The Martial Unity



Rui sighed as he stood in place after having finished the final technique that he was selling.

Much to his surprise, the Virodhabhasa Church deployed a Martial Senior to verify the veracity of his techniques and his identity.

It took many a stubborn hour before they were finally tired of investigating the same matter, and ceased the issue as a whole.

"How much will I be remunerated for my techniques?" Rui asked the supervising head of the evaluation team in addition to the Martial Seniors that had been brought to evaluate Rui's technique. "How long will the evaluation take?"

The supervisor twitched his face. "I do not know how much you will be remunerated, nor do I know when you will receive your result."

Rui frowned.

What was the point of having a supervising team that was also doing such basic tasks regularly if they couldn't even supply him with such basic answers?

"How long does it normally take?" Rui asked.

"A few hours," The man replied. "However, sometimes it can occur sooner."

"Good," Rui nodded.

"However, your is not a normal case, so I cannot say. The verification of your Realm is still being concerned"

Rui sighed with exasperation. "This again. I just want to sell my techniques, is that too much to ask?"

Apparently, it was.

The church genuinely suspected that Rui was a Martial Senior trying to masquerade as a Martial Squire due to the resulting techniques appearing stronger in grade, and thus trying to fake a high-grade Squire-level technique, instead of an ordinary Senior level technique that would not fetch him as many prices as possible.

What irked him the most, however, was what came later; days of nothing.

He waited a total of four days with absolutely no insightful response from the church.

He was starting to think that he had perhaps the church was scamming him!

After all, they took the commodity that he was selling, and then they did not remunerate him. Then essentially ignored him when he asked them for what he owed.

Yet, he kept patient.

He did not think the church was incompetent, nor did he think it was so shamelessly deceitful.

And he was right, on the fifth day there was finally a change.

"Squire Falken," A messenger one day reached out to him. "I am pleased to inform you that the technique application that you have submitted extremely recently."

"And?" Rui asked impatiently. "What was the result?"

"I'm afraid that is not something that I am here to convey," The man shrugged. "I am here to convey an invitation by Bishop Master Deivon."

"What?" Rui frowned.

"Bishop Master Deivon is the bishop of the Master Realm that oversees this town and its management."

Rui narrowed his eyes with some nervousness.

This was not a simple invitation. It may very well have been a summon. Regardless of the decision made, defying a Martial master in a room where they had actual authority. A Bishop Master was a Martial Master within the religion that had an immense amount of political power and influence over the religion.

He was a man who possessed power that was just one step below the Cardinal Sages, Rui could not even imagine the sheer amount of effort and time it must have taken for the Martial Master to reach this spot. 

He suspected that even becoming a Martial master was not enough to be eligible for such a role. It most likely was something that took an immense amount of power and loyalty, more than anything.

"May I refuse?"

The man simply stared at Rui.

"…Never mind,"

"You are invited today, approximately fifteen minutes from now."

"You could have told me earlier," Rui snorted as he quickly prepared himself, accepting the invitation envelope before immediately begin traveling to the specified location.

The resulting place was one of the most gorgeous residences that Rui had seen anywhere in the town. It was extremely luxurious, yet it wasn't so absurdly large to make it egotistical as a choice.

Yet it was heavily guarded.

The first thing he came across was powerful Martial Seniors serving as guards at the entrance.

Yet they easily let him pass once they verified the invitation that he had received.

A set of servants quickly ushered him to take seat in the guest room.

The place was luxurious enough to quickly elucidate the sheer amount of wealth that the religion received. It made him more weary of the religion even if it could benefit him.

That was when he felt it.

A profound sense of pressure. One that did not weigh down on his senses as much as it did on his psyche.

It was a pressure that pierced through a veil that he had never even noticed before.

It was a pressure that seemed to brim on a level that he had never experienced before.

It was as though the pressure from the Martial Senior existed across three dimensions while this particular pressure was one that existed across four dimensions.

It was just unfathomable.

"Squire Falken," He heard a soft but commanding tone.

Rui turned to meet the source of the greeting.

"…Bishop Master Deivon," Rui bowed his head, expressing respect to a fellow Martial Artist who had managed to break through a total of four times and had pierced into the upper Realms.

"Raise your head, Squire Falken," The man smiled. He had a sense of serenity and peace to him one would perhaps not expect from a Martial Artist, especially a Martial Master.

Rui stood straight as he got a good look at the first Martial Master he had come across in a long time.

The last time he stood before a Martial Master was when he was a Martial Apprentice and a Martial Squire. Headmaster Aronian was the last Martial Master that Rui had interacted with before leaving his home.

And now he stood before one again, he came to realize that he had never truly captured the magnificence of a Martial Master back then.