Five representatives ca to Little Mortal, bowed, and one of them said,
"Sect Master, we talked to the rest, and as the city representatives, we accept to be your followers on behalf of everyone. Please take care of us."
Little Mortal smiled.
"Look, Assistant Rose, this is my first ti seeing ten thousand smart people in one place!"
Then he clasped his hands and said,
"Good. Go back to your seats, please, so we can take so samples. After that, everyone can go back to their daily lives."
The five of them went back to the crowd and sat down with the rest.
Little Mortal jumped down from his backpack.
"Research Team, take the blood samples and save the information. No need for nas—give everyone a number."
Receiving the order, a thin golden light shot to the sky from the backpack with a whistling sound.
After that, thousands of white papers ca out and flew toward the audience, landing on their armchairs.
"Okay, everyone, bring your right hand up... Good. Now point at the sky with your... middle finger."
While he was giggling secretly, the crowd pointed their middle fingers toward the sky.
A certain dying old man in an unknown place felt thousands of people disrespecting him sowhere, but didn’t have the power to punish them.
Little Mortal smiled coldly.
"Little Needle, make them bleed!"
The people’s hair stood on end. They thought this little demon was finally going to show his true colors.
The moving golden light in the sky, with unbelievable speed, suddenly dove down.
Before anybody could react or know what happened—or if they were going to bleed to death—they heard him give another order:
"Okay, now press your middle finger on the paper."
The crowd looked at the tip of their middle fingers and saw a drop of blood resting there!
'So that’s what he ant by "make them bleed"?'
'Can’t he talk normally so we understand too?'
'How fast was that golden light?'
'I didn’t even feel anything...'
The only reason these people cooperated was because of Rose. She was in the sa position as they were, with a bleeding middle finger and paper. So if the Sect Master’s daughter was part of the ga, it was surely safe.
When the blood was pressed on the paper, a row of information started appearing on it, with a big number at the top.
"Send followers’ tokens out according to their numbers."
Red lights started coming out of the backpack and rained down on the crowd. At the sa ti, all the papers with blood samples began flying back into the backpack.
The "Research Team" was indeed magical, fast, efficient, and precise.
Little Mortal explained the situation to his newly acquired followers:
"From now on, I will contact you through these tokens for gatherings. Rember, you are my followers. If anyone from the sect cos to bother you, send them to . I will be at our headquarters—the forr inn. Manager Luna and Assistant Rose will be there too, so don’t worry about anything and focus on what I’m planning for you later on."
Then he whistled, and the golden needle went back to his backpack. A tricycle appeared, and the big screen disappeared.
From the token, his voice sounded once more:
"Thank you, everyone, for coming all the way here. Everyone dismissed."
With that said, he rode his tricycle and, while waving at Lady Butterfly, Rose, and Luna, said,
"Let’s race to headquarters!"
Then music started playing while he went farther and farther away... slowly, like a real three-year-old child on his regular tricycle.
Lady Butterfly thought for a mont and flew toward the city with Rose. Luna could co back by herself—in the end, she was an expert.
Luna sighed inwardly and looked at the sky.
'...What about ? I thought we were colleagues!'
But she wasn’t alone for long. The citizens gathered around her in no ti.
"Expert Luna, please let us accompany you to the city."
"Expert Luna, please take care of us."
"Expert Luna..."
With all the praises, Luna could only cry inside and stay silent. She didn’t know how to tell these people she wasn’t an expert... And even her silence made them think more highly of her!
Farther Away...
Lady Butterfly reached close to the little boy on his tricycle. But the mont she thought she was going to get ahead of him, the singer in the music said "déjà vu"...
And she finally saw another scene that Rose had described to her—one she couldn’t believe...
His speed suddenly beca extrely fast, and when he reached the city, he didn’t bother changing paths to the road. He just went straight toward the walls and buildings!
But to her surprise, everything in his path—including hos, shops, and even trees—started making way for him!
She had just been going to play with him because of a certain matter, but what was this? You call this a competition?
Rose, who saw this scene for the second ti, said with a dissatisfied tone:
"See, Grandmother? I told you trees made way for him, but you didn’t believe . Now look—even buildings are making way!"
Seeing her not answering, she continued:
"By the way, Grandma, why did you suddenly decide to beco a follower too? And what did you two talk about behind the backpack?"
Lady Butterfly took a deep breath and, while flying toward the city, said:
"Why? Well... It starts with him asking you to gather everyone here. Don’t you feel it’s not normal for the city to beco completely empty, but nobody from the sect ca to see the reason?"
Rose thought for a mont and said:
"Indeed. Why didn’t I think of that? I could’ve just asked you to send a ssage to Mother before that, but I just asked everyone to go outside the city without thinking..."
Lady Butterfly said:
"After that, while that gate ca out from the ground, just the leaked aura from that hand should’ve alerted the whole sect. But then again, nothing happened. No one ca."
Rose was shocked.
"Why?"
Lady Butterfly, with a relaxed tone, said:
"Because of the third party covering up for him."
Rose was confused.
"There’s a third party involved in all of this?"
"Yes, and I didn’t know who until I tried to contact your mother to warn her about the 'Hell Gate' that might burn the whole sect... It was then that I found out I couldn’t contact anyone. It was like we were isolated from the outside. I even saw your mother’s disciple—what was her na again?"
"Snow White."
"Yes, her. I even saw her flying by while looking our way, but she just left... And when I was going to flee with you and Luna, so tree roots ca out of the ground and wrapped around my feet."
"It was then that I rembered another event that happened in the inn. When those new recruits who joined the sect with this little Sect Master told us about the recomndation letter from your father, I sent him a ssage and asked if he had given any letter. But after he said 'no,' I didn’t tell him there was soone here who claid to have one. And not only that—even your mother is ignoring the facts in front of her."
"You’re right, Grandma! When Mother asked how I survived the Forbidden Jungle and I told her about my savior, she just said, 'Let’s thank him when you et him again,' and went into seclusion! She didn’t go into detail about him or those who kidnapped and disappeared later at all!"
Lady Butterfly nodded helplessly.
"Indeed. Now, who do you think has the power to manipulate our minds? To let you see an area with a scene that doesn’t make sense—like the gathering—but force you to ignore it? To force your mother and father to ignore matters related to you? I even felt the Supre Elder’s spiritual sense scanning our area, but that was it. And the roots that wrapped around my leg warned to stay."
"Only one existence can do all of these... and that is Heaven itself."
Rose’s jaw almost dropped from shock.
"How is that possible? I heard from Father that more than 300 years ago, the connection with Heaven’s Will was completely cut off. That’s why no one can go to the Immortal World anymore after the era of the previous Sword God! And now you’re saying that’s the third party?"
"Because of a certain reason, I can feel things that even people at your father’s level can’t. And I got a direct ssage from Heaven itself. That’s why I asked to be his follower."
Rose asked excitedly:
"What ssage, Grandma? Tell !"
Lady Butterfly smiled bitterly.
"'Play along with him.'"
"What does that even an?"
"It ans this 'Sect Master' is either representing Heaven, or Heaven’s Will is scared of him and just wants him to be done with whatever he wants before he leaves for wherever he ca from."
Rose was shocked.
"You an he isn’t from our world?"
Lady Butterfly shook her head.
"He is too out of place to be from here. Just look at his so-called 'Research and Support Team'... They’re all treasures with intelligence. But then again, because Heaven interferes with our thinking, we don’t feel anything special while seeing them in action. Maybe amazed at tis, but that’s all. We don’t react to these unbelievable scenes as we should."
"Then why are we having this conversation now without forgetting or ignoring anything?"
Lady Butterfly, while smiling, landed in front of the inn and said:
"That’s exactly the reason I joined his team. Because I am one of his Special Force mbers, and you are his assistant now. We are officially teammates with him. If we don’t share this information with others, then everything is fine, and we can 'play along with him.' And naturally, to play with soone, you need to know everything about the 'ga.'"
Rose took a deep breath.
"Looks like we are important 'characters' in Heaven’s eyes, so we should act wisely!"
Lady Butterfly patted her shoulder.
"Let's go in."
Entering the inn, they saw Little Mortal standing in front of a whiteboard with a marker in his hand, writing their nas.
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1st place - Sect Master (Winner) (Tournant Organizer, No Reward)
2nd place - Lady Butterfly (Half-Winner) (One Special Candy)
3rd place - Rose (Half-Loser) (Wash the Dishes)
4th place - Luna (Loser) (Make the Dinner)
"Okay, this is the tournant result. Lady Butterfly, please co forward to receive your reward."
Rose, who had co in after her grandmother to be polite, was surprised to find out there was a prize for second place—and a penalty for losers!
She ran to Little Mortal and said with an aggrieved tone,
"Sect Master, how can you do this to ! Why didn’t you say there was a prize for second place?"
Hearing her question, he rolled his eyes at her,
"Assistant Rose, there was a competition held by soone with ten thousand followers, and you’re surprised there was a prize for the winner?"
He shook his head in disappointnt.
"Big Guy, candy for our second-place winner."
A blue light flashed out of the backpack and landed on Lady Butterfly’s hand.
She looked down and saw a blue candy resting on her palm. Seeing that she couldn’t feel anything from it, she took out a small box and placed it inside to keep it safe.
She knew any random act from this child might be just joking around—or might have aning to it.
So it was better to wait and see if this candy was significant or just him mocking her speed...
After distributing the reward, Little Mortal went to his backpack, climbed up, opened the lid, and jumped in.
A mont later, he ca out again.
This ti, he was without a mustache and the rings on his hands. He wore a white lab coat, his black-frad glasses, and held a little notebook with a pen.
"Study table and chair, please."
Before they knew whether he was talking to them, a silver chair and table matching his size appeared.
He sat on the chair, turned to the ladies, and said,
"I’m going to start planning for my followers. You can rest if you want. And Assistant Rose, when Manager Luna arrives, tell her she was last in the competition, so dinner is on her."
Then, while opening his notebook to start writing, he mumbled to himself,
"I swear, this sect and its poor managent... They didn’t even give lunch on my first day here. I even made breakfast myself. I should talk to the Teacher later..."
Rose didn’t hear him, but Lady Butterfly, who was going to the side to ditate, heard him and thought to herself,
‘Oh, my little daughter-in-law, I hope you’re ready. It won’t be easy for you to deal with what’s coming your way.’
But it didn’t even take a minute after she closed her eyes to ditate when she felt sothing was wrong.
‘Why can’t I comprehend the Dao anymore?’
Puzzled, she opened her eyes and saw the little boy looking at her with a mocking smile.
"W-what is it, Sect Master?"
"You’re wasting your ti doing this. It won’t work for you anymore."
"Do what?"
"What were you doing?"
"If you an absorbing spiritual energy, we can’t do that anymore."
"I know you can’t do that either, but I an the other thing. What do you cultivators call it? Compromising the taboo?"
Lady Butterfly frowned.
"You an comprehending the Dao?"
"Yes, yes, that! Do you know how to write it?"
While saying this, he gave her the notebook and the pen.
Lady Butterfly, who didn’t know what was going on, wrote it for him.
Around ten minutes later, when Little Mortal finished his howork, he said,
"Divine Technique: Ti Reversal—to before I said the wrong word."
Then he went back to where he was before and said,
"I know you can’t do that either, but what I an is the other thing. What do you cultivators call it? Comprehending the Dao?"
Lady Butterfly raised her eyebrows and thought to herself,
‘What happened just now? Did he reverse ti?’
She glanced at Rose and saw she was still the sa—but that was precisely the problem.
‘She saw the whole thing, so why didn’t she show any reaction?’
The situation was so weird that she decided to ignore it.
"Then how can I improve myself if I don’t ditate to comprehend the Dao and cultivate? After my last breakthrough, nothing external works. And there’s no spiritual energy left for us either."
Little Mortal was going to say sothing, but paused and started stroking his chin.
The two stared at each other for a while.
Rose, who was on the side, wondered what had happened to these two.
After a while, Lady Butterfly said,
"You know the reason?"
Little Mortal nodded.
"But you can’t tell now?"
He nodded again.
Lady Butterfly suddenly understood what was going on.
"Higher power involved?"
Nod.
"Can you tell later?"
Nod.
"Well, can I do anything now?"
This ti, he answered with one word:
"Candy."
Then he went back to his research table.
Lady Butterfly just sat there and thought about the conversation she’d had with him.
The only new thing about her today was the matter of the guardian team. And when she joined the team, she received the special token.
She took it out and tried to inspect it, but felt nothing.
So she took out the box with the candy, opened it, and after a pause, put the candy in her mouth.
But the mont she ate it, the little boy turned around and looked at her with a naughty smile.
Lady Butterfly was going to swallow the candy, but it went to her right cheek and stuck there.
No matter how hard she tried, it didn’t move or lt!
At the side, Little Mortal was secretly laughing—but Lady Butterfly could hear the giggle.
She was speechless!
‘Was I just fooled by him after all the trust I put in this little devil?’
So, with the candy stuck in her cheek, she said,
"Sect Master, can you stop joking with this old lady?"
Still giggling, he replied,
"I wasn’t joking."
He then pointed at her and said to Rose,
"Assistant Rose, look—your grandma looks funny."
Rose, who had already seen her grandmother with the swollen cheek, did her best not to laugh.
Lady Butterfly, who was getting angry but didn’t have the confidence to ss with the little boy, thought of punishing her granddaughter instead. But suddenly, she felt a little bit of the candy lt in her mouth.
A mont later, her body began to improve in all aspects. There were even so changes in her appearance.
Her white hair turned gray, her wrinkles lessened, and a healthy color appeared on her face.
Rose’s jaw dropped as she saw the changes happen live.
Little Mortal nodded and turned back, as if expecting this to happen.
He then changed Lady Butterfly’s power level to 99.9 in his special force list.
Lady Butterfly felt her power rising until it reached a threshold—the peak of the world she was in!
The candy stopped lting at this point.
Astonished by the outco, she thought,
‘Just a second-place prize from this little monster can do this? What about comprehending the Dao to get stronger? I don’t need to do that? Where does this kid co from? No way he’s under Heaven’s Will’s order! This candy definitely wasn’t made in our world...’
Then she heard him talking to himself:
"Oh, Little Glasses, you an if I can learn this, I can train my followers a lot more efficiently?"
Lady Butterfly turned her head toward him and saw an ancient-looking scroll in his hand. When he opened the seal on it, it turned into a book.
Its na was Harmony with All Being.
She felt the na was familiar but couldn’t rember where or when she’d heard it.
Little Mortal started reading the book with anticipation.
"Hmm, but I don’t have any spirit roots, so how can I learn it? And it was in the storage ring of the human trafficking organization’s boss—it might be problematic."
Lady Butterfly’s eyes widened.
‘He doesn’t have any spirit roots?’
Then she heard him say,
"Interesting. I don’t need to have spirit roots to learn it. It’s just about power. If you’re stronger than the other party, you can control their body and move them the way you want. The restriction is that if there’s more than one person you’re controlling, your power should be greater than all of theirs combined."
When Lady Butterfly heard him reading the description of the technique, she suddenly rembered so of her old mories.
She slowly closed her eyes and started thinking about the origin story of this technique.
Long ago, a cultivator from the demonic path created a technique that allowed him to lure mortals out of their cities without anyone noticing.
It was a simple technique.
He controlled them through the connection between the spiritual energy of his own blood and muscles with his victims, making them walk out of the city.
But later, as he grew stronger, the effect of his technique on mortals deepened—so much that he could make them say what he wanted and even affect their facial expressions.
It wasn’t like the start, where he could walk them over to himself.
But one day, he tried it on a random girl to do whatever evil thing he was thinking about. The girl turned out to be a big shot’s daughter.
Before he knew what kind of disaster was coming his way, the big shot descended, killed him, took his daughter, and seized the cultivator’s belongings.
Ten years after this incident—which nobody cared about—suspicious deaths started happening in different places and sects.
People would lose control and start killing their fellow disciples, lovers, or even family mbers.
Later, when more and more people with higher cultivation realms started dying, the powerhouses of the cultivation world couldn’t sit still anymore. They tead up to find the reason.
They were scared that they—or those close to them—might end up the sa way.
So, under the leadership of the Scholar from that era, they began their investigation.
In the process, they found out who was behind it all...
It was the sa big shot who killed the creator of the technique that could control people, but not him at the sa ti.
When he saw the description of this technique, he discovered it could be combined with other secret techniques in the sa category of controlling an opponent.
But to work perfectly, it needed to be used by physical power alone, not spiritual energy.
After 10 years of research, for the first ti, he tried it on a cultivator from the demonic path to see the result.
And it was a complete success.
Only in the process of using it, he felt like he was losing sothing, but at the sa ti, he gained sothing else in return that filled its place.
So he just wrote the result in his textbook and continued the creation of his new secret technique, which he nad Harmony with All Beings.
What he didn’t know was what he lost and what he gained every ti he used the technique.
Until the day he was caught, and in desperation, he tried to use it on the other big shots who ca for his head. Only then did he finally find out what he was losing.
But it was too late for him to learn the truth.
When he used the Harmony technique on one of them, he and the opponent suddenly froze on the spot, then began laughing and cursing at each other.
At so point, it was like they were changing bodies with each other, and they even started exposing secrets the other party wasn’t supposed to know.
While the other big shots were deciding what to do about this ss, both crazed big shots suddenly used the Harmony technique on two others.
Now, two beca four, and the four people kept talking about insane things.
Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, the scholar of that ti sealed them in an array formation with the others’ help, and they all fled as far as they could.
After a day of observation, they finally pieced together what had happened.
From the nonsense the four crazed n were spouting, they uncovered the truth about this evil technique—Harmony with All Beings—and the catastrophe it brought upon the user and the victim.
When used, depending on the user’s strength, they would lose part of their soul and, in return, gain the sa amount of the opponent’s soul.
If the user were far stronger than the opponent, the soul loss would be negligible.
That’s why the creator never realized what he was losing each ti.
But for people of equal power, they would lose half of their souls.
All of this was deduced from the mad ramblings of the four and the textbook later found in the big shot’s storage ring by the survivors.
And it turned out he wasn’t the evil cultivator they’d assud. Through repeated use of Harmony on demonic disciples, he’d slowly abandoned his old principles, unknowingly blending his soul with his victims’ and being corrupted by them.
In the end, the four went completely insane and killed each other.
Back then, when this happened, Lady Butterfly was a junior. She’d read about it in the sect library as a cautionary tale for the younger generation—a lesson on paths that lead only to ruin.
Rembering the story, cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
She didn’t know what kind of disaster the world would face if this little monster learned it.
The first ti it happened, it was stopped only because the scholar rallied a strong team in ti.
But he succeeded because he had allies, and their power levels were comparable.
Who could stop this little monster now if things went wrong?
So she hurriedly tried to stop the boy from reading the book—she didn’t even know how it had ended up in the hands of that old trash from the Law Enforcent Hall, nor what evil sche he’d intended.
But when she looked over, she saw the little monster staring at her like she was a dire enemy.
In his hand was a stick—and he was slowly pulling a sword out of it!
The "normal" stick had a hidden blade inside…?
Lady Butterfly opened her mouth to demand an explanation, to calm this unstable creature—
But to her horror, she found herself already on her feet, smirking at the boy, two sharp needle-like objects in her hands, poised to attack.
None of this was her doing!
'Oh no… Has he already learned it?'
Her heart sank.
She glanced aside and saw an even stranger sight:
Rose was performing a 180-degree split between two chairs, arms folded, radiating confidence for no reason.
'What is going on?!'
Though her mind was in turmoil, her body was eerily relaxed—as if her thoughts were hers, but her movents belonged to the little monster.
Rose was just as bewildered as her grandmother.
A mont ago, she’d been minding her own business when suddenly, she lost control of her body.
Then she’d started punching and kicking like a seasoned martial artist!
She only realized what was happening when she saw her boss watching her, smiling and nodding.
So he’s ssing with ?
Mid-thought, still executing flawless moves, she saw her grandmother stand, eyes closed, drawing out thin steel cables tipped with sharp nails and whirling them around.
Then the Little Sect Master, as if sensing sothing, turned.
When he saw Lady Butterfly, he gasped, slowly drew the wooden stick from his backpack, and tensed like a cornered beast.
And at that exact mont, Rose leaped between the chairs, folding her arms in that perfect split.
Now, no one understood what was happening.
The Little Sect Master spoke first:
"Lady Butterfly, what are you doing? We’re on the sa team now!"
Lady Butterfly smiled coldly.
"Do you think you’re the only one who can return from death? The only one who grows stronger?"
The boy’s eyes widened in genuine terror. His face paled.
Trembling, he drew the hidden sword entirely, voice shaking:
"I-Impossible! T-That wasn’t real! Y-You’re lying!"
Lady Butterfly’s grin turned predatory.
"Oh? You don’t believe , Little Wolf? Then let recreate your worst nightmare."
With that, she leaped, landing on what seed like empty air—but a faint glint revealed a steel cable beneath her feet.
Then she hurled two needles at the boy. He deflected both with his sword and looked up, bracing for her next move—
But what he saw froze him solid.
Beneath the ceiling, a swirling mass of multicolored butterflies had gathered, motionless, awaiting orders.
And worse—Lady Butterfly was no longer alone.
Nine identical copies of her now stood scattered across the inn.
The Little Sect Master’s voice cracked:
"Sothing doesn’t add up! How is this illusion so real?!"
Suddenly, he whirled toward his backpack and scread:
"YOU TRAITOR!"
At that instant, all ten Lady Butterflies attacked, and the butterflies rained down like a storm.
The boy’s fury erupted:
"When I’m done with her, I’ll teach you a lesson you’ll never forget—"
But before he could defend himself, the backpack straps twisted, binding him.
Simultaneously, the "simple" iron pot smashed his skull with brutal force, and his sword jerked from his grip, burying itself in the floor—refusing to obey.
Lady Butterfly, still a prisoner in her own body, watched helplessly as her butterfly techniques struck the boy from all angles. Then her illusions rged, and her actual body blurred past him at blinding speed.
Rose, still spectating in confusion, saw nothing happen at first.
The two stood back-to-back after the final strike, frozen.
Then—
The Little Sect Master shakily raised a hand to his neck.
His fingers ca away dripping red.
He stared at his palm, then at his backpack, then at Lady Butterfly.
Finally, his gaze locked onto Rose.
All she saw in his eyes was sadness.
Her vision blurred.
Tears fell without her consent.
But it wasn’t over.
Lady Butterfly struck again.
The boy didn’t resist this ti. The kick launched him into the air, blood arcing behind him—
Then, mid-flight, his hands ford a clumsy seal.
He hit the ground, rolled, and with one final, desperate reach—as if grasping for sothing—went still.
Silence.
Rose couldn’t process it. Neither could Lady Butterfly.
Then, the inn door creaked open.
Luna stepped inside, took one look at the scene, and imdiately backed out, shutting the door behind her.
She stood outside, trembling.
'What did I just see? Did they kill my boss? No way… He wouldn’t die without taking half the sect down with him. And why does Rose’s grandmother look younger? Am I dreaming?'
Inside, Rose and Lady Butterfly, still reeling, noticed sothing odd:
The blood splattered across the floor wasn’t random.
It ford words.
Their eyes widened as they read:
[Divine Technique: Ti Reversal—To Before I Opened the Book.]
Then—
The "dead" boy stood up.
Wiped his uninjured neck with a napkin.
Strolled to the blood and began cleaning it.
At the sa ti, Lady Butterfly and Rose rewound—retreating to their original positions without control.
Rose stood at the back. Lady Butterfly sat cross-legged, weapons neatly gathered, eyes closed.
The boy finished cleaning, walked backward to his spot, picked up the book, and shut it.
He scanned the room, nodded, perford another series of hand seals, and declared:
"Divine Technique: Ti Stop."
Only then did Rose and Lady Butterfly regain control of their bodies.
One thought scread through their minds:
'What in heaven’s na just happened?!'
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