The little judge slowly turned around and looked at the crowd.
They were afraid, soaked from head to toe, and in a mess.
Even her assistant and manager were farther away, hiding behind Lady Butterfly.
He muttered to himself,
"At first, I was going to end the court professionally, but seeing what kind of mess has been made because of that stupid guard, I am too embarrassed now to even stay here..."
The little judge scratched his wig and suddenly pointed at the far mountain behind everyone and said,
"Look, a dragon!"
The already scared crowd looked behind them immediately by instinct, searching for the new calamity that was coming after them!
First, an unruly fake sect master; then, a ruthless judge; after that, the Hell Gate, which literally rose from the ground; and now—a dragon?
The crowd wanted to cry, but no water was left in their bodies...
'We came here to become the sect master's followers. How did we end up in this horror show?'
But this time, to their surprise, it didn't matter where they looked—they didn't find any dragon...
Before they can ask what dragon this little 'disaster-bringer' was talking about... they heard him saying,
"I heard someone said this sect master's mustache is fake."
When the crowd turned, they saw the little judge was already gone—even his tribune had disappeared.
Now, the fake sect master, with hands full of rings, stood on the stage, looking down at them arrogantly.
On the big screen, they could see his mustache dancing with the wind, swaying left and right.
"So, who was it?"
The crowd gulped nervously and didn't make a sound.
But a certain little girl raised her hand and said,
"Me, me! It was me!"
The little girl's mother turned pale.
'You little brat, what are you excited about?'
She had told her to stay quiet after the last time, but why did this silly child court death at every opportunity?
The fake sect master nodded.
"Come on up, then. Give it a try yourself."
The little girl ran excitedly to the stage, with her mother running after her.
At first, the mother was going to catch her, but the girl was fast and agile!
Helpless, she followed her to the stage...
Though scared, she was a mother in the end—ready to sacrifice herself if this little monster grew angry and tried to harm her daughter.
The onlookers were nervous... and yet not nervous. Because while this little guy was violent and made people disappear, he had never killed anyone—at least, not in any of the footage he'd shown them.
He seemed scary, but at the same time, didn't give them any reason to fear him.
When the little girl arrived in front of him, he said,
"Here—didn't you say it's fake? Hang onto it."
The little girl hesitated for a second.
At first, she pulled it gently, then added a little more force. But when she saw it didn't come off, she really hung onto it.
Her mother, beside her, gulped nervously.
The fake sect master even started shaking his head, and the girl began swinging from his mustache.
You could hear some of the other children laughing in the crowd.
After a couple of seconds, the girl's mother said,
"That's enough! See? It couldn't be more real!"
Then she turned to the little boy and stammered,
"P-please forgive my daughter, S-Sect Master."
The fake sect master waved his hand as if to say, 'I don't mind.'
But the next second, the little girl said something that nearly gave her mother a heart attack.
"But aren't you a fake sect master? I once saw the real sect master flying by—you two aren't the same person."
The crowd felt they should rush the stage and beg this little girl to stop talking—for the good of humanity!
But once again, the fake sect master didn't get angry. Instead, he said,
"The one you saw is the sect master of our sect—my teacher. But in my case, my Daoist name is 'Sect Master.' Look, this is my token. It can't be fake."
He showed his token to the little girl while the 'camera' zoomed in so the audience could see it on the screen.
But nobody saw 'Sect Master' written on the token!
Instead, it was a triple-sized token with one side reading 'Library Token' and the other 'Storehouse Token.'
Little Mortal, who saw the token, was the most shocked!
"What happe— Oh, right! It's those two tokens I used on my trip to the sect library and storehouse!"
Shaking his head, he separated them and tossed them into his backpack.
"Okay, now look."
Now, everyone could see the 'Sect Master' name on the token.
The crowd began whispering:
'So he never lied?'
'All this time, it was his Daoist name that made us think he was a scammer?'
'But is it allowed to use such a name as a Daoist name?'
'He's definitely the sect master's disciple—otherwise, he couldn't just carry those tokens around!'
While they were thinking, the little girl still didn't stop giving them heart attacks and said,
"But what about the dragon? Was that a lie? I didn't see any dragon."
She looked at Little Mortal suspiciously!
The crowd, who had already given up on this little girl, saw the 'real' sect master loosen one of the wristbands on his wrist.
Lady Butterfly, who was back on the stage with Rose and Luna, wondered if this kid was really going to send the little girl to the afterlife or not.
But again, he didn't get angry.
"Let me tell you, little girl—dragons are fast. By the time you turned around, it was already gone. And to prove it to you—and everyone else—just how fast they are... You only need to stretch out your hand."
The curious little girl stretched out her hand, and Little Mortal placed two hairpins on her palm.
Then, with an arrogant smile, he said,
"That's how fast they are."
Seeing the scene on the screen, the crowd was puzzled.
Lady Butterfly was puzzled, too.
What did he mean? Where was the example of 'speed' in these two hairpins?
But a moment later, the hair of the mother and daughter suddenly came loose, spilling over their shoulders...
A wind came from nowhere, and their hair floated backward. Then, a 'bang' sounded behind them, as if something had struck the air—and their hair floated forward this time.
The little girl, who didn't understand why the wind had only blown here, suddenly gasped and said,
"Those are our hairpins! When did you take them?"
The little sect master—one hand behind his back, the other stroking his mustache—chuckled.
"Like I said, that's how fast dragons are."
Everyone's jaw dropped!
How fast would you have to be to snatch two people's hairpins without them noticing—and without anyone seeing you move?
The most surprised was Lady Butterfly.
'I'm an expert, close to the limit of power in this world. Even I didn't see anything!'
Only Rose wasn't that surprised—she already knew even the strongest people in their world stood no chance against him!
And Luna felt he was showing off, trying to win over the crowd and brainwash his future followers.
"If there's nothing else, go back to your seat."
The dumbfounded little girl suddenly snapped back to reality and said,
"Wait—aren't you a little kid like me? Why do you have a mustache?"
The crowd felt exhausted—and so did her mother.
But the sect master, once again, responded calmly.
"Because I'm short, you think I'm a little brat like you? I'm a middle-aged man. And you, little girl—and the rest of the young ladies in the crowd—always remember this: Never judge a man by his height."
"Let me tell you a little story."
The Little Sect Master's mood suddenly shifted.
Like a senior, he began dispensing advice to the younger generation.
"There was once a certain number of girls, in a certain place, who valued men based on their height. They thought an ideal partner should be at least six feet tall (180 cm). So, they looked down on the shorter guys."
Then he turned to the crowd.
"Do you know what happened to those girls?"
The young ladies shook their heads, waiting for the answer.
After all, they too liked tall, handsome men.
The little sect master, with a hint of mockery in his voice, said,
"They mostly died single, with the only companions they could have... cats and dogs. So, if you see a man, first look at his face. If you see a mustache or beard—and enough courage in him to step forward for you—that's enough."
Then he turned to the little girl.
"Do you... understand?"
The little girl was about to say something else, but this time, her mother acted swiftly.
With one hand covering her mouth and the other forcing her to nod, she picked her up and left, saying,
"Thank you for your guidance, Sect Master. We won't bother you anymore."
Looking at the crowd, the young ladies were now eyeing the men with mustaches and beards—while the mustached and bearded men puffed themselves up, trying to look impressive.
Senior Mortal nodded in approval.
It seemed the crowd wasn't as scared anymore. Their thoughts had shifted from survival to finding future companions—and now, the main event could begin.
"Now is the time we talk about what you gathered here for. You already know what I promised. So, if there are any questions, ask. If not, you can officially join me as my followers."
A young man nervously raised his hand and asked,
"S-Sect Master, what should we do as your followers?"
The rest nodded. This was the Demoness Sect—everything had a price. It could even be your life.
"For now, I only want a drop of blood from anyone who becomes my follower."
The young man turned pale.
"S-Sect Master, by 'drop,' you mean... how much, exactly?"
Little Mortal was speechless at this stupid question.
He even saw some others nodding along...
These people knew how much one drop was—but in a demonic sect, 'one drop' could mean anything.
It could be a big drop—so big that nothing would be left of them.
Little Mortal pointed at the young man.
"You, sir—the one who doesn't know how much a drop is—come up here. Let's show everyone."
The young man trembled. Now, he regretted being a busybody.
But before he could think of a way to refuse, the crowd pushed him forward!
Little Mortal went to his backpack, dragged it to the front, and climbed on top of it.
Then, he signaled the young man to come forward.
The young man gulped and approached.
Everyone was curious—what was he going to do?
Would he slice the man's artery, fill a bucket, and say, 'It's a drop'?
But before they could imagine more horrifying scenarios...
Little Mortal slapped the young man's face!
Then, he pointed at the corner of the young man's eye and said,
"Zoom here, Little Crystal!"
The audience saw, on the big screen, the watery eye of the young man on the verge of tears.
"Wait for it... waaaaait for it... There you go—look!"
From the corner of the big eye, a single tear slid down.
"This is called one drop."
Then he looked at the young man and said,
"Do you... understand?"
The young man nodded repeatedly.
"Yes! Yes !"
"Go back to your seat, then."
You could hear the sound of people secretly laughing coming from the crowd.
"Okay, enough with stupid questions for today. If I hear one more from any of you, I'll bring you up here and spank your butt in front of everyone!"
All the laughing stopped.
Even Rose, who was laughing at the back, stopped laughing.
They knew if he said something, he really meant it.
But it felt weird to see a little kid threatening them with spanking... Or was he really a middle-aged man? They wondered.
"Now, those who want to be my followers, stay here. Those who don't, leave now."
The crowd started whispering to each other to make a decision, but before anyone else, someone raised her hand.
Little Mortal snorted.
"Your root is already activated—you can't be my follower."
The person who raised her hand was none other than Lady Butterfly.
"Sect Master, I have a feeling this is fate that forced our paths to cross."
Even Rose was surprised as to why her grandmother was trying to be a follower too.
Little Mortal put his glasses on and looked at her, then gasped, jumped down from his backpack, and hid behind it while gesturing for her to come over.
Lady Butterfly didn't know what he saw through his probably magical glasses, but she joined him behind the backpack.
Little Mortal, looking around suspiciously, said to the confused Lady Butterfly, who sat down behind the backpack in front of him:
"Why are you out?"
"Out of where?"
"You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Wait! Did you break through your Butter-Neck recently?"
Lady Butterfly wondered if "Butter-Neck" was the same as "bottleneck" and said,
"Around a hundred years ago."
"Oh, so that's why you aren't with them. He was too weak to send you there at that time. Well, it doesn't matter. You're too strong to be a follower, but I can let you join my Special Force team with the rest. Do you want to?"
"I'll join any team you say."
Lady Butterfly was determined to join this little monster's team at all costs, for many reasons.
Little Mortal happily took out a paper with the list of "Planet Guardian Special Force" and added her name to it.
Lady Butterfly secretly tried to peek at the names, but only saw the first two:
**[ 0. Me (Sect Master)
Power and Age: Unknown
Wise Turtle
Power = 100
Age = (Classified Information)
Accepted ]**
She didn't know what to think.
First, this child's age and power were recorded as "unknown", but she had heard from the kids who joined the sect with him that he claimed he had just turned three.
And second, the name "Wise Turtle" only reminded her of the ancient—and never-before-seen—powerhouse in the Forbidden Jungle!
While lost in her thoughts, a black token dropped into her hand.
"Here, this is your token. If you see anyone else with the same token, they're your colleagues."
Lady Butterfly was about to ask what this "Special Force team" needed to do or what her job was, but Little Mortal stopped her.
"I can't tell you now about my plan, so wait until I become the Guardian."
Lady Butterfly asked doubtfully,
"Guardian of what?"
"This cultivation world we're in now."
Then he climbed up his backpack and stood there, looking at the crowd.
Lady Butterfly, lost for words and not understanding what he meant, just stood beside the backpack.
She looked at her token and smiled.
She could feel it—now that she was a member, the feeling of being "locked on" had disappeared.
At this moment, around five of the city's notable members gathered around Rose, asking her if this Little Sect Master was the real deal or not.
Rose looked at them and confidently said,
"You guys know I never lie to you. So hear me out, because I'll only say this once."
They all wondered what she was going to say.
With a serious tone, she said,
"The Sect Master is stronger than my mother and father combined."
Then she tried to imitate Little Mortal while saying,
"Do you... understand?"
They all looked at her in shock.
"What? How is that even possible?"
"Lady Rose, we're not cultivators, but we know your honorable parents are the strongest people in our world!"
Rose shook her head.
"Believe it or not, it's on you. Just know that the opportunity is in front of you. Take it or lose it—it's your choice."
Then, with a "Hmph!", she left and joined her boss on the stage.
The crowd was dumbfounded.
They looked at the little, arrogant kid on the backpack with his oversized black robe and manly mustache and didn't know what to think...
They had seen him catching big shots in batches, but to be even stronger than the two Sect Masters of this world's top sects? It was hard to believe.
They really didn't mind joining a big shot like him, but the problem was his being a troublemaker.
Rose said he had joined the sect this morning, and it was close to evening now...
How much trouble had he caused in this short time?
After a moment of silence, one of them said,
"Well, does it matter if he's messing with us or not? It's just a week."
The rest nodded.
"Indeed, and he's the Sect Master's disciple too? And Lady Rose is his assistant... Even if he makes trouble, it should be fine, right?"
"He's basically a big shot, so we can't look at him as a child."
Then they nodded at each other and left to join the rest of the people, telling them they could be followers—at least for this week.