He hadn't expected that the prince would consult Senior Colonel Geringar when searching for a tutor. The latter had undoubtedly told the prince how his daughter Crea broke through shortly after his training.
In that case, it was no wonder that the prince was interested in being trained by him. While Rui was not a Martial Master, the gap between him and the prince was so large that it frankly did not matter.
"I'm glad to hear that!" Prince Raijun grinned. "Hehe, I may not have been able to get you into my faction, but I did manage to bag you as my trainer. That is still a win in my book."
Rui smiled with amusement. Thus far, the prince had been remarkably down-to-earth given the fact that he was a royal prince of the Kandrian Empire. Rui appreciated the gesture, at least.
"You truly as remarkable as they say," Prince Raijun remarked. "From the dawn of your career to now, your accomplishments are almost unheard of. I, personally, have never heard or seen of any Martial Artist who has accomplished so much in so little time. Many Martial Sects are determined to have you, or at least do their best to ensure nobody else gets you. They will invite you to join them, perhaps you should consider accepting their offer."
Rui shook his head lightly. "Most Martial Sects are not suited for my Martial Art. That's why I'm not particularly thrilled at the prospect of joining them. Even if I did join them, I am not too fond of the implicit responsibilities that I would have to such a Martial Sect."
"They aren't too shackling, I assure you," The Martial Prince replied. "At most, you would be expected to make contributions when you develop something relevant to the Martial Sect, but that isn't mandatory either."
"In the first place, I highly doubt that there is any Martial Sect that is worth joining simply due to the fact that my Martial Art is too esoteric." Rui heaved a sigh. "My Martial Art requires a balance of various fields, so I cannot join sects that focus on one of the fundamental aspects of combat. While there are sects that are focused on fields that are decidedly neutral, they are still diverged from my Martial Art," Rui replied.
"Hmmm, in that case, you might want to spread elements of your Martial Art to others, and create your own Martial Sect that closely matches your own Martial Art," Prince Ruijan mentioned.
"I have no reason to go through something that tedious, Your Highness," Rui heaved a sigh of exasperation. "I have not hit any sort of bottleneck where I'd have to resort to such measures in order to make progress anymore."
"Not yet," Prince Raijun corrected. "Eventually, you will. It's almost impossible to keep running without coming to a stop. Everything comes to an end, and that includes the progress that you're able to make by yourself. Why do you think these sects came to be in the first place? It's because the first generation of Martial Masters was unable to grow stronger, thus they relied on creating lobby groups to rally for the Martial Union to dump more research and funding into their particular fields in hopes for that to result in something they can use to grow stronger. It also spreads their field around, creating more Martial Artists using it. Eventually, one of them might discover or create something that they can use."
"I'll think about it if the need ever arises," Rui replied. "For now, I am more than content with relying on myself."
"It would also help the world of Martial Art," Prince Ruijan remarked. "Your Martial Path is as powerful as it is esoteric. It is probably the most powerful Martial Path that I have ever seen. The world of Martial Art would benefit if you spread seeds of it as far and wide, allowing as many Martial Artists to break through with something similar."
"Spreading a Martial Path is extremely difficult since I would essentially need to condition and brainwash children from birth," Rui replied. "I don't care to engage in something this distasteful."
"Many of the Martial Families in the Kandrian Empire engage in some degree of child conditioning and brainwashing. While they don't go too far, they do normally ensure that the Martial Path of their children fall within their general field. There are some exceptions, but it is quite convenient to most of them," Prince Raijun explained.
It was interesting to Rui that Kane didn't fall into that category, it showed just how much he disliked his family.
"Still, it's a very long-term investment and it's not something I'm in a position to do. Simply put, I'm not interested in going down this route unless it's absolutely necessary," Rui replied. "I'm only almost twenty-nine, I have far more productive things to do by putting my youth to good use and making sure that I make the best out of this period to maintain my momentum and squeeze the absolute most out of my potential. My progress will most likely inevitably slow down after I'm past youth, so I don't want to let it go to waste."
Rui had already experienced the transition of exiting his prime in his previous life. Only someone who experienced this understood the value of youth. It was absolutely priceless. He could not afford to waste time doing things that were better saved for when he had no choice but to do them.
"I understand that quite well," Prince Raijun nodded. "Be that as it may, I do hope you eventually do spread the seed of your Martial Path. Many of the popular fields that are used across Martial Art were once a single Martial Artist's Martial Path and Art. It was only because they decided to spread it that we have fields such as breathing techniques, poison techniques, and other non-elementary techniques. We have all benefited from the world of Martial Art, and it is important to repay our debt."
