The Martial Unity

Rui had let the Divine Doctor control the flow of the conversation. It was a simple diplomatic tactic that was often employed when trying to de-escalate the hostility or heat in a conversation. It was a way of implicitly conveying a good faith willingness to cooperate rather than trying domineer in the conversation to potentially earn the distaste of those he was trying to get to cooperate with him.

Of course, he didn't know if it was the optimal approach. Perhaps the Divine Doctor would perceive it as cowardice or lack of confidence, but Rui didn't want to risk it by choosing for an aggressive approach.

"…So, to summarize, you intend to draw the Master-level beast to the other side of the dungeon where you 'survive,' as you put it, to hopefully open up a path for me while the beast is away?"

The Divine Doctor gazed at Rui with fascination.

"That is correct."

Rui calmly reaffirmed the man's words.

The man closed his eyes.

"…A rather simple strategy," he lightly remarked. "Yet, the simpler they are, the more difficult they tend to be. In this case, you claim to be able to survive a Master-level beast that is remarkably difficult to accept at face value."

"I've made preparations."

"Is that so?" The Divine Doctor grew amused. "And just what preparations did you undertake to face a Master-level beast?"

A soft smile fleetingly cracked at the edge of Rui's mouth. "I memorized the patterns of combat data of each creature and species, as well as the non-verbal communication language of each species in this dungeon. These parts of my system of thought allow me to gain an enormous advantage against any creature that is a part of this dungeon, including the Master-level beast. Additionally…"

His gaze grew more intense. "I've inherited the sum of all knowledge that the Elder Tree possessed on the biosphere of the Beast Domain, especially environments most conducive to each species and environments most antithetical to them conversely, which is useful because…"

WHOOSH

Rui bent heaven and earth ever so slightly to heat the temperature up and cool it down.

"…I can control the temperature of the environment."

He knew that the Divine Doctor didn't need any additional elaboration on exactly why this was remarkably impressive.

"Tell me, what kind of environment is most conducive to the shadow cerberus species?"

"They prefer cold environments with minimal exposure to sunlight," Rui replied, continuing. "They require high humidity and high pressure as well in addition to low drag."

"What about the blood kirin species?"

"They require high heat and high pressure with ample exposure to sunlight and high humidity as well as an environment with high electrical conductance."

If the Divine Doctor was surprised, he did well to hide it. "Remarkable."

Rui simply stared at him silently, waiting.

"…It is a shame I am unable to evaluate the probability of you surviving against the Master-level beast," the Divine Doctor remarked with a tinge of regret.

"Do you have a choice?" Rui asked. "I know your soul can't leave this place. You've whiled away time accomplishing nothing, yet you refuse to kill yourself even though death, in the past, has seemed to always be a trigger for the soul transference ritual, allowing your soul to transfer to another prepared body after death. Yet the fact that you've not done that despite having no physical way out allows me to infer that even your soul is trapped in this manifold."

Realization flashed in the Divine Doctor's eyes as his mind swiftly deciphered the truth. "…I see; no wonder you knew to look for me in the Beast Domain. You must have procured that information from the Beggar Sage when he informed you of being chosen as a candidate for immortality."

Kane frowned with confusion. "…candidate for immortality?"

"I see you haven't told him," the Divine Doctor's smile grew wider. "As for your hypothesis regarding my predicament…"

He closed his eyes. "It's more complicated than you think it is. Your hypothesis is, well, not entirely inaccurate, but I do have reasons not to let this particular vessel die, yes."

Rui frowned.

That was a particularly vague response that clarified very little about the soul-manifold situation, but regardless, it wasn't the point.

"If you don't want this particular vessel to die, then doing nothing isn't going to help you," Rui replied. "You will simply rot in this place, otherwise. That probability of that happening is a hundred percent. Regardless of what you think of my combat ability, my plan has more of a chance of getting you out of here than doing nothing."

His words rang of truth.

Even the Divine Doctor recognized that. Yet, it wasn't easy to put his faith in a young Martial Senior who declared he could survive a Master-level beast. It was such a stupid decision at face value that it probably hurt him to even be the one to make it.

"Don't you want to save your patient?"

It was fleeting, but Rui could sense that that question pricked at him.

Good, it was valuable capital for emotional manipulation.

"I see that the Beggar Sage told you my purpose in the Beast Domain."

A hint of bitterness flickered in his tone.

"Not entirely," Rui offered. "He told me you had a patient with a condition, the diagnosis of which required you to enter the Beast Domain. However, based on existing evidence and the fact that you essentially conducted a symptomatic examination of the Beast Domain to identify the Mellow as a true anomaly, it leads me to believe that your patient…"

His eyes narrowed. "…is the Beast Domain itself, as absurd as that sounds."

The Divine Doctor smiled mirthlessly, closing his eyes. "An intelligent deduction, but I'm afraid it's not the correct one."

Rui furrowed his eyebrows, staring at the man.

"You see, my patient is beyond just the Beast Domain," he remarked, opening his eyes. "My patient is…Gaia herself. It is this very world that cradles that requires healing."

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