The Martial Unity

The number of Martial Masters who simply could not accept the truth that the Void Prince had broken through to the Master Realm at the age of thirty-five was higher than I would expect. Their disbelief halted the progress of the meeting from the very moment it commenced.

Forget reconsidering their approach to the revelation of his breakthrough to the Master Realm, they were unable to accept the fact that he was indeed a Martial Master.

It was irrational.

Any amount of critical thinking would have illuminated the fact that the Martial Union would not call for the Master Council if it weren't certain about the reason for doing so.

Yet, despite that, many were irrationally vehement in their denial of the truth.

There was a simple reason for their incredulity.

What did it say about them if a young thirty-five-year-old Martial Artist reached the Master Realm in a tiny fraction of the time they did?

What did it say about them if he reached the Master Realm faster than they could have ever dreamed of doing so?

What did it say about them if he did this despite facing far greater difficulties?

Just what had they done with their life if all their multi-century accomplishments had been replicated within multiple decades by this unfathomable prodigy?

They would rather it wasn't true.

Unfortunately, they didn't get to decide.

"The claim that Prince Rui Quarrier Silas Kandria is a Martial Master is not fiction."

Master Sera's voice cut through all the chatter from the Master Council.

Her dark eyes narrowed, turning to one particular Martial Master in the crowd.

"Master Gilbert Ferik, can you please share your recent experiences running into His Highness at the Quarrier Orphanage."

The Master Council turned their attention to the mentioned Martial Master with intent eyes.

This was the same Martial Master who had been instated for the protection of the Quarrier Orphanage by the Martial Union.

"I…was performing my duty today as I normally did," he began. "When, all of a sudden, I sensed a truly potent Master-level aura surging towards the Quarrier Orphanage at extremely high speeds. Yet, when I went to confront the unauthorized newcomer according to protocol, I found myself staring at nobody else but the Void Prince himself."

His expression grew severe as he clenched his fists.

"That's not all…" he continued. "He wasn't just a Martial Master. His Martial Mind…it was unlike anything I have ever felt in this entire world. I did not know that a mind could possibly be that powerful…!"

The man found himself choked, speechless, as he struggled to find the words to describe the weight of Rui's Martial Mind.

He was unable to.

Yet his anecdote had been enough to convince most Martial Masters of the veracity of the claims regarding the Void Prince's breakthrough to the Master Realm.

Most of them grew engrossed in thought at the man's words, pondering about the shocking implications that they led to.

Yet, not everybody was entirely on board.

"…His testimony means nothing!" One elderly Martial Master gritted his teeth. "The Void Prince is known to be able to fake auras an entire Realm above him through his extraordinary mastery of the Mind Mask technique!"

Master Gilbert Ferik's eyes flared with anger, turning to the protesting Martial Master. "Do not insult me! No Martial Senior could possibly fool my senses, the senses of a Martial Master, with that technique!"

Unfortunately for the recalcitrant elderly Master, this was undeniable. Martial Masters had senses that gave them deep insights into the minds of other beings. While the Mind Mask was enough to fool Martial Artists of the Lower Realm, the same most certainly could not be said about Martial Masters.

"Master Belmanel."

The Harbinger's perilous words addressed the elderly Martial Master with a chilling tone.

He shuddered momentarily as he felt an inkling of the wrath of the Harbinger building up within her.

"We have verified this claim through other means as well, including but not limited to confirmation from the second Martial Master of the Royal Family posted at the Quarrier Orphanage, long-range sensory Martial Artists detecting His Highness' aura and independently arriving at the conclusion of his breakthrough to the Master Realm." Her voice was cold. "It is not disputable. The Martial Union is not incompetent."

The elderly Martial Master shut up, frozen stiff, where he sat.

He didn't want to give the Harbinger a reason to be pissed off at him.

"…I understand; it appears that I have been severely mistaken."

A bitter expression appeared on his face.

"Then, without further ado, let us consider the revisions to our original approach to handling the Martial Union's response to the Void Prince's deceit of the Martial Union," she calmly declared. "Might I remind you all that our previous resolution into this matter was to ensure that our relationship with the Void Prince would not deteriorate while also ensuring that he fully repaid the Martial Union for three counts of major fraud against the Martial Union. We had previously decided to offer him a settlement that would involve him conceding each and every single technique, principle, system of thought, and any other Martial development of any kind that he had ever engaged in, to the Martial Union while also demanding that he become a member of the internal corps and fall under our chain of command."

The Martial Union had previously not wanted to turn Rui into a hostile entity against them, yet, at the same time, they couldn't have overlooked such major fraud against them. Gaining billions of gold worth of investment and donations under intentional and knowingly false premises and claims was textbook fraud. The Martial Union was well within their right to persecute him by themselves under the provisions of the Martial Judiciary Delegation Act of the Martial Covenant ratified by Emperor Rael Di Kandria in the year one hundred and four.

However, going for this aggressive and hard-headed route was something that the Martial Union was extremely reluctant to do.

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