After the departure of Little Mortal,
The Wise Turtle was the first to leave.
"Fellow Daoists, let's meet again at the ceremony."
The crowd stood up and bowed together,
"Take care, Senior.
Let's meet at the ceremony."
After that, White Tiger left without saying anything,
Like he didn't even see them...
Then they all looked at the Emperor, who knew what they meant,
"Seniors, I have everything ready in the capital.
We need to wait for it to be announced to the world."
The crowd nodded.
Such revolutionary knowledge was going to be used as one of the conditions for Little Mortal to become the guardian.
They couldn't imagine what that little monster would do to them if it were leaked ahead of time.
Lady Butterfly, who felt things might get out of hand in the Demoness Sect when Little Mortal sees his son is still alive, said,
"I go back to the Demoness Sect to inform my son and daughter-in-law about him, so they don't get in trouble."
Charm Goddess, worried about her disciple, joined her too.
"Let's go together, Little Butterfly.
I want to see if my silly disciple is fine or not after getting pinched..."
Scholar nodded,
"Alright, I'll go back to the capital with the Emperor and the Empress.
You coming too, Old Seven?"
Old Seven nodded,
"Sure, I have nothing else to do."
Fourth Brother thought for a moment and said,
"I go with Fellow Daoist Butterfly to see my dead disciple."
Third Sister chuckled,
"Safe trip, everyone.
I go back to the restricted area; our boss can't completely trust me until he is the guardian."
The rest of them nodded in understanding.
He was indeed a little on guard when it came to Third Sister, the grandma, who wasn't even a cultivator, and from what he said, her power was related to her blood.
Though no one still knew what her goal was for coming to their planet, or where she came from.
This old lady had been here for more than 2,000 years, and everyone thought she was a cultivator like them until Little Mortal came out of nowhere and exposed her on the spot!
Then they turned to Second Brother, the infamous Blacksmith, and he said,
"It's been a while for me to be away from my hometown in the desert at the other side of the Forbidden Jungle.
I'll take a look there, and then I'll join you for the ceremony.
It should be manageable with the new road."
And so, they bid farewell to each other and left.
...
Demoness Sect, outside of the outer sect city.
Little Mortal was looking at the arena.
At this moment, most disciples of the Demoness Sect and those remaining from the Sword Sect were here, waiting nervously.
The news of missing disciples under the noses of all the higher-ups from both sides was already spread.
None of them felt safe anymore...
Especially now that the two sect masters and their elders still weren't here.
At this moment, Little Mortal was hiding in the farm near the platform.
Rose was squatting down beside him.
The two were staring at the person at the center of the arena.
Snow White.
She was standing there, motionless, like a statue...
Little Mortal took out the list of names from before.
After checking it, he said to Rose,
"How did she escape the net?"
Rose thought for a moment and answered,
"Mr. Morleone let Little Peanut be with her mother when he brought her back.
I think we forgot about her this morning..."
Little Mortal gritted his teeth,
"I'll go talk to Chief about this matter.
But before that, to be sure you win the fight if I can't take care of the hostage personally,
I'll help you get strong enough."
Then he looked at the sky,
"Old Manager, don't let the Tribulation cloud appear."
Before Rose could respond, she felt a new cultivation technique begin to circulate in her body.
She broke through and then reached the peak of the Mahayana Realm.
She could only bite her lip in embarrassment because of the path she had taken in cultivation and what, in reality, normal cultivators needed to go through to reach her current level...
But before her embarrassment could take effect,
Little Mortal took out a blue candy and said,
"Lick it until you are at your limit."
Rose, who knew what it was, hesitated,
"Sect Master, I can already feel her power; she is far weaker than I even now..."
Little Mortal furrowed,
"My reputation is on the line here!
Didn't you hear about those main characters who can beat someone stronger?
Lick it!"
Rose could only listen to her boss.
And so, she broke through to the first step of the Immortal Realm and reached its peak in one go.
Little Mortal nodded, turned around, and whispered,
"I'm leaving; don't forget about your lines!"
Behind him, on the farm, 10,000 more people were hiding.
But not a single person in the competition venue could sense their presence!
....
Inside the sect meeting hall.
Snow Goddess, Sword God, and all of the elders had a meeting here that was about to finish.
They knew that if there was any hope of finding the missing people, that hope lay in the competition that was supposed to start soon.
None of them suspected anyone from the two sects to be the culprit, because even Rose and Lady Butterfly were among the missing people!
They even searched every place that they could think of to find some clues at least, but they were nowhere to be found.
Sword God said,
"To use 'Snow White' as bait... will it work?
What if the one who is helping him in the shadows comes out?
I don't think we can deal with that person..."
Snow Goddess shrugged,
"This is the best idea we came up with.
Anyway, just let her stand in the arena.
Isn't she the only one left in the registration list, except for that 'Sect Master Assistant' that was added to the list somehow?
So it should only be one fight in the women's category.
It won't ruin the competition, and we won't do anything that puts the child in danger; it should be fine.
If the other party had any bad intentions, I don't think we would be here now..."
The couple knew a lot compared to the rest.
Specifically, Sword God, who was knocked out not once, but twice, and the 12 sect that disappeared in just a short period of time!
The rest of them agreed with 'playing along' for now and see what will happen.
"Alright.
Let's go to the competition venue then."
Snow Goddess, who was going to leave with them, suddenly said,
"You guys go; I forgot to take something with me."
Sword God furrowed, but when he saw his wife 'wink' at him, he nodded and left.
When the meeting hall was empty, Little Mortal, who put a paper in Snow Goddess's hand just a moment ago with the sentence 'Chief, we need to talk, ' came out from under the table and said,
"They finally left..."
Snow Goddess clenched her fist,
"Little Mortal!"
Little Mortal nodded like a thug,
"Sup, Chief."
Snow Goddess was going to get angry, but she remembered that this little kid could run away from her at any moment.
So she thought the best way to deal with him was to play his game and tried to control herself.
"Where have you been?"
Little Mortal ran to her and said,
"Reporting to the Chief,
I was taking care of some business.
But don't worry,
the venue and my intro clip are ready.
And I should say, good job, Chief!
I didn't know what to do with the one who escaped from the net!
And it seems she already sold me out...
But it doesn't matter; when they saw my assistant's intro clip, I want to see who dares to go against us!"
Snow Goddess, who didn't know what an intro clip is,
and didn't want to know either, because there were so many other more important questions asked,
"Your assistant?
The one you said her parents are sect masters?"
Little Mortal nodded,
"Yes, Rose."
Snow Goddess raised an eyebrow,
"Your assistant's name is Rose?
By any chance, her hair isn't black and her eyes white like mine, is it?"
Little Mortal was shocked a little,
"Yes, exactly!
She is Sword God's daughter, the spirit chicken you killed."
Hearing him call her husband 'spirit chicken,' she was going to punch him away, but remembered the snowball accident and that he was just a 3-year-old and calmed herself down.
So she instead asked,
"And who is her mother?"
Little Mortal shook his head and said in a sad tone,
"That pitiful girl even told me you are her mother when her father died...
But I knew she was feeling empty inside and wanted to fill it with someone else, but what can fill the gap of a dead father?
It's like losing a mother; can you fill the gap?
No, you can't!
So I told her, 'I understand!'
But I already knew that both her parents were sect masters; how could one of them be the chief of a stronghold?
A known villainess by everyone, and the other a heroic figure representing the righteous sects?
So-"
Snow Goddess stopped him before going too deep into the 'stronghold chief' story again,
"Alright, alright, I know who she is now..."
That was definitely her daughter who somehow became his assistant...
Then she suddenly remembered something,
This little kid was calling himself 'sect master' everywhere he went; was it possible that he...
So she asked,
"Wait a moment, you are the sect master who saved her in the Forbidden Jungle?"
Little Mortal was really shocked this time,
"Gasp, Chief, you know even about that?
As expected of the number 1 villainess of the cultivation world!
Your informants are everywhere!"
Snow Goddess, with her hands trembling from anger, asked,
"What about the 'sect master' who went to
'world cleansing' with the Emperor?"
Little Mortal puffed his chest and said proudly,
"That's me too.
The Emperor is my little brother!
You know?
I used him to take care of our competitors.
Now it's just us and the Sword Sect that you've already crippled.
We can start the drug trafficking business right away!"
Snow Goddess ignored the drug businesses and focused on the information that didn't make sense.
So she tried to clarify it,
"You are the Emperor's big brother?"
"Yes!"
"And you cleaned up the 12 sects?"
"No!"
"Who was it then?
I know the Emperor doesn't have the power!"
"One of my special forces members did!
Lady Butterfly!
You don't believe how cool she was when she did that!
Let me tell you,
She waved her hand, and a group of butterflies appeared!
She waved it again, and another group of butterflies appeared!
And then when I thought it's done summoning butterflies, she waved her hand again and-"
Hearing the name of her mother-in-law, she stopped him from talking nonsense,
"Alright, alright, I get it!
But this Lady Butterfly is, by any chance, the grandmother of Rose, your assistant?"
Little Mortal nodded,
"Yes!
That deceased spirit chicken's mother."
"And she is 'one' of your special force members?"
"Yes!"
"So, there is more?"
"Yes!"
"How many more?"
"9 more!"
Until here, Snow Goddess felt that this little brat was making things up.
But when she thought of what happened to the 12 sects, she concluded that only a force as strong as a group of cultivators like them in the immortal realm could take care of them in such a short time.
It seems her mother-in-law was one of them, so that she might know the rest of them too?
That was a good thing then.
Feeling this matter gets bigger and bigger as she gains more information, she gulped down to wet her dry throat, and asked him,
"Who are the other nine?"
But her little disciple didn't tell her,
"It's a secret for now."
So she didn't ask further.
She thought it might be this little kid's special abilities that made a group of experts listen to him...
And she couldn't blame them for it, especially if they didn't use force on him, which meant all or most of them are good people.
'But then again, where did they come from?
Isn't the path to the immortal world already closed?
Did they come with the ones who tried to kidnap my daughter?'
Seeing him not telling her about the experts' names, she asked something else,
"Alright...
So, do you know about the Outer Sect City's sect master?"
And sure enough, he nodded,
"That's me."
"And the 'second hole in the butt' project?"
"My secret project."
"Did it succeed?"
"Yes!"
"The result of the experiment is a secret, too?"
"Yes!
And it wasn't an experiment, it was a project!"
Snow Goddess,
Seeing there is just secret after secret, thought it's better to take care of her family first,
"Where is Rose now? Your assistant."
"She is warming up to beat up that little fish who slipped through the net."
Snow Goddess, who knew her daughter was a mortal just a few days ago, asked doubtfully,
"Can she?"
Little Mortal snorted,
"She is even stronger than you know, teacher.
So she naturally can."
Snow Goddess felt she had heard him wrong,
"Sorry, what?"
"She is stronger than you.
No offense though; if she disrespects you, tell me and I-!"
He made a cutting neck move, like he was assuring her that he would get rid of her...
Snow Goddess didn't care about him acting like a gangster again, and his bluff about Rose being stronger than her.
She knew he could help others advance, but to help someone transform from mortal to immortal?
That was nonsense.
"And where is Lady Butterfly?"
Little Mortal took his guardian token and looked at the surface that turned into a radar,
"Let me see.
Oh, she is coming here, probably to watch my fight, and two other members of my special force are coming with her."
Snow Goddess was going to ask who the other two were, but she thought he would say 'it's a secret' and instead asked,
"Where is Snow White's son?"
Little Mortal pointed in a direction and said,
"There, with my assistant and the others, on the farm close to the platform."
Snow Goddess furrowed her brow and tried to locate them with her spiritual sense, but she didn't find anything.
So she walked to the window and zoomed in with her eyes, which widened in shock the next moment!
Rose was indeed there with her close friend, Luna, from the city inn...
Behind them, people in a row in an organized manner, with the same robe in two different colors, for men and women, were sitting, as if they were waiting for something.
Snow White's son was sitting in the front row, looking at her mother while giggling.
Snow Goddess not only found her missing daughter, but also the missing people from the outer sect city.
She thought to herself,
'He told us that the whole city is his followers now,
But we thought he was making things up...
So he was telling the truth?'
She looked at these people more closely and felt that something wasn't right with their condition.
They weren't like humans, but rather plants, merged with the surrounding plants on the farm, and surprisingly looked healthy and strong...
That's why, at the sect master's seat, the elders' seat, and the seat for sect disciples, none of them knew that so many people were just a little farther away from them!
They basically ignored them.
Snow Goddess looked at the little boy, who was getting more and more mysterious in her eyes, and asked,
"Why are they like plants?"
Little Mortal shrugged,
"How should I know?
It happened after the project.
It should be my revolutionary drug's effect."
Snow Goddess knew she had reached another secret territory, and asked another question,
"Are they cultivators now?
They all seem a lot healthier than before."
Last time she went to the outer sect city to see if she could find her troublemaker disciple; they all looked like the past, so how had they changed so much?
Little Mortal nodded.
"Yes, they are."
Snow Goddess asked,
"What realm?"
Little Mortal said proudly,
"All of them at the peak of Google translation.
Only Rose is two realms higher; she is at the peak of the pipe realm."
Snow Goddess, who was getting some clear information from this kid, suddenly received some words that she didn't understand at all...
'What realms are they?
What are these made-up names?
And Rose is two realms higher than the rest?
And stronger than me?
If she is, why didn't anyone see the Tribulation clouds then?
And if Rose, who is stronger than I, is two realms higher than them, doesn't that mean they are just one realm away from Mahayana?'
Seeing her in deep thought, Little Mortal said,
"Chief, it's time to start the competition."
Snow Goddess looked over and said helplessly,
"Alright...
What are you going to do now?"
She couldn't figure out what was going on, and her mother-in-law was on the way, so she thought it was better to ask her or Rose, who seemed to be pretty close to him, about what was happening...
Little Mortal said,
"I'll go start the competition if you don't have anything to add.
Everything is already as we planned."
Snow Goddess, who didn't exactly know what they planned together, asked,
"What was the plan again?"
Little Mortal took out his notebook and opened it.
After finding a specific page, he started reading from it,
"First is the silver platform test.
After that, the women's division fight starts with Rose's intro, and then she wins as the first-place winner.
Next is my intro, and my entrance with my followers after that.
When the excited crowd, who saw me coming back after 100 years, calms down, I challenge everyone at the same time, because I'm too powerful and they're too weak; obviously, I'll be the first-place winner in the men's division.
In the end, I will come to you with Rose to receive our prize."
Snow Goddess was speechless...
'We planned all of this together?
Then what about you taking away all those disciples who registered, and we don't know where they are?
Why did we plan this together, but I have no idea where they are?'
So she took a deep breath, calmed herself for the second or third time, and tried to act as the stronghold chief he thought she was, to find the missing people too,
"And how are things going with the other registered disciples?"
Little Mortal said confidently,
"I already took all the ladies who registered for the competition as hostages.
And there were too many men!
Do we have time for so many people to fight all day long?
No, we don't!
That's why I caught some of them to make the numbers less, so you won't be bored watching me fight all day."
Hearing him call them 'hostages,' she knew they were still alive.
But are they fine or not?
She needed to know that too so that the elders would be aware of their disciples' well-being.
"So they are alive?"
Little Mortal nodded,
"Yes... for now.
But if you want, I can just-"
He made a cutting neck move with his hand again!
Snow Goddess felt increasingly like a villain.
She coughed and said in a meaningful way,
"No need for that.
You did the right thing.
How about you give them to me so that I can sell them back to their masters?
You know what I mean, right?"
Little Mortal was shocked,
"So sinister!
Alright, I will deliver the goods to you after the competition."
And then winked at her, as if he was saying,
'I got you, don't worry!'
Snow Goddess felt her blood pressure was going up every moment...
But for those disciples' sake, she didn't have any other way except acting as the villainess.
"Alright.
Just remember, I need them in one piece."
Little Mortal patted his chest,
"I give them back even better than when I took them!
You can even ask for 30% more from their previous owner!"
Snow Goddess thought they were selling slaves,
But she could only stay in the act,
"Good to hear.
Now go, take care of the competition; I'll see you after it.
Don't disappear again..."
Little Mortal was going to leave, but Snow Goddess remembered something and said,
"Wait, about... Little Peanut—"
She was going to tell him to give it back, but he cut her off,
"Let me tell you, chief!
You won't believe it; the other day, I was walking around in some random places, and—"
Snow Goddess, who knew he was going to start telling stories, stopped him,
"I believe it; you found him on the ground again..."
Little Mortal said with an angry tone,
"Yes, yes! So you know already how irresponsible his parents are?"
Snow Goddess nodded in frustration,
"I know, and I talked to her parents already to take care of him properly from now on, so how about you give him back to them?"
Little Mortal snorted,
"Take care of him?
Humph, I already trained him to be strong enough so he can take care of himself.
Let me tell you,
He can even take care of his parents now!"
Snow Goddess, once again, was at a loss for words,
"..."
She just shook her head and said,
"Alright...
Just start the competition then.
Remember to bring the... 'goods' to me after that."
Little Mortal gave her a military salute and said,
"Affirmative."
Then ran to the door.
At this moment, before he could open the door of the meeting hall, the door opened by itself, and Supreme Elder walked in.
Snow Goddess watched with interest to see the result of this encounter between the two!
Was he really invisible if he didn't want others to see him?
And sure enough, the Supreme Elder didn't see him, and not only that, but Little Mortal, who had passed by her, suddenly stopped, turned around, and, with a mischievous and playful smile, pinched her before running away!
Supreme Elder, who was going to ask her what took her so long, got pinched and felt her hair stand on end!
She immediately screamed and disappeared!
When she appeared again, she was behind Snow Goddess, looking around in fear.
"Sister, I swear that little demon is here!
He just pinched me!"
Snow Goddess didn't know if she should laugh or be worried!
What if she were the next target?
Or she wouldn't be because of her Chief title?
To be safe, she decided to stay in her role as Stronghold Chief as long as needed.
...
At the sect masters' and elders' VIP place, Snow Goddess and Supreme Elder walked in.
Seeing the two, one in deep thought, the other looking around vigilantly, they knew something must have happened!
Sword God sent a spiritual message to Snow Goddess,
Snow Goddess sighed helplessly,
It's better for the rest to hear about it too.>
And so, a secret meeting started.
After Snow Goddess was done, the crowd felt thrilled and a little frightened of what this little harmless-looking kid was doing everywhere with a bunch of immortals under his command!
'10 immortals are listening to him?
Where did they even come from?
Aren't they all supposed to be in the immortal world?'
But there were at least two good news.
First, their disciples were safe; they just needed to 'buy' them back!
And second was Lady Butterfly!
She was one of the immortals under the little boy's command, so things shouldn't be dangerous for them, or the two remaining sects would have been cleaned up too by now!
And none of them thought that the former Sword God and Charm Goddess might be among the special force members.
How could his parents be working under him?
Their own son?
But it was still a mystery why he was here in the first place.
While everyone was thinking about all kinds of random things,
A big screen suddenly appeared in the sky of the competition venue.
Little Mortal, the kidnapper, appeared on the screen!
The elders didn't see a polite and adorable child this time!
But the ultimate troublemaker, with unlimited power in his possession!