The Martial Unity

Days passed as the departure day approached, and Rui completed most of his preparations for his journey to the Panamic Martial Federation. He had consulted many people about what to expect from his visit to the Federation. While they had given him plenty of general advice, they had refused to get into specifics.

This only made him more curious.

However, the biggest constraint on his journey was returning in time to break enough explorer stage students to the Apprentice Realm.

Aside from ensuring that there would be enough Martial Apprentices to be paraded around when he was gone, he also spent time thoroughly familiarizing himself with the target of the secret mission that his father had given him. He could see why he had chosen her.

For the first decade after she had been afflicted with the shivering disease, she was hell-bent on finding a solution. Unfortunately for her, the condition could only be treated and managed, not cured. She was never able to wield the Realms of power that she had painstakingly unlocked.

Rui grew more confident that she would be interested in his offer. He could only hope that, as bad as it sounded, she hadn't moved on from her suffering. That increased the probability that she would be receptive to taking up his offer. However, even if she had moved on, there was no way that it wouldn't still appeal to her. She was once a full-fledged Martial Sage and how could anyone forget that? Even if she had managed to come to peace with her current circumstances, the possibility of overcoming it ought to set ablaze her Martial Drive once more. The drive that had driven her all the way to the Sage Realm was surely not something that would be extinguished so easily.

Regardless, he would find out in person when he reached the Panamic Martial Federation.

"I've prepared a highly secret carriage that will covertly leave the Kandrian Empire disguised as a simple transport carriage," Emperor Rael reassured his son. "With your departure obscured, there should be no risk. Though, with your current level of power, that isn't too much of a concern in the first place."

Rui nodded. "Wish me luck."

"I meant that I already consulted your grandmother. What did you think I meant?"

"Jerk."

Soon enough, Rui departed the Kandrian Empire and headed for the Panamic Martial Federation. The headquarters of the organization in East Panama was in the very center of the eastern quadrant of the Panama Continent, quelling any concerns that Rui might have previously had with traveling very far.

One thing that he grew quite curious about was the details of the briefing that he would go through once he joined the Panamic Martial Federation. Neither his father nor the Martial Union seemed to want to give him much of a heads-up in regards to what the Federation would be talking about.

He suspected that he already knew some of the topics that would be touched upon by virtue of his identity and his sources of intelligence.

His grandmother had already touched upon things like the tilt to psychopathy caused by the mind sense of the Martial Mind, but perhaps the Panamic Martial Federation would equip him with better tools to deal with it. His grandmother did say that he wouldn't stoop too low as long as he had the Quarrier Orphanage to go back home to. However, as painful as it was, he wasn't sure how much the Quarrier Orphanage would mean to him in a century or even a few decades when all the people who had raised him would undoubtedly be dead.

His connection with the orphanage had reduced. He didn't know most of the kids and even most of the adults. He did care about the orphanage by itself, of course, as the home that his mother had given him.

Still, it would be good for everybody if there were other means by which he could maintain his sanity as a Martial Master.

The journey was uneventful.

The carriage whizzed through East Panama at remarkably high speeds, crossing vast expanses of land in brief timeframes.

A day later, he arrived.

While the journey had been mundane, the same could not be said for the destination.

His eyes widened with shock as he stepped out of the carriage to get a good look at his destination. It exceeded even his wildest imagination.

"Hahaha…" He laughed weakly as he gazed at what was supposed to be the headquarters of the Panamic Martial Federation. "They could've at least warned me…"

His gaze was not fixed on the land before him.

No. It was fixed on the sky.

The sky was pitch-black despite the Sun that was supposed to be shining in the middle.

Yet it was nowhere to be seen.

How could it be when it was entirely covered and blocked out by a floating tectonic plate?

Rui stared in amazement at the floating country that covered the entire sky. He had always known that it was large, but it appeared that his peers been remiss in informing that it floated deep in the sky.

He almost wanted to scold the driver for not telling him ahead of time, yet he recalled that not even the man was in on the secret that he was actually transporting the Void Prince of the Kandrian Empire. Hell, he doubted the man knew what he was looking at.

His gaze returned to the titanic floating island overhead that blotted out the entire sky. "…I'm guessing the point of this is to ensure that only Martial Artists who can sky-walk that far above are worthy of setting foot on the island?"

It conveyed a deeply elitist mindset.

Then again, he supposed that it was to be expected.

After all, this was an organization that considered itself to be so superior to Martial Artists of the Lower Realms that it did not even deem them worthy of knowing about its existence.

"So much for existing for, by, and of Martial Artists," Rui muttered, turning to the carriage rider. "Go ahead and park in accordance with the protocols…"

His gaze returned to the floating rock blotting out the sky. "…I will probably take my time."

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