The Martial Unity

Chapter 3574: Evolving Hemokinesis

Once more, Rui marveled at his decision to uproot the manifold plant and bring it back to the Kandrian Empire. The sheer good and the many times it had saved them, one way or another, was beyond fathoming.

“That’s good, then we should have a solution of some sort soon.” Rui turned to Arastia with a smile. “We’ll get you a MECHA that is fit for you soon. Don’t fret.”

“But I don’t want to wait a year!” she complained.

“You’re only twelve years old, you cutie pie,” Amare pulled her into a tight hug. “MECHAs shouldn’t be your primary focus. You’re exploring a brand new path that has never been explored before, so you should focus on that before you try branching out to MECHAs.”

Rui nodded. “I agree with that. Focus on your hemokinesis for a few years and establish a strong foundation. You will have plenty of time to master MECHAs in the future.”

“Fine…” she folded her arms, reluctantly accepting Rui’s words.

Rui smiled. “Cheer up. Why don’t you show me all the progress you made in a spar? I won’t go easy on you.”

“Hah! I’ve gotten so strong that even you will have a hard time, Uncle Rui!”

Rui indulged the little girl as they shifted to the backyard of the orphanage, drawing gaping eyes from the various children who stared at him with a shocked expression.

“Hyargh!” She charged forth as blood emerged from her body, flying towards Rui.

Time slowed down to a crawl in his eyes as he studied her movements and her blood.

’Her efficiency has improved.’

Her precision and accuracy had also grown a lot as she lost a lot of her childish clumsiness, gaining greater motor control and hand-eye coordination.

Her power was the most obvious improvement from a year ago since he had previously seen her. She was definitely much stronger than she used to be, growing at a rate that was impressive even by Rui’s standards.

And this was all done without having any knowledge of what the Blood Path was or of traversing a brand-new path, exploring it for the first time. He couldn’t even imagine how much she would grow if she had a lot of guidance and targeted training programs for the Blood Path, the way that Martial Artists of the modern era did.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

He evaded her attacks, blasting a weak and simple sonic blast at her.

THWOOM

Much to his surprise, she evaded the attack in an unnatural manner, as if being dragged by some force.

’She used her blood manipulation on the blood inside her body to accelerate her maneuvering speed,’ he realized with an amazed expression.

WHOOSH

She arrived before him as her palm surged forth towards Rui with great momentum.

WHOOSH

Rui evaded the attack with a light side-step, only for her to follow up with a fierce high kick to his chin.

BANG

He blocked the attack calmly, only for his instincts to warn him of danger.

WHOOSH

He leaped away, managing to evade a spike of almost solidified blood emerging from her skin.

“What in the…” his eyes lit up at the sight.

“I’m just getting started, uncle!” she charged towards him, propelling herself forward by moving the blood within her, pointing a finger gun at him. “Bang!”

BANG

He evaded a supersonic blood bullet that coagulated into a solid construct midair as he wove through her blood bullet attacks smoothly, launching a smooth punch at her faster than she could avoid.

BAM

She grimaced as she defended against his attacks with both hands, skidding away smoothly.

Her arms were bruised, but that’s all.

’She distributed the force evenly across her body using her blood.’ His eyes widened.

It was a very elementary and diluted version of his Body of Water, performed through blood.

“Incredible,” Rui admitted.

And yet, what came next was even more shocking.

She closed her eyes for several seconds, concentrating hard as she redirected blood within her body.

When she opened her eyes, they began glowing with a blood-red glow.

“Megamind?” Rui gazed at her with a stunned expression as she charged forth with a shocked expression.

He threw a fist at her lightly, one that she would have normally had difficulty evading.

WHOOSH

She smoothly dodged his attack with a light sidestep as she evaded it. Her fist grew redder as she directed blood into her arms to enhance the force she generated.

BANG!

Rui blocked the heavy blow and the spike of blood that came with it easily. Arastia tutted as she leaped away, focusing her gaze on Rui, before simply sticking out her hand at him for several moments.

Nothing happened.

Rui tilted his head. “…Is that supposed to do somethi—”

He paused as he felt the blood within his body stirring involuntarily, responding to an external force.

’She can manipulate other people’s blood within their body?’

That was dangerous.

Unfortunately for her, of course, Rui had absolute control over each cell in his body thanks to his Martial Soul. He easily negated her attempt at controlling his blood as her expression grew more strained.

WHOOSH

He appeared before her in an instant, swinging at her with a powerful blow.

BANG!

“Rgh…!” she gritted her teeth as the force of his attack flung her away, causing her skin to bruise and tear.

Yet, she simply waved her hand over it, causing the wound and the bruise to heal and restore themselves to how they used to be.

She heaved a tired sigh. “You’re so strong, Uncle! You’re even stronger than I expected.”

Rui smiled at her with a hint of amusement. “You’re tired already. It looks like manipulating blood consumes a lot of energy. We will have to train your stamina up to high levels; we can’t afford you getting tired this early in the game. The battle is just starting!”

“Nooo!”

Rui trained her up intensely as he pushed her on the defensive and to the very edge of her limits, trying to squeeze out all her potential, bit by bit, with pressure. Considering that the future was banking on her and her peers, he had no intention of going easy on her.