Chapter 2017: Ownership Dispute

"I approve of that plan," the Divine Doctor remarked with a frozen smile. "The alien specimen cannot be allowed to be anywhere near the heat of battle. I'll have to transfer it to my most secure labs to study its alien nature and space-time manipulation abilities."

Rui's eyes sharpened. "I'm afraid you'll be doing no such thing."

The air tingled.

It grew more tense.

The Divine Doctor's eyes slowly turned towards Rui as the man stared at Rui.

"What made you think I'd just let you walk out of here with ownership over a priceless asset with a Transcendent resource?" Rui coldly inquired with a calm voice. "That alien specimen is mine. It belongs to Kandria."

He had not forgotten that the only reason that this little escapade to the Beast Domain had been possible was that Sage Sayfeel made use of the Topaz of Time to slow down his father's dying condition.

All because Rui refused to ascend the throne.

He planned to make up for that by offering what should have been an even more priceless asset. This asset could radically alter the growth rate of Martial Artists in the Kandrian Empire, even if it wasn't of too much use to Rui himself.

"Rule of the strong, is it?" the Divine Doctor remarked with a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Not quite," Rui replied impassively. "You have no contributed to Operation Prisonbreak in any meaningful way. I had previously assumed you would, but things have unfolded such that your expertise was not required. In other words..."

Rui's dark eyes sharpened. "...You have no claim over that alien flora lifeform. The only people who have claim over it are myself, who drew away and slayed the chimera for it to be possible to study it, and, to a lesser extent, Kane, who performed his role with perfection."

The Divine Doctor was not willing to back down so easily. "I saved your life in return and upgraded your Martial Body."

Rui scoffed. "And I saved your life with Operation Prisonbreak, and now again when we undo the manifold. It is an equal trade. If you want access to the alien lifeform, you'll have to contribute something of equal value to access to it during your time in Kandria."

The Divine Doctor instantly understood what Rui was trying to do.

He was adding another tie between the Divine Doctor and Kandria.

Currently, they had a few agreements in place.

The Divine Doctor would heal his father in return for a defined amount of access to his grandmother's prophecy or live, sustained Elder Tree communication. If he wanted both, he would need to offer his extraordinary medical prowess to Kandria.

That meant that he would need to remain in Kandria indefinitely in order to get access to both these super-assets.

That was even more true if he wanted regular access to the alien lifeform that Rui had laid claim to.

It meant that Kandria would be his new home for a long time.

"Well played," the Divine Doctor admitted. "You are the first man in seven hundred and twelve years who had succeeded in gaining the loyalty of the Divine Doctor. In the time that I have observed you, I can estimate that you are truly are worthy of being an immortal sage. Unfortunately, it is too late for that."

Rui narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"We are unable to perform the soul transference rituals on Martial Masters," he lightly commented. "Specifically, we cannot transfer Martial Minds. The soul transference process functions by transferring memories of experiences and thoughts. The inheritor vessel is unable to sustain it because it lacks the evolved neurological potential of the Martial Body."

Rui frowned. "That makes sense. Why not use Martial Bodies, then?"

The Divine Doctor shook his head. "For many reasons, but the largest is that the Martial Path prevents the destruction of the pre-existing mind and memories that are needed to turn it into an empty vessel."

Rui's impassive gaze lit up with interest and curiosity.

"It's the same reason Martial Apprentices can survive the Squire evolution breakthrough process with their mind intact," he commented lightly as he meticulously put all his tools back in place across the flaps in his robes. "The Martial Path is able to protect the mind and memories in a seemingly acausal and immaterial manner that we don't quite understand yet. That is why we are unable to erase the entirety of the mind of Martial Artists from their brains; the pesky Martial Path makes it impossible."

"Intriguing..." Rui's eyes sharpened.

He did recall his own Squire evolution breakthrough. His Martial Path had indeed protected his mind and memories from destruction even as his brain was rapidly being destroyed and recreated.

It was something that he hadn't understood to this day.

"If only we had a way to break Martial Paths," the Divine Doctor heaved a sigh. "My life would be so much easier."

If not for Rui's extensive foundation of nonverbal communication, he would not have been able to hide his reaction to the Divine Doctor.

He had no intention of revealing his capabilities to the Divine Doctor, although he might find out in other ways, such as the Beggar's Sect.

In fact, Rui recalled how the Beggar Sage had mentioned he had a very special request of Rui in return for divulging the fact that he was eligible for the soul transference ritual.

Rui put two and two together as he realized what that request probably was.

He shook his head, ridding his mind of all such matters. He could ponder them at a later date. Right now, he had more important, not to mention far more exciting, matters to pay attention to.

"Alright, I have completed my preparations," the Divine Doctor lightly remarked as he returned all his tools and artifacts back in place. "I am ready."

Rui nodded. "Kane, when the manifold is undone, be sure to shield your senses from me, got it? While the Divine Doctor's mind is powerful enough to withstand my Martial Embodiment, I'm afraid yours isn't."