Little Mortal, after announcing the first day of training, said,
"From now until the end of this training session,
Your coach is going to take control of your body so you can learn and do the necessary training movements simultaneously."
The followers already knew how it felt to be controlled, so they didn't care much.
But who was the 'coach'?
Little Mortal went back to his backpack, went in, and someone else came out a moment later.
The newcomer was as tall as Little Mortal, with the same face, had a bald cap, a circular beard, and a friendly smile.
His clothes were now a set of black sportswear with short sleeves.
When he saw the three ladies, he nodded and said,
"Hello, how are you doing?"
And walked to the crowd.
The three ladies greeted the little guy and thought,
'A new character?'
The followers didn't dare to say whether he was the same person or not.
Even a certain little girl stood there quietly.
The coach, with a smiling face, started walking between the crowd and introduced himself.
"Hello, everyone.
I am your bodybuilding coach, Many Mambod.
You can call me 'Coach.'"
The followers all cupped their hands together and bowed,
"Greetings, Coach!"
Coach Mambod nodded,
"I like your energy! That's good."
After a brief silence, he said,
"As you know, a friend of mine asked me to train you for the next 4 days.
I studied the anatomy of the people of this world.
And surprisingly, there is no age limitation for training in bodybuilding here.
It's the same for using workout supplements.
So we can all train together at the same time."
Then, while taking over everyone's body, he made them open two servings of the 'Spirit Creatine' and pour them into their shaker,
"As you already know, this is Spirit Creatine.
How it was made will be made public later.
But how should it be used?
I'll tell you now.
It's straightforward: Take one serving before the start of the training to have extra energy for our training session."
Then he made them drink half of the water inside the shaker that was mixed with two servings of the 5-gram Spirit Creatine.
"And the other half after the training session for recovery.
Remember to drink 1 serving mixed with water before sleep for the first 5 days."
The followers understood why he made them use two and only let them drink half—they basically drank 5 grams.
"Now, while warming up, let me tell you about today's workout."
Everyone's body started moving on its own.
First, a simple warm-up for joints, then muscles, and later some basic stretching moves.
The moves were easy and enjoyable for everyone,
because after drinking the Spirit Creatine, they instantly felt energetic and warm all over their bodies.
But hearing the next part of the explanation alongside the warm-up moves changed their warm sweat to cold sweat, their excited faces to horrified ones!
"To build muscle, we only have one way,
and that is to tear it apart.
And to tear the muscle apart, you put extra pressure on it that it can't handle."
A trembling voice sounded from somewhere,
"C-Coach, how can you build muscle if you tear it?"
The smiling little coach looked at the frightened old man who asked the question.
"Good question, sir.
Let me ask you, if your muscles are torn,
What does your brain tell your body to do about it?"
The old man, while still warming up, said,
"To rest and heal itself?"
"Exactly!
But what if it happens every day?"
The old man thought a little and said,
"To make it strong so it won't tear again?"
Coach Mambod smiled even more,
"There you go, sir.
You answered your own question.
The stronger muscles are bigger, and the muscle fibers are thicker.
So, let's tear your muscles apart every day!"
Before the crowd could start screaming or protesting, their mouths were shut.
Then a full-body training started.
For each move, different equipment would appear for each person, and it was custom-made to fit their size.
It is evident because of the children—
they could see theirs were like toys,
little dumbbells, little barbells, and equipment.
And for adults, it was standard equipment.
After a round of warm-up with weights,
He began instructing them on the names of the main training moves while guiding their bodies to perform them simultaneously.
Flat dumbbell press, two-grip lat pulldown,
overhead tricep extensions, lateral raise with dumbbells, EZ bar bicep curl, calf raises.
The crowd, while learning the moves, went through the whole process easily without feeling any discomfort.
All of them thought it was nothing compared to their daily life.
But they went back to the first move again, and this time the weight doubled.
Now they could feel some pressure.
After two more cycles, on the 4th time, the weight doubled again, and combined with the Spirit Creatine energy in their blood, they all started sweating profusely.
"Alright, everyone, get yourselves together.
This is the last set—we are going to achieve failure!"
Someone asked,
"W-What is failure, Coach?"
"Failure in bodybuilding means you reach a point
where you can't do even one more rep of your current exercise with the current weight."
The people felt they understood, but the explanation wasn't over.
"At this point, you need to do five more reps."
The crowd gulped.
How can you do five more if you can't even do one?
But the explanation wasn't over yet...
"When you are done with those 5,
Then you do two more.
That's the time you can feel, at the last rep,
you can't even keep the weight in your hand anymore, let alone do another rep!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is called failure."
Then the little coach, while smiling in a way that would encourage anyone who didn't know him, but
was extremely evil in the eyes of the followers at this moment,
said,
"Let's give it a try!
Let's squeeze those muscles,
and achieve failure!"
With their bodies under the little coach's control,
and their voices are free to use for their owners,
the cries of pain and begging to 'stop' resonated in the 'gym'...
But the smiling little coach didn't care at all, as if it was all normal to him.
After less than an hour, the whole training was over, and after using their bodies for one last time to drink the other half of their workout supplements, Coach Mambod waved at everyone and said,
"Good job, everyone.
See you tomorrow!"
And went inside the backpack.
The moment he left, except for the children who were looking around in confusion, the rest of the crowd dropped to the ground like corpses.
The only one standing was Lady Butterfly, who had been in shock all this time...
The control of this little coach over 10,000 bodies at the same time was so precise that she couldn't describe it.
And not only that, the effects of the 'Spirit Creatine' on these followers were unimaginable too.
They were all still full of energy while struggling on the ground and crying in pain.
Their torn muscles were recovering faster than anyone could imagine...
Lady Butterfly looked at the backpack and saw the little sect master coming out.
He was looking at his followers in shock.
'That's your doing—why are you so shocked?'
Little Mortal came to Lady Butterfly and said,
"What did you do to them?
I know it feels good to be the 'last one standing,'
But why did you do it with my followers? They are just a bunch of weaklings compared to you!
What's there to be proud of? Hmm?"
Then he shook his head and 'canceled the gym membership.'
Lady Butterfly was at a loss for words...
'Now it's my fault?'
She looked around and saw that the people were now rolling in the dirt, and the children sitting beside their parents were worried.
"Come with me, Lady Butterfly.
I want to show you something.
Oh, and remember to smile arrogantly."
Lady Butterfly followed him in confusion, and the two started walking between these miserable people, with hands behind their backs and an arrogant smile that Lady Butterfly forced on her face.
After a round of strolling between the 'corpses,' Little Mortal asked,
"How did it feel to look down at your defeated victims like old times?"
Lady Butterfly looked at him, speechless.
'If you want to joke around, it's fine.
But what do you mean by 'defeated enemies'?
Can't you see my granddaughter is there too?'
It took all of the followers around half an hour to recover.
They were full of energy and not only back to normal but could feel themselves even a little stronger...
"Alright, everyone—tomorrow, here, the same time,
be ready for the second session of your training.
Don't forget to eat one serving of your Spirit Creatine before sleep to recover completely for tomorrow."
He was going to leave, but paused,
"Where are those blind people?
Go to the side with whoever you want to see.
You have 1 hour.
Deaf people can join them too."
The excited group of people gathered to the side with a look of anticipation.
"Alright, your time begins... now.
And don't ask for it again—it will be the last time!"
The family of blind followers thanked him excitedly, and then their eyes lost focus.
Little Mortal sent them back to the 'gym' so they could meet each other.
The rest of the people could now guess how they looked when they were in that magical place with the weird equipment...
They didn't know how each move could apply pressure to a specific muscle if they were motionless in this position, and there was no real equipment.
When the little sect master saw the rest of the people looking at each other like they didn't know what to do, he said,
"The rest of you can leave and do whatever you want."
The crowd began saying their goodbyes to Rose, Lady Butterfly, and Expert Luna before leaving.
They felt impressed by Expert Luna, who trained with them and pretended to be weak all the time, crying in pain like everybody else, and giving them courage...
Luna just smiled and nodded.
She no longer cared what others thought, because from the training plan her boss had outlined, she knew they would be experts in two weeks anyway.
While the 1-hour time was passing,
Lady Butterfly came to the little guy, who was dozing off, to see if she could ask some questions that really bothered her.
"Sect Master, can I ask you something?"
Little Mortal, who saw someone finally here to talk to him, said,
"Yes, yes—ask whatever you want."
Lady Butterfly felt relaxed when she discovered he was really bored, and the opportunity to extract some information was at hand.
"Sect Master, if suddenly I saw a miracle, should I do anything?
Are they strong enemies of yours that we need to hide from?"
She was still pondering the reason he had run.
Little Mortal chuckled,
"Strong? Nobody is stronger than me!
Let me explain it in a way you understand my situation."
Lady Butterfly listened carefully.
"Imagine you are a lion who is behind enemy lines to do some secret missions."
Lady Butterfly tried to imagine.
"Now, there is suddenly one or a group of hyenas showing up.
What would you do?"
Lady Butterfly said without thinking,
"Hide not to alert the enemy."
Little Mortal smiled and didn't continue, instead puffing out his chest with his hands behind his back, smiling arrogantly.
Lady Butterfly understood the meaning.
'There is no strong enemy.
It's just not the right time to confront them until the objectives of the secret mission are accomplished.'
She nodded and felt at ease.
She knew this kid wasn't that simple.
He looked like a troublemaker on the run with the treasures of some important figures of unknown power on an unknown mission.
She was just worried that if one of those treasure owners showed up, what should they do?
Then she asked another question that worried her,
"Sect Master, about this new Harmony Technique that you are using.
Is there any limit to it?"
She was worried he might get angry for just a moment and break everyone's neck or something...
Little Mortal was confused,
"What Harmony?
I already destroyed that book."
Lady Butterfly, after a brief silence, said,
"I mean your divine technique—the one where you even created a training ground with it in everyone's mind."
"Oh, you mean my 'Coach Assistant' technique. What do you mean by 'limit'?"
Lady Butterfly nervously said,
"I mean, is it possible to suddenly get someone killed if you get angry and lose control of it?"
At first, Little Mortal seemed not to understand, but he suddenly realized what she meant.
"Oooh, now I understand what you mean. It never happens."
Lady Butterfly asked suspiciously,
"How are you so sure, Sect Master?"
"Because of the Guardian Token and the 'Way of Guardian' I chose. Whoever is on my team can't be harmed while I'm alive."
Lady Butterfly furrowed her brow,
"Can you explain it in detail, please?"
Little Mortal nodded,
"Sure, let me show you."
Then he turned to the group of team leaders who were talking with Rose and Luna and said,
"Manager Luna, please come here for a second."
Luna walked over,
"What is it, Sect Master?"
Little Mortal turned to Lady Butterfly and said,
"Try to put a scratch on her."
Lady Butterfly, while a little confused, flicked her finger, and a simple wind attack hit the tip of Luna's finger.
Then they heard a "Ding" sound, as if it had hit a steel surface.
Luna raised her eyebrows, wondering what had happened!
Lady Butterfly, still confused, used a little more power.
She thought maybe the training had already made Luna's skin stronger?
But the same thing happened.
The team leaders' eyes widened in shock, and they started whispering to each other:
"Expert Luna is so strong that her skin is like iron?"
"Did you hear that sound?"
"So that's the legendary 'Iron Wall' that you 'kick' when you mess with the wrong person!"
A certain little girl jumped out from a random place and ran to another group of people while shouting:
"BREAKING NEWS, BREAKING NEWS!
Expert Luna and Fairy Butterfly's world-shattering battle ended in a draw!
Millions of people died in the process!
BREAKING NEWS..."
Little Mortal, Luna, and Lady Butterfly:
"-_-"
Rose, seeing this scene, said goodbye to the team leaders and joined the fun.
Lady Butterfly ignored the little news reporter and said,
"How is this possible? Isn't she still a mortal?"
Luna was the most bewildered. She thought:
'Is it possible that I'm really a hidden expert—one that even I didn't know about?
Did I erase my own memory from the day this little monster massacred my family?'
Little Mortal smiled mysteriously,
"Cool, huh? It's a unique ability of the Guardian Token—if the Guardian Candidate, which is me, chooses a certain path to become a Guardian, this ability activates.
My Guardian Token is the 'Mother Token'; the rest are 'Child Tokens'.
The owner of the Mother Token, that is me in this case, can use this ability to keep his followers safe.
But the only problem is, the harm applied to the owner of a Child Token will be transferred to the owner of...?"
He didn't continue and only showed his little finger to them.
Blood was dripping from it like a small river!
The three ladies were speechless!
'That "scratch" transferred to this?
And since when does so much blood fit into a little finger?'
Little Mortal giggled and "took off" his finger, putting it in his pocket.
The finger was fake. So was the blood.
The audience became speechless for the second time.
How many random things do you have?
Then he said,
"The owners of Child Tokens can't harm each other either, and the owner of the Mother Token can't harm anyone on the planet he's trying to become its Guardian."
Lady Butterfly didn't understand the last part,
"What do you mean by 'anyone'?"
"Any creature living on this planet, named 'Cultivation World'."
Lady Butterfly almost slapped the little liar's face!
She resentfully looked at his cage and said,
"Sect Master, did you forget about your 'leg-breaking' and human trafficker cleanup mission?
And I'm sure your trip to the capital wasn't that peaceful..."
Little Mortal was taken aback at first, then furrowed his brow as if doubting his own words.
But his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said,
"That's called 'upholding justice'! Have you ever heard someone say, 'I harmed people when I was upholding justice?' Hmm? Have you ever heard?"
Then he looked at Luna to see if she agreed with him.
Luna shook her head,
"Never heard of such a thing."
You're my boss, so you're always right.
But Lady Butterfly was still suspicious.
Seeing her expression, Little Mortal tapped the token on his waist and said,
"Look, even if I wanted to hurt anyone, this Guardian Token would stop me. Right, Mr. Token?"
They gazed at the token.
This thing seemed more like a guide for this little monster than a treasure under his control—unlike the rest of his so-called "birthday gifts."
It didn't seem dangerous, and it wouldn't take sides. It was an emotionless object, giving out information to help this so-called candidate.
And sure enough, it started responding in its mechanical voice to prove his claim:
[According to the law of the Guardian Association,
The Guardian Candidate cannot harm any creatures of the targeted planet.
If they attempt to harm anyone, the Guardian Token will stop them.
If the token's power is insufficient, the Guardian Association's supervisor will intervene, and the candidate may even be disqualified.]
Little Mortal smiled,
"What did I say?"
But the token wasn't done.
[However, due to the destruction of the Guardian Association, there is no supervisor to monitor—]
Before it could finish its sentence, it received a hard slap and was sent flying away.
Lady Butterfly, who had felt at ease after the first sentence, was speechless after the second...
Little Mortal looked in another direction awkwardly.
Luna suddenly asked,
"Wait, Sect Master—the association behind you has been destroyed?
By the way, what is a 'planet'?"
Little Mortal nodded,
"Who cares about that shady association?
You guys help me become the Planet Guardian, and in return, I protect the planet.
Do I need the support of a bunch of losers?
If they were anything special, wouldn't they still be around instead of being in the afterlife?
And about planets..."
Seeing the three ladies looking at him blankly, he said,
"Alright, I forgot to share some information you need to know because I was so busy. Let me explain now."
Then, for the third time since his arrival, he began explaining what a planet was, the structure of the universe, and the conditions to become a Guardian.
"And right now, this solar system has been disconnected from its spirit generator at the center of its galaxy—that's why spirit energy is almost completely depleted in your world.
But on my trip to the capital, I was scammed by Little Scarlet, and the Old Manager forced me to find a way to bring back spiritual energy ahead of my plans.
So after my Guardian Ceremony, the spirit energy shortage will be fixed."
Rose asked excitedly,
"Sect Master, where are you from?"
The two ladies just wanted to hug and praise her for being brave enough to ask what they wanted to know.
But Little Mortal's answer disappointed them:
"Not telling."
Rose wasn't discouraged and asked another question:
"Sect Master, who is the Old Manager?"
"The one you guys call 'Heaven's Will'."
"Fascinating! Is Heaven's Will a real person?
Oh, and why did your Guardian Token once say our planet is going to be destroyed?"
"Because it's alone and weak in the middle of nowhere, under nobody's protection, and could be attacked at any time to be plundered."
After a pause, he smiled arrogantly and said,
"It was actually attacked once, but I took care of it and fulfilled one of the conditions to become a Guardian at the same time."
The ladies' eyes widened in shock. Rose said,
"When? And who attacked our planet?"
"You'll see that event on the day of my Guardian Ceremony.
I can't show you now—it's harmful for you to be near beings two levels higher than yourself."
Rose, who had heard about the effect of higher-level creatures on lower-level ones from her grandmother, asked curiously,
"So they were Level 3?
And what will happen after you become Guardian?"
Little Mortal looked away.
"That's a secret."
Rose remembered something else and asked,
"By the way, Sect Master, where are the two illegal immigrants you caught the other day?
The ones who tried to kidnap me?"
Lady Butterfly, too, remembered that they had completely forgotten about those two.
Perhaps because everything with this little boy was constantly changing, with new things happening all the time...
Little Mortal patted his now-round cage and said,
"Send the investigation results for those kidnappers out."
A moment later, a paper came out.
Little Mortal started reading:
[Two of the seven remaining cultivators from the neighboring planet, Immortal World.
They were on a secret mission, which failed the moment you arrived on this planet.
For this reason, further investigation was deemed unnecessary.]
Lady Butterfly said in shock,
"What? There are only seven people in the Immortal World?"
The little Sect Master tried to correct her while patting his round cage:
"Five."
Two of them were with him.
Rose was going to ask more questions, but Little Mortal picked up his backpack and walked away toward the city, leaving only one sentence behind:
"You guys know enough for now.
I'm not telling you anything else until I become Guardian.
See you at the inn."
But Lady Butterfly hurried over, stopping him:
"Sect Master, please wait a moment!
Where are the rest of the people from Immortal World?
I need to know! Can you ask them?"
Seeing her panic, Little Mortal was surprised.
He raised an eyebrow and asked,
"Don't tell me you have a family member there?"
Lady Butterfly nodded,
"My parents ascended together long ago..."
Not long after, another paper came out of the cage.
"They don't know where everybody went because when they arrived in the Immortal World, nobody was there.
But it's easy to guess."
Lady Butterfly became excited,
"So they're alive? Where are they?"
Little Mortal shrugged,
"How should I know? I'm just a child.
When I grow up and become a Guardian, I might know."
With a whistle, the tricycle appeared in front of him.
He got on, and with music playing, he rode away.
Lady Butterfly knew he just didn't—or couldn't—tell her the answer now.
But he had given her a hint:
"If I become the Guardian!"
Lady Butterfly stood there in silence for some time, then called her granddaughter over.
Rose, seeing her grandmother suddenly uneasy, nervously asked,
"What is it, Grandmother?"
"I want to ask you for a favor."
Rose, though a little surprised, said,
"I'd do anything for you, Grandmother!"
Then Lady Butterfly whispered something to her.
Rose furrowed her brow at first, but eventually nodded and called for Luna. The two went back to the team leaders.
Lady Butterfly suddenly remembered the third guy from that day—the one sealed in the Sword Sect.
'He should be from Immortal World too, right?'
She couldn't ask the little boy to make the two in his cage talk—he didn't seem willing, and she couldn't pressure this unstable kid.
But she could ask the third guy if he knew anything.
So, reassured that nothing would happen to Rose because of the Guardian Token, she flew away toward the Sword Sect.