He had several things going for him. For instance, he was their blood. Based on everything he heard, he could be certain that the Silas Clan had extremely strong familial bonds and placed a lot of importance on family.
In other words, appealing to this was his greatest out to victory.
However, he could not be obvious with it. The moment they realized he was trying to manipulate them, they would most likely become extremely hostile. He simply needed to act and talk in a manner that evoked a sense of familial kinship naturally and organically within them.
The fact that he was a descendant of Matriarch Nephi was also a great boon in that regard
While relying on familial kinship was undoubtedly an effective strategy, it wasn't the only approach he had at his disposal. He could incentivize them with beneficial offers of great value to them.
His father had taken this approach. He had offered them an artifact of proprietary Kandrian technology that obscured their existence, making it harder to detect and find them. It was deeply valuable to them as they were hunted by the entire world for their prophetic power.
"That isn't the only thing that is valuable to them," Rui smirked.
The Eye of Prophecy was a forbidden technique that consumed lifespan. In other words, it was lifespan that was deeply valuable to them. Far more so than it was to other Martial Artists.
Longevity potions were already deeply valuable to any person. However, it was beyond priceless when it came to people with crippled lifespans. Even a single life-prolonging potion was an extremely powerful bargaining chip when it came to negotiating with the Silas Clan.
This was another card that he had at his disposal. With the sheer amount of political, economic, and Martial capital that he had accrued as the next Emperor of the Kandrian Empire, longevity potions were effortlessly available to him. In fact, he was probably functionally immortal with how many could access if he wanted.
With these two cards to play, it was difficult to conceive that he would fail to gain their approval.
On top of that, he also had his trump card revealing that he, too, had the power of prophecy. Given how important and central was to their identity and Martial Art, there was a good chance he would be able to earn their approval by demonstrating his 'prophetic' power.
Another card he considered playing was the Antithesis Card. If they were prophetants who did not worship the Antithesis, then there was a chance that they wouldn't go crazy at the revelations that he resembles the Antithesis in some ways.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Nah, let's not go down that route," Rui shook his head.
He was unable to model theological irrationality. He didn't know how they would react to it; it was best to stay within the territory that he was confident in.
Time passed as he fully refined his strategy to approach the Silas Clan. It still wasn't as rigorous as he would have liked to due to a lack of data, but alas, that was all that he was limited to doing.
CLACK
The door to the meditation chamber opened.
"I have arrived, Your Highness," Sage Sayfeel informed him impassively like it was nothing special.
"You're exactly here exactly twenty-four hours later, down to the minute," Rui marveled.
"Precision and accuracy are extremely important if I am to serve the hidden blade of the Emperor."
"Hah, alright, let's get going," Rui smiled with excitement as he walked out with the Sage.
CLACK
The Martial Sage locked the door to the meditation chamber, leaving exactly as he found it.
"Woah…" Rui studied the four Martial Masters that stood outside in a trance. "That's some powerful hypnosis."
"I will release the technique when we depart," Sage Sayfeel remarked, completely concealing his titanic presence within him.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})He turned to Rui. "Then, Your Highness, are you ready?"
"I am," Rui breathed deeply, centering himself. "Let's go."
The Sage placed a hand on Rui's shoulder.
And that was when the universe itself shifted.
What Rui saw shook him to his very core.
Reality blurred as things flashed through Rui's field of vision at an unfathomably astronomical velocity. The very world itself was reduced to a myriad of flashing streaks. A mind-boggling amount of distance passed him every second.
It took him a moment to realize that they were the ones who were moving, not the universe.
It exceeded his mind's capacity to fathom.
All during that time, Sage Sayfeel didn't so much as budge, merely activating a breathing technique, bending heaven and earth to propel them forward.
'No, this…' A profound realization dawned on Rui as he activated Riemannian Echo. 'He's not just warping heaven and earth; he's warping space itself!'
He stared at Sage Sayfeel with a shocked expression.
Today, he beheld power that he was not supposed to.
Today, he beheld a minuscule fraction of the power of the Sage Realm.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Minutes passed as they continued traveling; the Kandrian Empire had already become a distant location on the East coast of the Panamic Continent. They were already standing at unimaginably high altitude.
So much so that Rui could see the curvature of the entirety of Gaia!
A single whisper escaped him.
"Incredible…"
He gazed at the sight of the Panama Continent expanding throughout his vision with deep awe.
It was a sight that burned itself into his memory forever.
In the distance, he could even see the Beast Domain from the sheer altitude that they were at.
A deep, dark domain that was visibly different from the Human Domain.
It was ominously inscrutable.
Within it lay priceless treasures and equally great tribulations to those who sought to get their hands upon it.
Within it lay the objective of his voyage.
Somewhere in the depths of the Beast Domain was the man that he was searching for.
His eyes sharpened with steely determination as he faced the direction that they were traveling in, eager to reach their destination.
