The Martial Unity

“When you explain your entire thought process in such a clear manner, it does seem inconceivable that the human scriptures were created by any particular individual,” she remarked with profound realization. “No individual person could have possibly written something that would have allowed a peak Sage to reach Transcendent. Certainly, if you asked any Sage or even Transcendent to do it, I think they would all say that it was universally impossible.”

Rui glared at her. “You… you guys should have thought of this already. You have let your worship of the Shield of Gaia and his words blind you and halt your critical thinking. Stop thinking of the Scriptures of Terra as this legendary and unknown treasure and start thinking about it practically and critically.”

“…That was not what we have done,” she defended herself with furrowed eyebrows. “We have simply been replicating the Shield of Gaia’s actions before he broke through the Transcendent Realm.”

“And clearly, that hasn’t worked out for you.”

“That is why we sought your help,” she insisted. “You might be the only one within our reach who can find the Scriptures of Gaia.”

“…Well, if I do it, it would certainly not be as mindless as you have done so all this time,” he fell into thought. “I have already ruled out the possibility of it being created by a person. I have ruled out it being an esoteric treasure. I have ruled out it being a natural phenomenon. And… I think I can rule out it being a physical object of significant note unless you guys are truly incompetent at searching.”

“We are not, I can assure you,” she assured him with a stern expression.

“…If you say so,” he heaved a sigh. “For now, I will start going through all the investigative efforts that you guys have taken and continue from there. I’d rather not reinvent the wheel.”

“…Understood,” Sage Kyria nodded. “Consul Notera had already predicted that request, so she has prepared a distilled and detailed hundred-year summary of all our reports.”

“I also need to speak with her,” he continued. “I need to ensure that I’m in a firm understanding with her on this matter.”

“Very well, I’m sure that she is willing to speak with you as long as you seek to.”

“Well, we can return to sight-seeing later,” he mused. “For now, let’s get to work.”

Just as he was about to leave, he noticed Amare frozen where she stood. “…Amare?”

Her expression grew pained as her hand massaged her forehead, swaying unsteadily on her feet. “Ngggh…”

He immediately rushed to her, cradling her in his arms. “Hey, are you ok?”

“I…” her voice was lost as her gaze grew hazy. “I feel like I’m remembering something. This place… I’ve been here before.”

Rui’s eyes grew thoughtful. “I see, so she’s been here as well.”

He didn’t mention specifics.

The truth of the memories sealed within Amare was something that was of extraordinary significance to the Martial World.

“The more I watch these Martial Artists perform their art, the more I remember,” she muttered, resting in his warm embrace, before extricating herself from it. “I need more.”

“…More?” She nodded as a hint of clarity and determination returned to her eyes. “I need to learn this art. I need to partake in it. Then, I will remember more. That, I’m certain of.”

Rui fell into thought.

Her words implied that the Martial originally visited the Nest of Terra and was partially responsible for the way that Martial Art had developed in the Nest of Terra. Yet, it appeared that she was not revered the way she had been by the ascetics of the Gen Temple, causing knowledge of her to eventually fade away.

“Rui,” she extricated herself from his comforting care, “I think… I will spend some time here. You do what you must, and I will spend time exploring my memories.”

He gazed at her with concern. “…Alright, then take care. Let me know if you need me for anything.”

“I will,” she smiled at him with reassuring warmth. “Good luck.”

And thus, they split paths for the time being as Rui headed away. He felt a sense of loneliness without her by his side, but he was more concerned for her than anything. Thankfully, she was strong enough to be fine by herself.

His mind returned to his own tasks that were difficult enough to warrant his own attention.

He had decided to find the Scriptures of Terra.

Why?

Because he wanted to. It was as simple as that. If it was even a portion as effective as it was said to be in the lore that surrounded it, it would drastically improve his domain-bending and help him adaptively evolve to his opponents even more. It would also significantly improve the Yggdrasil System and the Forge of Creation.

That was a good enough reason to pursue this treasure.

He soon fell into thought as he couldn’t help but wonder what was the nature of the Scriptures of Terra.

It was truly hard to believe at face value.

Scriptures that magically improved one’s earth-bending power by an enormous degree?

It sounded fictional.

Martial Artists didn’t improve with knowledge alone. Martial Art was not a field of intellectual pursuit after all. For knowledge to be useful, it needed to be applied. Rui found it difficult to believe that just by reading some scriptures, they could suddenly grow stronger.

Still, it appeared that it was a credible legend, and if it was real, then Rui definitely needed to get his hands on it. “I don’t have much time either,” he tutted. “I can’t afford to spend years here.” His voyage across human civilization was too important; he didn’t want to end up dying because human civilization ended up being destroyed, and he got stuck in the Nest of Terra.

Would he be able to find the Scriptures of Terra without disrupting his journey?

An excited smile emerged on his face. “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”

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