CHAPTER 2278: CONSIDERATIONS

A new milestone had been reached when it came to the long list of crazy things that Rui was willing to do for the sake of Project Water.

Dying for the sake of reaching a new Realm of power.

Even by Rui's standards, this was up there.

He had to admit, however, that he was attracted by the possibilities.

Just by the principle of the power of sacrifice, he knew that if it succeeded, it would potentially cut down what was bound to be a multi-century time frame to a more palatable

one.

In other words, it was perhaps the only thing capable of giving him exactly what he wanted, exactly when he wanted.

Rather convenient.

Rui glanced at Master Ceeran suspiciously.

There was no way he didn't know what he was doing by telling Rui about this crucial information.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not telling you to die. You don't see me doing it, do you?" He scoffed. "I have worked too damn hard to reach the position and status that I currently have. On top of that, I look forward to the future and the rest of my life. Especially if the Kandrian Empire wins the war, the future is extremely bright and prosperous. Under these conditions, I'm not desperate enough to reach the Sage Realm that I will severely risk this life to reach it." This was the line of thought of most Masters.

"But, I had a feeling that you might show interest in it." Master Ceeran turned to him with a knowing expression. "Your desire to reach the Sage Realm feels very different from your desire to reach the Master Realm before you broke through. I don't know what happened to you in the Beast Domain, but it has made you deeply desperate to reach the Sage Realm."

He was right.

Having known Rui for a long time, he had learned to read him well. He could tell what made him tick. Ever since Rui had broken through to the Master Realm, Master Ceeran sensed a lost emptiness that sometimes showed itself.

It was often buried under the endless drive that Rui seemed to have for his so-called Project Water, yet there were times it came out.

It exceeded Master Ceeran's ability to understand, yet he understood that Rui needed to get to the Sage Realm no matter what.

"I still wouldn't do it. Dying, that is. I wouldn't even recommend it, if I'm being particularly honest. There's nothing wrong with spending more time in the Master Realm if you ask me. But, it ultimately boils down to you. It is your choice," he calmly told Rui.

Rui fell into deep thought at his words.

He was right.

It was his choice what he wanted to do with that information.

"And before you try to get any smart ideas, don't even think of trying to game the system." He chuckled knowingly. "Having the Divine Doctor on standby completely defeats the purpose of dying. You know you're not going to die with such arrangements; thus, there is no effect since your brain is aware that it isn't truly going to die. It doesn't enter the heightened and unique state of activity that dying causes. Hypnosis has also yet to yield any promising results since it doesn't target the sum totality of the mind, just the subconscious mind. The Martial Union and the Panamic Martial Federation have already tried exploiting such loopholes."

"Tsk," Rui tutted with visible displeasure. "So I have to genuinely approach death itself." "Yes. That is the only way to accelerate your progress beyond the norm."

"Hm..." Hearing Master Ceeran tell him that hypnosis couldn't serve as a shortcut reminded Rui of Master Zeamer.

He recalled how the powerful Martial Master had employed an extraordinary grade-ten hypnotic attack that convinced the subconscious that the person was dead, leading to the halting of several life-sustaining processes such as breathing and heartbeat and even neural activity itself.

The issue was that if he tried subjecting himself to that in an effort to reach the Sage Realm, he would die far too quickly to make anything of it. When he came extremely close to death in his battle against Master Uma, he had gained some deep insights into himself, but the plummet to death had been far too quick to squeeze more insight from it.

He needed to be sensible with how he would go about it if he did decide to go through with this admittedly insane strategy.

"I'll need to think about it," Rui admitted. "I'd rather not lose this life."

It had been a dream for the most part.

He had finally achieved a once-dead dream of being a Martial Artist and had made much progress in that regard and was on track to achieving Project Water as long as he just stayed alive for long enough.

He mulled over the things he had just learned.

Master Ceeran's revelations were not light.

They weighed upon Rui as he considered what he was to do with that information and how it was going to change his path to the Sage Realm. Whatever he chose to do with that information would define the rest of his life. If he chose to utilize it to accelerate to the Sage Realm, then he would die, and that would be the end of his story. Or, he would be able to achieve the Sage Realm in a much shorter time frame.

If he chose not to act on the information he received, then he would be a Master for a long time.

Regardless of what path he chose to go down, it would leave a mark on the rest of his life. "I... need time to think."

"Of course, it is best you don't rely merely on your whims and fancies for this particular decision. It is a little more important than the matter regarding the enlistment of Master

K'Mala."

Rui was aware of that. It was far too important, not to mention difficult and complicated, to not dedicate an immense amount of thought to it.

"Maybe I should consult other people on the matter as well. It can't hurt to get more opinions and viewpoints on the matter."