Tie Hengjun

Tie had no time to dodge so instead he thrust his spear with his all might at Meng's attack. The head of the dragon actually appeared, enveloping the tip of his spear just before their attacks met each other.

*Bang* *Whoosh*

"..." Everyone was quiet, holding their breaths and waiting for the dust to clear up.

"?! What?! Impossible!" A few elders exclaimed when they saw Tie who was a few meters from his original position before he received Meng's attack, supporting his body with his spear with a trail of the blood being seen going from the corner of his mouth.

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"I can't believe it! Young master Tie was actually injured! What a genius and he even wants to join us...What is going on today?!" The disciples were shocked to see the results but they quickly started cheering them on even more as they previously thought that Tie was just holding back but they just witnessed him using his second strongest technique to repel Meng's attack but he was still injured!

"I wonder what his entire face looks like, I really want to see his eyes!" A few female disciples already took a liking to Meng.

"Hmph!" Xiu who was listening to these words right next to her couldn't help but snort and jerk her head to the side with puffed cheeks.

"...Ha-ha" Lin and Ren watching this couldn't help but release an awkward laugh while shaking their heads.

---

"...Brother Su, you are a truly strong individual, a talent perhaps once in a thousand years. It would be shameful of me to continue any further since the brother Su even managed to injure me-" Tie Hengjun said, intending to stop this spar but he was suddenly interrupted.

"What are you saying?! Does it look like your opponent needs any pity? Use your strongest technique, this little guy here can surely take it!" A loud and commanding voice resounded in the vicinity right behind the disciples and elders.

"Eh? Clan master?!" Everyone exclaimed as they tore their eyes from the podium to look at who was the one shouting.

"Father...?" Tie Hengjun muttered with a confused expression before a calm expression appeared on his face.

"Brother Su, I apologize for before...Would you be willing to receive my strongest technique?" Tie asked with a faint smile while pointing his spear at Meng.

"Please...but if you are going to use your strongest technique, use your everything, treat this as your last move before death." Meng also smiled and readied himself.

"...I will go along brother Su's wishes, however, please- be- careful!" Tie poured all of his remaining profound strength into his spear and rushed in front of Meng before jumping above him. Actually, the entire image of the flood dragon enveloped Tie and his spear before Tie slashed down with his spear, using his all remaining strength as if his life depended on this single attack. It was no longer light, friendly spar...now it became a "friendly" fight ignoring any kind of possible mishaps that could happen during it. There was no killing intent in the air but everyone could feel that Tie was using his everything together with his fighting spirit.

"?! Brother Meng!" Xiu's eyes widened as she has never seen Tie being so fired-up as far as to go risking heavily injuring someone as talented as Meng. Even the elders were getting ready to make a move and the clan master wasn't any different as he was watching the exchange with utmost focus.

"Don't you dare interfere!" Meng shouted with a wide smile before also slashing his sword to meet Tie's attack head-on.

*BANG* Dust flew everywhere and during the exchange, Meng's sword broke in half after taking some momentum from Tie's attack before he took the remaining strength of Tie's attack head-on with his body but...

"Ugh!" Tie groaned in pain and jumped out of the cloud of dust with a sword fragment slightly buried in his shoulder.

'He actually used his weapon to the fullest even after its destruction...His resourcefulness and combat experience are very good. I never expected that he would kick the part of that sword I broke to attack me, and since I used up all my profound strength in that attack, I couldn't defend against it.' Tie thought and took out the fragment of Meng's weapon from his shoulder before throwing it on the ground and focusing his attention at Meng who was still inside that cloud of dust.

"Young master Tie was injured once again! But...what about that guy?"

When the dust finally cleared up, it revealed Meng's standing figure while holding the broken sword without a single visible injury, however...

*crack* His mask covering the upper half of his face cracked in the middle before falling on the ground revealing his bright amber eyes for a split second before his eyes changed back to normal red color.

"..." No one dared to utter a single sound during that time...the only sound in the vicinity that could have been heard was the sound of his mask crashing on the ground.

"HAHAHA! What a genius...no...geniuses don't even come close to you, little guy. Even calling you a monster would be disrespectful, you should be called a devil, haha!" The clan master was the first one to break the silence and Tie just smiled while pressing his palm against his injury on the shoulder.

"I am more than satisfied with this loss, brother Su. Exchanging moves with brother Su made me realize a lot of my mistakes." Tie Hengjun said with a slight bow and honest smile.

"I thank the young master Tie for giving me a good fight, young master Tie. Please accept this to treat your wounds caused by me." Meng said before throwing a pill to Tie, completely disregarding the matter with his mask.

Tie didn't even ask a question before swallowing the pill and all his wounds closed up within a few seconds.

"What a strong healing medicine...Anyway, please just call me brother Tie."

Meng just nodded his head with a smile before pulling up his gloves, fixing them a bit.

The elders quickly told other disciples to go back and do their things and explicitly said not to spread anything about today's fight. After that, the clan master called all elders, his son and Meng to the clan's main hall used usually for important clan meetings.

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"Su Meng, your talents really can't be described with words alone, with such a power you could easily join much stronger sects. Maybe even four major sects wouldn't be impossible. Are you sure you want to join our small clan? I think it won't be very beneficial for you..." The clan master named Tie Zhancang said with closed eyes.

The elders sitting on the side looked like they wanted to cry their eyes out but they still nodded their heads in approval of the clan master's words.

Meng just smiled at this clan master's honesty, he closed his eyes and slowly shook his head.

"I want to join the Iron Spear Clan, I have already decided to do so after exchanging moves with brother Tie Hengjun. Please let me join and participate in making this clan more famous and stronger!" Meng bowed respectfully with a confident smile on his face.

His actions actually made a few elders' eyes moist.

"...Perhaps your talents are suited to be somewhere else-" The clan master said which surprised his son and elders but he quickly continued.

"-however your demeanor and character are the most suited to join our clan!" The clan master finished and smiled widely which assured everyone else.

One of the elders handed him proof of being a disciple of the Iron Spear Clan. Clan master also made it clear to him that he doesn't mind if he wants to keep wearing his current clothes even though they are a lot different from everyone else's. Clan master didn't even question Meng when he took out a new similar looking mask and put it on. Meng knew that he would most likely receive special treatment, so he asked to be treated as any new disciple aside from a few exceptions. They also gave Meng a spear of much more superior quality than his old sword. Although Meng didn't plan on abandoning the way of sword entirely, he was quite interested in spears.

.

'

'Tie Hengjun is strong but what impressed me more during that last attack was his fighting spirit. Although I could have easily won in an instant just by using my Physique, I don't regret the way I fought because I was able to see in which areas I lack quite a lot. Plus, I can't keep relying on my Physique, I should treat it as my trump card and instead focus on cultivating, the second stage is truly too weak.' Meng thought as he was walking away from the main hall and looking at his proof of being the disciple of Iron Spear Clan. Tie Hengjun stayed back to have a small talk with his father therefore Meng was all alone. Most of the elders wanted to accompany him but he quickly refused as it would only create trouble.

"Brother Meng~!"

"Brother Su!" The trio, Lin, Ren, and Wan approached Meng with a smile over their faces.

"...I am officially your junior brother if we are solely looking at seniority based on when we joined the clan." Meng said with a smile.

"That's...We are alright with "brother Su"." Lin replied with an awkward smile while scratching the back of his head.

"Suit yourself..." Meng shrugged his shoulders but it seems that not everyone agreed with this so quickly.

"Hehe, junior brother Meng, can you call me senior sister just this once?" Wan Xiu asked with a silly smile and a faint blush creeping up her face.

"...Su Meng pays his respects to senior sister Wan." Meng said with a blank expression and cheap bow.

"Hihi...I am brother Meng's senior sister" Xiu started muttering to herself with a dreamy expression.

'I had no idea she has such kinks...I guess everyone has some hidden desires inside them. I shouldn't judge...' Meng thought while looking at her dreamy expression as if she wasn't present in reality.

"Um...Can you show me where I will be staying? I am supposed to go to the section for new disciples and before you ask, I asked for it myself. By the way, will she be alright?" Meng asked Lin and Ren before casting a glance at Xiu.

"Oh...Alright, we will show you around the clan's land. And don't worry about junior sister Wan, she is...uh, a bit tired, yes, she is just tired so she will recover after some rest. Let's move." Ren replied with a slightly surprised expression before he looked at Xiu and his expression changed to a slightly scared one.

Both Ren and Lin lead Meng to the section where he will be staying for now while leaving Xiu there still daydreaming.

"..." Meng took a last glance behind him to take a look at Xiu before he released a faint smile upon seeing her peaceful yet innocent dreamy expression.

If one were to compare Xiu's beauty with for example Xia Qingyue, it would be like comparing a mortal to a goddess, however, Meng was a completely different person than the others from this world. In his previous world, he had low self-esteem when it came to dating and even though he never even dated anyone, he was always able to easily control his urges. After a few years of being completely alone, he even stopped looking at women as a potential partner altogether. It went to the point where he had to make a research if he isn't just aromantic or asexual since his urges were also slowly disappearing when it came to women, they never completely disappeared but he rarely got aroused but at least it helped him with his training in the organization.

He himself recognized Xia Qingyue's otherworldly beauty but he was still used to a different culture and to him, her beauty was too unreal that it made him even doubt if her looks were real. Putting aside the cultural thing, in Xiu's case, he found her plenty beautiful but what he appreciated the most was her innocence. If he were to perhaps choose between Xiu and Xia, he would definitely choose Xiu.