The night before.
After Lady Butterfly had been sent to an unknown place,
The little boss went to the backpack as if nothing had happened.
"Little White, come out!"
A moment later, a small white head popped out.
"What's up, boss?"
The lab rat, with his rough male voice, answered.
"It's late now, I'm going to sleep.
You go out and see if my followers— No!
I mean my gang members!
Yes, my gang members!
See if they are fine after drinking three servings of the Spirit Creatine or not, especially the children."
The white rat came out.
"Leave it to me, boss!"
And then it ran outside and disappeared.
Little Mortal then went inside his backpack and changed into his sleepwear to sleep.
Rose was going to say goodnight.
"Boss, go—"
But he interrupted her.
"I know, Assistant Rose... I know... Everything will be fine soon..."
Then he shook his head in 'sadness', went inside his sleeping bag after a 'sigh', and closed the zipper.
Rose looked at Luna, who was secretly laughing at her, and gritted her teeth.
"Did you eat your third serving, Expert Luna?"
Luna shook her head and smiled at her mocking words.
So the two went to find some water...
...
Meanwhile, high up in the sky,
The old planet manager, who had sent Lady Butterfly to a restricted area to prevent her from moving around too much in this fragile world, looked in the direction of the Sword Sect.
The two sect masters had a conversation there that could lead to problems.
So, with a wave of his hand, the couple—who were discussing numerous suspicious news stories—slowly started ignoring the problems without their notice.
Sword God said,
"Let's leave the matter of the Emperor and the 12 sects wiped out by immortals aside.
If they meant any harm, I wouldn't be here now."
Snow Goddess nodded.
"Yes, and those immortals came and went without harming anyone in my sect.
They even cleaned up some trash for me..."
By "trash", she was referring to the black-robed members of her sect.
Sword God then reminded her,
"Don't forget about the friendly competition between our sects.
Now with the 12 sects gone, we should fill up the numbers ourselves."
Snow Goddess agreed.
"Alright, just bring your elders over with their disciples.
Then we can think about how to let them compete.
Those 12 sects were just a bunch of weaklings anyway."
But the moment she said "weaklings", her mood turned weird.
Sword God frowned and said,
"What is it?"
Snow Goddess chuckled.
"Your master's son said you are weak like a chicken!"
And then she flew away while laughing.
Sword God stood there, speechless.
"I didn't even see him once. Why would he say that?
Hmph, I'll give him a lesson when I meet him!"
High up in the sky,
Seeing everything was fine again, the old planet manager—while playing with his orb—closed his eyes and went into power-saving mode again.
This orb was ready to support him with any amount of spiritual energy he needed if he was going to do anything to help that little monster, but when it was his turn, it was really stingy.
Another thing was those cultivators with candy in their mouths—he couldn't influence their minds at all, unlike the rest of the creatures in his world.
Well, he wasn't sure if this was "his" world anymore,
Because he was being called "manager" after that little unknown brat descended here...
...
Back in the outer sect city, while Little Mortal was sleeping, all of his gang members were on their beds with eyes wide open.
They had so much energy again that they couldn't sleep at all.
The white lab rat, after completing its patrol, observed the scene and returned to the inn to report.
Luna and Rose, who couldn't sleep either and were sitting in the hall, saw the door kicked open as the little white rat hurried inside.
"Boss, boss, wake up!"
Then it started jumping on the sleeping bag.
After a while, the zipper opened, and Little Mortal's head popped out.
With a sleepy face, he asked,
"What in the world is wrong with you at this time of night?"
But the white rat was still jumping up and down.
"Boss, boss!
If you don't hurry and drain these weaklings of their energy, they might explode!"
Hearing what it said,
Little Mortal panicked and jumped out of his sleeping bag.
"What?!
Isn't that just energy?
It's supposed to be wasted if there's extra, right?
"They are still mortals!
They can get rid of the extra energy, but what about spiritual energy?
The spirit root can do that, but theirs isn't awakened yet!"
"Oh no!
Like a factory where half of it is off and the other half is working at full speed!"
Then he saw Luna and Rose looking at him in shock, but they seemed fine.
"We still have time!
I need to ask 'Coach' for help!"
Then he jumped inside the backpack.
Not long after, the bald coach with a circular beard and his encouraging smile appeared.
"What a good night for training, everyone.
Looks like we're going to have a midnight session."
"Guardian Token, please connect me to our followers—
Or gang members, either one.
We need to start the training before morning so they can take care of their daily lives too."
Rose, seeing an opportunity for her grandmother, spoke up.
"Coach!"
The smiling coach turned around.
"What is it, Assistant Rose?"
Rose said,
"Yesterday, all of the foll— I mean gang members!
We all used the extra energy we had to do the job for the next few days, so is it possible to train more than once each day?
We thought to surprise you later by telling you about it, but it seems we can't anymore!"
The little coach, touching his chin, said to the white rat,
"When you checked their condition, how was their recovery?"
The white rat answered,
"100% recovered.
But you should tell the children to drink less.
The rest are fine as they are."
"How long do you think it will take for them to recover fully after each training session?"
"With this stuff you're feeding them, less than half an hour, and they're all recovered."
The little coach nodded and turned to Rose.
"Alright, we'll give it a try.
And thank you for the surprise—now I can train everyone with peace of mind."
Then he sent a message through Guardian Token to everyone.
[All the gang members (former followers),
Gather at our training place for an emergency training.
Please, everyone, join and bring all of your Spirit Creatine with you, along with enough water.]
"Mr. White, please accompany me and supervise the training."
The little white rat jumped onto his shoulder.
"At your service, boss."
And the group—one coach, one white lab rat, and two ladies—went to the gathering place, with the big backpack following them.
If the city hadn't been under the old manager's cover,
You could have seen thousands of people—young, old, and children—starting to come out of their houses, running in the same direction!
In the middle of a certain group, a certain little girl was shouting,
"Breaking news! Breaking news!
Snow Goddess murdered the Sword God!
Wife killed her husband for cheating?
Or is there a darker truth?
One spirit stone for the reason of murder!
Two spirit stones for the dark truth behind the scene!"
And a mother who was running after her,
"Cherry! Stop spreading fake news!
Come back here!"
But how could she, a single mother, catch a news reporter with unlimited energy?
...
An hour later, not long after midnight, most of the gang members had gathered in the same place.
The crystal was shining in the sky like a small moon,
Radiating enough light for them to see where they were and for those on the way to get there without a problem.
When everyone arrived, they began going to their own places, just as they had in the morning.
Women and men separate, shorter people in front and taller ones at the back.
The little coach, standing on the backpack, nodded in approval, satisfied with their orderliness.
Then the scene changed.
They were all back in the "gym."
The little coach rubbed his chin, and while the space didn't change, the numbers did.
Now, people could see 50 of them here, with a little coach in front, while farther away, there were groups of 50 people, each with another little coach in front of them!
The gang members gasped, astonished by this little boss's magical power, which seemed to have no limit!
The little coach nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, this way we can communicate better, right?"
"Yes, coach!"
"Coach's magical prowess knows no bounds!"
The former followers started flattering him, and the little coach grew prouder of himself.
"Alright, enough compliments.
I have two pieces of news to share with you regarding this emergency gathering.
Do you want to hear the good news first or the bad news?"
Some said "bad news", and some said "good news". A moment later, two numbers appeared under the ceiling of the gym.
Good News: 4,632
Bad News: 5,368
The little coach, under the gaze of the people who—without realizing it—had just participated in a vote, said,
"Bad news it is, then.
You guys are going to explode if we don't drain your energy."
The gang members' excitement suddenly turned to shock and then fear.
But before they turned too pale, they heard the good news.
"The good news is, if we use this opportunity and you guys keep up with me, we can awaken your spirit roots by noon."
The terrified gang turned into an excited gang again!
"And for that, I need to change your training plan—
From all muscle groups each day to one or two muscle groups per training session."
"This way, we give time for one muscle to recover while we train the others.
And I want you to concentrate and learn every move correctly, because you guys are going to be the future bodybuilding coaches of the cultivation world.
Do you... understand?"
The people, dumbfounded for a moment, all shouted together,
"WE UNDERSTAND!"
The Little Coach, with an encouraging smile, said:
"Then let's begin. First, two groups of smaller muscles: biceps and triceps."
Then, everyone lost control over their bodies.
They were already warmed up, coming all the way from the Outer Sect City to the 'gym,' so they started the training right away.
"Let's begin with three moves for biceps, four sets for each move, and the last set to...?"
Everyone shouted together:
"FAILURE!"
Then, all the little coaches in front of the group of 50 members asked a random person:
"What is failure?"
And they all answered correctly.
The training began.
While the brutal training started in the gym, outside, the little white rat was watching with interest from the top of the backpack.
It looked at the black-framed glasses that were monitoring the gang members, as if gathering information, and said:
"What kind of law is he using?"
The glasses vibrated.
The white rat raised an eyebrow.
"None? How did he take you away, then? I thought you were stolen with a 'unique law.'"
Then it paused for a moment, as if thinking how to say the name:
"Like that thief parasite."
"Then how?"
The white rat was puzzled now.
"So even you, the Glasses of Knowledge, don't know?"
"By the way, now that he's busy, can't you just run?"
Then it looked at the crystal in the sky.
"What about you? Aren't you just borrowed, unlike the rest of us?"
"So he has complete control over you both?"
Then it patted the backpack under it with its little paw.
"You too, old friend?"
The white lab rat was puzzled.
'What kind of monster kidnapped me? Well, I'm not that important, but the rest of these "birth treasures"... Aren't each one supposed to have only one owner? And if you have one, there won't be a second? Then how is he using so many?'
Just thinking about the real owner of these things made it shiver—let alone this little guy who gathered so many of them...
Everything about this kid was confusing.
'I don't understand. I don't understand at all...'
Then it looked at the dark sky and muttered with a sad tone:
"Master, your little white has been kidnapped. When are you going to save me?"
And a single tear dropped from its eyes...
The Glasses of Knowledge vibrated, transmitting a message:
The white rat first froze, then gasped in disbelief, and then shouted at the sky hysterically:
"Nooooo....!"
Back inside the 'gym,' after 30 minutes, the biceps and triceps training was over.
The crowd of people felt they couldn't even close their fingers anymore, let alone move their forearms.
While they were happy that time for rest had come, they felt their hands moving of their own accord to make them drink another serving of the Spirit Creatine.
They looked at the coach with questioning eyes.
'Didn't you say we need to be drained of energy, and we'll explode if we keep drinking this?'
Seeing them looking at him like that, the little coach explained:
"Yes, your bodies can't use the spirit energy inside. But if you grow your muscles, the bigger they are, the more spirit energy they can contain. And at the same time, it's like a bomb ready to explode at any moment."
The crowd turned pale!
The smile on the coach's face seemed a little evil now, with a hint of madness!
"This way, it gives you the motivation to walk forward! Without rest! Without hesitation! Without any doubt! It's either death or success!"
Hearing him say such a thing so casually, the gang members started panicking.
"Sect Master! Calm down!"
"Stupid! It's 'Boss' now!"
"It's not 'Boss' either—it's Coach Mambod!"
"Coach, why so serious all of a sudden?"
"Coach, spare us!"
"I don't want to awaken my Spirit Root anymore! Let me free!"
"Nooo, the Devil Child is back! How could we be fooled by him?"
"Breaking news! Breaking news! Evil Coach has awakened and is going to betray his gang members!"
But the chaos calmed down all of a sudden after the temporary panicked state.
The little coach took over their bodies again and said:
"Today's experience will be nothing but a memory for tomorrow. It doesn't matter how hard it is, how dangerous it is."
Then he smiled at them—a smile that no longer seemed encouraging, but pure evil.
"So, stand up and make a memory that will be worth remembering tomorrow!"
The tired crowd all stood up 'excitedly' and said together:
"Yes, Coach! We'll make a memory that will be worth remembering tomorrow!"
While they were crying inside:
'No, let us go, you evil child!'
The little coach, seeing them so 'cooperative,' nodded.
"Alright, now that you need time for your hands to recover, we can't use them for the next 30 minutes."
The crowd sighed in relief—it seemed they could at least rest for half an hour.
"But... you have legs, right?"
The crowd started crying inside and shouting excitedly outside:
"Leg! Leg!"
As if it were their favorite training.
"Good! Let's not waste any more time. Here's the plan: We're done with biceps and triceps. Now we do legs. Meanwhile, your hands will recover by the end of the leg workout. Then we do chest, back, and after that, shoulders at the end. Between each training session, you should drink your Spirit Creatine to support the recovery process. Children need less, so I control the amount they drink myself."
"When we're done, it'll be two and a half hours. Then we start the second cycle—but with different movements. You ask why? Two reasons: First, to engage your muscles from different angles. Second, for you to learn new and standard moves for each muscle group. Like I said before, you guys are going to be the future bodybuilding coaches of this world!"
Then he looked at the 'excited' crowd.
"By tomorrow morning, you'll be ready to awaken your Spirit Root."
The people, who were about to feel a little excited, heard the second part and felt like crying again.
"Only if you survive!"
Then he clasped his hands.
"Let's start our leg workout. But there's one leg move I won't teach you now. Only the survivors can use it to awaken their Spirit Root with that move!"
The crowd didn't hear anything but the "survivors" part!
Their hair stood on end!
What do you mean by 'survivors'? You mean some of us won't make it?
And the brutal leg workout began.
Outside the 'gym,' the white rat was watching the crowd of people.
Then, as if it felt something, it looked to its right.
A couple of minutes later, a lady in a black robe landed from the sky.
She slowly walked toward the little boss.
But before she could greet him or understand what so many people were doing here, she heard:
"Boss is busy, little girl."
The lady in the black robe felt her heart skip a beat.
She slowly turned to the big backpack and saw a white rat lying on it.
She gulped and said:
"Greetings... sir?"
The little white rat stared at her with its red eyes.
The lady stared back with her own red eyes—they felt close, yet not close at the same time.
One pair of curious red eyes, and one pair of scared red eyes, locked in a silent exchange.
The little white rat nodded.
"Red eyes are indeed the most beautiful. You can call me Mr. White. And you are...?"
Scarlet nervously answered the talking rat:
"I'm Scarlet. I'm here to see if Sect Master needs help with anything..."
She was Shadow Scarlet, who had caused some trouble for Little Mortal and had woken up some time ago in a random place.
Scared of the same thing happening to her as before—being influenced by the mysterious force—she had returned to the capital and followed the blue smoke in the sky to this place to be around her new boss.
The rat nodded and said in its rough voice:
"Boss is working. Come here and sit. Let's watch the little miracle he's making."
Then it patted the backpack with its paw.
"Buddy, bring out a chair for Lady Scarlet."
A silver chair appeared, and she sat down beside the backpack obediently, sweating profusely.
'What kind of rat is this? What's this heavy death aura around it? Why do I feel it's a thousand times stronger than me?'
She looked at the thousands of people standing there with unfocused eyes, just blinking from time to time, not understanding what was going on.
Then she looked at the children. They seemed to be asleep. Unlike the grown-ups, whose faces showed signs of pain and agony, the little ones had everyday expressions, as if they were sleeping.
She gathered her courage and asked in a trembling voice:
"M-Mr. White, may I ask what the Sect Master is doing?"
The white rat answered:
"He changed his name to 'Boss' tonight, so don't call him Sect Master. And this one isn't 'Boss,' I think—he's Coach Mambod now. And what is he doing? He's training his gang members. Wait a little, and you'll see the change in them."
Curious and scared, Scarlet sat there quietly and watched.
Not long after, she saw some changes in their hands—they were getting more muscular? Then, the people's pants suddenly started getting too small for them...
Not in height, but in the space inside, as if their legs' muscles had suddenly developed!
Then their chests and shoulders began to gain muscle mass after drinking something every 30 minutes or so...
Wondering what was happening, she used her spiritual vision to see what was going on inside their bodies.
A moment later, she stood up and said:
"Mr. White, I suddenly remembered that I have a sick grandmother at home whom I need to give medicine. So, if you'll excuse me, I'll take my leave."
The little white rat waved its paw, and Scarlet was forced to sit down again.
"You're going nowhere, little girl. We're in this together! Fate brought us together, and only fate can separate us!"
Then it started laughing with its rough voice—like a true villain!
Scarlet bit her lip and blamed herself for coming here at the wrong time...
These people were all full of spirit energy—or, to be exact, compressed spirit energy that was increasing with every drink they took!
They were all like vessels ready to explode at any moment!
She didn't even know how they were still alive, let alone not exploding yet!
It was as if an outside force was keeping them together!
Especially the children, who were muscular now, too!
How could they not explode with this much spiritual energy inside?
And under her fearful eyes, this process continued for more than four hours—for ten thousand people!