Much to his gratitude, the rest of the event went rather smoothly. It wasn't too long before it ended and both Rui and Julian found themselves on a carriage back home.
Julian heaved a tired sigh. "That was more tiring than I had expected."
Rui nodded absentmindedly. He had much to think about.
The first was the offer that the Minister of Martial Art had offered him. The Minister had not made the compensation that he would get from them entirely clear, but it was also clear that they were willing to go quite far for this particular request.
In essence, it had the potential to make the same impact as the Hungry Pain technique did on Martial Art. Increasing the success rate of the breakthrough to the Master Realm was a huge deal.
He was in a position that very few Martial Artists in history found themselves to be in. There were not that many Martial Artists whose Martial Paths were so individualistic and powerful that they could be universalized to leave a mark across all of Martial Art.
Their names were forever remembered in Martial Art.
The first breathing-oriented Martial Artist changed Martial Art forever. Today, breathing techniques have become one of the most foundational techniques and aspects of techniques. Entirely new fields were born purely because breathing techniques made them possible.
Rui's Martial Path had the potential to make the same impact on Martial Art.
The Minister of Martial Art had made a convincing argument for why Rui too should be concerned with spreading his Martial Art. It would be too late to begin after he ran into a bottleneck, too late for immediate results, but by making this investment today, he could ensure he had a ready supply of inspiration and insight based on the progress with adaptive evolution that other Martial Artists made over longer periods of time.
Rui knew the despair of bottlenecks better than anybody. In his previous life, he had died being unable to break through a bottleneck in his research into increasing the viability of the VOID algorithm. He had desperately tried everything he could, compromising his health in the process of trying to make progress, before ultimately failing and dying.
He did not ever want to experience anything like that in his entire life. It was easily one of the worst experiences that he had ever had.
If he could resolve it with some humble effort early on in his life then he could understand the merits of doing so.
He had initially been quite against creating a sect, partly because he had grown intoxicated by the endless growth and progress that he had made since becoming a Martial Artist. It had been nearly fifteen years since he had discovered his Martial Path, and since then he had been on a non-stop roll of growing stronger and growing stronger faster as time passed.
Perhaps that was why an illusion of being unstoppable had subconsciously taken root in his mind.
It was fine to be confident, what wasn't nearly alright was being arrogant.
Still, he wasn't sure about the commitment and whether he would be able to keep it up. He was unable to come to a decision then and there.
BZZT BZZT!
His communication device vibrated, drawing his attention before he opened it up.
His eyes lit up as he found a message from Master Ceeran, sending him an invitation to a Martial training center for the next day.
He recalled that it had been Master Ceeran who had informed the Martial Union and the Ministry of Martial Art about how well Rui's Martial Art had harnessed the power of thought and how even a chunk of it had been enough to serve as the foundation of Master Ceeran's Martial Mind.
"Hm, it's worth hearing about his experiences to the Master Realm,"
Especially given that he was going through the same journey himself at the moment.
And so he did.
Julina and Rui returned home, mentally exhausted before going to sleep immediately.
The next day, Rui immediately headed out after breakfast, setting of at top speed high up in the atmosphere towards the eastern coast of the Kandrian Empire.
Master Ceeran had resided in the town of Farund, a port town on the coast of the country through which much maritime trade and seafare occurred. The maritime sector of the Kandrian Empire was quite developed and enriched with trade.
The reason for this was that the east and west coasts of the Panama Continent were not exactly on opposite sides of the planet, they were closer through sea than through land.
While seventy percent of the world's surface was covered in water just like it had been on Earth, a third of all that water was in inland oceans inside the continent, while the remaining two- thirds was in the Great Nam Ocean.
This meant that there was a tremendous amount of trade that occurred through the Great Nam Ocean that connected the Kandrian Empire with the rest of the coasts of the world.
Many sea routes and trade corridors across the Great Nam Ocean had long been established and funneled an immense amount of trade flux to and from the Kandrian Empire.
It was precisely for this reason that Princess Ranea, who had earned the political allegiance of the Kandrian Seafare Association and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, was able to compete against the Martial Prince who had earned the support of a hefty chunk of the mighty Martial Union.
He put such thoughts out of his head when he eventually reached the location that Master Ceeran had given him.
Much to his surprise, it was a ten thousand-acre plot of land with large expansive target ranges of all kinds. Inside, many Martial Artists from the Lower Realms made use of these various facilities, training their techniques hard.
"Purpose of visit?" The two Martial Squire guards at the inquired.
"Invitation," Rui showed them the message he got from Master Ceeran, immediately gaining entry into the expansive facility.
