Chapter 1: Meeting
When the young lady heard the sentence, she quivered. Before she could even answer the voice, an old man stepped out of the gray mist. He wore a black robe, had long white hair and wrinkled skin.
However, the most distinguishing feature of his, were the two black horns, bent from the front to the back, on his head. When the lady saw that, she immediately felt invisible pressure pressing down on her. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a second and a powerful tiger roar sounded out from behind her. When the roar ended, a giant white tiger appeared behind her.
The old man looked a little surprised but immediately smiled. He didn't say anything but when the tiger saw him, he looked shocked. He turned into a gray haired old man, who had tiger ears instead of dragon horns. He wore a white robe and looked at the man with dragon horns in utter astonishment. He asked in a shocked voice, “Did the Heavens collapse and the Hell freeze over? It has been over 15 billion years since you last entered a contract. No matter how strong the person was, no matter whose lineage the person had, no matter how good talent the person had, you always told them to “Dream on”.”
As the Tiger said that, the old man in the black robes just laughed lightly and said in a cheerful tone, “Well, this guy is my new Master. You see, the two of us are bound by karma and I will not allow anyone to hurt my Master. Even at the cost of my own life.” When he reached the last sentence, the temperature all around dropped. The old man was excluding a presence far beyond a peak existence. His overbearing aura seemed like it was unmatched beneath the Heavens.
The man in white only shuddered when he heard him. He squeezed out a smile as he said, “Even the Emperor of Heavens walks around you in a wide circle to keep from accidentally bumping in to you and I also value my own life. As for the actions of my Mistress, she was only concerned about the little boy and decided to bring him into a place where she could nurture him back to health. She had no intention of harming him at all.” As the man in white hurriedly explained, the man in black thought for a second and nodded.
When the man in white saw him nodding, he let out a silent breath of relief. He truly felt like he had dodged a bullet by a hairs breath. Just as he was about to say something, the man with dragon horns waved his hand and the gray mist coming from the boys body subsided. The red eyes had disappeared and only the four of them were left there. After everything had become tranquil again, he looked at the young lady and said, “Take good care of him but don't get angry at him because he won't respond or open up to you.”
Just as the lady was about to ask something, she saw the pained look in the old mans eyes and was bewildered. The old man took a breath and said, “This boy has seen more blood than an assassin, he has suffered more pain than a person condoned to Hell and he has been betrayed more than a King during a civil war. I will refrain from appearing unless the situation calls for it but do let me remind you, not even the Emperor of Heavens can protect you if try to harm him.” With that, the old man turned to gray smoke and disappeared.
After half a minute of silence, the old man in white let out a big breath of relief as he looked towards the young lady and said, “I don't know if your luck is good or bad but you currently dodged a bullet by a hairs breath little lass. Come on, lets take the little guy somewhere where you can nurse him back to health, after that, it is your choice whether to stick around him or to send him on his way. Either way, unless you try to harm the little guy, that old monster won't interfere.” As he said that, he started walking towards the boy and picked him up in his arms. He also fed him some kind of a pill.
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The young lady was stunned as she tried to process what had happened and now she looked at the boy with a hint of fear in her eyes. When the man in white picked the boy up, she asked in a frightened tone, “Just who was that old man?”
The man in white stopped for a second and gestured her to move alongside him, as they walked, the old man opened his mouth and said, “That old monster is one of the Five Paragons of the Cosmos. He has existed from the time the cosmos was birthed and he seldom becomes a Guardian. However, everyone whose Guardian he has become, is now one of the major figures in the entire Cosmos. However, I don't understand why he had picked this guy from a Lesser world to become his disciple. His talent can be considered good in this world but only mediocre at best, in the Cosmos.”
As the man said to the young lady, he was almost half pondering. Guardian Beasts were Beasts who had broken through the barrier and become immortal, the man in white was one of those Beasts. He was the Divine White Tiger, he could be said to be a major figure in the Cosmos but he couldn't hold a candle light to the man in black in terms of strength. Guardian Beast system was something that the strongest Divine Beasts came up with to look for disciples.
It was implemented in only a few worlds but an over helming majority of their disciples came from the system. During a child's growth period, the Divine Beasts would choose a child. After wards, they would try to raise the person into becoming an Immortal. Though it depended on the Divine Beast, about 90% of the people chosen did not reach immortality and withered away or invited calamities upon themselves.
After the disciple reached immortality, the contract would be filled and the person could choose: Either go on his or her own path or stay under the Divine Beasts tutelage. Most people would still stay under the tutelage but there are some people who choose to go on their own path.
The young lady looked at the White Tiger with a puzzled impression and asked, “How did so many Guardian Beasts appear? That doesn't make any sense.” The old man just chuckled and said, “He he, they weren't Guardian Beasts but rather that old ghosts servants.” Hearing that, the young lady understood. As they were walking along and chatting, suddenly the Tiger felt the boy move in his arms. As he looked down, he was greeted by eyes void of emotion.
The old man was shocked for a moment. The boy didn't look older than 8-9 but in his eyes, he could see endless coldness that only cultivators, who had survived a heartbreaking betrayal possessed. He had seen these eyes before so seeing them wasn't a surprise but seeing them from a boy at such a young age, that was truly a first for him.
The old man immediately fixed his face and smiled at him, “We will soon reached the lodging so we will talk more there. You can go back to sleep for now.” As he said that, he used a strange technique that made the boy fall asleep again. The old man shuddered as he remembered the old Dragons words. He looked at the young lady and said, “What ever you do, do not ever betray this boy.”
As the word fell, they had reached their lodging, a small wooden hut in the middle of the forest. The old man laid the boy down on the bed and went outside to chat with the young lady. What he didn't realize was that the moment he walked outside the room, the boy opened his eyes.