The Martial Unity

Chapter 2618: Explosive Start

A night passed as Rui got the sleep he needed. In reality, he was so excited for the battle tomorrow that he needed to self-hypnotize himself to fall asleep.

That night, he dreamed about Amare.

He dreamed about fighting her, of course.

By the time he woke up, he had all but forgotten about it, immediately freshening himself up and preparing himself for the battle.

Eventually, it was time.

Bodhisattva Maitreyi had sent a monk to guide him to the Central Chamber of the Gen Temple, where the battle was due to take place. The Central Chamber was an enormous section at the very core of the Gen Temple that had been reserved exclusively for Martial Artists of the Upper Realms.

Everywhere else, the Martial Art training section was not segmented away from the rest of the populace. However, the same couldnʼt be done with Martial Artists of the Upper Realms.

Because of Martial Embodiments.

Even the average Martial Master could cause widespread brain damage and death with the weight of their Martial Embodiments.

With Rui, the consequences escalated to genocide. Not even Martial Seniors could behold his Embodiment by having their consciousness erased. He, in particular, needed to be isolated from everyone else.

RUMBLE...

The mighty gates to the Central Chamber of the Gen Temple opened, sending tremors across heaven and earth. They opened an abyss that stretched straight down, farther than even his senses could detect.

”Amitabha. This is as far as I am able to guide you, Dawnbringer,” the monk who guided him informed him. ”From this point on, you must make it there yourself.”

Rui turned back to face the depths of the abyss, heaving a sigh. ”You guys are extra.”

For whatever reason, the Gen Temple felt the need to be mysterious about something as basic as the location of the fight. Regardless, he jumped into the abyss, leaping straight down.

He fell for a minute until he finally hit solid ground.

Before him was an enormous battle arena that stretched as far as the eye could see within an enormous air space above it.

Plenty of room for two Martial Masters to go all out.

”Welcome, Dawnbringer,” Bodhisattva Maitreyiʼs tone was intense. ”Welcome to your test.” Twelve Bodhisattvas of Gen Temple assembled, with six each at opposite sides to his left and right while Bodhisattva Maitreyi floated above the battleground. Their powerful presence, constrained as it was, was nothing short of forces of nature. It weighed on the very fabric of heaven and earth.

And yet, he didnʼt so much as glance at them.

He couldnʼt be bothered to so much as even acknowledge them.

His eyes were fixed on one and only one person.

She stood at the other end of the battle arena.

The smile on her face was as warm as always.

It lit up the entirety of the dark abyss that encompassed them.

She regarded him with a hint of enthusiasm and excitement as if she had known him her entire life. Her attire was the Martial attire of the Gen Temple, the ascetic Martial attire, woven from strong esoteric fibers that were able to withstand the power of Martial Masters.

She, too, focused on him and only him, engrossed in him with the entirety of her mind and focus.

STEP

Rui landed meters away from her.

They locked eyes.

The air tingled.

The atmosphere grew electric as the two peak Masters faced off against each other. ”Take your stances.”

Bodhisattva Maitreyiʼs voice reverberated across the entirety of the battle Central Chamber.

Rui took his classic neutral stance, placing one arm before him defensively with an open palm sideways while his right arm coiled as his fist tucked itself into his side, waiting for the right moment to strike.

His feet were separated by a medium amount, leaving him semi-rooted, able to smoothly shift between defensive, offensive, and maneuvering.

His opponent, on the other hand, didnʼt move.

This was usually a sign of disrespect.

And yet, he could sense none from within her.

This truly was her stance.

A moment of silence lingered in the air.

And then, it was time.

”Begin!” Bodhisattva Maitreyi commenced the battle.

BADUMP!

Their Realm of power blazed to life as their Martial Hearts unleashed a gush of power while their Martial Minds bloomed with all their ephemeral power.

RUMBLE!!!

The world shook.

It shook under the weight of Ruiʼs Martial Embodiment.

The Bodhisattvas widened their eyes as they beheld the most powerful Embodiment in the entirety of the Martial World.

An endless ocean gushed from the very depths of his being as he became Water incarnate.

It eroded everything that stood in its path.

It was unrivaled in its power, having overcome every foe it ever faced.

Until now.

She opened her eyes as the most profound Embodiment that Rui had ever seen in his entire

life lightened the world in the infinite light within her.

It was unlike anything he had ever seen.

In the depths of her Martial Embodiment, he saw everything.

He felt experienced the net weight of everything her life had ever been.

He experienced the existential force of her memories.

He bore the sum totality of her life as it consumed the entirety of the world.

A cascade of memories, twinkling like stars, scattered across the entirety of the microcosm of

her mind. An ocean of memories so profound that it immersed everybody and everyone within

its depths.

And yet, the battle had already begun.

WHOOSH

In the blink of an eye, she had arrived before him.

In the blink of an eye, an open palm attack arrived inches away from his chest.

A blindingly fast attack with a blindingly fast approach.

And yet, it was within his prediction.

WHOOSH!!!!!

Heaven and earth shook under the force of her fist, even as Rui evaded it in the blink of an eye.

To her, it was just another strike.

And yet, its power far surpassed anything Rui had ever seen from an ordinary strike.

Thus, the battle commenced with an explosive start.