The Martial Unity

The discovery of the Martial Path, the Martial body, and the Martial Heart. These were three conditions to step into the three lower Realms. Three milestones of potential along the Martial Path, along the journey to maximizing one's Martial Art to its perfect form.

Rui suspected that he had come across information that he wasn't supposed to know yet. However, that didn't necessarily stop him from coming to know more.

('I've already inferred that the trigger to the breakthrough to the Senior Realm is most likely a non-conscious acute process. Furthermore, I've already concluded difficulty of breaking through to the Senior Realm is harder than the conditions for normal humans to tap into their wells of untapped power.')

That gave him a lot of clues as to what exactly the precise trigger of the breakthrough to the Senior Realm was.

('Senior Ceeran mentioned that the strength of the desire that drives them to pursue Martial Art is what decides how far Martial Artists would ascend,') Rui narrowed his eyes. ('Could it be that only the fundamental desire for why one wants to pursue Martial Art can be the trigger to the breakthrough of the Senior Realm?')

It would make more sense if that was the case, however, he couldn't be certain of it. Rui couldn't be too sure about it.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Kane asked.

"Hm?"

"I said let's go grab something to eat," Kane remarked. "I'm hungry as hell after a morning's training."

"Sure,"

Rui immediately understood what the goal of a common eating area was the second he learned about it. The Floating Sect was too impersonal to be called a sect, in reality. It was more like an… association.

That had its advantages, it drew in the truly strong in mind and body. However, it also meant that there wasn't a sense of unity or belonging. It meant that these Martial Artists were less inclined to protect it than they would have had they had this sense of belonging.

It also made it harder to deploy and use the Martial Artists for the sake of the Floating Sect. The Floating Sect, by design, did not demand as many commitments from its members as other Martial Sects and groups did. As long as Martial Squires were willing to participate in operations needed to protect the Floating Sect, they had nothing else to offer.

That was burdening because the Floating Sect's expenses weren't small, they managed to handle the expenses by largely being self-sufficient. Most of the workforce in the Floating Sect was permanently tied to the Floating Sect, either through bondage or deep life commitments. The island was able to produce food and energy, and they had already stockpiled the necessary goods and supplies needed to deal with most needs.

The sect was forced to become self-sufficient because the cost of hauling things to the island was too great!

Ordinarily, the Floating Sect would be able to demand more from the Martial Squires for providing all these services, but Rui understood why it didn't.

('The three Martial Seniors that lead the Floating Sect are not interested in creating a flourishing economy or society,') He mused. ('They are Martial Artists who are chasing after greater power. Ajanta Island is a good avenue to train themselves and progressively grow stronger. However, their training is threatened by the nations of the Kaddar Region, thus they need an army. That is the only reason the Floating Sect exists.')

They were interested in the quality of Martial Squires because Ajanta Island had a limited amount of holding capacity. The island was unfortunately fragile to a certain extent due to its structure and shape, which meant that special training environments needed to be created to protect the island from the power of Martial Squires.

However, due to the size of these training environments, only a thousand Martial Squires could be accommodated.

That was why the Floating Sect's requirements of commitments from its members were low. Powerful Martial Squires did not bow their head too easily, and they wanted the most powerful of Martial Squires since their holding capacity was limited to a thousand.

If quantity was not obtainable, then they would compensate with quality. Rui could easily see that that was why the Floating Sect was organized the way it was.

('I highly doubt that those Martial Seniors were the ones who came up with all of this,') Rui mused.

He wasn't calling them stupid, but statesmanship, management, and administration were far from their field of specialty. If they were tasked with creating the Floating Sect from the ground up, they would have undoubtedly screwed things up.

('They must have founded the Floating Sect with some highly competent subordinates.')

Soon enough, they reached the cafeteria. It was a spacious area with many tables and chairs, enough to accommodate all of the guardians individually. Yet most guardians sat with their peers.

After all, the Floating Sect was a gathering of like-minded warriors who were willing to risk death multiple times in order to be a part of the Floating Sect. They were committed to their training to grow stronger. It made sense for Martial Artists with similar Martial Art and Martial Paths to hang out with each other to exchange with each other.

Rui could easily see that guardians that were sitting with each other were those that had similar Martial bodies.

He even spotted a group of creepy guardians with strange appearances seated with each other.

('Poison-oriented Martial Artists,') Rui briefly noted.

"Hey, look," Kane drew his attention. "There's a new notice."

"Hm?" Rui glanced over.

"Apparently Senior Xanarn is going to be conducting sparring sessions with guardians one class a day over the next ten days," Kane remarked. "We get to fight Martial Seniors!"

That was indeed quite alluring.

"Yet only Martial Squires willing to apply for extra field and operational work are eligible for the sparring," Rui smirked as he continued reading the notice. "They're trying to squeeze more work out of Martial Squires in exchange for benefits like this."