The Martial Unity

It was superior to other golems in a qualitative sense. It wasn't just bigger and meaner than other golems, it possessed much greater power for much fewer flaws and limitations.

Furthermore, based on the insights that Rui had logically deduced and inferred, he had gotten a much greater understanding of how it had come to be than when he first saw it.

'Smelting.' Rui mused. 'Based on the inferred model of its geobiology, it most likely smelts a Senior-level esoteric substance from rocks and ores that it heats and melts in its crucible, before integrating that substance into its body.'

That would explain how the golem came to possess a body made up of this substance. The process of smelting was something used by blacksmiths and mass production factories to extract desires substances from a mixture or an ore, relying on the differences in density of the melted ore and the desired substance.

If the golem used smelting as a way of giving itself a tougher body, then it would explain how it came about to be.

'It would also explain why it shed away its giant large body.' Rui realized. 'In order to heat something by relying on the pressure generated by contact force, the substance doing the pressuring needs to be tougher than the substance being pressure.'

One could not rely on weak substances to pressure and heat strong substances, thus he wouldn't be surprised if the golem shed them away for this new compact form that was entirely constituted of a far superior substance.

'It's essentially reconstructing its physiological foundation through accumulation. It's cultivating its body.' 

It was a natural form of self-evolution. It would also mean that this creature most likely wasn't some sort of freak mutant but merely a golem that had managed to take a step in evolution.

'An active self-guided form of self-evolution.' Rui mused with interest. 'How fascinating, I wonder if other species of monsters and beasts have something similar.'

There certainly was nothing about it in the basic scholar's degree that he had gotten at Crexeet Town.

'Which most likely means it's a higher-level topic that I haven't touched upon yet.' Rui mused. 'Interesting.'

Rui definitely intended to do some research on the matter when he returned back to civilization.

Which probably wasn't going to be too soon.

Regardless, it was something that he firmly placed on his to-do list. Despite having lived in this world for twenty-five years, there was still much he hadn't even heard of or come into touch with.

One reason, was, of course, the size of the continent. It absolutely dwarfed Earth enormously. The sheer amount of information across the continent was beyond even his fathoming. The second reason was the lack of ease of access. 

There was no internet across the Panama Continent. That crippled his ability to learn things as someone who had taken the internet for granted back on Earth. Information became far more valuable than it ever had been, as evidenced by the lengths that he had to go to in order to purchase intelligence regarding Chairman Deacon.

Still, he didn't necessarily dislike this. If anything, he found it refreshing many a time. It brought back the spirit of adventure and exploration. If he wanted to learn about things, he needed to go out there and find out for himself. One way or another.

'Or pay complete tons of missions and operations for the Beggar's Sect as a commission payment.' Rui mused, shaking his head as he sighed, getting up.

His body was still sore and weak. Yet he still made sure to use the lesser Phantomind Void to make sure nothing came his way, he just hoped that he wouldn't have to deal with yet another tsunami of lava.

'Damn, and I still have quite some ways left to go just to reach the center of the forest, let alone actually find the Hypnomaster.' Rui groaned as he stretched. His wounds had greatly healed and he avoided consuming a healing potion to preserve them for truly dangerous moments where his life was on the line.

Still, he could understand exactly why finding the Hypnomaster had been an extremely difficult challenge.

Rui once again wondered how exactly the Hypnomaster had created such an environment and ecosystem, and how many more challenges awaited him. Thankfully, he was most of the way through. He just hoped that whatever awaited him would not get worse.

He walked over to the rubble of the evolved golem, studying it carefully. He had figured out how the lava-generating systems and the evolution systems of the golem worked, but he had yet to figure out how a pile of rocks had come to gain consciousness in the first place.

Yet, just like with the other remains of the species, he was unable to detect anything that would explain how the rocks came to be sentient. He would have to chalk it up to the mysteries of the continent and leave it at that. He didn't really have any other choice to make.

Regardless, he continued on with his journey, heading towards the core of the forest. Thankfully, he had documented all of his maneuvers during the entire fight in his Mind Palace, allowing him to figure out which direction was which. Ordinary Martial Artists would be completely helpless in such circumstances since it was too difficult to keep track of the exact direction that they were traveling after losing track of it even once.

However, that wasn't the case for Rui. He resolutely continued on towards the core of the continent even as his body healed and recuperated from the damage and energy expenditure that he had done in his time in the lava domain. It wasn't long before he reached the end of the lava domain, weaving and avoiding all threats and anything that would drain a lot of energy from him.

Thankfully, a forest that resembled what forests could be spotted in the distance as the terrain and environment began gradually shifting away from the lava-stridden systems that the golems had created.