The Martial Unity

Professor Lusskind stared at the Emperor of Water with a dumbfounded expression. In his life, countless people had asked to be his student. Most of them were aspiring physicists or even established academics. His knowledge and intellect were vaunted in the scientific community as he continued to pioneer the cutting edge of theoretical physics and push the boundaries of human knowledge.

Yet, not once in his life had he ever been requested tutelage from someone as powerful as the most powerful man in human civilization. After he processed the initial shock from the Emperor’s words, it dawned on him that he was potentially experiencing the single greatest moment in his life.

As a normal civilian, his mentality was quite ordinary. He had been born, he had found something he was good at, something he was passionate about, and it had earned him a reputation in his community. The impact of his work had never exceeded a certain level, however. Because String Theory was still firmly in the domain of purely theoretical and unfalsifiable, the impact he could have was limited to his community of fellow researchers working on particle physics, quantum physics, or other sub-fields within fundamental or theoretical physics.

He was satisfied with that, nominally speaking. Although he would have loved for his work to become the basis of new technologies, he knew that that was an extremely time-consuming process, if it were to happen at all.

However, the moment the Emperor of Water requested to be his student, he realized that he had the ability to break out of the limits of simply impacting his community and impact all of human civilization!

After all, that was the sheer power that the man, nay, the deity, sitting opposite him possessed.

A single remark from the Emperor of Water had more of an impact on human civilization than the sum totality of everything Professor Seonard Lusskind had ever accomplished. And now, that man had gone out of his way with a busy schedule to request his tutelage. The sheer weight of this request and the ramifications that it could have made the professor dizzy.

The professor simply stared at Rui, dumbfounded, almost hyperventilating. The Emperor heaved a sigh, leaning forward to pat him on his shoulder.

”Relax.”

PAT

Suddenly, all of the shock, the mental and emotional turmoil, all of it magically disappeared. Although he was still a little nervous and still utterly bewildered, he was more composed and able to retain his awareness.

The professor inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself down and slow down his racing heart, before gazing at the Emperor with a profound gaze. ”Your Majesty… do you really want to be my student?”

The Emperor nodded. ”I do. I would not have come all the way, partaken in your class, masquerading as a student, if I wasn’t interested in learning your knowledge and inheriting your wisdom.”

Those words only made the professor more astonished. He didn’t understand why the Emperor of Water wanted to learn from him. Then, however, he remembered what the first question the man had asked was.

He had asked whether it was possible for Martial Artists to tap into the higher dimensions predicted by his theory.

He finally understood what the Emperor’s motivation might be. The sole Martial Transcendent of human civilization was infamous for being one of the first Martial Artists to master high principles not just instinctively and intuitively, but also theoretically. Some of his older techniques, which he has graciously donated to the Martial Community, were nothing short of highly sophisticated calculative algorithms that allowed him to leverage a scientific and theoretical understanding for superior outcomes, with his Pathfinder technique being the earliest known example.

It made sense that this man wanted to enhance his understanding of even higher principles at the very cutting edge of human knowledge.

”I see, so Your Majesty wishes to leverage my knowledge to enhance your Martial Art,” he murmured with amazement. ”That’s why you wish to learn from me.”

Rui nodded appreciatively. ”Keen. Good. I don’t have to explain it then. I am quite interested in the higher dimensions that your theory predicts. I wish to understand them and harness them in an efficient manner. I believe that higher dimensions can constitute a new Realm in the Martial Path and perhaps all paths.”

His words were astonishing to the professor. Not because his motivation was hard to understand, but because he acted like the existence of higher dimensions was an already proven matter as opposed to an unverified prediction made by a scientific theory. However, that attitude only made the professor even more excited. If the Emperor of Water was this invested in higher dimensions, then how could they possibly not exist? It meant his theory was true.

That brought a tremendous amount of joy to a man who had spent decades at this point on that and its underlying foundation. It took him every ounce of self-control not to simply jump and cheer with triumph and abandon, but he maintained his dignity. His attention turned back to the Emperor of Water, considering the request, before nodding.

”I understand, Your Majesty. I accept your request. I will do my best to impart everything to you!”

He didn’t even need to think about the request; his delay only came from dealing with the shock of the request and its implications. But the request itself was already accepted the moment Rui had made it.

The Emperor finally smiled. ”I’m glad to hear that. I look forward to learning from the man who pioneered this theory himself.”

”I look forward to teaching you, Your Majesty,” the professor said, calming his tingling heart.

This was still a profoundly surreal moment, but he had accepted it, at least in his mind, even if his heart struggled to believe that this was happening. The Emperor of Water was truly his student at this moment. The greatest man in human civilization was going to be taught by him. There was no greater honor. This moment, alone, validated his entire life from the moment he was born.