The Martial Unity

Rui’s decision to retrace the path of the Shield of Gaia was not light. And yet, he knew it was the right. Based on a long chain of inferences and deductions, he had arrived at the conclusion that the likeliest candidate for the nature of the Scriptures of Terra was that it was information that was spread throughout the entirety of the Nest of Terra.

Unfortunately, that still left countless possibilities.

All kinds of information was spread throughout the Nest of Terra.

The sheer sum totality of the information that was spread throughout the Nest of Terra would constitute an astronomical amount of data. Even for Rui’s extraordinary mind, processing all data inside the Nest of Terra was beyond him. “Tsk, if only I had control over Gigabrain.” He gritted his teeth. “I would have been able to process this information within a more reasonable timeframe. But without it…”

Without it, he couldn’t see himself solving all of this within a month. “So be it, I will at least use Megamind and get things done quicker. Without it, it would be far too long,” he noted. “But before that… there’s someone I need to speak with. Someone who should surely be able to help me.”

WHOOSH He departed from his quarters, flying across the Nest of Terra.

From his robes, he pulled out a badge.

One that he had been given a long, long time ago by the Beggar’s Sect.

There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that the Beggar’s Sect had penetrated the Nest of Terra. Hell, he had no doubt that it had infiltrated even the Solaris Kingdom. He was also certain that the Martial Faction had tried leveraging the aid of the Beggar’s Sect in finding the Scriptures of Terra at one point.

And he knew that there was no doubt that the Beggar’s Sect had refused to help them. The reason was simple.

“The ultimate objective of the Martial faction clashes with the agenda of the Beggar’s Sect.” His eyes narrowed.

There was no doubt in his mind that the Beggar Sage was entirely aware of what the Martial Faction was up to. And there was no way that that man would ever lend his help in furthering their agenda.

He would staunchly oppose them at all stages.

Most likely, the Beggar’s Sect was working with Consul Sergenilius with strategic intel to sabotage the Martial Faction, just as they had done with Princess Raemina in the Kandrian Throne War.

“I’m sure the Beggar Sage knows something about the Scriptures of Terra.”

In fact, Rui would even say that this was right up his alley.

Information spread across the entirety of the Nest of Terra. In other words, ideally extracted by a wide-scale intelligence gathering apparatus. The same kind of apparatus that the Beggar’s Sect was hyper-specialized for.

The only question was whether the Beggar Sage would be willing to aid him in this particular matter. While they had a cooperating relationship, they were by no means friends. There was certainly no trust between them.

Rui had been a candidate for immortality a long time ago before he broke through to the Master Realm. After that, the last time they had spoken was in regards to the Human Summit where the Beggar Sage had requested him to help with human civilization.

And once he had begun traveling, they had aggressively propagandized his image. However, Rui didn’t particularly view that as positive.

They had a complicated relationship, and Rui was unsure of whether the man would relent.

But the Scriptures of Terra weren’t the only reason that he relented.

STEP He arrived in the slums of the Nest of Terra, having donned the badge that the Beggar’s Sect had given him. The air was damp and suffocating.

The entire place was deprived of light, almost eternally swamped in darkness.

“What do you seek from an old beggar like me, hm?”

An old, shriveled albino beggar called out to Rui with a snarky tone. A dirty rag covered his aged body, while patches of soot and dirt covered his skin. His white beard and hair were frizzled and messy.

There was nothing remarkable about the man.

No one would have ever suspected him of being the most knowledgeable man in the entire world. And that was precisely the genius of the Beggar Sage, able to hide in plain sight even within a Sage-level powerhouse.

Rui’s eyes shifted as he scrutinized the man with a strange expression. “I knew it; you have active clones in every Sage-level powerhouse, don’t you?”

The beggar broke into a boisterous laughter. “Every Sage-level powerhouse?”

Lazy arrogance flared in his eyes. “I’m everywhere.”

Rui wasn’t sure what exactly to make of that statement.

Regardless, that wasn’t what he had come for.

“You have come for information on the Scriptures of Terra, haven’t you?” He grinned. “Hehehe, not so easily, dear Dawnbringer. You’re more than intelligent enough to have predicted my response to this. So what’s it going to be? How will you attempt to squeeze this information out of me?”

Rui simply stared at him. “…”

“…”

“…”

“I don’t have all day,” the Beggar mused with a mirthful tone. “I am on the brink of death, you know? Who knows, if you keep testing my patience, I might die right here and right now.”

His attempt at seizing control over the conversation failed.

A smirk emerged on Rui’s face.

“The Divine Doctor didn’t tell you, did he?”

The Beggar Sage’s eyes sharpened at those words.

“Didn’t tell me what?”

Rui’s grin widened. “I had asked to keep it a secret, and I’m glad he did. Now I get to use it as a bargaining chip.”

The Beggar Sage was not amused by his words.

“Are you attempting to bait me with the implicit declaration of some hidden valuable information that only you and the Divine Doctor happen to know?” he snorted. “Really? Did you really think that would work? Did you really think you’re not the billionth person over many centuries to try and trick me with that strategy?”

“Implicit?” Rui smiled. “Oh no no no, this is as explicit as it can get.” BADUMP

His Martial Heart and Mind blazed into power as he deployed hypnosis on the Beggar Sage.

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