RUMBLE!!!
Rui’s eyes widened with shock as Amare activated her Realms of power while in a trance within her mories. Normally, it shouldn’t have been possible, but the Martial Soul ant that she could access her conscious mind even when in a trance, just like how Rui could access conscious thought even when he was under the trance of Gigabrain after becoming a Martial Sage.
He didn’t understand why it was happening.
BADUMP!
Her Martial Heart burst into life, spreading bright red tendrils of power across her entire body, like veins of lava across a mountain. Her Martial Mind and Soul soon followed as her brain lit brightly with extraordinary cognition and power, beaming brightly.
Her Martial Embodint erupted with a power unlike anything Rui had ever seen.
It swept him.
It swallowed him whole.
It was more than an illusion.
It felt real.
It felt like it had almost crossed the line between illusion and reality.
One mont, he was standing before her in their little inn room.
The very next mont, he found herself in her mories.
He found himself in the Gen Temple, watching a Bodhisattva Maitreyi playing with a toddler Amare, who squealed in delight, chasing after the lights that her grandmother had conjured with her light manipulation.
He found himself watching her grow up, adored by the people of the Gen Temple as she displayed an unfathomable talent for Martial Art. Even as she grew older, she beca an increasingly important part of the Gen Temple as many admired her as an embodint of Genism itself.
Then she t Rui.
A eting changed her life.
A eting that led to one of the most soul-nourishing journeys she had ever undergone in her entire life, until she passed away, trying to protect Rui from the Demon of Asmodeous.
Then she was returned to the realm of the living from within the realm of the dead, trapped in a nighmarish hellscape within her mind, living and reliving Esil’s mories while she directed her consciousness deep within her.
He watched as she walked more than just a mile in Esil’s shoes.
She walked an entire continent in the woman’s shoes.
Many tis.
It was pure suffering.
Suffering unlike anything that Rui had ever gone through in his life. There were tis when she almost completely broke down, losing her sanity and turning into a vegetable.
But she persevered.
She persevered for one and only one reason.
Her love for Rui.
And then, when she finally returned, he broke her heart, declaring that he didn’t love her anymore. When he realized what he had put her through, he couldn’t help but feel a sharp pain gripping his heart.
For the first ti in a long ti, Rui felt tears welling up in his eyes.
"Rui..."
He felt her gentle touch caressing his cheek.
WHOOSH
Her Martial Embodint disappeared.
He found herself staring at her, gazing at him with an unspeakable amount of love. Her amber eyes bore deep into his, while her smile was affectionate.
The sight only made him regret even more.
CLASP
He pulled her into a deep embrace. "I’m sorry..."
His grip tightened.
"I’m sorry for the pain I caused you and I promise that I will make up for it for the rest of eternity."
Her smile softened even more as she buried herself in his chest.
"You already have."
The two remained in each other’s embrace, soothing each other with their love and affection. Rui heaved a deep breath, pulling away from her as he gazed into her loving eyes with a knowing expression.
"Congratulations, Amare. You have beco a Transcendent Candidate."
He realized it the mont he had been swallowed by a Martial Embodint that was almost entirely indistinguishable from real life.
His senses were the most powerful among all Martial Artists.
His mind was most resistant to hypnosis.
And yet, he had been completely swept away by her Martial Embodint, almost unable to distinguish it from reality.
That was the sign of a Transcendent Candidate.
Their Martial Embodint.
It wasn’t that their Martial Embodints grew more powerful.
They grew more indistinguishable from reality.
Rui’s Martial Embodint, while extraordinarily powerful, was extrely distinguishable despite the powerful ntal load and erosion to consciousness and the information flux that ca with it.
Her Martial Embodint had completely enraptured him despite his mind.
It was the sign that she had truly grown close to Transcendent Realm.
She smiled at him with clear joy. "It’s all thanks to you. You showed that Martial Art exists beyond even everything. It exists where even nothing else does. You’ve helped grow closer to the essence of my Martial Art."
She stood on her toes as she leaned in closer to softly kiss him on his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Rui simply gazed at her with hazy eyes lost in amazent, admiration, and love.
"You... are extraordinary," he admitted. "Congratulations. You’re the youngest Transcendent Candidate in all of history and it isn’t even close."
"Youngest for now." She smiled at him knowingly.
Rui’s smile grew wry. "Congratulations. I really need to pick up the pace or else I’ll be left behind in the dust."
She giggled at his words. "Oh silly, you’re still the strongest because of how powerful your Martial Art is even if you aren’t a Transcendent Candidate."
"I don’t know if I’m the strongest anymore." Rui’s eyes lit up with interest at the power he felt from her. "Once I finish embedding all the high principles I know into you, then... we should have a serious battle."
"After we finish handling the crisis in Kiriket," she promised. "For now, I just want to inherit all of your high principles, this thod is utterly miraculous. I have gained so much power in such little ti."
Rui was truly astonished that his training thod helped her reach candidacy for Transcendence.
He realized that she was even more of a miracle than he had imagined. In comparison to her, Rui had no idea what was going on with his candidacy.
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