Rui trekked the mountain on foot at a rapid pace, avoiding the skies.
Sky-walking was strictly prohibited above the airspace of Mt Virodha. It was seen as extrely disrespectful to their Martial Transcendent. Thus, Rui found himself trekking up the mountain at a rapid but respectful pace.
The closer he got, the more he felt his nerves tingle.
The closer he got, the harder his heartbeat.
The closer he got, the more the anticipation weighed him down.
His gaze remained fixed on the peak of the mountain.
He didn't so much as glance in any other direction.
The view of the expansive civilization of the Virodhabhasa Theocracy in all directions. The cool breeze was brushing by him, and there was the pleasant presence of nature and even the warm embrace of the Sun.
None of them could draw his gaze away from his destination and goal.
And thus, he finally arrived at the peak of the mountain.
His eyes widened as he beheld a shrine at the very epicenter of the mountain peak.
A humble shrine.
It lacked the extravagant adornnt of the other religious structures of the Virodhabhasa Theocracy.
It lacked the ostentatious embellishnt of the theistic architecture that the rest of the nation relished.
It was a small, unremarkable shrine.
A sight that would move no one. And yet, Rui froze.
He froze.
He simply froze as he felt a presence, unlike anything he ever had in his entire life. It was beyond power.
It was beyond force.
It was beyond peril.
It was so far beyond anything he had ever felt in his entire life that his vocabulary fell short of even beginning to describe it. It was as though he was beholding a whole universe unto itself within the shrine.
The very fabric of reality seed to… change.
It grew colored.
It grew flavored.
Flavored by the presence of the extraordinary god of a being within the shrine.
He felt like an insect beholding the planet.
He felt like an ordinary man, reaching for the Sun, unable to even fathom the sheer vastness of the celestial body within the depths of his mortal mind.
In that mont, all the pride he had ever gathered in his entire life.
All the confidence that he had ever garnered.
All the power he had ever cultivated.
All of it ant nothing before such an astronomically celestial presence.
Chills crawled across his skin as he realized the being that lay within didn't make any attempt to hide his astronomical power.
He didn't need to. His power was so transcendent that it was beyond the fathoming of fear.
The evolutionary evaluation of danger that all beings had co to possess could not even begin to register such a transcendent presence.
His power was too unfathomable to even be feared.
That was why the people of the Virodhabhasa Theocracy could live peacefully despite being close to a Martial Transcendent. Shivers ran down his spine as he realized that, despite all his caution and care, he had still infinitely underestimated the power of a Martial Transcendent.
The gap between Realms had been relatively constant, barring the gap between the Senior and the Master Realm, which was the largest. Thus, Rui had assud Transcendents were certainly vastly stronger, but not much more than Sages were above Masters.
A single quivering whisper of awe escaped Rui.
"I was wrong."
They broke the scales.
This Realm of power was truly transcendent, in ever fathomable.
It transcended the scales of power set by all those who ca before it. "…How the hell did Amare spend two months in this presence?"
It took effort to draw closer to the shrine.
Every step he took felt like he was pushing against a blizzard that ground against his journey.
It strained his mind to draw closer to the universe of a being that existed within the shrine.
The final ten steps took longer than the entire journey up the mountain.
CLACK
He pushed the doors to the shrine open with a severe expression.
What he saw seared itself into his mind for the rest of his life. He beheld a singularity of power, unlike anything he had ever felt in his entire life. The man sat cross-legged with closed his eyes while his palms conjoined to form a prayer.
His attire was surprisingly non-religious.
He donned a simple, flavorless, yet elegant Martial attire robed with long flowing robes that wrapped themselves around the entirety of his body.
Nothing he wore had the insignia of the Virodhabhasa Theocracy embroidered upon it. Unlike the Bishop Masters and the Cardinal Sages of the nation, who wore ostentatious religious Martial Attire, his attire was Martial, comfortable, and elegant simultaneously while devoid of any theistic symbolism.
His salt-pepper hair, beard, and mustache flowed neatly, painting a picture of grood yet simple elegance.
He opened his eyes, beholding Rui, who stared at him with a lost expression.
An infinite depth seed to exist within them. They said eyes were the windows to the soul and yet Rui felt like he was gazing into a universe unto itself.
A macrocosm of Martial Art.
Rui stood frozen.
As though ti itself had ceased its flow.
He stood frozen as he simply beheld the endless power that lingered in the depths of the singularity of the presence of the Martial Transcendent.
It was bewitching.
In that mont, he forgot everything.
He forgot everything that he had co for. The only thing that consud his mind was an intense hunger for the power that beheld within the Martial Transcendent.
The smallest of smiles cracked at the edge of the Transcendent Raizel's mouth as he gazed at Rui knowingly.
"I̴̛̱̙̞̼̍͗̓͌̆͑͋̈́̚͝m̷̢̲̥͎͈̠͕͛̋̀̽͛̑͑͒̈́̓͂͘͜͝͝͝p̵̨̮̟̪͉͙̟̖͓̥͓̹̻̤̒̋͒͜ŗ̴͖̺͇͈̲̲̠̹̾̒̄̑̑̓́̈́̋̽͆̽͘͜͝͝ͅë̶͓͖̮̖̘̟̯̯͔̭́ṡ̶͇͉̦̻̽s̷̨̨̡̡̛̪̳̙̱͇͖̺͑́͌̀͗ͅį̷͓̻͎͖̻̍̓̒̋͐̂̈́̍̈́͘͠v̷̡̞̤̦̺̱͖͔̼̬̜̞̓̈́̌͆̃͂̓̋̈́̍̈́̚̕͝ͅe̶͉̻̟̯̱̻̗̰͊̈́̀̿̃̀͌."
Rui's eyes widened with shock as the voice of the Martial Transcendent spread throughout the very fabric of space and ti. He heard it before the man spoke.
He heard it when the man spoke.
He heard it after the man spoke.
It spread to the past, present, and future, endlessly converging in celestial harmony as it grew more and more powerful.
It beca a force unto itself.
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