The Martial Unity

Master Haishi's Martial Path was active stealth brawling. She simply eluded her opponent's senses through various physical principles instead of misdirection, allowing her to fight head-on and directly without fearing attracting her opponent's attention.

Most misdirection-centric stealth users could not maintain stealth while also directly engaging their targets in combat. Engaging targets in combat attracted attention to them which worked against misdirection. It was intrinsically contradictory.

There were very few exceptions to this rule like Kane, because he had mastered the grade-ten Void Step which relied on combat maneuvering itself to misdirect his target, and Rui, whose misdirection was so powerful that it could work even if he directly engaged his target head-on.

Some especially powerful mind-oriented Martial Artists could also do the same, but the number was highly limited.

Physical stealth that relied on physical principles to elude senses did not have such a shortcoming. Master Haishi could completely fight head-on and go all out without having to worry about sabotaging her own stealth.

She further improved her elusive ability with her Martial Mind; the Shadow Credo. It was a methodology by which she applied her energy and physical resources to ensure that her stealth was optimized in its probability of fooling her opponent. She would secretly test her opponent's senses subtly to evaluate the quality of their senses, and then alter the configuration of senses that her stealth was focused on.

Her stealth would grow stronger against her opponent throughout the fight even while she bombarded them with her powerful attacks.

It was precisely this framework of thought that had allowed her to break through to the Master Realm.

Had Rui been qualified to be able to witness her Martial Mind in work he would have instantly recognized the element of adaptive evolution in her Martial Mind, but alas, he was hardly able to even perceive the battle.

He was only able to behold the mist increasingly oppressing the hypnotic spiral. His expression grew grave at the sight.

"Hehehe…" Senior Zenshin. "Master Haishi is a direct executive of Lord Carnil himself. She is particularly powerful. As powerful as the Hypnomaster is, he can't compare!"

Rui glared at the man momentarily, turning back to the raging fighting in the skies. Although killing Senior Zenshin and running away was probably the most prudent option, he decided against it. He did not want to run away.

He did not even want to look away from the fight anymore.

'This sensation…' Rui felt his nerves tingling. 'This is the power of the Upper Realms."

His fists clenched. 'I want it. I want it with every ounce of my being.'

His heart ached with desire. It had been a little under five years since he became a Martial Senior, and yet his ambition to achieve even greater power had already overtaken him. Meanwhile, the battle between those with the power he sought had already escalated in intensity.

"Rgh!" Master Zeamer coughed blood as he panted heavily. Bruises and cuts scarred his entire body as he bled profusely. His Martial Embodiment fluctuated.

"Honestly…" Master Haishi heaved a sigh, putting a hand on her waist. "I'm disappointed. All that hype. All that notoriety. All those legends and tales of the great Hypnomaster."

Her head tilted up as she looked down on him with unfiltered disdain. "You are a disappointment. You're so weak. You must have hypnotized normal people and used them to spread false rumors about yourself, right? No wonder even the Beggar's Sect was fooled. Truly disappointing." The very heavens curved under the weight of her bloodlust. "Just looking at you infuriates me."

Her Martial Heart began shining even brighter as her rage skyrocketed. "I will end this farce now."

She flashed forward at a speed that beggared the mind, crossing the distance between them in a microsecond.

BOOM!!!!!

SPLAT!!!

Both her palms surged forward blasting two holes in his chest. Her arms buried themselves to the elbow.

"Rgh…!" The man vomited blood as his eyes widened with shock.

"Die, fraud," She commanded.

CLASP!

Her eyes widened as she felt two hands on her buttocks, groping them.

"Hoho…" Master Zeamer leaned forward, burying his face in her ample bosom, rubbing her breasts with his cheeks in glee and excitement. "Hohohooo…!"

RUMBLE!!!

The land of the Gereign Region began shaking violently as a Richter-eight earthquake seemed to erupt out of nowhere!

Pure raw disgust emerged on Master Haishi's face. "You filthy disgusting lecherous animal."

The skies began to shake with her fury. "DIE!"

CRACK CRACK CRACK!

…SPLAT!!!

Rui's eyes widened as he barely managed to spot what was happening at the epicenter of Master Zeamer's Embodiment.

"She…split him in half?" Rui choked with shock.

"Hahahahaha!" Senior Zenshin cackled. "My Master defeated yours! Now it's your turn for a world of hurt.

Up in the skies, Master Haishi's face was still crumpled with disgusted rage. "I feel dirty. I should prepare a long nice bath. At least I disposed of that living human filth."

Suddenly, she froze.

'Wait a minute…' A wave of pure terror erupted from within her. 'If he's dead, then why is Martial Embodiment still active?'

Not only did the hypnotic spiral not disappear, it grew even stronger.

There was only one answer.

"Because I'm not dead," Master Zeamer's voice emerged from behind her.

A profound sense of peril radiated from him. A deep feeling of horror overtook her heart as she struggled to maintain her composure. "H-How…?"

"You still don't get it?" Master Zeamer chuckled. "This entire fight…everything that has happened up until now…has happened inside your head."

She turned around, leaping away from him with a fearful expression. Her eyes widened as she beheld his Martial Body. There wasn't a single scratch anywhere on his body. All of the bruises, cuts, broken bones, not to mention the two gaping holes that she had blasted in his chest had disappeared.

Even the clothes she had shredded in the process of beating him up were gone.

"It was quite entertaining to watch you run around the sky punching and beating up empty air like the little fool you are." Master Zeamer chuckled. "But, I've gotten bored of it. So let's put an end to this."

He closed his eyes, before flashing them wide open. They glowed with power.

'Astral Abyss Style: Armageddon.'