The Martial Unity

Chapter 3171: Pursuit of Six Paths

Rui stared at her with a dubious expression.

A goddess came to Gaia and split her power into six portions, and gave them to six people across six continents, and that was the origin of the six paths of power of the true world.

That didn’t even make any sense to him.

”You yourself told me earlier that you elves gained your power by evolution, you evolved your affinity with nature, no?” he raised an eyebrow. ”How could a path be given to a group of people by a goddess?”

”It is a legend amongst our people,” the dark elf elder replied with a knowing expression. ”In my personal opinion, it is meant to highlight the severity of one person gaining the power of all six paths. Indeed, anybody who gains the power over flora and fauna, gluttony, evolution, and technology... is that not a god by all practical means and measures?”

Rui stirred at those words. ”I prefer not to use that word.”

”Regardless, it is too much power for one woman,” she continued with a cautioning tone. ”There have been those who have tried getting their hands on all six paths, and they have failed, much to our relief.”

”...Then what of the hybrids?” Rui raised an eyebrow. ”Do they not have access to multiple paths?”

”To a limited extent, yes,” she replied. ”You will understand the more you learn about the true world. Hybrids follow a hybrid path formed from two conjoined pureblood paths. However, not even hybrids have been able to get their hands on all six paths of power. There have been many efforts at trying to breed all six descendent of ancestral humanity, and all such efforts have failed. The highest number of paths that a hybrid path has ever had is five at the very most. But the moment you try introducing all six paths into one person, you simply fail, and one gene or the other simply becomes inactive. Thus, nobody knows what someone with the six paths looks like.”

That simply made Rui even more eager to collect the power of the six paths and use it to enhance his Martial Path in whatever way he could.

He didn’t intend to try and completely go down each of those paths, no. There would be too many contradictions between those paths and his Martial Path if he tried taking too much.

However, he was certain that he could take just enough to enhance his adaptive evolution.

The fact that he had Authority of Alpha by reverse engineering it from the Eldritch Chimera was proof that the barriers between paths was not as absolute as the Mother of Nature before him made it out to be.

”Now, it is time for you to answer my questions,” the dark elf elder remarked.

Rui’s attention returned to her as he simply nodded.

”Go ahead.”

”Then... tell me what this ’Martial Path’ is. It is truly astonishing to bear witness to how your warriors fight the way that they do, with no tree nor beast, with no technology nor craft, with no gluttony nor perversion of their body with technology. The closest thing I have ever seen is the Gluttony of Heart in the giants, but even then, they don’t have the strongest,” she remarked with a curious tone. ”What is the source of potential and power that this path allows one to cultivate?”

Rui smiled confidently.

”Human potential.”

She raised an eyebrow. ”...Human potential?”

”Human potential for violence.” Rui continued with a calm tone. ”Human potential for combat. Battle. War. That is what the Martial Path cultivates. We take primitive violence and forge it into an art form with discipline and individuality. We tap into human potential for evolution to elevate our bodies to a higher evolutionary ladder, and tap into the enhanced potentials of the body, mind, and soul.”

Rui didn’t want to even mention Transcendence.

It would be better if the true world didn’t learn about that for as long as possible.

”...Potential for violence,” the dark elf elder murmured with a severe tone. ”...That sounds dangerous. Very dangerous.”

The elves were pacifists.

They hated war and loved peace, so it was no wonder they didn’t particularly take well to a Path that cultivated the potential for violence. In fact, they might not have even set foot if they had heard that the humans of the Panama Continent were focused on cultivating.

Rui shrugged. ”All power is dangerous. It depends on how you use it. We control our potential for violence with discipline and individuality. That is why it’s considered Martial Art, instead of just Martial.”

”I see,” the dark elf elder directed a knowing gaze at him. ”Indeed, we have been received with great hospitality and amicability. In that regard, you are indeed people who are not inherently violent.”

Rui smiled. ”We are eager to make allies in the true world. Now that the Panama Continent has returned to the true world, we need to find our place in it, and it certainly cannot be surrounded by enemies; that is not a viable path for our prosperity. In that regard, we hope to make the best of our relationship with you. My father is eager to commence trade relations with West Genora as soon as possible. I, however, have come here to seek guidance.”

The dark elf elder raised an eyebrow. ”Guidance?”

Rui nodded. ”As I mentioned, I wish to harness all six paths to enhance my Martial Art, and for that, I certainly need to travel the true world and see what it has to offer to me. How do you recommend I go about this?”

”I still do not think highly of your goal,” the dark elf elder remarked. ”However, if I had to say, the best you could do for the nature path is come to Genora. While there are elves in other continents and across the world, most of them have not achieved the harmonization with nature that we have. You cannot do better than learn about the harmonization of nature.”