Planet's core.
Little mortal, in his martial arts clothes, was swimming inside the dense, hot liquid as if the pressure or the temperature didn't affect him at all.
Even his martial arts outfit was intact.
"Oh, found it!"
He suddenly stopped, looked at a black bead in front of him, but didn't touch it, and started muttering as if talking to somebody.
"I am Mortal.
I request World Law to provide me and my birth treasure, a Fair Ground, to make a fair deal that only benefits the world ."
A brief moment later, the genderless voice from before sounded, but not loud, instead like a whisper,
[ Request has been received.
Higher being, Mortal.
Solar system guardian.
The Way of the Guardian: Frontline Guardian.
Special guardian Permission granted.
You can have temporary access to the Golden World as a chosen Guardian alongside your birth treasure. ]
And a moment later, the scenery around him changed.
Little mortal was now in a gold environment all around.
Empty sky, empty ground, and everything just gold in color.
However, the color wasn't blinding; instead, it had a warm feeling.
Little mortal looked around, then opened his left hand, and looked at the black bead that he snatched the moment he received the permission to enter this so-called 'Golden World'.
Then he chuckled and said to himself,
"This is the best way to wake it up."
Then he took off his shirt, closed his eyes, and, after a deep breath, stretched his right hand forward and struck his chest!
His hand penetrated inside!
Some sign of pain appeared on his face, but he bit his lips and snorted stubbornly,
"Come out, old charlatan ."
And brought his hand out of his chest.
Inside his hand was a small beating heart.
It was completely black!
And inside his chest, there was complete darkness in place of the now missing heart!
Not a single drop of blood came out ...
The skin of his exposed upper body had some small cracks here and there, like the ground of a desert or a glass that could shatter at any moment.
But even those small cracks were black inside.
Little mortal put on his clothes and then looked at the beating heart.
There was only disgust in his eyes as he looked at it.
As though he was looking at the most detestable thing in the world, and not his own heart!
He snorted and squeezed the heart.
When he squeezed it, a hole like a mouth appeared on the surface.
Inside were sharp teeth in rows that led to complete darkness!
He then chuckled and said,
"It's time to wake you up!"
And dropped the black bear, which was the anti-matter bomb, inside the mouth, and closed it!
"With the time difference between the two places, this thing should receive the signal and explode now, right?"
Sure enough,
The black heart in his hand suddenly trembled!
Two eyes, completely black, snapped open on the heart!
The mouth opened too and started making noises!
*Cough* *Cough*
Seeing the heart awake, little mortal dropped it, but it floated before hitting the ground, came back up again, and stared at him.
The two just looked at each other in silence.
The heart then spun around once.
Then stared at little mortal again.
It couldn't feel anything from the little boy in front of it, as if it didn't exist...
It couldn't even see his face due to the effect of the Golden world that kept the guardian's identity secret.
This was one of the characteristics of the so-called Fair Ground, which aimed to make a fair deal.
After a brief moment, the black heart spoke in an old man's voice that sounded like it had resentment towards all beings,
"From the place, it seems to be the 'fair ground'.
But you, who are you, little brat?"
Little mortal, puffed his chest, and said,
"Dormmamu, I've come to bargain !"
The heart furrowed its brow,
"What ?"
Little mortal gasped,
"Sorry, Sorry, I said the wrong name!"
Then, after some clumsy hand seals, I said,
"Divine technique, time reversal, to before I spoke!"
Then he waited for a moment, puffed his chest again, and said,
"Lubo, I've come to bargain!"
The heart was speechless...
Time reversal?
What kind of silly joke is this?
"Who is Lubo ?"
Little mortal raised an eyebrow,
"What do you mean, who is Lubo?
Isn't it the short version of your name?
Let Us Be One ?"
The heart was at a loss,
"Do I know you-"
But suddenly paused and closed its eyes.
Then opened them again in surprise,
"I'm out!?
How did you take me out of that stubborn brat?
Where is he now?
Did he finally get himself killed?
Tell me, which one of them killed him?
Wait, shouldn't I die if he dies too?"
Little mortal puffed his chest, didn't answer any of his questions, and repeated the same sentence from before,
"Lubo, I've come to bargain!"
But Lubo, said impatiently,
"Kid, when I ask questions, you will answer!
Get it?
Don't think that just because I can't hurt you here, I can't hurt you outside!"
But, Little mortal puffed his chest, didn't care about its threatening words, and repeated the same thing,
"Lubo, I've come to bargain!"
The heart gritted its teeth!
But said in annoyance,
"What bargain?"
Little mortal was shocked again,
"No, no!
I said it wrong again!
I am here to make a deal!
What bargain?"
Then he did some clumsy hand seals again and said,
"Divine technique, time reversal, to before I spoke!"
Then he waited for a moment, puffed his chest again, and said,
"Lubo, I've come to make a deal !"
And smiled.
He seems to be satisfied with himself this time.
The beating black heart, Lubo, thought this kid was surely crazy!
But it wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible and see what was going on outside,
"What deal? Be quick. "
Little mortal said,
"I want complete authority over your ability.
In return, for each one million mainland years of authority, I let you eat one planet after the end of the deal."
Lubo, who wanted to go out as soon as possible, was stunned!
"What!?
Kid, who are you to ask for such an unreasonable deal?
Do you even know about my ability?
Where did you find me?"
Little mortal shrugged,
"How should I know what your ability is?
I just found you on the ground beside a pool of black liquid.
On the ground was written,
'Whoever finds this heart, I beg you to deliver it to
'Entertainment goddess ' and tell her to seal it ."
Lubo's eyes were already wide open from shock, and its mouth was agape!
" So he really got himself killed in the end?
But I'm still alive? "
Then it started laughing hysterically!
After a while, it calmed down and, with a creepy smile, said,
"And why didn't you deliver me to that whatever goddess?"
Little mortal said as a matter of fact,
"Whatever I find is mine."
The heart laughed again,
"Yes, whatever you find is yours.
But..."
He looked at him coldly,
"Do I look like something that you can take for yourself?"
Little mortal shook his head,
"No.
That's why I asked a shady fortune teller how to use you.
Then he did 'this' and then did 'that' and told me his divination !"
Lubo was now interested,
"And what was the divination ?"
Little mortal tried to act like an old man, as if he were the shady fortune teller,
"Young man, this is the best opportunity in your life!
Make a deal with it, in return for the temporary use of its ability!
And as payment, offer some of the planets you have for when the deal is over. "
When he finished telling Lubo the old man's divination, he turned back to normal and said,
"Now, do you accept the deal? "
By now, Lobu had found out about some facts from this little boy's actions and what he had told it.
This little boy was a little silly; however, he was a higher-level being because he could ask the world law to come here with it, which was a specific privilege for level 6 creatures, known as Higher beings.
But from his age, Lubo could guess he was a Newborn!
'So that's why he seems a little silly, his memories aren't back yet!
I can use this opportunity and kill two birds with one stone!
First to gather food for myself, and second to finally be free!
These Newborns are the easiest to exploit!'
"Alright, I can let you use my ability, but one million years for one planet?
Do I look like some stupid treasure to you ?"
Little mortal was taken aback!
"H-how about a hundred thousand years?"
Lubo snorted,
"A thousand years!"
Little mortal puffed his cheeks stubbornly,
"Don't want to!"
Lubo felt he went overboard,
"Alright, alright.
Let's each take a step back.
10 thousand years."
Little mortal snorted and said,
"Do you think I don't know how to calculate one step?
One step is only one!
100,000 - 1 = 99,999."
Lubo nodded,
"Alright, I accept the deal."
But as if it suddenly thought of something, it shouted,
"No, wait!
99,999 is only one year less than what you said!"
But it was too late!
The fair ground sealed the deal the moment Lubo accepted it, as if it didn't want to give it any chance!
[ Guardian mortal, made a deal with his birth treasure,
Let us be one, for 100% authority over its ability.
The conditions of the deal :
99,999 years of authority for each planet that Lubo merges with.
Lubo can receive the planets, but can't use them until the end of the deal.
The deal has been made.
The world law shall protect the deal.]
A moment later, both of them were sent back to the planet's core.
Little mortal was smiling from ear to ear while looking at the heart that finally saw him, mockingly.
The heart, which had only now seen the familiar face, started beating wildly!
It was going to try to attack, but with one word, it was frozen in place.
"The current planet is yours after the deal is finished.
This is the first one, it means I can play with your ability for the next 99.999 years."
The heart struggled a little more, but couldn't do anything!
Little mortal started rubbing his chin thoughtfully and didn't care about it.
Lubo already received its first planet, and the deal was active.
Little Mortal took out his notebook and looked at his progress,
"Okay, the first step of the plan was to come here and become the guardian.
That's done.
The next step was to become the guardian of the solar system.
That's done too, but there will be a problem later.
I should make a new list now."
Then he started writing down some new quests.
[ 1. Install Lubo
2. Q&A after the ceremony
3. Operation 'Let us be one'
4. Took care of the final boss of the neighborhood
5. Prepare for the Newborn's ceremony
6. Send back the Crystal and get a new one
7. See if anyone forgot to give me my birthday gift
8. Go with the vampire princess to find the lost planets
9. Complete the solar system
10. Wake up the solar system manager
11. Take care of the uninvited guest.
After writing down the new tasks, he looked at the beating heart and asked,
"Anything missing?"
But Lubo didn't respond, or to be exact, didn't have the permission to talk!
It had made a deal with the same stubborn brat it already knew!
It was completely fooled!
And even the world law was on his side!
'This guy is still alive!
What's going on? Did he go through the 'sacrifice' while I was sleeping?'
Little mortal then said,
"Alright, this planet will be the first one.
Take over and be ready.
We have lots of work to do."
And swam away!
Lubo could only obey.
The deal made in 'Fair ground' was absolute.
And the world law was surprisingly biased towards him!
So,
With it as the center, threads of black lines started spreading in every direction.
....
Silver platform.
Little mortal came out of the hole he had made when he dived in.
His face was pale.
His steps were weak.
But his eyes were filled with happiness.
As if a burden had finally been lifted from his shoulders.
As if he was finally free...
He looked at the crowd around him, who were watching his journey, smiled, and sat down on a chair before closing his eyes.
Soon, his breathing turned slower and slower, as if he had gone into a deep sleep.
The big backpack sent out a blanket to cover him, alongside the headband and his two wristbands...
A little head popped out from its lid, and a rough voice sounded,
"Big guy, should we capture him now?
I don't know what happened, but he seems really weak right now!"
The backpack lid slapped the little head of the white rat back inside!
At this moment, all of the treasures were quiet.
None of them knew where this source of the extreme 'Resentment' that was just unleashed came from.
But they were all sure about one thing!
It was a Birth treasure, but not like them!
This one was a rare Evil Birth treasure!
...
Not long ago, when the ceremony resumed, everyone's eyes were fixed on the big words that appeared in the sky.
[The journey of Guardian Mortal.]
1. Territory edition
2. Mainland edition
There were two choices, and after a pause, the first one,
Territory edition was selected.
The words then faded away, and a blue sky with a mountain range and trees appeared.
Those from the capital could tell after just one glance that it was the familiar mountain range near the capital.
High up in the sky, a golden circle suddenly appeared.
From inside, someone fell.
'BAM!'
The person hit the ground at the top of the mountain, and everything trembled!
The newcomer was a little boy.
At this moment, he was kneeling on one knee, his right hand touching the ground, his left hand stretched behind him, while looking forward!
A cool way to land! (Hero landing)
Then he slowly stood up and looked around.
A big backpack hit the ground beside him.
It wasn't anything that you would care about, if it wasn't taller than the person who had just landed before it!
Everyone recognized him.
The planet guardian, Mortal!
'So he arrived here like that? From another world?'
Looking at him carefully,
A Token was hanging on his waist.
The 'camera' zoomed in and showed the word 'guardian' on it.
Little mortal mumbled to himself,
"I'm finally here..."
At this moment, two other people landed close to him.
Both in imperial robes.
One of the two was a man with an Emperor's crown, and the other was a lady with a special hairpin, and her belly was a little bulged, as if she were pregnant.
Just one glance and all the humans could tell who they were!
The Emperor and the Empress!
The Emperor walked forward,
"Fellow Daoist, welcome to our world."
Little mortal, who saw the newcomers, became vigilant,
"Who are you?"
The Emperor answered,
"I am the current Emperor of the human race.
Frederick."
Hearing the name, everyone knew he wasn't the current Emperor, but the previous one, in his younger days.
'So, Guardian Mortal was in our world for so long?
Even before the current Emperor?'
"I am Mortal.
Here to candidate myself for the position of Planet Guardian."
The Emperor smiled,
"I know, I just received the news from heaven to cooperate with you."
Little mortal then showed him a list and said,
"To become a guardian, I need to fulfill these conditions."
The Emperor looked at the list, which appeared for everyone to see with him,
[ 1. To be the strongest on the planet, you are in
2. Stop the world invasion at least once
3. Lots of strong Followers
4. Special force team for betting with the other worlds.
5. Have enough knowledge about the outside world and what you need to deal with after becoming the planet guardian.✓
6. Make a positive impact on the world that everyone remembers you for a long time.
The Emperor nodded,
It seemed he was already done with one condition,
"Which one are you going to start with?"
Little mortal answered,
"To be the strongest!
I start my training here!"
The Emperor laughed,
"Alright, I will take care of you like my own son!
Feel free to stay here as long as you want."
Little mortal looked at the Empress's belly and pointed at it,
"So, that's my little brother then?"
The Empress chuckled,
"That's your little brother."
The crowd finally understood how this little guy and the future Emperor became brothers!
Time passed while Little Mortal lived with the imperial family.
Five years later, the Emperor, along with the Empress, brought their son to the same mountain.
Little mortal, hands behind his back, was looking at the horizon.
The three walked to him, and the Emperor asked,
"Are you two sure about this?"
Little mortal turned around and looked at the couple with the little boy.
He smiled,
"I am ready. What about you, Fritz?"
Hearing the name, the audience gasped in surprise!
'This little boy is the current Emperor when he was a child?
And it seems he is really close to our future guardian?'
Little Fritz, with a face full of confidence, said,
"I was born ready!"
The audience once again was shocked!
The Emperor indeed had a ruler's aura from childhood!
Little mortal nodded,
"Let us go then.
The 40-year journey, for me to become the strongest,
And for you to become the most qualified ruler, it begins now!"
Then his motorcycle appeared, and the two left after shouting,
"See you in 40 years, uncle, auntie!"
"See you in 40 years, royal father, royal mother!"
The audience gasped in shock once again!
This whole time, the 'camera angle' was mainly low, at the height of Little Mortal, and the imperial couple was only in the image from the back or, at most, from the waist down.
So they could tell these two little boys were still children!
'They went on a '40 40-year journey' just like that?
At their age?'
But a certain group of people were speechless!
This certain group was those who acted in this scene while it was being recorded!
They didn't remember saying any of these things, but every time they were talking, no one could see their faces, because it was their back view, or the lower part of their bodies!
It was obvious that a certain little boy made it like this with that crystal treasure of his!
While speechless, they were at least happy that the scene wasn't anything like what it was recorded in reality.
That one was too bland!
Now they understood when Little Mortal said the target audience for the two versions is different.
He was really making two different versions of his journey for whatever reason!
The scene change.
The two little boys traveled to different places.
They trained under a waterfall, climbed mountains,
Punched dry trees, fought with bandits, upheld justice wherever they went, and Little mortal saved the young Emperor multiple times!
Normal people were only fascinated by the journey, but followers and the older generation of cultivators saw lots of familiar faces among those who got beaten up by these two little boys!
The followers recognized them because they were the same people from the 12 sects that he had captured not long ago, and he had used them to record some scenes later.
But the older generation of cultivators, who didn't know that Little Mortal had already captured these people not long ago,
believed the 40-year journey was real!
Because the Emperor really had lots of problems with these sect members in reality, and now they saw the reason for that!
As the two walked through the world, their hair and beards started growing longer and longer, showing that they were growing up.
At the end of the 40-year journey, the two reached a jungle.
Little mortal and little Fritz, who were both middle-aged men now, looked in a certain direction solemnly!
The two now had long hair to their waists, and beards long enough to reach their chests, and the same clothes from the first day of their journey!
The audience felt sentimental.
'Time flies...'
The two, while stroking their beards like two seniors, started speaking.
Middle-aged mortal,
"Who goes first?"
Middle-aged Fritz,
"I go.
That's just a cat."
Middle-aged Mortal laughed mockingly,
"It's not just a cat.
It's the biggest, the strongest, and the only undefeated creature in this world, or any other world!"
Middle-aged Fritz snorted,
"We'll see about that."
Then the camera angle changed and showed the 'Cat'.
Cat?
The audience, just from the size of it compared to the Emperor, almost had a heart attack!
'You call this a cat?'
A tiger, white in color, as big as a two-story house, was sleeping soundly in front of the two.
As if it didn't care at all if the two were there to challenge it!
Middle-aged Fritz felt offended,
"Let's see if you can keep sleeping when I kick you out of the jungle!"
Then he delivered it a kick!
The tiger 'yawned' and raised its paw before slamming it down on Middle-aged Fritz, flattening him on the ground!
The audience gasped!
'So powerful?'
The Emperor had beaten up those strong cultivators on his journey like they were chickens, but he was defeated in one hit?
The tiger suddenly made a sound,
"Hmm? "
Its paw didn't reach the ground!
The Emperor was still standing under its paw even though his feet were sunk into the ground!
He shouted,
"Emperors never bow!
Never kneel!
Never surrender!"
The blood of the audience started boiling!
The Emperor was indeed the future ruler!
The middle-aged mortal laughed and attacked while saying,
"What did I tell you?
Cats are unbeatable in one-on-one fights!
Let's make it two vs. one!"
But it didn't take long before both of them were slapped away to an unknown place!
The white tiger snorted and left leisurely towards somewhere deeper in the jungle...
The audience was speechless...
'They were defeated?
How strong is that tiger?
How can Guardian Mortal become the strongest with that tiger around?'
A certain Mr. tiger in the forbidden jungle, who was watching the show, chuckled to himself.
Not long ago, he had received the invitation to go and join the ceremony, but he rejected it because he was sleepy and didn't feel like it...
It was after rejecting the invitation that he panicked and tried to accept it, but it was too late!
Once again, he had acted in a special way, and he thought that little demon might come after his head at any moment!
But nothing happened.
And now, when he saw the scene of himself beating up both of them, he felt good for no reason...
He could feel that Little Mortal had a special and unchangeable view when it came to felines!
Why?
He didn't know.
The scene changed once again.
The 40-year journey ended.
The imperial couple now knew what their child, who was acting as the Emperor in his younger days, had been doing when he left with his 'great uncle'!
He even had a go with the white tiger king in the forbidden jungle...
Another scene with familiar scenery appeared again.
The two middle-aged men went back to the capital.
On the same mountain that they had left, they were now back to the same place.
There was a woman in an imperial robe at the top of the mountain, waiting for them.
Fake Fritz, still with his long hair and beard, said,
"Big brother, don't tell me she is the girl you found for me?
I can tell that she is indeed noble and dignified even without knowing her!"
Seeing him now, the audience was stunned!
In this scene, the Emperor was full of muscles everywhere!
It seems his training wasn't for nothing!
Middle-aged Mortal nodded and said,
"Do you think it was easy for me to find a lady who can be on equal footing with the future Emperor?"
The Emperor turned to him with gratified eyes,
"Big brother, I'll go become the Emperor, the strongest Emperor, who can support you on your path to become the guardian..."
And the middle-aged Mortal said,
"And I'll go to fulfill the other conditions,
And the day I am sure of being the strongest, I will be back to accompany you and conquer the world!"
The Emperor nodded,
"Then the capital will be the place I await your arrival!"
The middle-aged mortal nodded back,
"Then our next meeting will be the day that the whole world unites!"
The audience received some interesting information!
'So, Guardian mortal was the one who found the Empress for the current Emperor?'
'The Emperor had the plan of supporting the guardian from the start?'
'And the deal to conquer the world was made between the two many years ago?'
Unbelievable!