The narrator started explaining the scene, while a little boy appeared on the screen with the two sect masters.
He was walking towards the two, who seemed not to notice him, and were talking to each other about something.
[ 100 years ago, on this day, the little eldest disciple of the demoness sect, who learned everything his teacher, the snow goddess, knew, in one day, was here to bid his farewell, and go train in the outside world, to be ready for the competition.]
The elders were speechless...
Learned everything in only one day?
The audience was excited,
From the moment he appeared and the story began, they were drawn into the non-existent illusion of the eldest senior brother.
Now that the story was directly related to him, the effect of the non-existent illusion was far stronger.
The little boy arrived beside the two.
He first looked at the Sword God while rubbing his chin, and it seemed he was deep in thought or confused about something...
But then shrugged, as if he didn't remember what he was trying to remember, and looked at the Snow goddess, who was in the middle of discussing something with Sword God.
Then he started nodding at her like he was the one Snow goddess was talking to, not the Sword God.
After a while, as if they were done talking, the two sect masters turned towards the horizon, watching it together in silence.
The little boy, who saw them not saying anything to 'him' anymore, cupped his hands, bowed a little, and turned to leave.
At this moment, the scene paused, became an image, turned small, and went to the top left of the screen.
Another scenery appeared.
The narrator said,
[ And so, after receiving the blessing of his teacher, he left to bid his farewell to his elders.]
The two sect masters looked at each other in shock!
They remembered exactly where and when this place was!
This little guy was one step away from them just this morning?
Charm Goddess looked at their pale faces and giggled.
Fourth Brother shook his head.
It was only natural for them not to notice him...
Elder Sun's eyes widened in shock at this moment!
Not because of the scene with the two sect masters, but because he was on the screen now, napping under the sun...
The little boy walked beside his chair, nodding a couple of times to him like he was giving some advice to the little guy, even though he was taking a nap!
After a while, as if Elder Sun had finished his advice and instructions, he cupped his hands, bowed to him, and turned around to leave.
The scene paused again, then, like last time, it turned into an image, became small, and moved to the top left, beside the previous one.
Elder Sun's hair was already burning violently!
Charm Goddess giggled,
"I wonder who is next?"
Elder Elvis and Elder Leta had a bad feeling...
They had foreheads covered in sweat already, because they knew it was impossible for this little guy not to pay them a visit...
They were just nervous as to where and when he was going to show up.
And fair enough, a new scene appeared with both of them together!
They were playing a board game while smiling happily.
Clearly, the two had a good time.
Snow Goddess furrowed her brow and thought,
'Where is this place?'
The two elders turned pale!
They looked at each other and then smiled bitterly while thinking about the same thing...
'Our secret is going to be exposed...'
Then there was a change in a part of the scenery that seemed to be a garden with beautiful peach trees.
Something like a door opened, and the same little boy walked in.
Behind him, through the door that opened in the space with nothing around it, you could see a dark place that seemed to be a cave.
Far away from the door, there was a light that seemed to be the exit of this cave...
The elders, sect masters, and audience gasped in shock!
They knew well what it was!
It was a secret realm, a place that was left by a senior from the past, hidden in a random place, that only lucky people would have the chance to find!
But what are these two doing there?
Just playing games?
Aren't you supposed to find treasures there?
Under the curious gaze of the crowd, the little boy walked beside them and sat down.
He looked at the board in front of the two and started nodding again, as if they were explaining something to him through the game itself.
After a while, the little boy stood up, cupped his hands, bowed, and turned to leave.
At that moment, when everyone could sense that the scene was about to pause again, Elder Leta picked up a piece of fruit and raised her hand, as if she were about to eat it.
But instead, her hand moved towards Elder Elvis, who smiled at her and opened his mouth; it was at this moment that the scene paused!
And at the same time, everyone's jaw dropped!
The elders started coughing and laughing in low voices.
The two elders blushed.
The audience went into an uproar!
"These two were together?"
"So sneaky!
They never show a sign!"
"I was wondering why my master and Elder Leta are always disappearing at the same time!"
"Oh my goodness, this eldest senior brother isn't simple!"
"And all of this happened 100 years ago?"
"They hid it well...Really well!"
"I bet even the sect master didn't know!"
"Where is this senior brother that we never saw?
Please accept this bow!"
The paused image of Elder Leta feeding Elder Elvis went up beside the previous two images...
The two elders were speechless!
'Can't you let it play a little longer?
Or pause it sooner?'
They could feel it!
This little evil-hearted boy was doing this on purpose!
While the elders were thinking of how this little boy found these two, which not even their sect master seems to know anything about,
Another scene appeared.
A beautiful lady was sitting on a chair, a small table beside her, drinking tea while enjoying the snowy scenery around her.
The audience recognized the number one beauty of the demoness sect.
Supreme Elder, Ingrid.
The little boy, like previous times, didn't walk to the elder he was going to say goodbye to.
This time, he walked sneakily, like he was trying to do something naughty...
He slowly got close to her, pinched her thigh, and then hid under the table!
The Supreme Elder jumped up in shock, looked behind her with fear all over her face, and began looking around vigilantly.
But opposite to the direction she was looking, a little boy came out of the snow farther away, cupped his hands, bowed a little, and turned to leave...
The image paused again.
The audience was at a loss for words...
"Why do I feel I was lucky not to join the sect at the same time as this senior brother?"
"You are right, senior sister..."
"He doesn't show any respect to people's privacy at all!"
"Senior brother, please give back my 'bow'!"
Charm Goddess was already out of breath from laughing at her disciple, who was sitting on the 'rule breakers seat' and still under the control of the unknown evil force!
The paused image shrank and was placed beside the other three images.
Another scene appeared.
It was the same little boy again, but this time he was at the sect's gate.
A big backpack was on his back, as if he was ready to go on his journey and train himself for the competition.
He looked at the sect for one last time, cupped his hands, bowed a little, and turned around to leave.
The moment he turned around, all of the other four paused images started playing together with this one.
In all five images, the 'camera' zoomed in on his face.
In the scene with the two sect masters,
In his eyes, you could only see one word, which was written on the screen too.
[ Sadness. ]
He seems reluctant to leave!
The audience's heart ached for him, a little boy who wasn't even one meter tall, forced to undertake such a journey...
In the image with Elder Sun, when he turned around, there was again only one word, but it was different.
[ Fight!]
Elder Sun made his blood boil with encouragement!
The crowd was speechless...
'He wasn't even awake, how did he encourage you?'
In the scene with the two sneaky elders, when he turned around, they saw another world in his eyes,
[ Thoughtfulness. ]
The two showed him how to deal with the difficulties on his future path!
And in the Supreme Elder scene,
[ Playfulness. ]
Was the only thing you could see in those black eyes!
As if to show he is still a child!
All the images combined into one, with him carrying his big backpack that was bigger than himself.
This time, in his eyes, all the different words merged, and a new world showed itself...
[ Determination! ]
It was at this moment that everyone, including disciples, elders, sect masters, immortals, and even the old manager, without knowing, were dragged inside the non-existent illusion of the 'intro clip' if they weren't already dragged in!
The narrator started speaking again about the story,
[And so, the 100-year journey to become the strongest began. ]
The scene changed; the little boy arrived at an unknown location.
[ After 2 years of searching everywhere, he finally found someone who knew the way to become the strongest. ]
On the screen,
An old man whose back view could be seen was sitting there on a rock.
The little boy went to him and said with a tired voice,
[ Old sir, how can I become the strongest?]
The old man pointed at a tree in front of them.
[ Punch that tree for 10 years straight.]
The little boy nodded, put his backpack down, went to the tree, and started punching it in a horse stance.
The audience was embarrassed in his place...
"How could he be fooled so easily by a random old man?"
"He just asked a random person he saw how to become the strongest..."
"If that would work, the old man would do it himself!"
On the elder's seat, one of the elders, who seemed to be older than the rest of them, said,
"The old man's voice was so familiar...
Like I heard it in so many places where there was always a fight about to break out..."
The other elders didn't know what he meant by this...
If someone's voice is in places with fights on the verge of happening, it means the other party is a busybody...
Eh?
"It was the Mediator's voice! "
While surprised by accidentally discovering the truth, they turned to the three immortals and saw them nodding.
Now, they could be sure of another member of the special force!
So that old 'busybody' of the cultivation world was on the team, too?
What a lineup...
The scene changed on the screen, and a line of words appeared,
[1 day later.]
The little boy was still punching the tree.
The old man was already gone!
The crowd thought that he was a swindler!
The 'camera' zoomed in on the little boy's two small hands.
You could see some 'blood' on it, and drops of blood that were dripping...
The audience once again was speechless!
'He takes that advice seriously? '
The 'camera' moved towards the sky.
Sun and moon started coming and going, changing place...
It was a sign of the days passing by.
The 'camera' moved downward while a line of words appeared on the screen again.
[10 years later.]
The audience gasped,
"No way! He was there for 10 years!"
"He was already bleeding the first day!"
But when the screen showed the little boy, everyone's breathing stopped!
His hair was already long to his waist, and the tree in front of him was dyed red with blood.
But what made them fearful was under the little boy's feet!
On the ground, everything was red now!
Was that blood?
When the last punch was delivered, and another drop of blood fell from the little boy's hand, it made ripples on the red surface!
"Heavens!
He lost so much blood?"
"I heard about 'the river of blood', but this is my first time seeing a lake made of blood!"
"How is he even alive?
Can a human's body produce so much blood?"
"Where is that crazy old man?
Come back and see what you have done to our eldest senior brother !"
The long-haired boy, who no one cared why he was still as short as he was ten years ago, clenched his fist while looking at it, and said,
[ I can feel the strength...
But it's not enough! ]
And so, he picked up his big backpack inside the blood lake, and left...
The narrator spoke again,
[2 years later, he found the second ray of hope.]
The following person he saw was a red-haired lady, whose back view was shown like the previous old man's.
And he asked her the same question,
[ Lady, how can I become the strongest?]
And the lady pointed in a specific direction,
[ Do you see that volcano?
Swim inside it for 10 years.]
And so the little boy did as he was told.
The audience,
"-_-"
Who are these people forcing our senior brother to do these crazy tasks?
The 10 years of training passed.
But the eldest senior brother felt it was still not enough!
[ 2 years later.]
The next person, a pink-haired lady, told him the way to become the strongest,
[Starve yourself for 10 years.]
The little boy buried himself for 10 years, and didn't eat or drink as he was told.
But again, after 10 years of starvation, he felt he was still not the strongest!
[ 2 years later.]
Next was an old lady,
[ Let's fight for 10 years.]
And so he was beaten up for 10 years straight.
But the beating up scene was age restricted for everybody, so nobody saw how he got beaten up by the lady who attacked him with all kinds of butterflies.
At some point, his beard had already grown too.
But because he was never around anyone else, you couldn't tell how tall or how big he was.
[ 2 years later.]
He stumbled upon a man with straight stature like a sword.
[ Swing your sword for 10 years straight.]
And so, he took a sword out of his wooden stick and started swinging for 10 years.
[ 2 years later.]
He met an old lady with green hair and a kind voice.
[ Dig towards the center of the world for 10 years.]
And he took out a shovel and started digging as he was told.
Nobody knew how deep he went these 10 years, but it wasn't enough for him to become the strongest, so he continued his journey.
[ 2 years later.]
He met a man with dark skin and silver metallic color hands.
He gave him a blacksmith hammer.
[ Hammer yourself for 10 years.]
And so he started hammering his own body for 10 years straight ...
[2 years later.]
He reached a simple cottage.
He walked to the door and knocked.
The door opened by itself, and the back view of a man with golden-colored hair came into view.
He was sitting with his head low, as if he were in the middle of reading something.
The little boy asked once again,
[How can I become the strongest?]
The man, without raising his head or turning around, pointed at the books that were on the ground all over the place,
[Knowledge is power.
Unlimited knowledge is unlimited power.]
And so the little boy put down his backpack and started reading...
10 years later,
The cottage that was full of books all over the place was now appropriately organized.
All of the books were in place.
The man with golden hair was nowhere to be found.
The little boy stepped out of the cottage with his backpack, and after one last look, sighed and left.
His head was low, and his footsteps seemed uncertain...
He walked and walked until one day, he reached an empty field.
There, he saw a lady who was sitting on a comfortable-looking sofa.
Brown hair, brown robe, and a kind of face that seeing her was like seeing the representative of nature.
She was the first person whose face was revealed.
The lady looked at the now middle-aged man in front of her.
His face was tired; his eyes lacked the determination they had on the first day of his journey, and confusion was evident in them.
His hair was so long that it was dragging on the ground behind him, his beard had already reached his waist, his clothes were all torn and ruined...
The middle-aged man staggered forward and knelt in front of the kind-looking lady.
Because he was tired?
Or
Because he was disheartened?
No one knew.
He asked weakly,
[Kind lady... How can I become the strongest....]
The lady smiled, patted his head gently, and said,
[What is your name?]
The middle-aged man was puzzled by the question.
He was going to answer, but he couldn't remember his own name anymore.
He lowered his head and, with an emotionless and blank tone, said,
[I don't remember anymore...
I want to know how to become the strongest. ]
The kind-looking lady sighed in pity and told him a story.
[ Once, a little sapling wished to be the tallest tree.
It grew and grew with all its might, while looking up at the trees taller than it.
Until the day that it was taller than all of the other trees...
But that wasn't enough. It continued, and one day, when it finally looked down, it couldn't see other trees anymore.
Because the little sapling of the past was only looking up to see if there were any trees taller than it still left in this world...]
The middle-aged man furrowed his brow, his eyes changing to one filled with confusion.
The lady continued,
[ Once, a man wished to be the fastest man alive.
So he started running, and he became faster and faster.
He bypassed any creature who was running like himself.
He bypassed them all.
Until the day when he was the fastest creature alive, no other creature could catch up to him.
But he couldn't see his defeated competitors anymore, because he was only looking forward to seeing if there was anyone faster than him farther away...]
The middle-aged man's brow furrowed deeper, as if he had just realized something.
The lady continued,
[ Once there was a little boy who wished to be the strongest.
So, day and night, he trained himself, becoming stronger and stronger.
He did all kinds of impossible tasks that many strong individuals before him could only wish for.
Until the day that he was the strongest creature on the face of this earth.
But he kept training, he kept getting stronger and stronger...
When he reached the peak and looked around, he saw himself alone; he couldn't see anyone else.
There wasn't even anyone that he could compare himself with ...
He felt lost, and he even questioned himself,
'Am I the strongest?
Should I keep going?
Where is everybody...?'
But no one answered him... He was too high, too out of reach for everyone that he couldn't even hear them responding to him ...]
The middle-aged man was shocked at this moment!
Like he was listening to the story of his own life!
The lady continued,
[ His friends, his seniors, his followers, saw him being lost and consumed by his goal of becoming the strongest!
They all shouted with all of their might,
'Fellow Daoist, Senior brother, you are already the strongest!
That's enough!'
But the only thing he could hear was another challenge to how to become the stronger... .]
The middle-aged man dropped his head, as if he finally understood what this wise lady meant by these stories.
The 'wise lady' sighed deeply and continued,
[Young man, the day you left the sect at the age of 3, you were already the strongest...
You were just too focused on your goal that you had already achieved it before your journey even began.
Only because you were too young, you couldn't believe it, you couldn't accept the truth...
Now try to remember your journey until this day, one more time... ]
The tired middle-aged man closed his eyes.
As if he was trying to remember everything again...
The screen started playing his first interaction with those who told him how to become stronger.
First, the old man who told him to hit the tree for 10 years appeared, but this time, what the old man said was completely different.
He pointed at the tree and said,
[ Fellow Daoist, your arms are 10 times thicker than that tree, you are already the strongest!]
The scene changed.
The lady with red hair appeared, pointed at the volcano, and said,
[Fellow Daoist, your explosive power is 10 times that of a volcano if it erupts; you are already the strongest!]
The scene changed,
The lady with pink hair said,
[ Fellow Daoist, your appetite is 10 times more than everyone I know altogether, you are already the strongest!]
The scene changed,
The old lady appeared,
[ Fellow Daoist, you can beat the 10 strongest people in the world altogether, even if they team up, you are already the strongest!]
The scene changed,
The man with straight stature, like a sword, appeared,
[ Fellow Daoist, even if I was 10 times stronger, my sword couldn't even scratch you, you are already the strongest!]
The scene changed,
The old lady with green hair appeared,
[ Fellow Daoist, the pressure I feel from you is 10 times more than the pressure from the center of this world. You are already the strongest!]
The scene changed,
The dark skin man with silver hands appeared,
[ Fellow Daoist, your body is 10 times more solid than the best iron I ever saw, you are already the strongest!]
The scene changed,
The golden-haired scholar appeared,
[ Fellow Daoist, your knowledge is 10 times more than the knowledge of generations of scholars combined, you are already the strongest!]
The flashback ended.
The scene came back to a close-up view of the middle-aged man.
He slowly opened his eyes.
The corner of his mouth slightly curled up.
He raised his head and looked at the lady.
His confused and lost eyes were now clear.
In his black eyes, you could see the reflection of the kind-looking lady.
Behind her, a group of people was standing.
The blurry figures of these people had a resemblance to all those whom he met in his journey.
The middle-aged man smiled bitterly and said,
[ So you were always with me, but I ignored you at some point in time... I am ashamed, seniors ...]
Now that he came back to his senses, they appeared again.
The 'wise lady' patted his shoulder and said kindly,
[ Now, do you remember who you were?]
The middle-aged man nodded,
[ The eldest senior brother of the demoness sect.
But I was too young when I left, and I didn't have a Daisot name yet.]
The 'wise lady' looked behind her,
[ Fellow Daoist, we didn't choose a Daoist name for him in vain.]
The blurry figures behind her nodded in agreement.
She turned to the middle-aged man again,
[ The strongest individual in each sect is called the Sect master.
But it's only a title, not a Daisot name, because no one was so strong as to think of themselves as the strongest in the world .]
Then she said with a slight excitement in her voice,
[ Until this day, that you showed up.
So the only Daoist name befitting you is...
Sect master!]
The crowd behind her nodded and commented,
[ There will be only one Sect Master from now on.]
[ We need to change his look to be a match with his Daisot name.]
[ Indeed, 'sect master's mustache' is a must.
It should be domineering.]
[ Alright, let's get rid of these extra hairs and put some decent clothes on him.]
And so, the scene ended with the embarrassed face of the 'sect master'.
Words appeared on the dark screen again.
[ Present day.]
The scene with Rose beating up the followers appeared.
But this time it was from a different angle and place.
The 'camera' view was from the top of a hill that was overlooking the whole city.
A middle-aged man, with one hand behind his back,
One hand playing with the tip of his horseshoe mustache, with a confident smile, he was looking down arrogantly!
He chuckled and said,
[ What a soft-hearted girl.]
Then his gaze focused on the shadows that suddenly appeared and were going to devour his followers!
He furrowed and muttered to himself,
[ So, you were alive all these years, my sworn enemy!
Let us put an end to this old enmity today... Once and for all.]
And his figure disappeared from the top of the hill, and reappeared behind Rose.
The scene turned dark again.
And a while later, the scene with him placing his hand on Rose's shoulder played.
[ Do you want to be my assistant?]
And Rose answered,
[yes!]
And so, the scene with the shadow of the two, who were walking towards the sunset, with him missing a hand, played once more.
[ The End.]