The Martial Unity

Rui heaved a sigh of relief at her words. He hadn't expected to be so close to witnessing a battle between Martial Sages upon his meeting with Silas Clan.

Partly because the Silas Clan was not supposed to have any Martial Sages, according to Sage Sayfeel. Matriarch Nephi was only supposed to be a high-grade Martial Master according to Sage Sayfeel in his last meeting with her.

However, more than thirty years had passed since then. It appeared that Matriarch Nephi had managed to break through to the Sage Realm in the decades since their last meeting.

It threw Rui off his game a bit.

It meant that the consequences of failure could potentially be a lot more dire than he had partially established, forming a much more powerful constraint on his projections as to what degree he could tolerate a break in communications.

If their relationship grew hostile, then he was as good as dead. He highly doubted Sage Sayfeel could fight a Martial Sage while also protecting him from hoards of Martial Artists. Matriarch Nephi was strong enough to keep him preoccupied even if she had little chance of victory.

Of course, it would take incredible incompetence on Rui's part to allow their relationship to degenerate to that degree. He had no intention of allowing that to happen. However, the revelation of Matriarch Nephi becoming a Martial Sage meant that compelling them was not as easy as before.

Still, their first interaction after their meeting gave him hope that he would be able to secure their help for what he sought to achieve.

He followed them deep into the dense and enormous forest, and they arrived at a small river flowing through the forest. On the banks of the river was a humble settlement with more than a thousand people.

They each wore garb and attire similarly fashioned out of animal pelts. The settlement was littered with small tents fashioned with branches, twigs, and leaves. Several Martial Artists stood guard at the edge of the settlements, highly alert and cognizant of their surroundings.

The arrival of the Silas Martial Artists welcomed a sigh of relief from the many clan members of the Silas Clan. Each Martial Artist was priceless to the Silas Clan, and the loss of even a single one of them was a terrible price to pay.

Yet they grew wary and cautious of the two outsiders that followed suit, following their Martial Artists.

of the Silas Clan gathered, staring at

smiled at the children, talking to them in their ethnic dialect. "There is no cause to be

a hand on Rui's back. "My grandson,

through the members of the

see us," she declared. "And see him we

has to offer, and what he seeks. The clan council shall judge whether he is worthy to bear

wave of murmurs spread through

Rui didn't understand a word

to what you have to say, young Rui," her elderly voice assured him. "And the clan will judge

furrowed his eyebrows. "Which

the technique of the Eye of Prophecy. You may bear our blood, but blood alone is not enough to

Rui furrowed his eyebrows.

the flow of conversation. His

lying if he said he wasn't interested in the Eye of Prophecy

them. It wasn't long before something akin to a shed was constructed, featuring many rock stools that accommodated many important members of the Silas Clan, such as their elders

their forefront

"Sit." She instructed him.

behind him impassively, never once

Rui,"

head. "Tell you

aged voice. "Tell us why you seek the Eye of

breath. "…I require the power of the Eye of Prophecy

"I wished to empower my innate