The Martial Unity

2168  A Shocking Revelation

Rui knew that it would come down to this.

He had a sneaking suspicion that the old man was going down this line of reasoning when he began talking about a numeric advantage. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"I do not possess any knowledge of what you seek, elder Master," Rui narrowed his eyes. "Please continue with the briefing."

The old man didn't believe Rui for a bit.

Rui possessed immense power in the Kandrian Empire until relatively recently. It was extremely difficult for anybody to believe that he had absolutely no idea as to what the manner through which mass Martial Artists were created, was.

And his suspicions were correct.

However, not for reasons that he thought they were.

After all, he didn't just know what was responsible for the breakthroughs to the Apprentice Realm; he was the cause of all these breakthroughs.

If he wasn't, then there was a good chance that he would genuinely be ignorant of what the cause of the mass breakthroughs were. After all, he had genuinely distanced himself from the affairs of the Kandrian Empire after handing his father the power that he once had.

There would be absolutely no avenue for him to know what his father was planning. A good example of this was when the entire Underworld in the Kandrian Empire was uprooted and he had absolutely no idea ahead of time, in time and even well after time.

In the case of treasures of the Kandrian Empire that would be used to elevate them, he knew all about them only because he was the one who brought them to the nation in the first place.

" Are you more loyal to your father than Martial Art, Master Rui?" the elder man raised an eyebrow. "Why do you hide such a precious miracle from us; the greatest purveyors of Martial Art in the Age of Martial Art?"

Rui narrowed his eyes but did not answer.

If he engaged with the question, he would implicitly be conveying that he did indeed know the secret behind the breakthroughs. He did not want to cede that ground as that would make refusal much more difficult and consequential.

"Perhaps you didn't hear the first time," Rui coldly remarked. "I do not have what you seek."

"…" The man simply stared at Rui silently for a moment. "I told you that I have been authorized to give you anything you desire. Training resources, resources that may be able to aid your journey to the Sage Realm, more life-prolonging potions. Anything you desire. Anything at all."

The fact that the man did not mention things like land, wealth, and political power was proof that the Panamic Martial Federation had a good understanding of what were effective bargaining chips when negotiating with Rui and what weren't.

Rui had never cared for these things. As a Martial Master, he could easily raise his own nation if he truly wanted. Hell, if any of those things truly mattered, he would have just ascended the throne of one of the most powerful empires in the entirety of the Panama Continent.

The Panamic Martial Federation possessed enough intelligence of him to know that these were non-starters.

In other words, they needed to lay down the precise kind of carrot that Rui cared about.

Rui had to admit that the mention of resources that could help him to Sage Realm was something that was deeply attractive to him.

The Kandrian Empire did not possess such resources in stock at the moment.

However, he could infer that such resources did exist.

After all, he recalled how Master Deivon had been aiming for a resource that he called the 'Soul Mirror Pill.'

It didn't take a genius figure what the resource was meant for. It clearly aided with the discovery of the Martial Soul and was something that even Masters seemingly needed to compete for to get their hands on.

In other words, it was a resource that was highly in demand even among Masters and had a very low supply.

It was deeply tempting. However, he was not about to yield so easily. The reason that he couldn't was because the only way he could redeem such a resource from the Panamic Martial Federation with what they wanted was spending most of his days breaking through many Martial Apprentices.

Breaking through thousands of Apprentices every day was more valuable than any service he could provide as a Martial Master. While he could resist political pressure within the Kandrian Empire, he could not resist pressure from the Panamic Martial Federation and the entire Martial World.

If he did accept such an offer, he would be doomed to spend his days triggering breakthroughs for the Panamic Martial Federation.

No resource was worth losing his freedom in such a manner.

"For the last time, I do not have what you're looking for," Rui's voice was ice cold. "Do not pressure me any more, I do not mind ending this right here and now should you make that request one more time."

The man heaved a tired sigh. "Why do you protect the secret from other Martial Artists even when we offer to compensate you extraordinarily well? Is it your father? Are you loyal to the Emperor of Harmony?"

He was actually being incredibly loyal to himself, but he naturally didn't inform the man about that.

However, what he heard next shocked him.

"Why be loyal to a human emperor that once sought the means to genocide our kind?"

His tone was grave while his gaze grew more severe.

The air grew frosty as he allowed his words to sink in.

Unfortunately, he didn't get the reaction he sought.

Rui's composure held strong as he didn't so much as twitch. Yet, inwardly, he was stunned by the man's words that struck him like a sledgehammer.

However, his eyes couldn't help but widen as a quick inspection of the man's mind revealed a genuine sincerity in his words.

"…what did you say?" Rui's eyes narrowed. The elderly Master smelled an opportunity to crack through Rui's reluctance.

"Your father, the Emperor of Harmony, once harbored the desire to wipe out all Martial Artists," Master Gern capitalized on the opening. "Come, allow me to tell you the tale of the Emperor of Harmony before he ascended the throne."

-