And just like that, they comnced their journey to the very epicenter of the Gu at a steady pace.
That alone was unnerving to do so in a world of darkness.
Heaven and earth were dyed black with darkness. The very air they breathed was opaque, unwilling to let light pass it.
Even with Rui's and Amare's powerful senses, much of the path ahead was drowned in darkness.
That was why they couldn't afford to move at top speed.
If they ran into danger, they wouldn't be able to notice until it was too late, given how much the world around them was drowned in darkness. RUMBLE…
The world shook every now and then. Rui and Amare could feel the tremors erging from the countless battles that occurred within the Gu. Battles featuring countless Martial Artists and monsters. It sent violent tremors across heaven and earth.
The very atmosphere danced with a perilous excitent amid the eerie darkness of the Gu. With each passing second, their sharp ears picked up on many noises and sounds perating the Gu.
The blood-curdling sounds of pain and death.
"AAARRGHRARGHRGHRH!!!"
"NO STOP STO-AAARGRARRA!!!"
"HARHAHARGRHGRARARGRHRGHG!!!"
It was a bone-chilling background the that lent an even deeper macabre edge to the dark atmosphere of the Gu.
The air was pungent and putrid.
Toxic.
How could it not be?
With all the corpses, blood, and gore that rotted away, Rui was astonished that people even managed to survive in such a horrible environnt.
Darkness, death, and rot.
These appeared to be the three defining traits of the Gu.
Or at least, so Rui thought.
"There is sothing in the distance…" Rui squinted as he peered at the silhouette of a structure in the distance, obscured by the darkness of the Gu.
The hemispherical do-like structure was the first actual infrastructure that they had seen in the Gu.
Around it was a large battlefield.
One drowned in corpses and blood.
"…A Martial training chamber," Rui realized. "This must be how the Gu assigns its Martial resources to its Martial Artists."
A death battle.
The survivors would get to train for a specified period of ti.
STEP
The two of them paused, beholding the battlefield and the Martial training chamber. Amare's expression grew pained while Rui simply bent down to study the corpses with analytical eyes.
"One month old. Is that how long they're allowed to train before they need to fight once more?"
It was a brutal test to inflict upon Martial Apprentices, yet it also ensured that only the fittest survived. Those who survived would undoubtedly have grown tougher psychologically and ntally, with experience refining their individuality.
They would end up being grizzled Martial Artists, making an enormous amount of progress in the Squire Realm through this intensely grueling process that produced many corpses out of young Martial Apprentices.
Ordinarily, the losses of so many Apprentices should have been utterly crippling to any Sage-level powerhouse.
And yet, the Gu had plenty to spare.
"A population that likely exceeds even the Nest of Terra and a very high breakthrough rate on average."
The Nest of Terra had a very low breakthrough rate due to all the resources and capital that they expended rely on living. The Gu, on the other hand, dedicated every ounce of its existence to Martial power. It was a horrifyingly devastating combination that undoubtedly produced monsters.
"Let's go." Rui got up with narrowed eyes. "We have only now entered the Apprentice ring. We have a long way to go before we reach our goal."
Amare nodded with an uncharacteristically dark expression. Her usual brightness and luster were gone.
She winced with pain every few minutes, pressing her hand to her head as pangs of mories would bubble up from deep within. "Nggg…"
The two of them traveled deeper and deeper into the darkness.
With each passing second, the air would grow more and more opaque.
It beca harder and harder to see ahead. Seismic Mapping, Tempestuous Feel, and even his Riemannian Echo. All of these senses experienced a trendous amount of impedance and resistance.
The only sense that wasn't sabotaged by the darkness was his mind sense.
And yet, that was a curse in the Gu.
For all he could sense was pain, suffering, and madness. The little waves of agony that emanated from each person who suffered coalesced into a larger wave of suffering incarnate, washing over Rui's senses with each passing mont.
Amare could feel it, too. And it made her nauseous and sick.
His eyes sharpened as he gritted his teeth. "We're picking up the pace."
He didn't want to remain in this place for even one second longer than was absolutely necessary.
The deeper they got, the stronger the Martial Artists got.
The Martial structures grew larger and larger.
They grew more diverse and were divided according to field and principles.
The number of corpses also reduced as they got deeper and deeper.
RUMBLE…
Rui paused as he gestured to Amare to halt as well, imdiately activating Greater Phantomind Void for both of them.
"What is it…?" Amare asked as she crouched beside Rui.
Rui gestured to so distance ahead of them. A battlefield with a hundred Martial Squires.
Embroiled in a long, grueso conflict.
"RARRRGHGHR!!!"
"HYRAGR!"
"DIE!"
They roared as they threw themselves at each other with primal aggression, using all manners of Martial Art against each other. What surprised Rui was how informal their Martial Art seed to be.
And yet, what surprised him even more was how strong the Martial Artists were, and more importantly, how quickly they progressed.
BOOOM!!!
A thundering explosion erupted from the battlefield as many Martial Squires simultaneously broke through to the Senior Realm. Not a single force intervened as they used their newfound power to utterly mangle their Squire opponents.
From a hundred Squires, more than twenty new Martial Seniors had erged.
RUMBLE
The air cleared, opening up a path for the surviving newborn Seniors who took a mont of respite.
And just like that, the Gu ritual was complete. There was no celebration.
Nor any cheers.
There wasn't even the slightest hint of relief in the eyes of the survivors.
Their expressions were hardened with grim severity.
This was their life.
It wouldn't end.
Not until they died.
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