Rui had predicted this outcome with about an eighty-percent chance of occurring. Groups that were Martialocratic and Martial Supremacist always tended to solve things with Martial Art.

He didn't expect the Silas Clan to deviate too much in that regard.

"I accept that arrangement, grandmother."

His voice was calm and composed, yet radiated unshakable confidence. He normally hid his aura because he disliked drawing attention. However, the Martial Artists of the Upper Realms had much greater insight into his power.

"Hm," The matriarch's eyes conveyed approval and interest. "Then so be it. We shall have you fight a chosen Awakened Bodyforger of our clan. Do you take issue with this?"

Rui stared at her dumbfounded. "…Awakened bodyforger?"

"Yes, boy. You are unqualified to fight a Mindforger and too strong to fight an ordinary Bodyforger. Only someone of the same rank of power is a worthy test of your power and claims."

Rui stared at her like she was speaking another language.

She wasn't.

"The Silas Clan has a different Martial philosophy from the mainstream system propagated by the Panamic Martial Federation, Your Highness," Sage Sayfeel interjected, explaining. "A Pathforger is a Martial Apprentice, a Bodyforger is a Martial Squire, and an Awakened Bodyforger is a Martial Senior. They view the Squire and the Senior Realm as a single rank of bodyforging. Mindforgers, what they call Martial Masters, are rank-three Martial Artists."

"…Fascinating," Rui's eyes lit up with interest.

Rui was too accustomed to thinking of the Squire and the Senior Realm as entirely separate, but in reality, they were deeply connected. Empowering the Martial Body necessarily empowered the Martial Heart. They were both the same power; it was just that the Martial Heart was shackled out of reach by subconscious mental blocks. But ultimately, all of it was the power of the body.

Thus, in a sense, formulating them within a single rank of bodyforging, and referring to the Martial Heart as the Awakening, was perhaps more accurate as far as categorizing the sources of power went.

However, he understood why the Panamic Martial Federation propagated the Squire and Senior Realm as entirely separate. There was simply far too much of a gap in power between the two Realms to treat them as one and the same when it came to commercializing Martial Arts.

"We don't have all day," Matriarch Nephi growled, drawing him out of his reverie of thoughts.

"I accept your proposal, grandmother," Rui remarked.

"Very well then."

The council got up, leaving the little shed, prompting Rui to follow suit.

Matriarch Nephi beheld her clan members, who quickly gathered around to hear what she had to say.

"The council shall hereby put the son of Miriam to the test," she announced.

Her eyes turned to a particular woman in the crowd. "Huldah."

She straightened her back, bowing to the matriarch. "Yes, Matriarch Nephi?"

"You shall test the Martial Art of the son of Miriam as a part of the council's evaluation of his merit," Matriarch Nephi instructed.

The woman raised her head.

A fierce light lit up in her eyes. "Understood, Matriarch Nephi."

The matriarch turned to Rui. "Do you accept?"

"I do, grandmother," he calmly replied, having understood.

He had already begun applying the Angel of Laplace to the woman.

She was strong. Easily strong enough to be a high-grade Martial Artist at a bare minimum.

Her body was well-chiseled and balanced in its parametric configuration. However, it was clearly not her greatest strength, and she had not received a tremendous amount of training and conditioning.

It was to be expected as the Martial Artists of the Silas Clan had Martial Art centered around prophecy, thus physicality was not her greatest strength.

For the first time, he faced an opponent in the Senior whose body was not that much stronger than his.

This was rare.

Usually, the only advantage his opponents had over him was physicality. That was the only reason they could cope with the sheer potency of his extremely high-grade Martial Art.

Rui wondered how she would fare.

"What are the rules for the battle, grandmother?" Rui asked gently and slowly, stalling.

He didn't particularly need the Angel of Laplace to beat her. Frankly, the Gatekeeper was probably the only Martial Senior, or one of a very handful of elite, in the entire world against whom Rui needed his predictive model ready from the get-go just to avoid losing.

However, in this case, he needed to show off his predictive model. It was best to have it ready to show to them rather than making them wait through the entire battle.

"Victory by knock-out or submission. No killing," she clearly drew the line. "There are no rules aside from that."

"I understand; I find those terms to be quite acceptable," Rui nodded.

"The battle will be conducted far away from the clan," she declared. "We cannot have you draw attention to the Silas Clan, nor can we allow any damage to befall our clan members. I shall observe from here itself, and the council of Masters will oversee the battle itself. Be sure to go all out and not hold back."

"I do not intend to disappoint, Matriarch Nephi," Rui replied. "I am prepared to commence the battle any time."

"Then depart," she instructed.

Instantly, a few Martial Masters and Senior Huldah skywalked away, prompting Rui to follow them.

Sage Silas simply watched.

As long as matriarch Nephi wasn't closer to Rui than he was, he could always protect Rui from the Martial Masters, even at a great distance away from him.

Soon enough, they had put enough distance between them and the clan. Rui and Senior Huldah stood at some distance away from each other.

"Take your stances." One of the council members instructed.

The Martial Senior and the Awakened Bodyforger took largely neutral stances, ready to spring into battle. (C) content.

"Begin!"

BADUMP!

Their Martial Hearts blazed into fury as they leaped at each other at blinding speeds, launching their first attacks.

WHOOSH!

Their fists missed each other, having predicted and evaded each other's attacks.

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