CHAPTER 2069 SEEKING FREEDOM
It had been five days since Rui's return to the Kandrian Empire.
He had hoped for some peace upon his return back home, but largely thanks to Reina, he had been greeted with a mess that gave the Beast Domain a run for its money.
Instead of dealing with important things, he was left busy putting out the many things that she had set on fire to satisfy her boredom. Of course, while he resented her for making his life hard, he was grateful to her for covering for him for three years upon his request. She had still largely been of great help despite her many little pranks on him.
The Martial Union settled down after his return and victory in the duel and wager. While many Martial Masters were not entirely satisfied with the outcome, none of them voiced any complaints and piped down when it came to the matter regarding Rui's punishments.
Things would have been very dicey had he been a Martial Senior, but as a Martial Master who was extremely powerful from the very get-go, most of them did not have the right to even complain.
Unbeknownst to them, Rui had been cooking a pleasant surprise.
Rui had also been made aware of the many rumors of him that had been spreading about his breakthrough to the Master Realm in the Kandrian Empire and even outside. Given that he had educated himself on the deteriorating international relations in the past three years, he knew that this development was most likely not going to be pleasant.
Unlike the youngest Martial Senior, the youngest Martial Master meant something. Martial Masters had the power to affect the balance of power even between Sage-level powerhouses.
Rui predicted, much to his own chagrin, that the probability of the three other powerhouses of East Panama taking action to nip a future threat was, unfortunately, not zero.
This was part of standard operations.
Extraordinary Seniors were usually potential Masters.
And extraordinary Masters were certainly potential Sages.
Whether he like it or not, he would undoubtedly be viewed that way.
"I don't think I can afford to show off too much." He realized. "That will just increase the probability that I will be assassinated."
Rui would rather not return to needing bodyguards.
He was a Martial Master.
He decided to cancel making an official announcement for now.
"Maybe I'll consider doing it after I consume a stamina potion."
He had already looked through the Martial Union's catalog of available potions and chosen a potion of his choice.
[Sandflower Nectar Potion] Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.
It was a potion that was created out of the nectar of a flora species that had the power to survive for decades through an extraordinarily dense and compact manner of storing energy and nutrients. It would significantly increase Rui's stamina, allowing him to sustain intense battle for lengthened periods of time.
In turn, it would allow the Metabody System to catch up with the other systems that were more modern and refined, for it was the sole system that had been created when he was merely a Martial Squire.
It had not been created with the Martial Heart in mind which was also quite stamina draining as well. Together, the two often forced Rui to be on the back-end as far as attrition battles went.
Rui suspected that he would grow immensely stronger as his initial power increased tremendously, allowing him to withstand many tribulations throughout the battle due to a much more powerful failsafe.
"As soon as I've fixed the mess Reina left behind," Rui grumbled. "I'm going to consume that potion."
Thankfully, all though she had been busy, he was able to deal with each obstacle at a remarkably high pace. He partially dealt with it as quickly as he did by sending out his agents one after another, canceling all the silly harem contracts that she had signed and paying the severance pay even if it made him bleed.
Having put the Ministry of Research and Development and his administration immediately on search for beacon blood tree specimens and having put the Divine Doctor on researching the alien, he had dealt with the three super assets simultaneously.
The Divine Doctor had yet to inquire to request Rui for his payment for healing his father.
They both knew why.
Until the Emperor of Harmony woke up, the deal was not yet in place. Both of them were waiting for Emperor Rael Di Kandria to wake up for their deal to unfold. The Divine Doctor at least had principles as a medical practitioner.
Rui had accomplished a lot in the past five days, so much so that it felt like an entire month. Yet, he gritted his teeth and cleaved through all the nonsense that shackled him, breaking them apart. While others saw him working as a responsible leader, he saw himself as a man fighting for freedom. His goal, at the end of all this effort, was to come out on the other side of the tunnel a free man.
As Rui, the Martial Artist.
Not Rui the prince.
Nor Rui, the future Emperor.
Nor Rui, the leader of a faction.
Nor anything else.
It was an exorcism.
He sought to return to his roots.
Yet, the most important piece in freeing himself of all these unwanted burdens was to ensure that the thing that had caused them to weigh him down was undone.
He needed to get at the root cause of why he was weighed down by much in the past eight years.
The man he had long come to come to accept as his father begrudgingly.
Everything was in place.
And that was when the long-awaited event finally happened.
Deep within the medical wing of the Vargard Royal Palace, in a special medical room, lay a man.
An emperor.
One that had slumbered for a long time.
And now, his long slumber had finally come to an end.
He opened his eyes.
The Emperor of Harmony had awakened.
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