The Martial Unity

"As expected," She sighed.

"But I have also sparred and fought many times where such a thing did not happen," Rui offered.

She shook her head. "Your Martial Path is dangerous, Squire Falken. Defeat as many guardians as you like. Defeat them all, if you are able to do so in the first place. But I cannot have you crippling them. There are no healing potions for the psyche."

Rui understood why she had summoned him soon after his match with Seronin. This was not something she could simply let go of as a leader of the Floating Sect. While it was true that what he did, did not break the rules, it was also true that the way this was too disruptive to be ignored.

The system in place of the Floating Sect was designed to have a thousand highly qualified elite Martial Squires to protect the Floating Sect and offer their services in the interest of its survival. Ajanta Island had a limited amount of land that could be divided into a limited number of highly desirable avenues of training. Each Martial Squire was a precious asset, especially the longer they stayed. The longer they stayed, the more they were trustable.

That was why a destructive wild card that ran around crumbling the efforts of the Floating Sect, to whatever degree was not something she could tolerate.

"As for how you can control this…"

"Discipline," Rui sighed. He had already swiftly analyzed the situation now that he had become aware of something that had been hidden in his psychological blindspots. "Given that I haven't broken the Martial Paths of friends, but also my Martial Apprentice students while using my Martial Art against them to varying degrees, I'm guessing my emotion for my opponents plays a huge role."

"You most certainly bore hostility towards Squire Seronin, correct?" She remarked. "You need to be more mindful of this from now on if you wish to remain in the Floating Sect. Although there are plenty of powerful and strong-minded Martial Squires with remarkable fortitude that you probably will not be able to hurt, it is also true that the younger ones will be susceptible to breaking. Keep your Martial Art in check, or pay the consequences."

Her smile had all but gone. A stern expression issuing a strong warning to him took its place. He knew that she hadn't called him for frivolous reasons. Martial Seniors had too much to do to waste their time on such trivial matters.

"I will be sure to remember that," Rui sighed.

He wasn't even sure what to feel. He had certainly been exposed to the consequences of his Martial Path on other people. He hadn't even fully processed all his thoughts, but he already had strong conjectures.

Martial Paths were journeys fields of specialty that one was inclined towards due to the sum of all experiences of all kinds throughout their lifetime, or lifetimes, like in Rui's case. It was possible for it to change, as he learned, but it would take a truly impactful event on their psyche for it to change, and even then it was practically impossible.

However, if it could change, then surely it could… just cease being their Martial Art as well. What if they underwent such a traumatic experience centered around their Martial Path, that something in their head breaks, causing it to no longer be their chosen field?

What if they underwent such a traumatically powerful experience, that it completely overwrote everything they ever experienced, effectively breaking their Martial Path?

He felt a small shiver climb up his spine. That was truly disturbing to think of. He did not like being a destroyer of Martial Art. He liked Martial Art. Even if he liked the Flowing Void Style the most out of all of them, he still enjoyed other Martial Art as well. He did not think that they deserved to be broken down.

Even Squire Seronin, as annoying as he was, was not somebody that Rui wanted to break in such a cruel and inhumane manner. Hell, he would rather kill the man before subjecting him to something like this.

At the very least, he would rather die a hundred deaths than have his Martial Path broken. Just the very thought of it gave him secondhand agony.

He had only intended to beat him to a pulp, which, while painful, was something that could easily be fixed and reversed with no long-term detrimental effects.

He found it quite strange to consider, considering that his Martial Path was not just destructive, it was also constructive when it came to other Martial Art. It had allowed Mana and Max to break through at extremely young ages.

So depending on his emotions, he could choose to either destroy or create.

('I'd definitely rather create than destroy,') He immediately decided. ('I am a Martial Artist, and ultimately I am part of the Martial Artist world. I don't mind choosing to be a benefactor to it.')

Of course, as shocking as the news of Rui destroying Martial Paths would be, it would be even more shocking if the world found out what his Martial Art could do.

He glanced at her.

Her soft yet mature features were encapsulating, yet he knew that beneath her gentle expression was a strong-willed Martial Artist that had persevered to break through not once, not twice, but a total of three times, reaching the limit of the lower Realms. If she found out that he could pump Martial Apprentices out of ordinary kids, she would probably capture him at this very moment and extract all his secrets. If the secret lay in a technique, she would extract one way or another, using perhaps a mental technique.

"Still," She murmured. "I believe that you are an asset to the Floating Sect, and will be of great help to it in your time here. Allow me to offer you something that you are ready for."

Rui raised an eyebrow. "Which is…?"

"The conditions for the breakthrough to the Senior Realm."