29 An Introduction

As the group of 5 was walking out of the auction house, the little green-haired girl seemed to not be able to contain herself anymore.

"That bastard Xiao Tianxuan! If we meet in the Saint Remains Domain, I'll definitely teach him a lesson!"

"So that's his name? Xiao Tianxuan. How pitiful."

The girl gave him a quizzical look.

"Wait, you mean you intervened without knowing who he was?"

"Well... yeah. I didn't even know who Gu Ling was, only overheard her name from you two. Speaking of, I didn't catch your names."

"My name is Lu Luo. I'm a Beasttamer!"

"Zhou Yuan."

Julong nodded.

"Then allow me to formally introduce myself. Wan Julong. Nice to meet you."

Quinyu, almost immediately saw what was happening and decided to make a grand offer.

"Since we're all getting to know each other, why don't we go grab some food to discuss it over? I'll pay of course. Fate has brought us together, and in Saint Remains City, the diner that shares this place with the auction house place is ranked number 1."

So the auction house doubled as a diner. Who knew?

The others all quickly agreed without hesitation. It was rather childish if Julong was honest.

As they started heading there, it only took a few steps for Zhou Yuan to stop in his tracks. Looking up to one of the high rises, which seated a wealthy-looking genius. Everyone sensed the disturbance and stopped themselves, looking at the two who were making beaming eye contact, as if ready to kill one another if given the chance.

An arrogant aura seeped from the one on the high rise. He was acting as if he was some sort of king. It was something that Julong did not like one bit. He could tell there was some sort of grudge between the two.

While the one on top of the high rise seemed to be much more powerful than Zhou Yuan, he did not move an inch, calm, yet hostile. It was truly a sight to behold.

Eyes from all over the area swept across the silent clash. Whispering ensued.

"Is that Wu Huang from the Great Wu Empire?"

"That's Zhou Yuan from the Great Zhou Empire."

"I heard the Great Wu defected from the Great Zhou and stole Zhou Yuan's Sacred Dragon Blessing."

"What a scary rivalry."

From the whispers alone, it was easy to tell the grudge between the two was much more complex than what it looked at a first glance.

Suddenly, as if sensing a foreign power, his eyes locked onto Julong's. He seemed to scoff before standing and walking down the stairs, heading straight toward the group of 5.

He walked straight past, but not before issuing some words to the still solemn-looking Zhou Yuan.

"To think I've given you so much time, and yet you're still an eyesore... at least you have brought another who is worthy of my time."

None of them said anything for a moment before Zhou Yuan seemed to muster something.

"Let's go eat."

Saint Remains City - Auction House Diner

Yao Yao, Zhou Yuan, Lu Luo, and Zouqiu Quinyu sat around the table they had been guided to inside of the diner. Despite what it seemed, from the earlier confrontation, he was not the only one at the table with an interesting back story. Not that it stopped Zhou Yuan from giving him a complicated look. Every since he had seen Yao Yao accept his touch, he had been rather shocked.

"So, to start off... can I ask who you are?"

There was a good reason for Zhou Yuan's speculation. Even when Julong was dreaming, although he could only see Yao Yao, and had no context to any situation that took place, he was still able to deduce she was only close to one or two people. Obviously, Zhou Yuan had not assumed Julong would be someone that Yao Yao allowed to be around her since he had just come out of nowhere earlier in the day.

"As you probably already know from before, my name is Wan Julong. I hail from the Hunyuan Heaven."

"If you're from the Hunyuan Heaven, how do you know Xiaoyao?"

"I couldn't really tell you, because I don't know how it works myself. But we were able to watch and communicate with each other through the dimensional fabric that separated our Heavens. I hope that is a good enough answer for you."

Zhou Yuan nodded, accepting the response, at least Yao Yao had spoken to him before, even if it was already obvious to see that they had.

That's when a curious Quinyu decided to butt in.

"Ahh, do you mind me asking about your family? I'm curious to know what people are like over there?"

Julong adopted a thoughtful face. He honestly didn't really know what his family was like, aside from the fact that they were always expecting something from him.

"My family was somewhat... brutal, I suppose. Since birth, I have been revered as a genius that has never been seen before. I made it through to the Qi Nourishing Stage when I was 11, achieving Peak Grade 5 Golden Dwelling Genesis Qi, using a different Scripture to what my Grandfather had organised for me. He warned me to leave him the day he found out about my progress since he wasn't sure what he would do to me if I stayed around him."

Silence took over the table, only allowing the chatter from the other tables to be heard.

"I'm sorry, for asking."

"Don't be. Had they not scared me away from them, I would not have found something much greater. When I finally ran away, I gained the attention of my current Master, who took me as a disciple. She is someone very powerful, owning one of the 9 great regions in heaven. That was when I achieved Peak Grade 6 Genesis Qi. My master showed me something that I had never seen before. In leaving I found a real family."

"Well, that's good, though I'm still more focused on the whole Grade-6 Qi and the details about your Master."

Quinyu was unsure how to feel. The Young Master who had piqued her interest must have been a very important person. With such a status in such a strong Heaven, it was even possible his Master was a Saint Expert.

If only she knew.

Zhou Yuan, however, as per usual seemed to be unfazed. It was probably because he knew Cang Yuan, a Double Lotus Saint.

"Are you still in the Qi Nourishing Realm? I can't really tell if your power is extremely high thanks to your talent, or because you broke through."

Lu Luo asked the question. There was still a somewhat surprised look on her face from the previous information.

"I broke through into the Heavens Gate Realm a day or two ago..."

His mind seemed to wander, and his expression turned forlorn. Yao Yao noticed and gave him a concerned look.

"Sorry, I spaced out for a second there. A few things happened when I broke through, which is actually how I got here. I was actually being plotted against for assassination by a Law Domain Expert. Everyone back over there currently thinks I'm dead."

Julong seemed to laugh, though he was the only one who seemed to find it funny.

"Did Cang Yuan save you?"

"Yes."

Yao Yao seemed to smile gently at such information.

"Do you mind me asking how big your Genesis Qi Pillar was?"

Zhou Yuan still wore a very observational look on his face, despite having accepted him on behalf of Yao Yao's judgement.

"I wasn't focused on how large it got, but Uncle Hei did say it was something like 734 ft tall."

This was the first time he had seen Zhou Yuan's face drop in amazement.

"That is... incredible. I guess you weren't kidding when you said you were a genius unlike anything anyone had ever seen."

"Haha, yeah..."

Julong scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Oh on that topic, I'm sure Su Youwei would like me to say hi to you."

Once more Zhou Yuan had a reaction to his words.

"You met Youwei?"

"Yes. She is rather talented. She became the disciple of one of the Law Domain Grand Elders of the Region run by my Master. As such, we befriended each other. I also got her greetings from you, Yao Yao."

At this, she smiled.

"Good."

"Wait, are you telling me even Su Youwei knew about him, but not me?!"

Zhou Yuan was comically guttered by the news.

"Well, I didn't see a reason for you to know. Su Youwei only found out because she was going to the same Heaven as he resided."

"I guess that's fair... but there is still one thing I don't understand. Do you mind me asking what's this Yao Yao stuff?"

"It's just a little pet name he's given me. It's fitting isn't it?"

Yao Yao smiled as she spoke. She was actively trying to keep her cover of being a guy in front of Quinyu. It was something that happened in the heat of the moment which she seemed to like, hence it stuck.

"I see it."

Yao Yao softly chuckled at his reaction.

"Now it's my turn, Zhou Yuan."

Julong now adopted his own intrigued stare, looking directly at the aforementioned person.

"Tell me about the Sparrow and Python devouring the Dragon phenomenon."

He sighed, getting ready to explain.

"The saying comes from the quarrel between his and my own family. The Wu family used to be the protectors of the Great Zhou, but they one day defected, mortally wounding my father and hindering his Cultivation permanently, hindering my mother's life span, but worst of all, also stealing my blessing of the Sacred Dragon. The Sparrow is Wu Yao, and the Python is Wu Huang, who you just saw before. Such names refer to their original blessings. Because of these circumstances, we are in a battle to the death to see who finally ends up with my Sacred Dragon, since we all hold one third."

Quniyu looked at Zhou Yuan with a bit of empathy in her eyes.

"That's quite unfortunate for you then, being in a life or death battle with Wu Huang."

Lu Luo agreed by nodding her head.

"Mmm~ I hate to say it, but you're completely outclassed by him.

Despite what was said, Zhou Yuan didn't seem down or demotivated a single bit.

"There are no absolutes in this world. A year ago my 8 meridian channels were nowhere to be found thanks to my injuries from having my blessing stolen. But have I not made it to the Advanced Qi Nourishing Realm?"

"No way!? You've only been cultivating for a year? That's comparable to Mr Super Genius over here."

Lu Luo was the most surprised of all.

"I guess your right."

Everything then went quiet - the food had arrived.

The various plates of food were placed all over the table, ready to be dug into. But before anything could be done the atmosphere suddenly turned serious. It stemmed from Julong who was looking at Zhou Yuan.

"Zhou Yuan, before we eat, I want you to know that I meant what I said today. If Xiao Tianxuan and Gu Ling try to come after you while we are inside the Saint Remains Domain, I will kill them. I want us to become friends, and I believe this is a good start. So please take this as a sign of goodwill, towards you and only you."

Zhou Yuan only smiled at his words.

"Then let's be friends, Wan Julong."