The monks had been sitting inside that chamber for many days. They had all lived for hundreds of years already, so they were not in a rush to make a decision. The different monks were looking back and forth at each other but not a word was being said. The silence was finally broken by the sounds of Buddhist chants. The chants started off very low at first but gradually grew louder. The old monks began to look back and forth wondering where this sound was coming from. Suddenly a monk in dirty brown robes, with dreadlocked hair that hung over his dirt stained face appeared inside of the chamber.

"The Mudd Buddha!" someone exclaimed in fright.

The Mudd Buddha was a legend even to these ancient monks. No one knew his true age, he was believed to be an immortal being brought into existence by the world itself. Looking at the Mudd Buddha one could never make out his features. One second he would look like a young man. The next a walking skeleton. This constantly changing countenance of his made it hard for people to look directly at him. But the scariest truth about the Mudd Buddha was that he only appeared right before a cataclysmic disaster would strike mankind. No one dared to question the prophecies that the Mudd Buddha uttered. To ignore his words were kin to ignoring the will of the world itself.

"My, my, my what have we here. A bunch of pompous kids thinking they know what is best." The Mudd Buddha said while looking around the chamber.

Everyone stood up at the same time to offer greeting to the Mudd Buddha, but to their surprise a heavy force prevented them form being able to stand. Only Gorampa was able to stand and bow before the Mudd Buddha. This was a clear sign to everyone in the chamber that Gorampa was the only one who had the Mudd Buddha's favor at this moment.

"This humble servant greets his eminence." Gorampa said as he bowed.

"You have done a great service to this world. Even though you have been questioning the validity of your decisions, rest at ease. Everything you have done has furthered the world's will. I bring you the world's blessing for your hard work." With that the Mudd Buddha waved his hand a golden-purple colored mist fell upon Gorampa's bowed form.

The natural reward power of the world flooded Gorampa's body, causing him to age in reverse. Gorampa's body returned to the peak of his existence, and then kept progressing. Gorampa broke through the bottleneck of the peak Solid Core Stage into the Divine stage. When the natural reward power stopped Gorampa's body emitted a vast aura causing the other monks to be hard to breathe. Looking at Gorampa now he looked to be in his early thirties. Gorampa was so amazed by how powerful he was now that he didn't know what to do with himself. He wanted nothing more then to find someone to battle just to see how strong he had truly become. Gorampa was releasing his aura at full power before he heard someone clearing their throat. When Gorampa came back to his senses and looked around, all the other monks were slumped over gasping for air, finding it hard to breathe.

Gorampa quickly retracted his aura and bowed to the Mudd Buddha again in apology. The Mudd Buddha laughed it off before turning his attention to monks lying on the floor.

"What was the reason the Sacred Alliance was created?" the Mudd Buddha asked.

No one was brave enough to answer the Mudd Buddha. As he looked around at the monks, disappointment could be seen in his eyes.

"Your ancestors banded together for the survival of mankind. Yes there ended up being unforeseen consequences from their decisions and actions, but in the end mankind is still here today. So in the end they were successful.

You as their descendants, are charged with the task of being the guardians of mankind. But what have you been doing? Sitting here plotting on how to make yourselves stronger. Gorampa is the only one who seems to remember his responsibility."

"Your eminence we did not disagree with Gorampa….." one of the monks started to say. But was interrupted by a glare from the Mudd Buddha.

"You were wasting time is what you were doing. If I hadn't showed up you would still be sitting here staring at each other like the fools you are. I don't have time to waste on your frivolous words, and neither do you. At the most you have six months to a year to prepare for the first wave of the invasion force that will come to begin enslaving mankind.

Your temples will be tasked with being the first stage of defense for our world. You will each give twenty of your strongest warriors to form an army." turning to Gorampa the Mudd Buddha continued, "Your job will be special but also the hardest, that's why your power level was pushed higher. You must travel the world and find elites who can be trained. You will take them into the Sacred Abyss to train them in the harshest environment. Only in the Sacred Abyss will they have the opportunities to progress fast enough to be of help when the time comes."

Gorampa nodded to the Mudd Buddha, "I already have one person in mind. He shows extraordinary potential, but how will I know who to pick?"

The Mudd Buddha waved his hand and eight scrolls came flying out of his sleeve, "These cultivation techniques will respond to the bloodlines of their respective recipients. When you are close to them the scrolls will react on their own. Your search will take you around the world, but don't worry, each new candidate will have clues to the next one. And before you ask, yes Nathan McDaniels is one of them."

Gorampa laughed awkwardly while rubbing the back of his head at being seen thru so easily by the Mudd Buddha.

"You guys have your task to complete. I now call this meeting to an end." the Mudd Buddha had simply vanished before everyone's eyes, all that was left were his words hanging in the air.

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Nathan awoke with a start, he thought he heard someone calling his name. When he didn't hear anything after listening for a while, he figured it must have just been in his dream. When he lain his head back down he heard the sound of his name being called again. Now that he was awake he realized he didn't hear it with his ears but felt it with his soul. There was no way for Nathan to ignore this call. He quickly got dressed and left his home.

Nathan had no clue were he was headed, he just felt something pulling at him. Before he knew it Nathan was at Franklin Park in Boston. As he walked thru the park he saw a monk standing at a hotdog vendor. He walked up just in time to hear the monk ask the vendor to make him one with everything.

"That is literally the punchline to a joke." Nathan said shaking his head, for some reason even though he looked much younger Nathan still recognized it was Gorampa.

"I recently discovered these things on my way here. They are amazing!" Gorampa said around mouthfuls.

"Sure if you say so…" Nathan could think of a hundred things he would rather eat then some hotdogs, "Do you have any ideas what those things are made of?"

"Don't know, don't care. They make my taste buds happy, that's all I care about. Follow me, we need to find a more private place to talk."

"We could have talked back at my house. Why did you drag me all the way out here anyway?" Nathan said a little perturbed.

"I don't know where your house is." Gorampa simply said as he kept walking.

"Then how did you know I lived around here?" Nathan asked very confused.

They had reached a part of the park were no one else was around them.

"I didn't, this lead me to you." Gorampa said as a scroll came flying out of his sleeve.

The scroll flew around Nathan's head before hovering in front of his face. Nathan instantly felt a call from this scroll. It felt like he was returning home. When he reached his hand out the scroll flew into it, suddenly a rush of information flooded Nathan's mind. It was similar to when Gorampa transferred the cultivation technique to him, this time it was much more detailed. This new technique felt warm and inviting, he felt a response from his body on a cellular level. Every inch of his body felt warm and relaxed. As his mind was a.s.similating the information his body was being purified at the same time. All of the pores on Nathan's body opened allowing a black tar like substance to be secreted from his body. The smell was absolutely horrible, so Gorampa waved his hand causing it to dry up and flake off Nathan's body, blowing away in the wind.

Nathan wasn't aware of any of that. All of the meridians in his body began to open as energy surged thru them. A bright yellowish-brown glow surrounded Nathan's body. Energy from the Earth's ley lines was being diverted into Nathan's body helping to further restructure his bones and muscles. When Nathan opened his eyes again his skin looked like marble.

The cultivation technique of Nathan's ancestors focused on the power of Earth. It allowed the user to channel earth power into their bodies to strengthen their attacks and defense. They could also manipulate the gravitational field around them help them fight. Nathan knew that all he had done was practice the introduction to this cultivation technique and he already had these benefits to his body.

"Your destiny has been chosen by the will of this world. You will become one of the Guardians chosen by the world itself. Your job will be to protect mankind from dangers not of this world. The first thing I need you to do is help find the other Guardians who will be your brothers in arms." Gorampa's hand on Nathan's shoulder truly seemed to carry the weight of the world in it.