At the table, Little Mortal, Luna, Rose, and Lady Butterfly, who had come back with some exceptional food, were having breakfast.
The inn workers were back to their work, and a certain little girl was eavesdropping from the shadows.
While eating, Rose asked,
"Sect Master, how was your trip to the capital?"
Everyone's ears in the inn suddenly became sharp.
This guy went to the capital in a bad mood. Is the Emperor still alive? Was he wrong about him? Or did he just kill everybody?
The little smoke generator answered,
"It was a mess.
The Empress was going to be kidnapped.
Another guardian candidate, like me, came out of nowhere and caused trouble for me.
I was forced to help the dying manager not to die while having a showdown with a black dragon.
And in the end, I was forced to take care of something I was supposed to handle later!"
While shaking his head, he continued,
"Now, to clear this mess, there's a lot to be done.
All because of those stupid terrorists and idiot parasites."
Then he continued eating his breakfast.
The crowd didn't understand what he was even talking about.
Who can kidnap the Empress?
Which blind person tried to be a candidate for the same thing as you?
What dying manager?
And how does any of this have anything to do with a black dragon?
Rose, who was thinking how to make sense of his story, asked,
"What were you going to do later that you were forced to take care of early?"
Little Mortal, with a dissatisfied tone, said,
"Me and my followers—that is, you guys—were supposed to clear the world of its filth, with the human Emperor as the main character for this episode."
The crowd felt nervous just from hearing about the ending, let alone doing it!
Clean the world from its filth with us weaklings?
And the Emperor was supposed to be on the team as the leader?
Rose, who thought she was getting some vital information out of him, asked,
"Then why was it forced to be done early?"
"I was scared that these silly cultivators from terrorist organizations would try to ruin my plan again, so I thought,
Let's do the cleanup first, so they don't jump around and make trouble.
And guess what now?"
"What?"
"Now, the one who cleaned them up wasn't me, wasn't you guys either, and it wasn't even the Emperor!
Can you believe it?
The Emperor was barely a side character!
Just one special force member of my guardian team made her move, and it was done!"
At the end, he was shouting angrily while pointing at Lady Butterfly as if it were her fault.
The crowd understood the meaning of 'one special force member' and suddenly remembered something.
This lady beside Rose was her grandmother, but before that, she was the Sword God's mother—and they had all just ignored her these two days!
Was that because a certain monster had instilled so much fear in them that she wasn't scary anymore?
The crowd could only wonder.
This little monster was so terrifying and foreign to them that they'd forgotten another high-and-mighty immortal was always around them!
They all trembled just from thinking about this revelation!
Rose was surprised.
"So, Grandmother cleaned them up?
Then those rings are…?"
Lady Butterfly said,
"They aren't dead, right, Sect Master?"
Little Mortal rolled his eyes at her.
"No, how could you kill someone without a trial in court?
Do I look like one of those savage, uncultured, uncivilized cultivators to you?
Not only that, I need them for the final episode, so they're going to sleep for a while until we're done with everything else.
How else am I supposed to record the final scene if all the actors are dead? Huh?"
The crowd gulped and looked at the round cage on his waist with fear in their eyes!
There were thousands of cultivators inside?
All of them alive?
How can you fit so many people in there?
They wouldn't have believed it if they hadn't seen the mountain of storage rings coming out of it.
The most impressed—and fearful—was Lady Butterfly, who had seen this treasure in action.
It didn't matter how many people she fed to it; it showed no reaction, as if it were a daily task.
It was like everything around this little monster was without limits in its expertise.
Little Mortal chuckled.
"Do you want to see who's the most depressed right now?"
Rose became interested and said,
"Who?!"
Then he removed the crystal from his waist and tapped it a couple of times, until a screen appeared.
It started playing the part where the Emperor gave the order to the army soldiers to go and clean up the world from its filth.
The crowd, seeing the Emperor for the first time, felt as if they were looking at a god!
It was like something was telling them to worship him!
Then the screen turned off, and they came back to their senses.
That was the Emperor?
This cool-looking guy was barely a side character?
They all shouted in their minds,
'This is unfair!'
"Did you see him? Hahaha!
That's the Emperor, and he didn't even have time to say 'attack' even once before the world cleanup was over!"
Then he pointed at Lady Butterfly and said,
"It's all your fault!"
The crowd was speechless.
Lady Butterfly, embarrassed, answered,
"It was because of the music.
The lady kept singing, and I couldn't stop myself—I went all out…"
Little Mortal nodded excitedly.
"I know.
The power of music is no joke!
It doesn't care if you're powerful or weak!
It can bewitch you easily!"
"Who was the singer, by the way?"
Hearing the question, Little Mortal's mood changed.
He seemed a little sad.
"How should I know? I'm just a child."
Lady Butterfly knew she'd asked the wrong question and didn't press further.
It seemed this little monster would use this sentence for times he didn't want to answer.
Finishing his breakfast, he then thanked them and went to his backpack.
"Little Pot, come out."
The pot came out and vibrated.
Little Mortal snorted.
"Don't pretend to be tired!
I know making things on this level is as easy as drinking water for you!
Now, give me a little of the workout powder to taste."
The pot, realizing it couldn't pretend, poured some powder out.
Little Mortal tasted it and said,
"Hmmm, no special flavor, just a little bitter.
Let's call it… 'Spirit Creatine'."
Then he turned to Luna and Rose.
"Manager Luna, Assistant Rose, we need to distribute this 'Spirit Creatine' among my followers.
The Pot and Big Guy can handle the packaging.
The two of you need to find a place to store them and then give everyone a share for the coming days."
Luna said,
"We have a cellar in the back, and I'll stay there personally until we're done with distribution."
Rose asked,
"Just tell us how much we should give them."
Little Mortal asked the backpack,
"Big Guy, are you done with the 5-gram packages?"
The backpack trembled.
"Good job. Then add a shaker too.
I have a 14-day training plan—from power Level 0 to 89.9—for my followers.
So, for the first 5 days, let's give them three servings, and the next 9 days, two servings should be enough."
Then he turned to Rose.
"Give each one of them 33 five-gram packets and a shaker.
They aren't allowed to eat them until I tell them."
The two ladies wrote down what he said. Luna left nervously because the big backpack was following her, while Rose went to inform the group leaders that the followers should come with their people to claim their share of the so-called 'Spirit Creatine'.
After they left, Little Mortal started writing something and communicating with the Guardian Token for a while.
Not long after, a message appeared in everyone's token.
[Terms of Service:
We allow Sect Master to use our bodies for the next 15 days, with the promise that he won't do anything that will harm us or people related to us, for faster and more efficient progress.
-Yes, I agree.
-No, I disagree. ]
Seeing the message, the group leaders who were talking to Rose wanted to ask if they should say 'yes' or 'no'—but they saw Rose had already pressed [Yes] without thinking.
A certain little girl jumped out from the shadows and shouted,
"BREAKING NEWS, BREAKING NEWS!
SISTER ROSE SOLD HER SOUL TO THE DEMON!"
Rose:
"-_-"
Inside the inn, Little Mortal called for his glasses and Lady Butterfly.
"Little Glasses, check every book in those storage rings we got from the 12 terrorist organizations and the books of our sect, and categorize every cultivation technique for different spirit roots."
Then he turned to Lady Butterfly.
"Lady Butterfly, do you have one of those crystals that shows what spirit root you have?"
Lady Butterfly nodded and took one out of her ring.
Little Mortal knocked on his Guardian Token.
"Connect to this and see what spirit roots my followers have, then give the information to the Glasses to save for later when I'm going to use it."
The token started floating, and after a while, it said,
[Done.]
At the same time, the black-framed glasses came out of the backpack, and It placed some books in different batches in front of him.
Little Mortal looked at his token and said,
"Lady Butterfly, here it says your spirit root is wind. Is that correct?"
Lady Butterfly, who didn't even know when she'd been tested, nodded.
Little Mortal looked around and picked up a cultivation book from the wind category and said,
"Is it fine to test something on you?"
Lady Butterfly became a little nervous.
"Sure."
'He's going to use my body again, right?'
Little Mortal opened the book for awakening the wind spirit root and read it to the end in less than 10 seconds.
He then stared at Lady Butterfly but didn't say anything.
A moment later, Lady Butterfly felt her blood moving in her veins in a familiar way.
She thought for a moment and understood why it felt familiar.
It was the first cultivation technique she'd used to awaken her spirit root a long time ago.
While amazed by this little kid's way of using the 'Harmony' technique, she told him how she felt.
"That's fine, then.
Since I don't have any spirit root, I can't feel anything when using these techniques.
But now that I've confirmed it with you, it should be fine to teach my followers using the same trick to be faster."
Lady Butterfly couldn't help but think of Rose, who'd learned a technique from him with only one time being controlled.
Wouldn't everyone learn how to cultivate in one try if this little monster taught them personally?
Then she looked at him—who had started reading the rest of the books—and asked,
"Sect Master, sorry to interrupt your reading, but can you tell me how you can learn these techniques when you don't even have a spirit root?"
Little Mortal answered casually,
"Creatures of a higher level can learn anything that lower-level creatures can—but a lot faster and easier.
Interesting fact: If you're two levels higher than another creature, then you can understand their language and handwriting, and at the same time, they can understand what you're saying or writing as if it's their mother tongue."
He paused for a moment and said,
"Like now, for example—in what language do you think I'm talking to you ?"
Lady Butterfly furrowed her eyebrows and said,
"The ancient language from my childhood country…"
Little Mortal shook his head.
"Nope.
If it were, how could everyone else understand it?
Don't tell me everyone knows the language of your hometown?"
Lady Butterfly was shocked.
"How could I ignore such an obvious fact?"
"I know. It's scary!
The thing is, this effect of higher-level beings on lower-level ones is so natural that it makes you not pay attention to it at all."
Lady Butterfly's hair stood on end.
'The higher and lower levels he's talking about must be different from the number in front of my name!
He said something about creatures born as Level 1, who can at most advance to Level 2.
He probably means this kind of level—and as born Level 1, we're basically the lowest level!
And he must be two levels higher than us…
That makes him at least Level 3!'
Lady Butterfly, who had been feeling at ease around this little monster today, felt scared again.
What even is this creature?
Is he human or not?
Little Mortal, seeing the fear in her eyes, tried to comfort her.
"Don't worry, Lady Butterfly.
With me around, these levels are just numbers!
If anyone, at any level, tries to bully you, tell me!
I'm gonna slap their face, break their leg like this, then do this, and after that—BAM—game over!"
Lady Butterfly, watching the little monster excitedly throwing kicks and punches in the air, forced herself to nod while thinking to herself,
'You're the one who makes me worry…
What if there are other effects already in play that I don't know about?'
...
Capital.
Inside the Emperor's garden, the couple looked nervously at the door in front of them.
Now that peace had returned to the capital, they thought it was time to come back and check on something.
The Emperor, who tried to act brave in front of his wife, opened the hall door and entered.
The Empress walked in after him.
They looked at the broken windows, ceiling, and floor with holes, and the table with little palm imprints on it, and once more thought of their heaven-defying luck from yesterday.
It was a miracle to be alive after all the changes that had happened around them from morning to night...
While they were lost in thought, a timid and unique voice sounded—one so androgynous they couldn't tell its gender.
"Did that horrifying monster leave?"
The Empress nodded.
"Yes, he left yesterday evening—"
But suddenly, she screamed and jumped behind the Emperor!
"Who's talking?"
The voice sounded again,
"It's me, Empress. Your staff. How can you forget?"
The scared couple turned around and saw the staff floating behind them.
Then it started talking in a panicked tone,
"My god, we're so lucky to be alive! What even was that monster? Did you see what he did? He emptied that crazy dragon's treasury like he was strolling through his father's storage! He even took that big energy generator! He even left a message and threatened the owner of that crazy dragon! We're doomed! We're all doomed! How is this planet not frozen yet? My goodness, I was smart to pretend I couldn't talk!"
The couple was at a loss for words.
This staff can talk? What did that little senior do? The whole planet is going to freeze?
The staff sighed helplessly,
"Forget about it. You weaklings can't understand the trouble he made, let alone do anything about it... You know what? I'll just be quiet... Take me around with you, Empress. I'll protect you if needed... If I don't listen to that little monster's arrangement, I'm sure he'll break me... But again, with him around, if there's a danger he can't deal with, I can't either... So troublesome."
Then it dropped to the ground like a lifeless staff.
The Empress tried to communicate with it, but it didn't respond at all. It just connected itself to her through spiritual energy—and that was it.
She didn't even know what this staff could do!
She knew about treasures with intelligence, but had never heard of one that could talk and think like this!
The couple stepped back outside and looked at the blue line in the sky, wondering if they should follow it to find their "big brother" or not.
The Emperor had already added a "Big Brother" to his family tree and was going to give him an imperial robe and token to seal the deal. But he hadn't had the opportunity last night because the man hadn't returned to the capital.
Now, on second thought, it seemed better not to go after him...
From what the staff had said, its former master was someone their "Big Brother" wasn't on good terms with.
The other party should be at least as strong as him. Wouldn't a fight between the two inevitably bring disaster to their world?
The Emperor thought the same as the staff:
'So troublesome...'
...
Forbidden Jungle.
Inside the restricted area of the big shots, all of them—still with a candy stuck in their cheeks—watched the blacksmith struggle to shape a simple bar from the heavy metal sent to them alongside Elder Iron.
At first, they tried to pry information from this newcomer and discovered their boss was in a completely wrong sect.
Another interesting tidbit was about the Sword God and Snow Goddess, who had somehow gotten married and now even had a daughter!
There had even been an attempt to kidnap her—but it failed.
Having gathered no other helpful information, they crowded into the blacksmith's workshop to see what the little sect master asked to be made for this "Elder Iron."
Later, when Elder Iron told the blacksmith he needed to ask the stick to cut the metal, the blacksmith scoffed.
"Do you know how long I've been in this business?"
But soon, he found out he couldn't separate even a sliver from it—and worse, he couldn't even move it.
While the other big shots laughed at him, they tried to help push it closer to the smelting furnace... but they couldn't move it either.
So the blacksmith was forced to ask the stick for help.
To their surprise, the stick unsheathed, revealing a hidden blade, and effortlessly cut off a small piece—no larger than half a watermelon.
Then he tried to pick it up... but still couldn't.
Embarrassed, he looked at the stick again.
This time, the stick cut the piece into eight smaller parts.
At this point, only Elder Iron could lift one part at a time.
After placing it inside the furnace, the small, heavy iron began to melt at the same temperature as titanium—between 1,600 and 1,700 degrees.
But what happened next defied everyone's expectations.
The small piece began to swell, and as it neared liquefaction, its expansion increased.
Seeing it was about to overflow the furnace, the blacksmith opened the blueprint and got to work.
It was the first time anyone had seen him in action—and to their shock, he worked barehanded.
Everyone thought:
'No wonder he doesn't have any tools!'
However, after shaping the first part, they realized that the heavy iron had shrunk back as it cooled.
Therefore, the blacksmith was forced to add more molten metal continually.
And so began a cycle: the stick cutting the iron, Elder Iron carrying it to the furnace, and the blacksmith layering part after part from the blueprint.
Meanwhile, the bored big shots took turns testing attacks on the heavy sphere, hoping to leave even a scratch.
But it was a futile dream...
Even the "illegal immigrant"—Third Sister, aka "Grandma"—secretly mustered all her strength into her index finger and struck the sphere with everything she had.
She wanted to measure herself against the little boy who'd already left his mark on it.
Could she do the same?
In the end, she succeeded... in breaking her finger.
Terrified, she stared at the tiny fingerprint on the sphere—clearly belonging to him—and then at the floating sword stick.
As she left, she thought:
'I thought he was from that unknown group—the ones who force us to attack other worlds. But judging by his power, his treasures, and his manners... he's not just stronger than them. He acts like a polite child from a well-bred family, not like those arrogant slavers. Maybe I should join his team like the others. Who knows? Perhaps he's the one my world's will send me to find... Wait... Is it possible that the will of my planet is a person too?'