Meeting with Yuan Hai

Hao Ren followed Yuan Hai closely as he went into the courtyard. This was Hao Ren's first time meeting the sect leader one on one. Although he had met Yuan Hai before, it was during his visit with his father. So he didn't really have much of an impression of him.

Hao Ren didn't speak the entire time as he really didn't have anything to say to Yuan Hai.

Yuan Hai walked into the courtyard and sat on one of the chairs outside the house. Hao Ren looked at his surroundings and was quite amazed by how nice and serene it was. He was taken to a place that looked like a garden at the side of the house, different flowers could be seen everywhere and they gives one a sense of peace just by looking at them. 'It really is a nice place' Hao Ren was felt comfortable even though this wasn't his personal residence.

"Sit down" Yuan Hai invited Hao Ren over after he noticed Hao Ren had become a little absentminded because of the beautiful scenery in front of him

Yuan Hai's voice dragged Hao Ren out of his reverie. He immediately composed himself "Thank you sect leader" Hao Ren said before sitting down calmly

"What are your plans currently?" Yuan Hai asked Hao Ren straightforwardly

"I'll be leaving the sect soon. I intended to come see you although not like this" Hao Ren said with an awkward smile

"You do remember clearly what your father said before leaving?" Yuan Hai asked calmly

"Yes sect leader" Hao Ren replied to Yuan Hai's question

"But, it has been long since he has left and I'm getting quite bothered about it" Hao Ren stated his reason for wanting to leave

"You should know your father is very strong, so anything that can keep him till now isn't something the likes of the current you can handle" Yuan Hai said while looking in the direction of Hao Ren intently

Hao Ren also knew about this, he didn't plan on going to his father at once. He plans on training while traveling to increase his strength as much as possible before heading towards his father.

"You should know that currently, I need a bigger place that can hasten my growth. I won't grow if I remain here as I wouldn't have any pressure pushing me to grow stronger" Hao Ren said. He also had to grow strong fast because of the mission senior Zhao gave to him, but he couldn't tell anyone about this as it was his greatest secret.

"Sigh, you will need a better place to indeed further your training. Do you have a place in mind?" After pondering for a while, Yuan Hai also decided it was best not to hold Hao Ren back as if he can go out and mix into the world of martial artist, he truly would be able to grow stronger rather than staying in this little Chailing region.

"I don't know yet, I will just go with the flow of things for now" Hao Ren said. He had already planned out how he was going to travel, but he didn't want people to know about as it might be dangerous for him. Hao Ren is a very calculative person and is also very smart since he was a child. He only lived with his father since he was a child and they traveled together a lot. They will usually stay at the particular location no more than 3 years. This is the longest he had stayed at a place and he is missing the trill of traveling.

"Okay, there isn't really much I can help you with on your journey as you need to depend on yourself to grow stronger" Yuan Hai said. He remembered how he was also adventurous as a youth as well. He was the most talented individual in the sect at that time. When he got to the age of 18, his master told him to head out of the sect for training.

His training was what made him who he was today, and that was why he is never against allowing disciples head out for training especially talented ones.

"I know sect leader, thank you for accommodating me all this while. If possible, I'll repay this favour later in the future" Hao Ren said respectfully

Although Yuan Hai hasn't really done much for him, he was provided resources for cultivation due to him. Hao Ren had respect for Yuan Hai as he is someone who values relationships. If not for Elder Wu and Wu Chen's evil doings in the sect, he wouldn't have allowed Hao Ren to battle them talk less of killing them. Even if he allowed the fight to occur, it wouldn't have been a death match.

"This is all I can help you with. Hopefully it can help you on your journey" Yuan Hai said while passing a storage ring over to Hao Ren.

There are different types of storage equipments in the world, but storage rings are much convenient as they are small and can perfectly fit in a finger. It can't be easily snatched so everyone prefers them. Its just that in a small place like the Chailing region, storage pouch are seen more frequently as they are easier to make than storage rings.

When Hao Ren took the ring, he looked at what was inside. Although he didn't really check out everything in it, he was able to get a rough estimation of everything inside the ring.

"Thank you for your generosity sect leader. Hao Ren will never forget your kindness" Hao Ren sincerely thanked Yuan Hai for his generosity

Inside the ring, Hao Ren saw pills, herbs and a lot of money. Although the money wouldn't be huge to others, for the current Hao Ren its definitely a lot.

"I forgot to ask, do you have a map of this region and the neighbouring regions?. It will really help me on my journey" Hao Ren asked Yuan Hai for a map. This was one of the reasons he wanted to meet Yuan Hai previously as he had asked of a well detailed map from Elder Li but didn't get anything from him as he said he didn't have it.

"Hmm, a map you say. I'll be right back" Yuan Hai got up immediately after he finished speaking and headed inside the house.

Some minutes later, Yuan Hai came out with an old looking piece of paper in his hand.

"This is the map, although it doesn't cover a lot of places, it can still help you in getting to a bigger region where you will be able to get a bigger map" Yuan Hai said while handing the piece of paper over to Hao Ren.

"Thank you sect leader. I will be leaving tomorrow as I need to begin my training. If not for wanting to meet up with you and also settling my scores with Elder Wu and Wu Chen, I don't think I would have returned previously" Hao Ren told Yuan Hai when he would be leaving

"So soon. Sigh, forget it. Take care of yourself when you are out there. You should know how dangerous it is for martial artist outside their territories. Humans are the most dangerous people out there, you should be careful of the people who accompanies you" Yuan Hai couldn't help but remind Hao Ren about the dangers of people. There was one time when the people who he thought were his friends betrayed him, he almost died because of it.

"I will remember your teachings sect leader. I will be going back to my courtyard now. Tomorrow I will leave" Hao Ren said. Immediately after saying this, he got up, bowed towards Yuan Hai and turned around and left.

Yuan Hai looked at the fading shadow of the youngster and couldn't help reminiscing of the time he also left the sect. At the time he left, he was still a young naive youth. When he returned, he had already gained experience of how things are and he had also killed a lot of people.

Yuan Hai looked at the sky deep in thoughts...