The Martial Unity

Yet…when Rui thought about what he had gone through, could he blame him?

What would he have done if he had learned that some powerful forces had slaughtered his orphanage home?

It would be over.

He would find each and every aware and involved person in the matter and erase their existence from this world. In that regard, he was not that different from Prince Rajak. The only difference was that he would do it using his own personal power and not the dirty power of the Underworld.

"Huff…" Rui heaved a sigh.

His eyes dilated, growing unfocused as he thought back to what the prince had told him about the princes and the princesses. Putting aside his hypocrisy, he was right about them. They were the kind of people who would not bat an eye if they had to slaughter an orphanage of children and caretakers if that meant that they could eliminate one vulnerable rival to the throne with ease.

'Aside from Prince Raul, he said,' Rui mused as his expression softened. 'Perhaps he is the only hope left.'

He had always known that he could never support Prince Rajak. Not as long as that man accepted the patronage of the Carnil Mafia that had hurt his family. There was absolutely no chance that he could support such a man.

However, his words also made Rui more disillusioned about the Kandrian Royal Family. He was not entirely wrong in saying that they were monsters. He knew that Princess Raemina and Rafia, in particular, were inhuman, while Prince Raijun, Prince Randal, and Princess Ranea were apathetic to the suffering of people as long as they could fulfill their ideologies and ambitions.

The world was filled with many such people. It could be argued that the Royal Family was prone to producing such people. What else would being born into filthy rich wealth, being brainwashed that their blood was superior, that it granted them authority and entitlement over the entire nation and all of its one hundred and fifty million people do to their psychology?

In that regard, Rui was not inclined to disagree with him.

It was no wonder that the only exception he cited was the only other prince who had grown up a commoner: Prince Raul.

'I must meet with Prince Raul at once,' Rui realized. 'He is the only hope left.'

He was also the only prince that had yet to reach out to Rui. Not even the Beggar's Sect had offered an invitation to Rui on behalf of the prince.

Of course, Rui was not arrogant in that he expected all of the princes to try to woo him and that it would be an insult if they didn't.

But it was curious to him nonetheless.

As much as he would have loved to immediately set out for the People's Prince, he was busy. Ultimately, the Kandrian Throne War was still not his absolute top priority, and he had given it enough of his time and energy since coming back.

He was tired of his strength not matching his value.

He was frustrated at having returned to the Kandrian Empire at a time when not even Senior-level power was significant anymore.

Of course, it was never too significant in the Kandrian Empire due to just how powerful the Kandrian Empire was.

In places like the Derschek Region, the Kaddar Region, and the Gereign Region, Martial Seniors were absolute peak powerhouses. But in the Kandrian Empire, they were far diminished in value and significance.

It was a testament to just how much stronger the Kandrian Empire was. It was an absolute powerhouse for a reason.

That was why he needed to grow stronger and eventually reach the Master Realm. As a Master, there were very few forces that would unnecessarily mess with him. While some truly powerful organizations did have multiple Martial Masters, they tended to avoid antagonizing other Martial Masters unless absolutely necessary. The sheer damage that they could inflict on any nation or entity was too high.

He immediately returned to his training, submerging himself in it.

The four projects he had begun working on were making slow but steady progress, occasionally taking tips from Master Gurren while he trained his new techniques. Although Master Gurren was clueless about the mechanics of Rui's technique, he could help Rui with certain specific aspects.

He even offered advice to Rui about the practicality of the techniques.

"There are two levels of mastery of domain techniques: active mastery and passive mastery," Master Gurren explained. "Active mastery is the basic level of mastery, enough that you can apply it viably in combat and sustain a domain battle that way while actively focusing on the technique. Passive mastery is when you are able to master domain techniques to the point of being seamlessly able to use them in combat while also engaging in hand-to-hand combat."

Rui's eyes widened with shock. "You can do that?!"

"I can, but it's very difficult and takes a lot of time. You will most likely only be able to start with active mastery until you eventually become so familiar with the patterns of heaven and earth manipulation that you will be able to execute them while engaging in hand-to-hand combat. They just require too much mental and body engagement for you to be able to reach this stage immediately," Master Gurren told Rui. "But when you do, you will be able to harness the fullest potential of domain techniques and reach an extraordinary level of environment harnessing."

Rui widened his eyes as he thought about how incredibly powerful he would be when he reached a stage where he could seamlessly go all out with all other forms of combat while simultaneously becoming so familiar with domains that he would also be able to use them. It would increase his overall power to tremendous degrees.

Until then, he would need to use the right techniques for the right opponents and circumstances; such was the philosophy of Water, after all.

He looked forward to mastering such power in the coming months and years.