The Martial Unity

Rui had slowly begun to understand what the Path to the Transcendence and to the true Realm of power that succeeded the Sage Realm was all about. Based on the scant pieces of enlightenment and epiphanies that he had gained, he could also understand exactly how Ieyasu could benefit from the tekvores.

"If he gains the power to assimilate technology into his being, then…" Rui's eyes sharpened. "Then there's no telling how strong he will become."

The tekvores were extremely powerful, so much so that on average, one tekvore could fight three Martial Sages.

Strangely enough, their peaks were a lot lower relative to their average.

Thus, while the average tekvore was much stronger than the average Martial Sage, the strongest tekvores that they had fought against were only as strong as a Transcendent Candidate.

Their energy systems allowed them to generate even more power than Martial Sages did by converting mass to energy with relativistic efficiency, with much higher forms of energy supply that exceeded even mass-energy equivalence.

On top of that, when thinking of copying the tekvores, he could help but recall how Anthea had mentioned that the evolutionaries could copy the tekvores and the therianthropes to a certain extent.

Copying was all Tokugawa was about. Assimilation was his greatest strength, and Rui didn't dare underestimate a man who had successfully copied the VOID algorithm.

Still, the thought of Ieyasu growing stronger brought a smile to his face.

The stronger he was, the stronger a whetstone he was.

The tekvores weren't the only civilization with whom he had an affinity. Rui also suspected that he had an affinity with the giants. They grew stronger by assimilating matter into their body and growing larger and stronger.

Would Ieyasu be willing to grow stronger if it meant growing larger?

"Hm, he also has some affinity for the therianthropes."

The therianthropes assimilated some features of the beasts, increasingly so, in order to increase their affinity for beasts. The Beast Path thus also contained some elements of assimilation.

"I don't think he will want to become a therianthrope all in though," Rui smirked with amusement as he imagined Ieyasu with a bull head.

If he did choose to go through the therianthrope route, he would be vulnerable to Rui. A weakness he probably didn't even know that he had, for it was classified intelligence that Rui was responsible for the Beast Excursion.

"Regardless of what he is doing and where he has gone, make sure that you kill him once and for all." Matriarch Nephi's tone was one of furious bloodlust. "And bring his body to the Silas Clan."

Rui closed his eyes.

"You have my word."

Matriarch Nephi nodded, calming down a little.

"For now, however, we will likely be busy with the true world," Rui remarked. "I don't need to remind you that what we have faced in the past month is nothing."

A little over a month had passed since the Unfolding, and the Panama Continent had only experienced a fragment of the full power of the true world.

They were facing hasty, ill-prepared invasions with only a portion of the total power of these civilizations, except for perhaps the evolutionaries who had summoned a greater amount of their civilizations, even if still less than half.

"What we have faced up until now is simply the most basic test," Rui informed her with a knowing expression. "One that we were on the verge of failing. This was by no means a 'war' on their part, except for the tekvores. Most polities were simply trying to compete with each other to race to the Panama Continent, rather than compete with us. It is only now that we have successfully proven that we are a force to be reckoned with that we are worthy of actually facing their full power."

Rui knew that the true world would not let go of the Panama Continent very easily.

The exotic treasures of this continent were simply too powerful and precious to possibly let remain on the continent.

Even with the presence of the Beast Excursion and the Great Nam Ocean, he wasn't confident that they would be able to deal with all the hostile forces in the true world. He also knew that a more full-fledged war with the true world was inevitable, given the incentives of the esoteric treasures to be gained, and also the pre-existing hostilities.

The evolutionaries had sworn to turn the Panama Continent into their new home.

They had also sworn to kill Rui for his 'treason.'

The therianthropes also hated the Panamans and were absolutely unamenable to peace no matter what they did.

The same could also be said for the tekvores.

The giants were beyond reason and rationality.

The analysis showed that they had grown addicted to the pleasures of consuming esoteric fauna and flora.

There were too many hostilities for peace to ensue, even though he knew that his father would have liked the Panama Continent to assimilate into the true world without a war; that was just impossible.

"I don't care if we are busy with the true world," Matriarch Nephi shook her head. "I will not be aiding the Kandrian Empire and the Panama Continent with my prophetic power until you kill that upstart."

Rui's eyes widened with shock. "What?"

Her prophecy was a strategic tool of great power.

Its absence was going to be a painful loss for the Kandrian Empire.

"Until Tokugawa Ieyasu is dead, I will not be helping the Kandrian Empire or human civilization with my power." His grandmother remained resolute. "Instead, I will use it to track him down."

Rui heaved a sigh.

He understood what his grandmother was doing of course.

She knew how indispensable she was to human civilization.

They couldn't afford to lose her for long, which meant that they would undoubtedly put all their efforts into tracking and hunting Ieyasu down with greater urgency, just as she wanted them to.

From the looks of it, Rui would himself have to act actively and quickly in order to kill the man, lest human civilization be harmed by the absence of her prophecy.