CHAPTER 2079  MUCH WORK

Father and son talked more about what was to come as they laid out their plans for the future and came to an agreement on a large number of things.

"I'm glad that I have plenty of forewarning this time for an impending war," Rui remarked with appreciation. "That is a luxury that is afforded to very few people."

Rui had already begun to plot out his path forward for when his father would inevitably trigger a war with his peers.

He didn't have a precise estimate for when the timeline for war would begin, of course.

But that was fine, as long as he knew it was coming, he could grow stronger.

He would equip himself with the power to deal with the war.

With the power to adaptively evolve to war.

He didn't even know what that looked like.

In the past five years, much of his growth had been maximized to adaptively evolve to the Beast Domain. The Tree of Life, Muspelheim, and Niflheim were most optimal against inhuman species. The Tree of Life did indeed treat each Martial Body as its own species and thus was effective. After all, although every Martial Body was unique, they were merely hyper-evolved human beings. Each Martial Body, although its own species in a sense, was still a part of the Tree of Life.

Thus, Rui was able to see exactly what kind of environment was most suited to taking them down. However, the difference was that Martial Artists tended not to have the extreme weaknesses against temperatures that beasts did.

Thus, Muspelheim and Niflheim, while quite damning against the denizens of the Beast Domain, were not nearly as powerful against Martial Artists.

Of course, not all the progress that he had made in the Beast Domain was most effective against the beasts of the Beast Domain. The SOUL System that he had developed in the region was also effective against Martial Artists. Unfortunately, he didn't have much experience using it against Martial Artists, unlike against beasts.

The same could be said about the past five years worth of experience. "I'm actually glad that your war will be taking its time to come," Rui told his father. "I have so many things to do as a new Martial Master that it isn't even funny."

Gaining experience against Martial Masters was something that he had already discussed with his grandmother. He also needed to work on increasing the synergy between his Martial Art and Mind and to work on bolstering his offense and improving his physicals. "If a war were to ensue at the moment, I would be sorely underprepared," Rui remarked. "Not to mention, I look forward to honing myself in the furnace of war, but peace… isn't bad."

After five years in the Beast Domain where he was prone to losing his life any moment in the maelstrom of chaos that characterized the region, some peace and security in the Human Domain were quite soothing.

Especially after everything that he had gone through emotionally.

"Enjoy this peace while it lasts, my son," his father told him. "For when I begin to fulfill my ambition, it will surely cease to exist."

Rui narrowed his eyes. His words were ominous.

War.

It felt surreal.

Like the reality of war in the not-too-distant future was something that hadn't settled in.

Perhaps it was because their conversation was normal, but the gravity of the Emperor of Harmony's words had yet to really hit Rui on an emotional level.

On a rational level, however, he had already begun to adjust his mindset for the future.

War did not tolerate softness.

Nor weakness.

"I will keep that in mind." This is from .

It wasn't long before their second meeting came to an end.

Of course, it most certainly would not be their last. Considering that Rui was the strongest tie between some of the super treasures that he had brought back home and Kandria, his aid and input in regulating them would be needed.

However, for now, he could put the matter aside.

For now, his father was focused on returning to his old state of hard and soft power and influence.

Until then, any question of triggering a war was entirely off the books.

While his father focused on regaining what he had lost in the many years since his prior decline, Rui would be focusing on gaining more power.

[Your Highness, the Sandflower Nectar Potion procedure and the life-prolonging procedure are prepared; I am informed that you may choose to undergo them any time you please.]

Perhaps the only part of having a faction that Rui didn't dislike was the fact that he could pawn off a lot of boring work to people he employed. "I need to get myself a managerial team after I dissolve my faction."

Even powerful and prominent Martial Seniors tended to have managers who dealt with paperwork, contracts, and negotiations. Martial Masters were wholly too prominent to participate in the world without one.

Now that he had decided to cut away as much non-Martial bullshit from his life to focus solely on training, he could never go back to personally dealing with things that he had come to delegate. His time was too precious, especially since the future was not one that would tolerate weakness.

"Stamina potion, offense training, combat experience, synergy training, war preparations…" he murmured. His to-do list had ballooned all of a sudden upon return from the Beast Domain. He had expected some amount of reprieve, and perhaps he would still get it, but it appeared that life was not willing to let him rest on his laurels nearly as easily.

"Such is life."

He never intended to rest on his laurels, at least not until he obtained Project Water. An ambition of a lifetime.

Two lifetimes, even.

An ambition from two different people across two different worlds. He immediately put aside such thoughts as he began planning his path to greater power. He had much work to do in the coming years.

-