breakthroughs, he could constrain supply and make Martial Artists great once more.

He had half a mind to destroy this facility and other facilities like it to get rid of the absurd breakthrough rate to the Sage Realm. But he knew that that wasn’t something that he could do by himself.

The Dawnbringer was not a man who could be opposed alone. Thankfully, there were plenty who opposed him for one reason or another. When he stepped out of his facility, he found himself faced with a familiar figure. A woman garbed in a robe atop her Martial attire and a bamboo hat atop her head.

Her Sage-level aura was much more polished and refined than his, given he had just broken through.

“Congratulations on your breakthrough, Sage Sehem.” She courteously greeted him with a perfunctory smile. “Have you given our offer some thought?”

“Sage Kereso…” Sage Sehen narrowed his elder eyes with a serious expression. Shortly before he entered his Enlightenment of Self procedure eight months ago, he had been scouted by an infant Martial group who offered him a place in their ranks.

They called themselves the Sovereign Martial Alliance.

Simply put, it was a group of Martial Artists who opposed Emperor Rui’s vision of the Martial World. It was created by numerous Martial Sages, from across different walks of life, including the underworld, independent contractors, and from various nations across the world, including many Sage-level powerhouses. The goal was to gather as Martial Artists, and particularly Martial Sages, to oppose the Emperor’s tyranny over the Martial World. The means of doing so was to gather enough Martial Sages and leverage their capacity for destruction over a large number of people to get the Dawnbringer to back off. And of course, in the worst-case scenario, fight him off if needed.

That last part was the only reason Sage Sehen didn’t immediately accept the offer was that last part. It was one thing to try and oppose the Dawnbringer strategically and leverage everything they had; it was another thing to outright fight him. Sage Sehen was indeed a man who yearned for attention, but he was not delusional. It was hard to say whether they would win or not, but victory or defeat, countless Martial Sages would die in the process. The level of power that the Dawnbringer had displayed in the True World War was extraordinary. He was without a shadow of a doubt the strongest Martial Artist in existence and the strongest Sage in history.

“…We’re seriously risking death by opposing him.” Sage Sehen as his gaze returned to the woman before him. She giggled lightly at those words. “We are Martial Artists, Sage Sehen. We have risked our lives from the very moment we chose to walk the Martial Path.”

Those words helped steel his resolve. Indeed, courting death was but a regular Monday for Martial Artists. If the risks were this ordinary and mundane, then it was worth it to fight.

“The thought of being subjugated by the law and order of another Martial Artist revolts my very soul,” he growled. “I will oppose him even if death is the cost!”

She smiled approvingly. “Brilliant. Let’s go to our base then.”

“Base? Where is this?”

“At Longmin City,” she remarked. “An independent city-state governed by none other than the Gallant Fist, Sage Marhan, who also happens to be one of the leaders of the Sovereign Martial Alliance.”