The Martial Unity

"…What are their internal considerations like?" Rui's tone, albeit impassive, grew more intense.

The Martial Sage shook his head. "I'm afraid that I'm not privy to such knowledge. The Martial Union's information security is extremely high. This is especially true for matters that only the Master and Sage councils are privy to. Their security is no less than that of the Royal Palace in that regard."

Rui had expected about as much.

Cracking these extremely high authorities within the Martial Union was patently impossible.

His dark eyes narrowed as he considered the ramifications of the Martial Union, having learned of his deceit.

"Considering they have not ousted you, Your Highness, perhaps you have nothing to worry about," Sage Sayfeel remarked.

Rui shook his head. "They have powerful incentives to not oust me. The association between myself and the Martial Union is extremely high. If the world learns of my deceit, then they will catch heat even if they were truly uncomplicit. There are many other reasons as to why they would rather not divulge my deceit. They gain nothing from it from divulging it."

Rui swiftly refuted the Martial Sage's refutation, leaving him silent. It had been a gesture more than an actual possibility, but Rui's political acumen and his personal, intimate understanding of the Martial Union allowed him to calmly judge the merit of Martial Sage's words.

It was not enough to make him feel particularly optimistic.

No one liked to be deceived.

The Martial Union had just realized that Rui had deceived them for five years since the revelations of his princehood. They would not look too kindly on Rui for doing that. Especially when the deception was not light, and they had invested a lot into him into the belief that he was genuinely striving for the throne.

To find that it had all been for naught was not a pleasant realization. Anybody would be quite angry if they realized they had been the victim of deceit that negated the fruits of their labor.

In this case, the Martial Union would not obtain a Martial Artist Emperor.

While Rui had made clear that he would not unfairly favor the Martial Union as Emperor, there were implicit expectations.

They would definitely be deeply displeased to know that Rui never acted in good faith.

However, Rui did not forget that he had built a lot of goodwill with the Martial Union over the years. So much so that he could be considered the platinum boy of the Martial Union in many ways.

Although he decided not to become an internal member of the Martial Union, they truly did consider him to be among their highly important members. He had made vital contributions to the betterment of the Martial Artists of the Kandrian Empire, such as the Hungry Pain contribution and the voidlet techniques that would eventually increase the breakthrough rate of the Master Realm.

That gave him leeway.

At the very least, he could be certain that they weren't hostile to him. As in, they wouldn't act to harm his interests.

That didn't mean he was in the clear.

"Hmmm…" Rui narrowed his eyes. "I'll need to handle this delicately."

"…What do you intend to do, Your Highness?"

"That's quite simple, really." Rui closed his eyes. "Apologize and give them a make-up present."

Sage Sayfeel stared at him. "…Well, I suppose there's more to that than meets the eye."

"Besides…" Rui remarked stoically. "…I'm the youngest Martial Master in history. That alone is partially making for my deceit in a sense. Ultimately, the Martial Union is an organization of, by, and for Martial Artists. I cannot imagine how their valuation of me will skyrocket when they realize that I have broken through to the Master Realm before exiting my physical prime."

He glanced at his arms, feeling the youthful vigor within his body.

Because he broke through to the Senior Realm at the age of twenty-three, he managed to slow down his aging greatly, even well before entering his prime.

He may have been thirty-seven in the present moment, but his body biologically was barely twenty-six years old. The fact that he was already a Martial Master this young meant that he wouldn't stagnate due to a lowered growth rate and lack of vitality.

It meant that his potential had only risen rather than declined.

It was extremely counter-intuitive, but his value to the Martial Union had risen exponentially above what it had ever been in the past.

That alone was a sort of reparation for his deceit, in a way.

It was no different from telling them, 'I was right in my decision, for it has increased my value to you.'

However, that wasn't the only plan that Rui's powerful mind had conjured up in the span of a few seconds.

He had other trump cards that he had never divulged to the Martial Union or to anybody because of the sheer severity of their implications. Still, now he had finally obtained the power needed to protect himself from the consequences of revealing them.

"…Alright, I think I have it under control." Rui nodded impassively as he gathered his thoughts. "…What else? What else have I missed?"

"The number of Martial Artists adopting your voidlet techniques has risen exponentially over the span of five years since you created them," Sage Sayfeel calmly informed him. "In the successive years since your departure, the Master-level council has voted to give your voidlet techniques more funding."

Rui's dark eyes lit up with faint surprise. "…That's a lot sooner than I had ever expected to happen. How did it happen that quickly?"

"It is because thought techniques in the lower Realms are extremely scarce," Sage Sayfeel stated. "Systems of thought are only developed by mature Martial Seniors who are ready to begin seriously working towards the Master Realm. Thus, they are usually hyper-individualized to suit their Martial Art. You are perhaps the first Martial Artist in history who has gained such extraordinary power and mastery of thought so as to specifically hyper-generalize small systems of thoughts for the three primary fields of combat."

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