My Insect Fusion System: Invincibility Begins with a Cockroach

Chapter 94: The Martial Sanctum and the Truth Behind the Global Martial Trend

"Such a thing actually happened?" Fly only now truly grasped the massive chasm between a Grandmaster like Muse and his homeroom teacher, Mr. Carter.

With Mr. Carter's status, there was absolutely no way he could have known about information like this. Even if one were to scour the internet, it would be near impossible to find anything useful.

"Grandmaster Muse, there's one more thing I'd like to ask you." Fly walked up to Muse's side. The path inside the cavern was potholed and uneven. A walk that would normally take ten minutes ended up taking twice as long because of Muse's wheelchair.

"You want to ask about The Martial Sanctum, don't you?" A warm, amiable smile graced Muse's face.

"Yeah," Fly nodded.

This wasn't the first time he had heard people talk about The Martial Sanctum. His teachers, like Dean Sterling for instance, had actually been inside The Martial Sanctum. Yet, whenever Fly brought it up, Dean Sterling would either hem and haw, giving vague answers, abruptly change the subject, or simply refuse to talk about it altogether.

In Fly's mind, The Martial Sanctum was always shrouded in a thick veil of mystery.

"As for what The Martial Sanctum truly is, the truth is, nobody really knows."

"I only learned of The Martial Sanctum's existence after I got into university myself."

Cough, cough...

Cynthia, walking beside them, coughed lightly, smoothly interrupting Muse's words.

In the past, to allow Beast Warriors to grow without undue pressure and to prevent mass panic within society, the Federal Government enacted strict laws. They required all high-level warriors capable of entering The Martial Sanctum to maintain absolute secrecy, forbidding them from leaking even the slightest detail to the outside world.

This was the main reason why Fly couldn't find any information about The Martial Sanctum online.

Beast Warriors at the high school level had only just begun their Martial Studies training. Their foundations were still too shallow, and their strength far too weak. Even if they knew about the existence of The Martial Sanctum, they lacked the power to change anything. Since that was the case, it was better to let them enjoy a relatively stress-free high school life.

Cynthia strongly agreed with this approach.

Learning about The Martial Sanctum too early brought no benefits to young warriors.

"It's fine," Muse shook his head gently. "With Fly's talent, he'll be heading into The Martial Sanctum sooner or later anyway."

"Besides, Fly has a steady head on his shoulders. Knowing a little earlier what he'll inevitably have to face isn't a bad thing."

"Not to mention, we are currently inside Fly's Sea of Consciousness. Even if the government wanted to track this conversation down, they wouldn't know where to start."

After glancing at Cynthia, Muse resumed his explanation.

However, while he was a martial arts Grandmaster, he wasn't a professional scholar confined to a lab. He only knew one undeniable fact: the entrances to The Martial Sanctum all led underground.

Theoretically, The Martial Sanctum should be a subterranean world.

Yet, its various characteristics seemed to boldly declare to humanity: I am not beneath your feet.

As early as the end of the last century, The Ursus Union organized a massive excavation project. They even constructed what was then the world's largest and longest drill, boring a hole straight down for over twelve thousand meters. Later, this abyss became known as the "Kola Superdeep Borehole." To this day, it remains the deepest hole ever drilled in human history.

But the Kola Superdeep Borehole completely failed to punch a hole through the barrier between the human world and The Martial Sanctum.

However, if one were to insist that The Martial Sanctum was an entirely separate world, that wouldn't be quite right either.

Because whenever an entrance to The Martial Sanctum manifested, it would trigger a cascading chain of catastrophic disasters on the surface.

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Earthquakes.

Tsunamis.

Volcanic eruptions.

...

This alone was enough to prove that The Martial Sanctum wasn't merely an isolated, alternate dimension.

It was inextricably linked to our world in a myriad of ways.

"And today, the entrances to The Martial Sanctum have spread all across the globe."

"Currently, there are thirty-one publicly disclosed entrances to The Martial Sanctum."

"Right now, humanity can only rely on these entrances to travel into The Martial Sanctum."

"At first, this discovery sent many scientists into a frenzy of joy. They couldn't wait to organize scientific expeditions and excavation operations."

"But the result..."

"The Martial Sanctum contained not only plants and energy sources completely absent from the surface world, but also a vast array of bizarre creatures."

"They possessed a certain level of intelligence, and it seemed they instantly classified humans as invaders, launching a merciless slaughter against anyone who entered The Martial Sanctum."

"To make matters worse, the rules governing that world seemed fundamentally different from ours. Human firearms and thermal weapons were rendered completely useless down there."

"Only the most primal, raw power could be used to fight back against those creatures."

Listening to Muse's descriptions, Fly felt a profound shock rock him to his core.

He never imagined that a world like that existed right beneath his very feet!

Suddenly, a terrifying thought flashed across Fly's mind. "Were those bizarre creatures... Mythical Species Totem Beasts?"

"No, they weren't," Muse shook his head. "Those creatures possessed certain human characteristics, while simultaneously bearing the traits of wild beasts. Or rather, they were a species that existed somewhere in the blurry middle ground between human and beast."

"But, they were far more savage and far more tyrannical than any ordinary beast."

Grandmaster Muse continued, "How could our frail human bodies of flesh and blood ever hope to stand a chance against such terrifying monsters?"

"Very quickly, not only was humanity slaughtered and forced into a bitter retreat, but many of those otherworldly creatures even attempted to invade our world!"

Hearing this, Fly's heart jolted.

According to Muse, human firearms couldn't even put a dent in these creatures. If they were allowed to spill over into the human world, wouldn't it plunge the world into an apocalyptic bloodbath?

"What happened next?" Fly pressed.

"Next... in order to stop those horrific creatures, several nations did not hesitate to deploy weapons of mass destruction." At this, a profound sorrow filled Muse's eyes.

While those weapons possessed staggering destructive power, they would also inflict grievous, irreparable damage to our own world.

Unless pushed to the absolute brink, no one ever wanted to use them.

It was no exaggeration to say that these weapons were the absolute last trump cards humanity had up its sleeve!

The leaders of those nations had believed that by relying on these weapons, they could annihilate all the invading otherworldly creatures in one fell swoop, while completely obliterating the gateways connecting the human world to the other side. But who could have foreseen...

Even if those entrances were obliterated, after a period of time, they would simply reappear!

And the creatures pouring out from within would only become even more savage and impossible to suppress!

What was even more terrifying was that these creatures seemed practically endless. No matter what methods were used, they simply couldn't be completely wiped out.

In fact, several smaller, less developed nations were utterly wiped off the map during this catastrophic calamity!

"Finally, a scholar of that era stepped forward. He bestowed a brand-new power upon humanity—the Beast Totem!"

"By extracting the genes of animals found in nature and forging them into Beast Totem Cards, humanity could possess super-powered abilities similar to the creatures the cards were crafted from!"

"Very quickly, thanks to this scholar's tireless efforts, this method was popularized and spread across the entire world!"

Reaching this point, Muse's tone gradually grew impassioned.

At that time, he was still quite young and had only heard rumors of all this. Later, he tested into a Martial Studies high school and became part of the very first generation of Beast Warriors to receive professional training. Even later, he graduated from Principia University with flying colors, catching the very tail end of The First Martial War.

He, too, had ventured into The Martial Sanctum and engaged in brutal combat against those terrifying creatures.

In those days, countless Beast Warriors traded their sacrifices and their blood to buy peace and stability for human society!

"So, this is the truth?"

"The true, original intent behind the global martial trend... is to protect the human world?"

Fly's expression turned incredibly solemn.

When he had first transmigrated here, he had been utterly bewildered: why did this world place such an extreme emphasis on martial arts?

Why did every single child dream of becoming an elite Beast Warrior?

How exactly did this societal trend take shape?

This world wasn't caught in an era of chaotic war; by and large, it could still be called a society governed by law.

Then why on earth did they need so many Beast Warriors?

Based on his experiences in his previous life, something as powerful as Beast Totem Cards should have been kept firmly under the iron-fisted control of the upper echelons of society. They would very likely have become the ultimate symbol of social class and status!

Hearing Muse recount everything related to The Martial Sanctum today, Fly finally understood the real reason why Beast Totem Cards were able to be so widely distributed throughout this world.

Because only through this method could humanity continuously produce a steady stream of top-tier Beast Warriors. And these top-tier Beast Warriors would, in turn, fight tooth and nail to protect this world, buying humanity enough time to cultivate the next generation.

Thus, an endless cycle of life and growth was established, ensuring humanity's survival!

Still, even with the immense, looming pressure of The Martial Sanctum, that scholar—the one who championed open-sourcing this power and setting the entirety of humanity upon the path of martial arts—was undeniably a towering figure of greatness.

"Excuse me..."

For a moment, a profound sense of reverence swelled within Fly's heart.

"That scholar who researched and popularized Beast Totem Cards... what was his name?"