The Martial Unity

One day, news broke out in the Kandrian Empire about the birth of yet another prodigiously young Martial Senior. Squire Kane had returned from the Beast Domain as a Martial Senior after just three months of subjecting himself to the tribulations of the Beast Domain.

The disowned heir of the Arrancar Family had returned a Martial Senior. Many wondered what the Arrancar Family was going to do now that it had become apparent that they had the most to lose when Kane split from them.

With the appearance of yet another prodigiously young Senior who had shattered the previous record for the youngest Senior before Rui, the Kandrian Empire seemed to rank number one when it came to harnessing talent and actualizing it.

It was a source of prestige for the entire nation and painted a bright picture for the future.

Kane, however, avoided everything as he went straight to Rui, looking for him.

"Rui!" He called out when he reached the orphanage.

Rui turned, glancing at Kane's sky-walking and Martial Hearted figure.

He had already prepared a Mind Mask for some mental conditioning.

"Kane? You broke through to the Senior Realm!" He exclaimed with what seemed like genuine ecstasy. "Congratulations!"

"Hehehe, I almost died, though," Kane replied, grinning.

The two of them did their best to play the act.

"How was the Beast Domain?" Rui asked curiously as he invited the young man into the orphanage.

"It was something else…" Kane shook his head. "It makes you wonder if you're even in the same world anymore, whether you were mysteriously transported to an alien world."

Rui nodded; he had gotten the same feeling when he navigated through the Great Forest of Hypnonarak.

"There were tons of dangers hidden throughout the entire zone that I was in," Kane remarked. "This one time…"

He narrated the story of how he went through the Beast Domain.

This part of the story was rather genuine. Kane had subjected himself to many hardships since he was not allowed to use his Martial Heart until his fake breakthrough to the Senior Realm.

"I'm telling you, man," Kane shook his head, heaving a sigh. "Them Beast Domain monsters of a different breed, literally. They're monsters through and through. They're vicious, but many of them are intelligent as well, not just mindless like the monsters of the Shionel Dungeon."

Rui's curiosity peaked at Kane's tales. He had yet to plunge into the Beast Domain due to one reason or another his entire life. However, now he had reached a stage in his life where he could do whatever he wanted for the most part; he didn't have to worry about a psycho chairman gunning after his life. He had also sealed off the crazy religious Master in an expensive wide information blackout.

"If you're planning to go into the Beast Domain, you definitely need to be prepared, Rui," Kane warned him. "Don't assume you'll be fine just because you're strong. Your general ability to survive in the Beast Domain needs to be high. There are weak creatures in the beast domain that survive long because they have really good survival skills or abilities. There are also powerful creatures that get hunted because they draw more attention than they can handle. It's a whole other world there. I fully understand why human civilization doesn't just conquer the beast domain."

Rui nodded. Especially now that he had learned that the thirteen Martial Transcendants of human civilization did not act. Conquering the Beast Domain had become a much more challenging ambition for humanity.

Of course, the many Martial Sages scattered across human civilization together were an awe-inspiring force, but Rui didn't know if they were enough to definitively conquer the Beast Domain. It covered a substantial chunk of the continent at its center, meaning the sheer amount of area that it covered was extremely high.

On top of that, the Beast Domain may be much smaller than human civilization, but it was more densely packed with powerful creatures than humanity was.

It made Rui wonder how humanity even came to conquer as much of the continent as it already had.

"I probably won't head out to the Beast Domain immediately, though it is an agenda on my mind," Rui remarked, recalling primordial seed. "Still, I probably will take my time to prepare for it when I do head out. I have no intention of dying there."

"Good," Kane nodded. "So, what have you been up to for the past three months?"

"Oh, mostly training, but before that…" Rui heaved a sigh, narrating the tale of everything that happened since then.

"Wow," Kane stared at him, stunned. "You've already met with and spoken to three of the so-called seven prime princes and princesses? That's crazy!"

"Is it?" Rui heaved a tired sigh. "It's nothing but trouble, honestly."

"How can you even say that?" Kane stared at him skeptically. "It shows just how valued you are."

"Hah, you'll find out just how troublesome it is," Rui smirked, thinking about Princess Rafia. "Though you might just enjoy it. At the cost of your relationship with Fae."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kane furrowed his eyebrow.

"Hehehe, you'll find out."

"Don't mess me with man, spit it out."

"Make me."

"…"

The two of them bantered for quite some time, catching up as Rui told him about everything he had been focusing on.

"Domain techniques, huh?" Kane scratched his head. "Never heard of them. They sound quite niche."

"They are," Rui replied. "The sole Martial Master with a domain Martial Art doesn't care to form a sect to spread it. But I have been focusing on adding it to my Martial Art. I have a pretty solid affinity with it and have been working on several interesting projects that will elevate my Martial Art to a higher level as far as adaptive evolution goes."

"Wow…" Kane stared at him with raised eyebrows. "I'm guessing I should focus on getting stronger too."

"What you need is more experience using the Martial Heart," Rui replied. "I would suggest you spar with different kinds of Martial Artists and build a lot of experience."