The Martial Unity

"Kekeke…" The man cackled at Rui's expense. "HEHEHEAHAHEHEWEHAHEHE!"

His uneven laugh made Rui feel nervous.

It was already bad enough that man saw through Rui from a mile away.

He didn't even understand how.

It would be one thing if a Martial Master was standing right before him, staring into his eyes with their extraordinary senses. But the man was only exposed to an imperfect recording and projection of his voice an unimaginable distance away.

Yet, through an imperfect replication of Rui's voice, he was able to grasp his intentions.

That was a feat of insight that exceeded any other Rui had ever personally witnessed. Just how much about Rui would he be able to learn if he actually stood before him?

It was a question Rui didn't want answered.

"I see," the man mused. "You want to heal the Emperor of Harmony, hm?"

Rui narrowed his eyes.

"Relax," the Beggar Sage's voice reassured. "The agreement specified that nothing in this conversation would be divulged. The Beggar Sage keeps his word."

Rui could almost hear the smile emerge on his face.

"Still, you should be more careful, boy."

"Kekeke…" The man cackled. "You can't be this transparent. Still, healing the Emperor of Harmony, hm?"

He seemed to be considering the matter. "Not a terrible outcome."

"Are you willing to help me?"

That was the only thing that Rui cared to know.

"…Alright," the Beggar Sage relented. "Why not? You and I do have a history of working together. I'll help you out. It will cost you, of course."

"How much?"

"Hm, let's say nine hundred and ninety-nine million gold coins."

Rui winced at the number.

It was an absurdly high for a piece of information.

"Don't think like that; fact of the matter is that it's more than just the value of the information you're paying for," the man remarked. "My time is valuable. If this call never happened, then that is the equivalent of the money I could have earned if I truly wanted to. It is the bare minimum."

Rui narrowed his eyes. "Information first. You know where to find me if I break our deal. If you cut the call right now, then I'll never find you."

"Kekeke…What good is knowing where you are when you are protected by a powerful faction?" The man chuckled. "But alright, Rui Quarrier Kandria, I'll humor you. You have a history of credibility and reliability to us, after all."

Rui waited impatiently as the man cleared his throat dramatically, taking his time.

"To answer your question, the Divine Doctor is the Beast Domain," the Beggar Sage nonchalantly revealed. "I don't know exactly where, but certainly not in a danger zone of the Upper realms. That's too much even for his skills."

"Beast Domain…I see," Rui did his best to feign ignorance, modulating his voice just right.

Yet, it was in vain.

"Kekeke…So you already knew that the Divine Doctor is in the Beast Domain," the man cackled with amusement. "What you seek is a more precise location, hm? Well, I cannot give you the exact coordinates if that was what you were hoping for. Still…"

He grinned. "I could help you out with finding him."

Rui heaved a sigh.

He was indeed hoping for exact coordinates.

"Any and all information that you have that might help with finding him will be appreciated," Rui replied.

"The Divine Doctor is a…disruptive man."

Rui narrowed his eyes at that.

"He's a man of chaos. Everywhere he goes, he brings and leaves chaos. He disrupts the order and harmony of every place he goes to with every waking step he takes. This one time, shortly after I founded the Beggar's Sect many centuries ago, I let him enter our then-taskforce, and he completely disrupted our operations with his incessant poking and interruption. By the time he left, my newfound headquarters was burned to the ground. Kekeke…!"

The Beggar Sage continued talking with wistful reminiscence before finally catching himself.

"The point being…" The man grinned. "…a man who leaves chaos in his wake is a man who can be traced."

Rui's eyes sharpened at those words. "…If that were the case, wouldn't he have been found by everybody who sought him?"

"Hehe, only if you have ever met the Divine Doctor in person," the Beggar Sage cackled. "If you don't know what the Divine Doctor is like. You're never going to catch him. He's too good."

Rui frowned. "If he's a doctor, then why is he so good at being covert? Not even an assassin Martial Master would be this hard to track."

"It is because he's not a Martial Master that he cannot be identified easily," the Beggar Sage grinned on the other side. "If you ever ran into him in person, you would never think he is the famed Divine Doctor even in your wildest dream. Kekeke!"

The man cackled.

"Chaos, hm?" Rui narrowed his eyes.

"That's right, follow the chaos," the Divine Doctor grinned. "The question is, how do you follow the chaos in a world that is filled with chaos? That is why not even the Beggar's Sect is able to find him."

"If you know this much, then can't you find him yourself?" Rui narrowed his eyes. "You are touted to be among the very most knowledgeable people in the world."

"Kekeke, you would think so, but alas, I am powerless in the Beast Domain," the man shrugged lightly. "If there is one avenue where my sect is unable to know much about, it would be the Beast Domain."

Rui understood.

The Beggar's Sect relied on a supply of information from the common man, who was entirely absent from the Beast Domain, crippling their sole greatest strength. On top of that, information about the Beast Domain was largely collected with a combination of Martial Artists and esoteric technology, an avenue where the Beggar's Sect was deficient compared to everybody else.

Of course, the Beggar's Sect made do by simply stealing information that others collected through their spies in their ranks, but that was hardly optimal.