The Martial Unity

Chapter 3163: Strengthening Faith

Eventually, the crowd broke and returned to their original task and duties while Rui toured the Water Sect, guided by Master Minn herself, who walked a step behind him out of respect.

”It’s more modern than before,” Rui murmured as he studied the infrastructure of the Water Sect.

”We underwent renovations and expansions last year,” she informed with a respectful tone. ”We were having too many applicants and initiates to possibly fit in, and it was a waste to turn them all down.”

”Good thinking,” Rui remarked. ”All of this is fascinating and all, but what I’m most interested in is...”

He turned his curious gaze towards her. ”The second Martial Master of Adaptive Evolution.”

He could tell that she wasn’t very deep in the Master Realm and was young and weak as a Martial Master, although Martial Masters had already reached a level of complexity that made their true combat power impossible to judge.

”I am honored by your acknowledgment...!” she bowed with a gratified and reverent tone. ”In truth, I have worked hard to repay the gift that you have graciously bestowed upon me.”

Rui tilted his head in confusion.

”Have we met before?”

She smiled with a hint of gratitude amidst her respectful behavior.

”I don’t blame you for not remembering me, I was one of the many students of the Martial Academy you broke through to the Apprentice Realm,” she explained. ”I had always been a great admirer of yours even before that as a prince who lived his life as a commoner and managed to outshine the entire Martial Community of the Kandrian Empire with great talent and even greater dedication.”

”Ah...” Rui scratched his chin as he recalled how he had started breaking batches of students of the Martial Academy through to the Apprentice Realm during the East Panamic War. ”Yeah, that was a long time ago.”

He had long lost track of how many Apprentices he had broken through and all their individual identities. While he could have stored their data in the Mind Palace, he didn’t want to waste precious space on something trivial and relatively unimportant.

”You changed my life when you broke me through to the Apprentice Realm,” she informed with a deeply reverent tone. ”When you announced the creation of the Water Sect, I joined as a Martial Squire and since then have worked hard to accelerate my progression with the help of the manifold and other resources within the Kandrian Empire and have successfully been the first Martial Master of this sect to break through to the Master Realm. I’m sure that other, mainly the Martial Seniors that you have just seen, will also break through soon. Although it is a shame that they didn’t break through with your recent divine blessings. They can only blame themselves.”

Rui gazed at her with concern. ”Divine blessings? You mean the artificial breakthroughs?”

”Indeed, Lord Dawnbringer,” she spoke with a reverent tone. ”Your ability to trigger breakthroughs is of supernatural power. One beyond mortals.”

”...”

”Those who fail to accept that blessing by breaking through are sinners.”

”...”

”You needn’t concern yourself with them.”

Rui simply stared at her.

”You... are all of you believers of the Faith of Dawn?”

”Of course, My Lord,” she bowed deeply to him. ”One of the newly added sections of the Water Sect is actually a shrine dedicated to you in your divine luster. We also offer free copies of the Gospels of Dawn translated and compiled into a divine compendium.”

Rui closed his eyes when he heard those words.

In that moment, he felt the urge to hunt the Beggar Sage and strangle the life out of him.

He had completely and totally forgotten about the religion centered around him that spread throughout human civilization in the seventeen years of the Beast Domain, largely by virtue of the Beggar’s Sect stoking the flames and turning it into an inferno.

Of course, the reason he had done this was because of the extreme and dangerously low levels of mental health in the Era of Darkness. People across the entire world had begun falling into dark, deep pits of despair, misery, terror, and grief.

The will to fight and resist had waned and eroded, as had the will to live, causing suicide rates to reach horrifically unprecedented levels in the history of human civilization, along with maniacal levels of nihilism.

It was one of the reasons Amare had joined him in the first place, to spread peace and harmony in the souls of people with her Gen teachings.

In order to give the people hope and salvation, the Beggar’s Sect needed a symbol of hope, one that was rooted in reality instead of fantasy.

The Beggar Sage had chosen Rui.

He was the only person who fit the role for this idea to even be possible.

At the time, Rui tolerated it because he could see that it truly helped people as he traveled across human civilization.

But now, however, the Era of Darkness was dispelled.

The Beast Incursion was not only gone, but in its place had come the Beast Excursion which was a force for good in human civilization.

There was on need for the Faith of Dawn.

Yet, instead of weakening, it had instead only grown stronger.

”We have confirmed with the Martial Sages who have heard your story,” she gazed at him with pious reverence in her eyes. ”You were the one who ended the Beast Incursion. Just as the Gospels of Dawn promised, you have salvaged all of human civilization from darkness and brought about dawn.”

Rui heaved a resigned sigh.

He could tell from a single glance that there was no changing her mind.

She was already beyond reason.

He could also tell that her faith was the very core of her powerful Martial Drive. Considering that she had managed to become a Martial Sage before the age of one hundred, it had clearly served her well.

Human civilization needed as many Martial Sages as it could get its hands on, so it was best to leave that Martial Drive intact.