The Martial Unity

Chapter 2279: Interrupted Travel

Eventually, he departed from the Long-ranging Sect after conversing with Master Ceeran. He also confirmed that none of his friends had perished in the Master-level battle.

Apparently, Master Guren and Master Vericita had been critically wounded but had been given critical aid and treatment just in time to ensure that they had completely recovered. The rest of them had suffered the average injuries that one would expect.

However, there had been casualties.

Master Krakule, who had challenged Rui to a spar when he was a Senior after inviting him to join the Randal Faction, had regrettably died.

While Rui did not like him very much, he had stood guard to protect the orphanage for a period after he promised Rui anything in return for breaking his word to not use his Martial Mind in the battle. Additionally, he was cognizant of the loss it represented to the Kandrian Empire.

Several others that Rui had a passing acquaintanceship with had also passed away.

It made Rui nervous for the people he cared about in future battles, but there was nothing that could be done about it. All Martial Artists pursued their Martial Path with full awareness that it was a treacherous path, and they had accepted the possibility that they would die in battle.

Perhaps that was why Masters did not seek dying as a means to reach the Sage Realm.

Even without such absurd risks, being an active Master was already risky and dangerous enough. It would become astronomically more dangerous and risky if they pursued dying as a means to gain the enlightenment of self.

Regardless, Rui was glad that nobody he cared about had died.

”Alright, next stop... Kane.”

He headed to the manifold where Kane was training.

Ever since the battle had concluded, Kane had been familiarizing himself with the Master Realm, working on increasing the synergy between his Martial Art and his newly discovered Martial Mind.

It was usually the first step that Martial Masters took when they reached the Master Realm.

Given that he was in the manifold, it was understandable that he hadnʼt heard about Ruiʼs recovery.

However, it appeared that his meeting with Kane was going to be postponed due to some partially foreseen interruptions.

WHOOSH!!!

Ruiʼs head shifted out of the way as his Heart and Mind activated in an emergency, allowing him to evade a Master level sound bullet that threatened to blow his head to smithereens.

He had just avoided death.

His head turned slowly as he pinned his gaze on the direction that sound bullet came from. ”Nice try, but you failed.” Ruiʼs body surged with power as a flash of bloodlust erupted in the depths of his dark eyes. ”And now...”

Chilling peril emerged from him, boiling the air tumultuously.

”...time for you to face the consequences.”

WHOOOSH!

Rui shot in the direction of the assailant.

He could sense the distant manʼs fear even as he frantically escaped, trying to get as far away from Rui as fast as he could.

”Iʼm afraid not,” Rui growled as he shot forward with Gale Force Breathing and Outer Convergence.

Unfortunately for him, the assassin was faster.

The hooded assailant activated numerous speed, agility, and maneuvering-oriented techniques, pushing his expanded mental capacity to the absolute limit, shooting off even further away and increasing the great distance between them even more.

”Tsk,” Rui tutted as his assailant slowly began escaping the edge of his senses. ”Another area where Iʼm equally deficient in compared to the average Master.”

Experience and active technique accumulation were two areas in which Masters held a large advantage. The Martial Mind increased the limit of the number of techniques that could be actively used at any point in time, and Masters made full use of this by creating many techniques over a long period of time to saturate their mental capacity and make the most of

it.

Rui focused more on quality than quantity these days with long-term considerations, but it was moments like this that made him reconsider that decision.

Regardless, it was exceedingly clear that the assassin had come fully prepared to outrun Rui upon failing the assassination.

Rui considered activating Neo Godspeed but...

”This could be a trap.” He narrowed his eyes.

It was possible that he was luring Rui to an ambush with the intention of bleeding both their stamina under the pretense of desperately trying to escape him.

If he was going to be jumped by a solid group of Master-level assassins, then he knew that he would need his stamina to overcome all of them.

They were screwed anyway once the Martial Union began investigating them and finding them. But Rui had no intention of letting the Martial Union deal with his would-be killers.

”Theyʼre mine.” He surged forward, shooting off at incredible speeds.

Eventually, he found himself running into the Town of Narfinius, a bustling commercial town with a large and dense population that was constantly in flux across the nation. A trade hub not unlike the Town of Hajin.

”Little rat.” Rui snorted as his senses washed over the entire town.

He couldnʼt find him.

He knew that his target was hiding somewhere in this town, hiding his aura and mind to blend with the immense population.

It was a good strategy.

Martial Artists, in general, were limited in what they could do in such a dense population.

It was why military strategy in war was focused on not letting enemy Masters enter oneʼs territory. The capacity for harm was too great.

Had it been any other Master chasing him, this would have been game over. The assassin hadnʼt won, but he hadnʼt lost either. Anybody else in Ruiʼs place would have had no choice

but to give up on finding the assassin.

However, not Rui.

A single whisper escaped him.

”Angel of Laplace.”

He bent heaven and earth to protect the lesser beings below from the weight of his Martial Embodiment as an ocean of information flooded his mind.

The world came undone as the past prostrated itself before him.