The sudden appearance of the screen made everyone silent!
The audience looked at the man in a suit with glasses on the big screen.
It didn't matter which direction they were facing; everyone could see the same view, as if the screen had been perfectly prepared for them.
The commentator smiled,
[Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the annual competition of the strongest cultivator under the age of 100!
I am your host and commentator for today's competition!]
The crowd, after hearing his voice, felt that he was not a man, but a child...
Sword God, after seeing the change in the faces of the elders around him, and the Supreme Elder who was looking at the 'commentator' with resentment, chuckled.
"Snow, is that my master's son?"
Snow Goddess nodded helplessly.
The little commentator continued,
[Before we begin the competition, I would like to extend a very special welcome to our guests from the Sword Sect.]
Then he stood up, cupped his hands, bowed a little towards the seat of Sword Sect members,
And said,
[Welcome to our humble abode, fellow Daoists.
I'm sure you had a pleasant time here until now.]
The elders nodded.
'It was indeed pleasant in many ways...'
Snow Goddess coughed.
The non-existent illusion of a 'pleasant time' was shattered, and the elders came back to their senses, remembering the not-at-all pleasant experience!
"What happened just now?"
Even Sword God wasn't spared!
Snow Goddess said,
"I don't know, but sometimes when he says something, even if it's nonsense, you might believe it...
I didn't know it still works even if he isn't close to us!
A couple of times he fooled us with 'there is a dragon', so we are used to it..."
The elders suddenly remembered the meeting, and this little boy was making decisions!
They basically agreed to everything he said!
"What a terrifying innate talent!
If this ability gets stronger as he grows up, then..."
The crowd gulped down.
It was even working on Sword God and Snow Goddess when he was only a child...
Supreme Elder shook her head and said,
"Don't worry, as I told you before, he doesn't have any spirit root, so it won't be more effective in the future because he can't get stronger.
And to counter it, you need to get used to it."
The elders felt at ease after hearing what she said.
The little commentator sat back.
Behind him was only a white wall.
Seems he was in a simple room.
[Now that we are done with welcoming our guests,
Let us start the first of the three events we are holding today.]
He then pointed at the silver platform,
[Test of endurance for our competition arena is the first event.
In this event, our honorable elders are testing the competition ground to see if they can even put a scratch on it.
If they can't, it means the younger generation can go crazy on it without worry.]
The sect disciples furrowed their brows; some even mocked him.
"What is he talking about?"
"Our elders can just cut it in half!"
"Indeed, and he is acting like they can't even scratch it?"
"Heh, why bother the elders.
Let me give it a try!"
A disciple jumped up and threw something like a talisman at the platform.
Then there was a 'boom' and some smoke.
But when the smoke was gone, there wasn't even any sign of impact, let alone the pit they thought it should be left at the place of explosion!
The disciple who tried to embarrass the commentator sat down without saying anything.
But some people couldn't lose the chance to mock him,
"Senior brother, was that a fart talisman?"
"Senior brother, you threw a smoke bomb?"
While the audience was laughing,
In the elders' seat, the elder who said he was good at scratching in the meeting, furrowed his brow and moved his hand like he was trying to cut the air in front of him.
Then a sharp wave was made that went down towards the platform.
The disciples who this sword wave passed above their heads felt their hearts palpitate, and just from the aura, their skin might get cut!
"So strong!"
But when this 'so strong' attack hit the platform,
It disappeared!
It didn't even bounce or make a sound!
Now, everyone knew the smiling commentator, who seemed to be frozen on the screen, wasn't joking!
Snow Goddess's voice sounded at this moment,
"Don't be shy, the platform is big; all the disciples can attack and give it a try.
No need to hold back."
The platform was indeed big, and the disciples were eager to try!
So with her permission, the whole scene turned chaotic in a moment!
Even Snow White, in the middle of the platform, made a needle out of ice, compressed it as much as she could, and hit the platform!
But not even a scratch was left, as the commentator said!
Now, even Sword God was curious!
He secretly attacked with his sword aura, which only Snow Goddess sensed, but even his attack didn't do anything!
The two were speechless...
This kid was so capable?
Where did this platform even come from?
Even the screen was special.
They tried to find the source of it, but they couldn't.
Sword God just remembered that Snow Goddess told him about the unique treasures he brought with him from the immortal world.
Now he saw one in action.
While the disciples had fun on the platform, and were using all kinds of attacks on it like a group of savage people who suddenly find an opportunity to use everything they learned in their lives without worry,
Not farther away, Little Mortal, was looking at Rose with a shocked and speechless face!
Just a moment ago, Rose, who saw him coming back, tried to convince him about her mother, Snow Goddess, and the stronghold, which is in reality a sect and not a stronghold with a bunch of savage people in it, and those black robes were the ones who did all the unspeakable things in this place...
But the next moment, her mother said a simple sentence, and it was like that was an order for them to let loose, attacking like a bunch of crazy people!
How could she guess that these disciples had been under extreme pressure for a while now?
The chaos in the outer sect city, the disappearance of the black robes and the 12 sects, the snowball that almost flattened the whole sect, and even their fellow disciples who were now missing.
All of these made them be under extreme pressure and fear for days, and now they could let go of some of the stress!
Even some of the disciples were sobbing as they attacked the platform like maniacs!
But in reality, they were crying for their missing friends, who were probably dead by now.
And the elders, who had a bitter smile but looked evil from down here, made it even worse!
Rose could only look down while biting her lips...
Little Mortal patted her shoulder and said,
"I understand... I understood..."
And went to his backpack.
Rose could only mutter to herself,
"Thank you for your understanding..."
While not knowing what he understood.
At the silver platform, the disciples who had just warmed up saw the commentator start speaking again,
[Alright, as you can see, the endurance test is finished with the silver platform's victory.
Now let's begin the second event of the day.]
But the disciples on the platform didn't care and kept attacking...
The sect masters didn't say anything either.
These disciples were having fun, so let them be.
They even found some interesting individuals among them with unique talents!
This platform indeed had many uses!
But at this moment, in the chaotic platform, they suddenly heard a whistle!
The whole venue turned silent!
Everyone froze in place!
It was like a pause button was pressed.
They all turned in the direction of the sound to see what it was that made them feel that if they kept doing what they were doing, they might get punished!
And they saw someone standing at the center of the platform, close to Snow White.
Bald head, green eyes that were threatening without any special reason, a serious face that made you think
'I should listen to this person, ' wearing a black shirt, black shorts, and black socks with black sports shoes.
There was a whistle in his mouth!
'So it was he who blew the whistle?'
But then they looked up at the commentator, who was smiling at them on the screen.
Then they looked back at the little guy who was looking at them with those scary green eyes!
'Aren't they the same person?'
'Twins, maybe?'
But either way, they all started shivering without knowing why just after looking into his eyes for a brief moment!
'Who is he?'
And then they saw him pointing towards the seats.
The message was clear,
Go back to your seat.
Then again, without knowing why, they obediently started walking back to their seats!
He pointed, and they obeyed!
Even the elders were impressed, because they knew they couldn't calm this group of people down this fast!
But at the same time, they were confused.
Sword God said,
"I say, Snow, is he the same person?
Or... there is a twin brother now?"
Snow Goddess looked blankly at the one on the screen and then the one beside Snow White.
"I have no idea.
Never saw this one.
How about you guys?"
The other elders shook their heads.
It was their first time seeing him.
When everyone went back, the commentator said,
[The person in front of you is Mr. Mierluigi Mollina.
The best referee that ever put foot on earth.]
And then a close-up view of him appeared on the screen!
This time, even the group of elders felt they might wet themselves if they looked into his eyes for too long!
They wondered if he was the same little troublemaker, or not, as they remembered him talking about the referee that he invited for the competition.
The commentator continued,
[Mr. Molina will be the referee of the women's division for today's competition.]
Snow White gulped down.
She tried to look away because she was closest to him and felt a special kind of pressure from him!
Like he was at her side if she needed it, and against her if she did anything wrong!
The commentator then looked at the center,
And in a disappointed tone said,
[Unfortunately, except for two competitors, the rest of the participants felt sick and went back home.]
The higher-ups closed their eyes and wished they could close their ears too...
The audience was speechless.
Some started whispering,
"Who is he?
He thinks they are sick?"
"Maybe the elders don't want us to panic?"
"What panic!
Everyone basically knows that they were kidnapped!"
The commentator then turned to Snow White,
[The first participant is the disciple of the sect master Snow Goddess, Snow White.]
At the same time,
She appeared on the screen, with the commentator introducing her,
[She is the junior sister of the eldest senior brother of the sect, and an irresponsible mother, who can't take care of her son!
Not only that, she leaves her son in random places!
So embarrassing for her and her husband!
But she was lucky that her senior brother found her son every time and kept him safe!]
Snow White bit her lips but didn't say anything.
It wasn't the time to act rashly.
The audience looked at each other in confusion!
Some were even angry.
"Who is this commentator?"
"Yeah, how dare he talk about our senior sister like that!"
"If I just find him!"
"All of that aside, there is an eldest senior brother in the sect?
Why have I never heard of him?"
While the crowd whispered, and the Snow Goddess looked frustrated, with one hand on her forehead, the person on the screen changed...
The moment the second person appeared, a wave of gasps could be heard!
The commentator said,
[The second participant is Lady Rose, the Assistant of the Demoness Sect's eldest senior brother.]
Everyone in the venue, from disciples to elders, turned their heads and looked at Snow Goddess!
And she just sat there like she already knew...
The sect disciples felt everything made sense now!
"So that's why there was suddenly a women's category?"
"And that's why all of the female disciples disappeared..."
"Sect Master is trying to give her daughter a free win,
So if there is no one to fight, even a mortal like her can win!"
"But why did he call her the eldest senior brother's assistant?
Who is this guy that comes into everyone's life?"
"I don't know, maybe it's just a made-up name to make us think Lady Rose is backed by someone important?"
"But isn't Lady Rose a mortal?"
"She indeed is..."
The elders scratched their heads.
They knew who this 'eldest senior brother' is...
Hearing the crowd's whispers,
The two sect masters felt embarrassed...
They wanted to defend themselves and their daughter's reputation, but how?
The commentator once again appeared on the screen,
[Alright, our second participant is a seasoned fighter, not some amateur like most of you.
She has an intro clip.]
The audience felt insulted without knowing what an 'intro clip' is!
"Did he just call all of us some amateur fighters?"
"And Lady Rose is a seasoned fighter?"
"What is an 'intro clip'?"
"Fellow Daoist, don't look at me, it's my first time hearing this name."
The annoyed audience heard the commentator continue,
[Now, let's watch the intro clip together.
Please be quiet while it is playing.]
The audience sat silently, and only some whispering could be heard,
"Show us what this intro, whatever it is, makes us the amateurs without it!"
Then the whole venue suddenly turned dark!
In the elders' spot, that was now dark too,
An old lady's voice sounded,
"Oh, we got here in time!"
Another voice responded,
"Hmm."
Followed by the giggling sound of a woman.
The elders' hair stood on end!
'Who are these people showing up out of nowhere!'
They didn't feel any presence from them!
They were going to make a move, but they heard Sword God's surprised voice,
"Mother?"
Followed by Snow Goddess,
"Mother-in-law?"
"Yes, it's me. We can talk later; let's watch the show for now."
The two sect masters and the elders felt a huge weight lifted from their shoulders!
Finally, the special force members they heard about had arrived.
'But who are the other two?'
Only the Supreme Elder was sitting there, her mouth wide open in shock.
How could she not recognize her master's
'giggling'!
But before saying anything, she felt someone placing a hand on her shoulder.
She knew it was her master trying to calm her down.
Either way,
Before anyone could think about what had happened in the middle of the day and who had used a technique to turn it dark, something shiny appeared in the sky!
To be exact, it was a drop of water that appeared in the darkness!
The audience watched the show in shock!
They couldn't see the screen anymore, and they felt the drop of water was real!
The next moment, the drop splashed to the ground...
Then a sentence appeared.
[50 years ago.]
Followed by the sound of a young girl sobbing.
Then another drop of water, that turned out to be a tear, hit the ground again, and this time revealed a 'word' when it landed!
That was a word engraved on something like a stone.
When the crowd saw the two 'words', they furrowed their brows.
[Sword God.]
What was the meaning of this?
Then Rose appeared on the scene.
She was kneeling on the ground, crying.
The tears would drop from her eyes onto the seemingly grave stone before her.
Looking carefully, it was clearly Sword God's grave!
Snow Goddess bit her lips!
A vein popped up on Sword God's forehead!
The Supreme Elder was about to laugh, but she remembered she was still mad at that little brat.
The elders were at a loss for words!
The disciples were shocked!
They whispered,
"Sword God is dead?"
"What is this nonsense?
Sword God is right over there!
We can see him if the lights turn on..."
"I don't get it, but let's watch it and figure out what's going on!"
"I smell conspiracy!
This whole thing is getting interesting!"
While Rose was sobbing,
A hand appeared on her shoulder.
You could only tell that it belonged to a woman in a black robe.
But only the lower half of her body was in the frame.
Then the mysterious woman said a sentence,
[Do you seek revenge?]
The sobbing Rose slowly raised her head, looking at the owner of the hand.
Then after a brief moment, she nodded.
The mysterious lady took her hand off and said,
[So do I.]
And then there was the sound of footsteps that seemed to be going farther away.
The mysterious lady was leaving.
Rose, with one last look at Sword God's grave, stood up and left before leaving a sentence,
[Father, I will take revenge on that demoness!]
And left towards the same direction as the mysterious lady!
Behind her, in the sky, a woman whose face couldn't be seen was standing in the air.
But everyone, at a glance, could tell from her white robe and hair that she was the Snow Goddess!
Everything turned dark again.
Another sentence appeared.
[Present day]
The crowd felt puzzled!
Rose wasn't that old; she was at most 20 years old!
This story began 50 years ago...
The screen turned bright, and a new scene with a group of people in it started playing.
Around ten thousand people, men in dark blue robes and women in red robes, were standing in an orderly manner.
The audience was shocked to see this organized group of people!
Because even children were standing in rows, motionless, like they were trained for this kind of formation from the moment they learned how to walk!
The audience started whispering again,
"Some of these people seem familiar, but I don't know where I saw them..."
"Forget about them being familiar, look at their faces and the way they are standing!"
"You are right, I can even smell it from here!"
"Smell of what, Fellow Daoist?"
"Are you new to the world of cultivation?"
"I just joined the sect 80 years ago!"
"Let me tell you, Junior Sister, all the signs point to one thing!"
"Senior Brother, don't tease me, just say it!"
"They are the members of a... Cult!"
"Cult!?"
"Now that you said it..."
"Look at their solemn faces and strong bodies, even the children.
Only in a cult are you so cruel as to force even the children to train like everybody else."
At this moment, a lady in a red dress appeared somewhere close to this group of people.
The 'camera' moved towards her as she muttered,
[Who are these people?
They even dare to make a city on my father's grave?]
The voice of the mysterious lady from before sounded from her shadow,
[Why don't you start your revenge with them?]
And so, the lady in red, Rose, moved towards the group of people who were gathering outside the outer sect city.
When she got closer, an old man left the group and said,
[Halt!
This is the territory of the Eldest Senior Brother!
We are his followers; how dare you trespass on our place!]
Rose snorted arrogantly,
[Eldest Senior Brother?
Territory?
This is where my father has been buried!
You can't live here, but you can be buried!]
Then she took action!
Her figure turned to specks of light and moved forward!
The old man attacked the light specks, but it was like hitting air!
The next moment, the specks of light gathered in front of his face and merged into a single beam before turning into a hand that hit his face with a palm strike and smashed him to the ground, literally burying him!
The crowd gasped when they felt the power behind the strike!
That buffed old man was taken down easily!
What kind of move was that?
Then the remaining specks of light gathered and merged with the palm!
Rose appeared once again!
She looked at the ten thousand people who didn't even furrow their brows after one of them was buried,
And said,
[Come!
I start my father's revenge with you people!]
And a fight broke out!
The cult members, whom everyone thought were just side characters, were surprisingly skilled and coordinated.
It didn't matter if they were old or young; all of them had mastery over at least three or four offensive techniques and two defensive techniques!
Nobody could understand how the little kids, at the age of 10 or at least 6, had the time to master so many skills?
But even so, it didn't matter how these people attacked; Rose kept changing from a solid body to specks of light and made all those attacks ineffective!
In this seemingly coordinated battle, the 'Camera view' started moving upwards towards the sky!
Rose was swiftly moving between the fanatic and fearless crowd, smashing them to the ground hard enough that they were being buried on the spot!
Whether they would live or die was a question...
At the start of the battle,
The sun was rising behind the mountains while the followers were falling and buried beneath the soil!
The 'camera' view changed from recording the battle to zooming in on the rising sun.
Only the sound of battle cries could be heard, and as time passed and the sun rose higher, those background sounds became less and less, while the sky turned brighter and brighter!
Only when the sun was at its highest point in the sky did the 'camera' view move back to the battlefield.
At this moment, Rose was the only one standing.
All around her was filled with corpses, with parts of them buried in the ground.
Because her robe was red to begin with, nobody knew if, at this moment, it was still the original color, or red from the blood of these fanatic cult members who fought to the end for some reason!
The audience was sweating profusely already!
"I was wondering why they looked familiar!
These people are the citizens of the outer sect!"
"I think you should say, they were..."
"So that's why all of them disappeared!
They are all dead!"
The elders were dumbfounded!
It was so realistic that they were forced to check again if the followers on the screen were the same as the ones hiding inside the farm!
And they were indeed the same!
"How did they make it so believable?"
"And Rose, turning to light specks, wasn't that the most famous all-round technique of the light spirit root?"
"It's indeed that technique.
What was it called again?"
"It's too ancient; I forget...
And no one could learn it anyway."
"I heard only the one who made it could, because he had a 100% pure light root that is close to impossible to have these days..."
Hearing the elders' discussion, Fourth Brother said,
"The name was 'Light to Dust,' if I'm not wrong, and it didn't even originate from humans, but a wolf-like creature called Raiju."
The elders from the Sword Sect were shocked!
Not because of the answer, but because they all recognized the voice!
Sword God stood up and said excitedly,
"Master!"
But Fourth Brother didn't show any excitement,
"Be quiet!"
Sword God could only awkwardly sit back down.
This place was utterly dark, and they couldn't see each other even with spiritual sense, so he didn't feel too ashamed...
In the farmlands, the followers finally found out why they had been beaten up this morning, and only Rose was standing at the end.
The little devil was recording the intro clip of her assistant!
And Rose finally found out why she was forced to beat up everyone...
Back to the screen.
At that moment, Rose's shadow suddenly shifted, and a person emerged from within.
It was the same mysterious lady in black, whose back view was still on the screen.
She said mockingly,
[You are still too soft...
This is how you want to take revenge?]
Rose lowered her head but didn't say anything.
The audience wondered how this massacre was 'too soft'?
The mysterious lady shook her head,
[Then let me finish them in your place.]
And then, shadows on the ground, centered around her, started spreading everywhere, as if they were going to devour all the people who were struggling to stand up.
It turned out Rose hadn't killed anybody!
The audience knew that they were done for real this time; this mysterious lady seemed to be the main villainess!
As they watched nervously while holding their breath, a humph sound came from behind the two ladies!
The shadow that was going to devour everyone shattered!
The audience became excited!
Reinforcements were here!
Who could it be?
Snow Goddess?
On the screen,
The 'camera,' at the same time as the mysterious lady, turned around towards the direction of the sound.
Again, only her back view could be seen.
But now, there was an extra man on the scene, who was standing farther away from them.
White robe, one hand behind his back, one hand stroking his horseshoe mustache, an arrogant smile at the corner of his mouth, looking in their direction!
The crowd gulped,
"Who is this man?"
"Just standing there makes me think of bowing to him!"
"So arrogant!"
"That white robe!
Could it be..."
"No way, it's him?"
And a follower on the ground confirmed their guess.
He raised his hand towards him with difficulty and said,
[E-Eldest Senior Brother, you are finally back, after 100 years...]
And as if he was finally relieved that the Eldest Senior Brother was back, his head dropped.
No one knew if he fell unconscious or just died!
The audience gasped in shock!
"So it's him?"
"The Eldest Senior Brother, whom we never saw, finally showed up!"
"And just in time!"
"So our Eldest Senior Brother is the cult master of these people!"
"He was away for 100 years?
So that's why we never saw him?"
The elders who heard the discussion between their disciples shook their heads...
This little boy suddenly appeared on the screen, and they were already drawn into his nonexistent illusion!
The cult master, who didn't even care about the people on the ground, shook his head slightly without letting go of the tip of his mustache and said,
[She is not soft, but a kindhearted lady who didn't lose her true self even on the path of revenge...
Why are you trying to drag her into your madness?
You want to take revenge on me, then I am here!]
The mysterious lady placed her hand on Rose's shoulder,
[Do you remember your promise?
The day you said, 'How can I repay you...'
Now is the time; help me kill this man!]
And then, without waiting for her to answer, she turned to shadow and moved towards the Eldest Senior Brother, who turned out to be a cult master too!
The Eldest Senior Brother finally let go of his mustache,
And started laughing towards the sky like a maniac and shouted,
[Come!]
Then he clapped his hands together, and as if it had created a wave, it pushed everything away from the battlefield.
Even the 'camera' was thrown away!
The last thing everyone saw was thousands of people who were thrown in every direction while screaming!
Even little children...
The audience was speechless!
Snow White even vaguely saw a kid like her own son!
"So unrestrained!"
"He didn't even spare his own followers!"
"Remember, if we see him in the sect, we should change direction!"
"I was thinking the same thing!"
"No wonder his cult members are fearless!
Compared to him, nothing is scary!"
"But how is the fight going now?"
The crowd was puzzled and curious about the ending now.
Who won?
Rose and the mysterious lady, or the Eldest Senior Brother?
At this moment, the view on the screen was only showing the sky and the sun hanging above it.
But the audience could hear some voices of collision and shadows that would appear around and shatter a moment later, with scattered light specks from time to time.
After a while, the sun in the sky started moving at a speed that everyone could see.
As if time had accelerated, sunset arrived in no time.
Now, there was only silence.
The Camera moved towards the battlefield again.
Once again, Rose was kneeling on the ground.
But she seemed to be lost and defeated this time.
And once again, a hand was placed on her shoulder,
But this time the voice of the owner was different, and so was the color of the robe.
The man in a white robe, whose only part of his body was on the screen, said,
[Do you want to be my assistant?]
Rose, once again, slowly raised her head to look at the owner of the hand, but this time, she smiled,
[Yes!]
And so the two walked away towards the sunset, with only their shadows on the ground in the scene.
From the shadow of the two, it was clear which one was Rose and which one was the Eldest Senior Brother, who at this moment had one of his sleeves empty, dancing in the wind...
[The End!]