He found himself at a dead end.

"Do you have any business with me?" Rui turned around, narrowing his eyes at a hooded masked figure that blocked his path.

The figure was a Martial Apprentice, that much he could tell. Yet the mask was powerful enough to jam even his Riemannian Echo, which meant that it was no ordinary mask, certainly nothing an ordinary Martial Apprentice could ever hope to get their hands on.

"Do I?" The hooded masked figure asked Rui. His voice was distorted.

Rui narrowed his eyes as he unleashed the aura that he was constantly suppressing. Heaven and earth squirmed under the sheer peril that Rui radiated as a high-grade Martial Senior. Yet he could only widen his eyes in shock as two Martial Masters appeared behind him out of nowhere.

'It's not just them!' Rui realized. 'I've been surrounded by Martial Seniors before I realized it!'

Rui glanced at the two Martial Masters guarding the hooded masked figure, instantly deciphering their Martial Art.

Poison…and symbiote.

One of the Martial Masters had a pair of wing-like appendages attached to his back. 'Unorthodox Martial Artists…' Rui narrowed his eyes as realization dawned upon him.

He understood who he was dealing with.

"It's been a long time, Rui Quarrier," The distorted voice returned to a masculine one as the hooded figure removed his mask. His tone was cold.

"I did not think that we would meet again," The mask came off, revealing a man with beautiful aesthetics.

Rui's eyes widened.

His voice grew ominous.

"The Underworld is not a forgiving place, you see. Back then, I was not the Prince of the Underworld; I was just a low-level Martial Artist with some ties to gangs," The Underworld Prince told Rui. "It is only a decade later that I have grown to harness the Underworld in my bid for the throne."

"So this was your plan all along?" Rui stared at him. "To join the Underworld and harness its capital to fight for the throne."

"Indeed," Prince Rajak calmly answered his question even as his stare intensified. "You taught me much about the consequences of failure in the Underworld. I-" (C) content.

"Cut the crap," Rui's eyes sharpened. "If you're here to kill me, then get it over with quickly. If I'm going to die either way, I'd rather not have to hear your pretentious monologue."

He activated his Martial Heart, steeling himself. The prickling tension in the air escalated. Yet, the prince did a good job keeping his composure under the pressure of Rui's Martial Heart. "Join me."

His words cut through the taut atmosphere.

Rui furrowed his eyebrows, staring at Prince Rajak. "You corned me here just to invite me?" "Were you under the impression that I would invite you for an Underworld social party or a mafia banquet?" Prince Rajak calmly asked. "That's not how we do things. We can't afford to."

Rui stared at him. "So you intend to compel me with fear? To join you or to die?"

"That was my plan, but…" He glanced at the two Martial Masters behind him. "You have many fans. Rest assured that you will be walking away alive, if nothing else, much to my disapproval. It is not the Underworld's way to forgive someone who crippled our profits during the Shionel Dungeon raid, but alas."

Rui recalled how he stopped the supply of esoteric substances to the shell fronts of the Kandrian Underworld. It appeared that the Kandrian underworld had not forgotten that offense after all this time.

Yet he also understood that Prince Rajak couldn't afford to kill Rui. It appeared that while he had managed to wring away support from Rui had sharply already deduced the dynamics at hand. It was no coincidence that the Martial Masters behind him were unorthodox. Most likely, these sects were the only sects that he could win over against Prince Raijun, given his association with the Underworld. However, while they had associated with Prince Raijun, they were fundamentally a part of the Martial Union.

Rui had already contributed to all the Martial Sects with his Hungry Pain technique. He had earned a great amount of gratitude and approval from them, not to mention being valued for potentially even more such contributions.

On top of that, the Martial Union was looking forward to initiating the spreading of his techniques so that one day, he could establish his own Martial Sect. In the face of all these gains that involved Rui Quarrier, he wasn't surprised that Prince Rajak couldn't kill him so long as he had even a single sect of the Martial Union in his camp.

Aside from the Royal Emperor, nobody possessed the might to stand up to the Martial Union as an equal.