Chapter 2242: Eternal Gratitude

Chapter 2242: Eternal Gratitude



Suddenly the world changed.

The Tree of Life, in its nigh infinite glory, altered the very fabric of heaven and earth within the depths of the minds of all those who beheld it.

In that moment, the world that cradled all life ceased to exist.

In its place, came Hell.

A true Hell, one that was different for each and every one of them.

Some were submerged in a world of fire.

Some were submerged in a world of ice.

Some were submerged in a world of extreme gravity.

It brought them suffering.

"ARGGHH!!"

"...Ack! Can't... breathe!"

"Rgh!!"

A world that was antithetical to their Martial Body.

Martial Artists had a strange place within the Tree of Life.

The system of thought that codified the evolutionary genetic chains that bound all life and the environments that were most optimal and, by extension, most antithetical to them

recognize each Martial Body as its own unique individual species.

In other words, every time a new Martial Apprentice ascended to the Squire Realm, a new species had been created.

After all, Martial Bodies were just super evolved human bodies.

Thus, within the Tree of Life, each Martial Artist was his or her own leaf stemming from the same branch that was the human species.

They each had their own antithetical environments that Rui could see as clear as day at all times due to the passively active system of thought.

The reason he didn't use the Tree of Life against Martial Masters as ubiquitously as he did against beasts and monsters was because the former did not just use their Bodies to fight. Martial Masters had Martial Art and Minds that were best countered by his other systems of thought.

The Tree of Life and the Yggdrasil System had been created to be most effective against those that relied on their raw and innate capabilities of their body and species. He had designated them to be used most when against beasts and monsters, because that was what they were meant for and best at.

However, when it came to breaking through Seniors, it still contributed by making the world antithetical to them in their minds, in addition to the other measures that were to be enacted.

Most particularly, he used the Tree of Life specifically because among the Seniors, there was one who primarily fought with his body rather than Art, had also developed a system of thought, and was eligible to break through.

Nel.

Nel froze in shock as the world around shifted from ordinary land and sky to a world of emptiness.

Everything was gone.

"Wha―!" Nel grew shocked as he tried to catch on to something, anything, to gain leverage so that he could deploy his physical abilities.

Yet, there was nothing.

He simply floated in infinite darkness.

A void.

He could see nothing, feel nothing, sense nothing.

"Get up." Rui's gaze grew severe. "You want to catch up to me, right? You want to reach me,

right? Well..."

Rui surged forward with powerful eyes. "You're going to do it right here and right now or die

trying."

In the real world, things were not going so great for Rui.

"GET HIM!"

"KILL HIM!"

"We need to break this illusion!"

BOOM BOOOM BOOM!!

Rui grimaced as he held on for dear life while working his breakthrough magic on all the

Martial Seniors.

"Did you forget why I'm called the Dawnbringer?" Rui's glare grew murderous. "Don't push me, unless you want to fight the Sun."

They froze as they remembered why they had ever sought to kill him early on in the battle in

the first place.

This was Rui's plan to buy himself as much time as he could before his friends could break

through. He needed to wait just long enough to ensure that their Martial Paths were on the verge of breaking, serving as a trigger for their breakthrough to the Master Realm.

He didn't need to wait long.

His eyes lit up with delight as he felt a Martial Mind blooming!

He could feel it clearly.

It was decent.

Yet, he could feel an unfathomable amount of refinement within it, much to his surprise.

"Nice, is it Nel or Kane-!"

His body froze with shock as he realized it was neither.

The truth dawned on him.

Yet, it was beyond even his ability to parse.

"No..." His voice grew shaky as he gazed at the Gatekeeper with aghast bewilderment.

"Impossible!"

For reasons beyond Rui's fathoming, he could sense an active Martial Mind deep within the

Gatekeeper's mind.

The strongest Senior was no more.

In his place, a Martial Master was born.

Sir Armstrong opened his eyes after what felt like an eternity, shifting his gaze to Rui.

A soft smile cracked at the edge of his mouth.

"You have my eternal gratitude, young man."