The Martial Unity

His breakthrough was such an absurd anomaly that the Silas Clan stared at him with shock even before he landed.

Three years ago, he was an Awakened Bodyforger at the age of thirty-two.

Today, he was a Mindforger.

Such a thing was so beyond the realm of what was supposed to be possible that the various Martial Artists of the clan could not even muster any words at him.

They just stared at him like the cosmic anomaly that he was.

Rui's gaze swept across the clan with vague interest.

In the past three years, the Silas Clan did well to settle in the Ilvilia Forest.

Rui had been worried of some degree of incompatibility with an agrarian transition, but it appeared that the Silas Clan was comfortable with their current style.

It turned out that life could be extremely comfortable when one didn't need to constantly move to not be hunted by the world. Rui was glad as it diminished any possibility of the clan leaving the empire and returning to their nomadic lifestyle. Their members had grown too used to the benefits of civilization.

While it was definitely a pleasant development, it was not why he had come here.

His eyes were fixed on the giant hut at the center of Silas Village.

It could not hide the extraordinary power that lay within it.

Despite her greatest efforts to hide her power, it pricked at her skin.

It tingled at her nerves.

It was as though heaven and earth bent under the sheer weight of her being.

"You've changed more than I foresaw."

A voice halted him the moment he arrived at the entrance, covered with strips fashioned from leaves.

WHOOSH

They swept aside as he found himself standing right before the matriarch of the Silas Clan.

"Grandmother." he regarded her with respect.

"Mmm…" She studied him with her powerful gaze. "…Indeed, more than I foresaw."

Rui's eyes sharpened. "…And just how much did you foresee?"

She regarded him silently for a moment before closing her eyes. "…Come in, we have much to speak about."

She ushered him in as she silently gathered a bunch leaves in a mortar, mashing them up patiently.

"You're a Martial Sage," Rui lightly commented as he observed her, flummoxed.

She snorted. "I do not wish to wield the power to level nations for every small task. Appreciating the innate capabilities of human beings keeps me in touch with my humanity. No matter how far I have risen above the average human, I am, at my core, a human being."

"…I would have thought that our Martial Bodies resembling humans indistinguishably was enough for that."

She snorted. "In the Lower Realms, perhaps. But that is no longer enough in the Upper Realms. Martial Artists in the Upper Realms have risen so far beyond the human being in every dimension of evaluation that we may as well be gods."

Rui's gaze grew a bit sharper. "…That is rather arroga—"

"—Is it?"

Rui's eyes widened as her voice grew more intense.

"…It hasn't been long since your breakthrough to the Master Realm," she remarked critically as she poured the mixture of churned leaves into a clay mug of boiling water. "That is why the reality of its impacts on your relationship with humanity has yet to hit you."

Her eyes slowly turned to him. "The Martial Heart did not affect one's relationship with humanity, but the same cannot for the Martial Mind. You shall learn that it takes effort to…

maintain your connection with the human being."

Rui's impassivity morphed into a frown. "What are you saying?"

"They cannot hide their minds from you. Their emotions and mentalities are all but transparent to Martial Artists of the Upper Realms. Did you really think that this wouldn't alter your relationship with humanity?"

Her words gave him chills.

"Awareness of mind and the very natural ability to manipulate it as a result…" She continued. "They are to us what infants are to their parents. No, they are even less. They may as well be livestock to us. That is why it takes effort such as this to hone one's mind, otherwise…"

She turned to him. "…It is very easy for a Martial Master to develop a god complex."

Rui narrowed his eyes. "…Is that actually common?"

"Quite."

Her answer stunned him. "But most of the Martial Masters that I have spoken to have been remarkably humble and down-to-earth…"

"That is because most of them have undergone some amount of psychological training, conditioning, and in some extreme cases, hypnosis and brainwashing after they broke through," She calmly informed. "Those that don't go through this often end up becoming the kind of Martial Masters that end up being hunted by the Panamic Martial Federation for crimes against humanity."

Shock flickered in the depths of his impassive eyes. "…What?"

"It is one of the many reasons that the Martial powerhouses of humanity came together to found the Panama Martial Federation," she continued, ignoring his incredulity.

"You're telling me it's so bad that most of the friendly Martial Masters I know needed psychological treatment to not develop a mindset psychopathic to humanity?" Rui gazed at her with a stunned expression.

The idea that Headmaster Aronian, Master Ceeran, Master Vericita, Master Zentra, Master Deivon, and many others had undergone some amount of psychological conditioning and treatment to adjust their mentalities to ensure that they didn't develop some degree of psychopathy was deeply disturbing.

"…It is a consequence of the human condition." Her tone was melancholic. "Social sorting is a sociological and psychological phenomenon deeply ingrained in the mind as a consequence of evolution. The combination of social sorting with the ascended state of life in the Master Realm can lead to some truly horrible outcomes."

"…But how?"

She snorted as she glanced at him with askance. "Look at the history of humanity, my grandchild. That should be an answer in and of itself. The list of things that groups of humans have done to other groups of humans that they perceived as 'other' and 'lesser' is long. Unfortunately, a similar thing generally tends to happen when Martial Masters break through to the Master Realm."

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