The Martial Unity

It couldn't be helped. It was clear that the Shionel Confederation was nothing more than a group of greedy businessmen who were only interested in accumulating more capital, one way or another.

These greedy businessmen were untethered and unhampered by anybody but themselves, as the Shionel Merchant Guild served as the legislative branch of the Shionel government. As such, the legislations in place were highly capitalistic in nature and were highly inviting for any aspiring merchant.

They had signed several treaties and bilaterals with the surrounding sovereign states that gave them significant reductions and cuts in import tax and tariffs, as well as lowered regulations and a

Now, what would such a group of people if a dungeon opened up in their nation?

The answer was obvious.

They would exploit it to their best to make as much money as possible!

Senior Ceeran had already informed him that they were far too weak to monopolize the dungeon, thus they had no choice but to share it.

If they did do that, then they would probably erect a system that would allow them to commercialize the dungeon to the greatest degree possible!

"I hope those money-grubbing snakes haven't turned their dungeon into the biggest market on this side of the continent!" Rui slammed his face.

This made things more complicated and dangerous, but at the same time, a little more interesting than they had been before. Still, Rui hoped that he would be able to simply explore a dungeon in peace with his friend and make away with as much plunder as possible.

What he found interesting about the Shionel Confederation was its Martial Artist situation. Martial Artists were treated as mercenaries whose only goal was to aid with security and intelligence. By contributing to peace and security, they gained wealth and status that was proportional to their value and contribution.

It made sense that a lot of Martial Apprentices and Martial Squires would be attracted by the wealth and status that the Shionel Confederation would be providing. It was harder to imagine how they managed to reel in Martial Artists of the upper Realms. They even managed to get their hands on a Martial Sage.

('So there are even Martial Sages who chase after wealth and status huh?') Rui couldn't help but sigh in disappointment. He had already long learned that Martial Artists were different from those that he would frequently come across in the fictional media of Earth. Movies, anime, manga, and even novels would frequently portray martial artists as highly pure and idealistic warriors driven by profound philosophy that was deeply embedded in whatever martial art they practiced.

Still, this was all just unrealistic and naive bogus in a world where genuinely powerful Martial Art existed. No more than childish romance.

He kept needing to remind himself that Martial Art was viewed as power. A powerful means to an end. Most Martial Artists did not pursue their Martial Path for the sake of their Martial Path, or out of pure ambition to pursue their Martial Path to its end.

Most people did it because they wanted something that Martial Art could give them. The most common being power, but there were a variety of reasons. Social status and money were also powerful drivers for people to aspire to pursue Martial power. And it appeared that there was one who wanted to status and power to such a degree that they were able to become a Martial Sage.

It was a little depressing to Rui, who pursued his Martial Path for the sake of his Martial Path, for the sake of Project Water.

He shook his head, as he swept through the information that the Martial Union had gathered.

Unfortunately, his suspicions were right.

The Shionel Merchant Guild had created a Shionel Adventurer Guild that essentially served the same purpose that the Martial Union serving as a highly effective liaison between the consumer market for Martial services and Martial Artists.

The difference was that the Shionel Guild's Martial Artists were only interested in exploring and plundering the Shionel Dungeon. And the parts of the consumer market for Martial services that the Shionel Martial Guild catered to was the part of the market that had become invested in the Shionel dungeon.

There were many merchants, businesses of all scales, and investors of all kinds that were interested in directly procuring a chunk of what the Shionel Dungeon had procured.

The Shionel Martial Guild allowed for an easy way for Martial Artists to undertake commissions of all sorts from all kinds of people, relating to the dungeon.

Of course, given that this guild was brand new and an infant compared to the long-established Martial Union, the two could not even be compared with each other. It was lot less credible and reliable, and its sophistication fell far behind the far larger well-oiled machine that was the Martial Union.

Besides, Rui was not interested in undertaking a mission from the Shionel Martial Guild. If he was, then he would rather go ahead and take it from the Martial Union which was far more reliable and trustworthy in his eyes.

This time, however, he wanted the goal to be open-ended. He and Kane could decide what to do when it came to exploring the Shionel Dungeon.

He skimmed through the bits regarding the Martial Guild, mindlessly dumping the information into his Mind Palace. He would review it later in more detail, for now, he was interested in the dungeon more than anything else.

"The Dungeon is measured to extend for thirty kilometers in any direction?!" Rui exclaimed out loud as read about the dimensions of the Shionel Dungeon. "That's gigantic!"

It made the Serevian Dungeon look like a tiny little kitten. The sheer vastness of the volume and area that the dungeon covered was mind-boggling. Furthermore, half of the volume of the Shionel Dungeon was below the ground, while the other half had risen over the ground as the Serevian Dungeon had in the Serevian Plateau.

"Just what is it like inside...?"