The Martial Unity

"That is a good idea," Kane nodded when Rui explained his thoughts regarding interacting with states to him. "Frankly, let's not put ourselves in such a stressful situation again. We can grow stronger even without resorting to such extreme measures."

Rui couldn't help but agree wholeheartedly.

"What else?" Kane turned towards Rui.

"There are multiple options," Rui murmured. 𝒃𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒐𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝙘𝙤𝒎

The continent was vast, and Guildmaster Bradt's information was decently vast. Rui had hundreds of places that they could visit on their journey to the West. He had already begun searching for those with the means to give them what they wanted, and places where the difficulty of obtaining what they wanted wasn't too difficult.

That narrowed his search down tremendously.

Only three places were left!

"Damn, guess things aren't that easy," Rui murmured.

He had hoped that they would have a buffet of locations from where Rui could pick a place where he could help Kane achieve the Fulminata technique permanently by inserting the necessary esoteric substances into his body.

"What are our options?" Kane asked with directed interest.

"We have three spots, I'll let you pick," Rui offered. "The first one is a Martial Artist Church that is specifically meant for Martial Squires."

"A Church?" Kane frowned.

"Yep," Rui nodded, "A Virodha Church, a church of the Virodhabhasa Faith, said to be a place of refuge for Martial Artists."

Rui was a firm atheist and secularist, thus he had always turned away from religion across both of his lives.

He just didn't care. If there was proof of a God, then he wouldn't even need anybody to show him the evidence, he would have run into it himself. Until then, he had no interest in mingling with it.

The same was true in his second life. In fact, it was even easier to avoid religion in his second life. The Kandrian Empire was a secularist nation, something he was quite grateful for. Thus, he had seldom ever encountered religion.

He recalled running into Martial missions in the Martial Academy's and Union's mission libraries, but he had always steered clear of them.

"But, if they can give us what we want, then it is worth considering it," Rui murmured.

The Virodhabhasa Faith was one of the most prominent religions across the entirety of the continent.

It was dominant, so much so that even Rui had heard of it, and was cognizant of its popularity, although he had no idea what the religion was all about asides from the fact that it was a religion related to some Martial Artist.

He wasn't too surprised by this.

The origin of religion was one that was rooted in fear and hope for powers that surpassed what people could muster. That was why religions on Earth frequently deified the elements. These were entities that they feared, for they could unleash great suffering, but were also entities that could make life a paradise.

In a world where Martial Artists were feared more than natural disasters, why wouldn't there be religions centered around Martial Artists, particularly the powerful ones of higher Realms?

In fact, he was willing to bet that every Martial Transcendent had a religion dedicated to them just due to how abysmal their power was. Martial Sages to a lesser extent were also in the same country, he could easily see a small nation deifying a Martial Artist like Kane's father.

Perhaps Martial Masters and Martial Seniors could feign as divine in insular and isolated places.

As for Martial Squires like himself… He would be lucky if he was treated as a god even in a small village.

The Virodhabhasa Faith was also a faith that was centered around a Martial Artist, that he knew, though he didn't know who, and didn't care.

What he was interested in was the fact that perhaps this one church could offer them as far as their short-term goal of allowing Kane to use Fulminata at any point.

The Virodha Church that he was referring to in particular was something that he brought up because he very clearly remembered the data that Guildmaster Bradt had shown him. It was a church that considerably aided Martial Artists in their growth, in exchange for joining the Virodhabhasa Faith.

"You considered that to be not difficult?" Kane stared at Rui with a strange look.

Rui grimaced. "Listen, it's your choice, your technique. I'm just providing you with all options without rooting them away because of my bias. If you're willing, this place can help you get what you want."

"No question," Kane shook his head, much to Rui's delight. "I am not becoming a part of the Virodhabhasa Faith. Next."

"A development facility offering resources and services in exchange for Martial Squires serving as test subjects to experiments-" "Nope, next."

Kane looked nervous as they came across the final option.

"A small sovereign town dedicated to research on Martial Art offering training and growth resources and services in exchange for protection,"

Kane paused for a moment, before nodding. "What's the town's name?"

"Crexeet," Rui replied. "Crexeet; the town dedicated to Martial Artists."

"Will we be able to find what I need?" Kane asked.

"Without a doubt," Rui nodded as he recalled the basic data that he had purchased from Guildmaster Bradt. "The town was founded by a senior researcher who set-up up an institute in an extremely remote location. Furthermore, the research that the town does is mostly at the Squire level."

That was why Rui had the confidence that this town could provide Kane with what he needed.

"Alright, it's a done deal," Kane nodded with a determined expression. "We'll head to the town of Crexeet."

He turned towards Rui. "How far, where, and in what direction?"

"It's about seven thousand kilometers from here, which is very close all things considered. In a remote region known as the Hiokin Plateau, and it's South-west from here."

Kane got up. "Let's get going."

Rui smiled, nodding. He was quite pleased to see Kane taking charge and striving for something that he truly wanted. The dynamic was usually the opposite between them.