18 New Moon City
"Haha, little sister is truly lucky, however, I would appreciate you not mentioning this to anyone, not even to your master if you have one. Just tell others that you broke through during the time of doing whatever you were supposed to do here. Also, please deal with those two as they will be as shocked as you." Meng said before he lightly ruffled through her rather short black hair.
"Oh! I promise that I won't cause the elder brother any problems! I am truly thankful for this, I have been stuck at the 8th stage for a while." The girl exclaimed with a bright smile as she got up, respectfully bowing to Meng.
'She completely forgot to get her upper part of the robe back on...Well, I can't say that I don't appreciate watching those things jiggle as she bowed down.'
"Little sister, aren't you forgetting something?" Meng asked and the girl looked at him with a questioning gaze and tilted head to the side.
Meng pointed with his index finger at his chest and she followed and looked at his chest before her eyes widened.
"I am sorry!" She almost screamed out while quickly getting her upper part of her robe on and carefully sealing it.
"Anyway, my name is Wan Xiu from Iron Spear Clan. May I ask for the elder brother's name?" When she tidied herself up, she asked with a graceful smile.
"We should go back to your senior brothers before I introduce myself." Meng said and both went after the two men that left earlier. On the way, Meng was recalling what kind of clan is Iron Spear Clan. He has heard a few books containing information about major powers residing in New Moon City. He knew that there were numerous clans and sects that were quite weak however this Iron Spear Clan should be among those strongest ones. He was also aware that this clan wasn't focusing on profound energy but more on the spear itself.
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"Junior sister, are you alRIGHT-?!!! W-When did junior sister broke through the 8th stage?!" The guy that looked overly more energetic than the other one said with a delighted smile while waving at Xiu but when he sensed her profound strength, his voice became slightly more pitched than it should be. Even the other guy who was quiet that previously warned Meng stared at Xiu in astonishment before transferring his gaze at Meng.
"Hihi, I will explain everything later, for now, introduce yourself to the elder brother here." Xiu giggled before she transferred the attention to Meng who was still wearing the mask but his eyes were no longer glowing and changed to red color.
"Let us thank the senior for saving our lives and even going as far as to heal our junior sister's injuries. This one is named Lin An and the quiet one is Ren He" Lin An, the energetic fellow said while bowing together with Ren He to Meng.
'I can't believe that this guy in front of us is just the second stage of Elementary Profound Realm...The second stage! And he killed Nascent profound beast that specialized in defense so effortlessly! This guy must be using some kind of treasure or maybe he is concealing his true strength.' Lin An thought while bowing.
'...Not possible, that weapon was of so trashy quality that it simply can't be a treasure! He is definitely concealing his true strength but I wonder why he is also hiding his face.' Lin An thought with a blank expression when he quickly remembered the sword Meng was holding when he attacked that beast.
"Nice to meet you, I guess it could be called fate for us to meet here in such a remote place. Su Meng is my name, feel free to refer to me as brother Meng or brother Su, whatever you are more comfortable with." Meng said and lightly bowed down to show the other side some politeness but Ren and Lin actually widened their eyes and had no idea what to do. Even Wan Xiu was surprised but she quickly just smiled and looked at Meng's mask from the side, imagining what he looks like under it.
"A-Alright, brother Su" Lin said with a slightly unnatural smile.
"Brother Su" Ren just nodded his head and accepted what Meng just did without thinking too much about it.
"Brother Meng~! Hihi" Hearing both of her senior brothers call Meng "brother Su", she couldn't help but call him with more affection with a playful tone.
'I almost forgot that strong never bow to weak...perhaps that's the reason for that weird reaction. Well, I don't really plan to change my etiquette any time soon unless necessary. They are polite and good people who don't abandon each other in time of danger...there is no way I can't be polite toward people like them.' Meng thought, with a slightly sad look in his eyes when he thought of the last part.
Meng still believed in what his parents taught him even though he failed them and their expectations. Just thinking about it made him want to go drink some wine and forget about it. However, if Meng were to convert his modern father's words into this world, it would something along the lines: "Never bow to anyone who you personally don't recognize, no matter how strong that person might be. As long as the other side is polite without any ulterior motives, suppress your pride in front of them."
"Brother Su! Are you by any chance planning to go to New Moon City?" Lin asked and Meng turned at him and nodded his head.
'Now that I look at him more closely, his choice of clothes is a bit strange but...they don't look bad. He also doesn't look like he is part of any sect.' Lin thought and he began speculating whether try to invite Meng to Iron Spear Clan even though he is using a sword. It wasn't exactly the requirement to join but most people who joined them were originally interested in spears so it's natural that their clan might not catch Meng's interest.
"Brother Su, would you mind coming with us? We are about to return after today's failure. I believe junior sister has already mentioned from which clan are we." Lin asked which caused Ren to look at him with a slightly surprised expression while Wan Xiu looked expectantly at Meng.
'Iron Spear Clan...They are one of the strongest clans even though they don't focus too much on their profound strength. People who are willing to join such a clan usually have a good character of true warriors. Despite their different focus, they are still one of the strongest clans, I will try to go together with them but I should make a small stop near the branch of the Black Moon Merchant Guild to take a look at what old man Xia prepared for me.' Meng thought and accepted their invitation to go to the city together. All 3 of them looked relatively happy with his answer.
When 4 of them arrived at the city, Meng asked them about the location of Black Moon Merchant Guild and they happily guided him there. Meng asked them to wait for him outside.
Meng entered an enormous building and noticed that the building had a lot of floors with countless counters where people were buying or selling.
"Buying or selling?" A man behind the counter asked him instantly when Meng approached. It was visible that the guy wasn't paying much attention to him but Meng didn't mind it.
"Selling but before I offer anything, I have been told to come here." Meng said and showed a certain jade sign.
This caught the man's attention and he quickly called for the elder who in returned called Meng into his room where the elder explained a few things about New Moon City to Meng and also offered him to work within this branch of the Black Moon Merchant Guild, promising him that he won't be mistreated. The elder was slightly surprised that Meng was able to cultivate since he was told to try and treat his damaged profound veins.
Meng quickly politely refused and thanked for the information, telling the elder that he already has plans. However before Meng could leave the room, the elder gave him a few purple profound coins since he didn't have to spend materials on repairing his profound veins.
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"Here, I want to sell these 2 pills." Meng returned to the man behind the counter and said before putting 2 pills wrapped in cloth on the counter.
"W-What kind of pills are they?!" When the man unwrapped the cloth, 2 pure crimson pills were revealed and he couldn't help but raise his voice when he saw the purity of those pills even though he couldn't recognize them.
"My master gave them to me so I can sell them, they are called Recovery Pills. Not only will they restore your profound strength, but they will also heal all of your minor injuries instantly. There is also a fire essence within them that will temporarily change one's profound energy into one of the fire attribute." Meng explained but refrained from telling him that it actually won't change one's profound energy but it will actually add fire attribute so one would temporarily be able to use his personal and fire attributes. Of course, it would be impossible for them to blend together.
"That's...please wait, I need to call the elder. I am not qualified enough for this." The man quickly called for a different elder who inspected the pill and confirmed that he can feel both rich fire and life essences from the pill.
'It's similar to the famous Fire Spirit Pellet but if the description is truthful, it's much better, not by much but...I have never heard nor seen such pills, this little guy's master must be truly extraordinary to be able to successfully mix life essence and fire essence into one pill...Although its effects are not worth 1.000 purple profound coins, keeping contact with this little guy might turn to be beneficial.' The elder thought while observing Meng.
"How about 1.000 purple profound coins for both pills altogether?" The elder asked with a friendly smile.
"Fine by me." Meng expected much less so he knew what was this elder trying to do but Meng had no reason to refuse.
"Thank you and please give my respects to your master for me." The elder handed him a card containing the coins.
Meng politely bowed with closed eyes before he turned around to leave but just when he was about to open the door...
He looked back toward the counter where the elder was still looking at him.
"I hope there will be no complications in our future interactions and I hope that we can both respect each other's privacy" Meng said with a smirk which slightly surprised the elder before he finally left the building.
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"Brother Meng~! Are you done here? Can we all finally go back to the Iron Spear Clan?" Xiu asked while grabbing Meng's hand with both her hands. She was looking at him with a pleading look in her eyes.
'Iron Spear Clan sounds like a good place to start although I should make it clear to them that I won't be in their clan forever, that is if I even join them. It's possible that they will throw me out after sensing my cultivation, it's not guaranteed that they will trust those 3' Meng considered his options and decided that if he will deem them worthy, he will definitely join them and help them bloom.
"Lead the way..." Meng motioned with his free hand with a faint smile.
"Yay~! Brother Meng will definitely like the Iron Spear Clan." Xiu said and secretly stuck out her small tongue at Lin and Ren before dragging Meng by his hand.
"...haha" Both Lin and Ren looked at each other with particular expressions on their faces before Lin started laughing while scratching the back of his head and Ren just smiled at him.
