Meeting Friends - Ren Hai.

"And who are you?" The purple robed man's eyes narrowed as his thick eyebrows tilted vertically, his gaze glanced at Shu He's face before moving on to the white cloak he was wearing, or rather the robes that were peeking out from underneath, when he saw the emblem that was on them his eyebrows twitched.

Shu He let off a smile that wasn't a smile "Didn't you hear what I said? I was invited by their Senior Brother" he didn't slow his steps as he made his way over to the group wearing the dark blue robes.

Shu Xue and the others followed along, the other two sending each-other confused glances though they didn't say a thing.

"Lies, Tao Yan left over a year ago!" The man in purple yelled, yet he took a step back as his eyes passed over the robes worn by Bai Lian and Na Xue, the caution in his eyes increased.

"Yes, he was a guest in our sect as he passed the challenge after all, we just arrived here a couple of days ago" Shu He clearly explained, both for the man in purple and the group in blue behind him, as he said that the blue robed groups eyed seem to light up.

"…" The purple robed man turned silent as he eyed the group in front of him, a man behind him stepped forward and yelled "Who cares if you're that bastards friend, mo-" yet before he could finish, the thick browed man slapped him causing him to fall over, his eyes filled with shock.

"I see, then excuse us; We have no more business here" the thick browed man turned and left without a moment of hesitation, the others with him were confused but followed after sending a confused glance towards Shu He's group.

After a moment of silence, Shu He let out a sigh as he knelt down to the young man named Ren Hai and asked, "Are you okay?".

The young man looked up towards Shu He as his arms dropped in front of him, a shade of shame overcame his expression "I'm fine…" his blue eyes dimmed as his orange hazel spiky hair swayed in the wind.

"Do you really know Senior Brother?" a look of doubt tainted his expression, he clearly held caution towards this person that saved them.

"Of course, I wouldn't lie… though maybe that doesn't really mean much" he pulled a letter out of his robes, the seal on it flickered with a minute amount of Qi, the moment Ren Hai felt the Qi he jumped "Senior Brother!" he snapped the letter out of Shu He's hand as he carefully observed the envelope "…It's definitely from Senior Brother!" the others surrounding him looked at each-other with joy.

"See? I'm telling the truth" Shu He chuckled, Ren Hai glanced at him and nodded before opening the letter and reading the contents, after a few seconds he sighed "Just like him…".

"What does it say?" Shu He's eyebrow rose out of curiosity; Ren Hai handed him the letter without any reluctance.

It read –

Whoever receives this letter, let the other sect members know that Shu He is a welcome guest, he has helped me and the others a lot, it wouldn't be wrong to say we owe him our lives.

Tao Yan.

And that was it.

"That was a lot less than I thought it would be…" Shu He flipped the letter over, wondering if there was anything on the back side; But no, that really was it.

'I wouldn't say I saved their lives though… if it wasn't for me that wolf wouldn't have been rampaging then anyway' he thought to himself, but he remained silent about that.

"That's just how Senior Brother works, even the last letter we received from him read more like a shopping list than a journal" The young man sighed as he stood up, he winced in pain from his bloody arms.

"Here, take this" Shu He handed him a small red pill, it was a simple Tier 1 Fleshy Restoration pill. Ren Hai glanced at the pill before he hesitated "Are you sure? Pills are quite pricy…" yet before he finished Shu He flicked it into his mouth "Just take it, I have plenty".

Before their eyes the small wounds on Ren Hai's arms closed up, of course the blood still needed to the wiped away, but the bruising had subsided as well, it was healed!

Ren Hai bowed deeply "Thank you, senior!". The way of address caused Shu He to frown "I'm the same age as you, you know? Maybe younger…" he was almost 14 now, firmly in his teenage years, Ren Hai himself didn't look much older.

"If you're Senior Brother's friend then I can't be rude!" the few behind him nodded in unison causing Shu He to smile wryly "Calling me senior when I'm not even 14 yet feels rude, you know?".

"That young?! S-sorry, what shall we call you?" Ren Hai panicked, it seems he thought Shu He was just joking about his age before.

"Just Shu He is fine".

"Shu He… so you were the one Senior Brother mentioned in his last letter! But… you look a bit older than he described" Ren Hai tilted his head slightly in confusion.

"Really? What did he describe me as?"

"He said a young child a head shorter than Sister Gong had faced off with a frightening spirit beast with them and was filled with talent! You seem a lot taller than that…"

"Ahahaha…" Shu He couldn't help but laugh awkwardly, he had struggled with his height up until very, very recently when his body was reforged by the Nine Heavens Divine Body technique, it was like he experienced a couple of years of growth at once!

"That's right! I kept forgetting to bring it up, but you did suddenly grow taller!" Na Xue clapped her hands together in realisation "Was it some technique you found? Do tell!" Her eyes were filled with curiosity.

"It was a technique… but don't even think about trying to get it from me, it's impossible" Shu He smiled with his eyes, Na Xue backed away and sighed "Fine, I didn't need it or anything…".

"A technique to grow… how enviable" A whisper from Bai Lian went unheard from all but Shu He who pretended to not hear it.

"Seems you are who you say you are… let me thank you on behalf of our sect for helping us, you probably heard before, but my name is Ren Hai and I'm the core disciple representing the sect" Ren Hai bowed once more.

"I'm Shu He, I'm not here on behalf the sect so doesn't worry about that" Shu He then turned to his companions "These are disciples of the Crystal Coral Sect, I made friends with a few of their members on a mission before".

"I was wondering why you started acting up, so it was like that…" Na Xue nodded as a smile crept up on her face as she introduced herself "I'm Na Xue, like you I'm also a core disciple~ So let's get along, okay?" She sent a grin toward Ren Hai who almost turned sheet white.

"N-no, sorry, I wasn't trying to show off my status! I can't compare to a core disciple of such a prestigious sect!"

The others behind him also yelped with surprise and a bit of panic.

"Stop teasing them will you? She didn't mean anything." Shu He sighed as he looked towards Bai Lian, her white hair caused them to gasp slightly as she bowed "I'm Bai Lian, outer disciple of our sect" she gave a short and quaint introduction, but the gasps didn't stop for a different reason.

'It seems the Bai clan is renowned in this region…' Shu He noted.

"Senio- Shu He, what are you planning to do now? We appreciate your help but if we make you sidetrack from your journey…" Ren Hai asked.

Shu He crossed his arms in thought "We were planning on leaving… but now that we've met you, I think we'll stay, I need your help after all".

"If we can do something to help, then ask away!" Ren Hai replied with pride.

"You see I'm taking the same test as your Senior Brother, only I'm starting in this region and need some information to do with the riddle" Shu He explained as a look of hesitation crossed Ren Hai's face.

"That's…" A drip of sweat dripped from his brow.

"Can't do it?"

"No! It's just that us disciples here don't know much about it… if we head to the sect I'm sure our elders or sect master could help but…"

"You don't want to leave?"

Ren Hai nodded awkwardly.

"That's fine, we'll stay here and help then".

"Really?!" Ren Hai's eyes lit up "It would help a lot if we had someone as strong as you…"

"Really, I've grown interested in this beast tide, that and my little companion here seems to be interested as well" Shu He patted the head of the little girl standing by him, her eyes locked on the sea like she was watching her prey.

"So, we're staying? Great, seems we can have some fun" Na Xue cracked her knuckles as she set down her bags.

…

Not too far away from the group's encampment was another encampment, only this one was filled with disciples donning a light purple robe, they were gathered around a charm that was emitting a sound isolating field with the thick browed, thin nosed man in the middle, in front of him was a man with a large bruise on his face.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" The thick browed man asked.

"N-no!" the bowed man replied, tears in his eyes.

The thick browed man sighed as he covered his face "Idiots, all of you! I've told you many times before to look and think before you act!"

"But Senior Brother, who were they? Why did they help that small sect?" one of the other disciples asked, his face filled with confusion.

"Why they helped them is irrelevant, what matters is that they did it in the first place! We shouldn't treat the Crystal Coral Sect as easy targets for a while!"

"Who were those people?" another expressed their doubt.

"Use your eyes! What robes were they wearing! You should have memorised all the prominent sects!" The thick browed man yelled.

"I don't remember such robes being from a sect in this region… what was it they had on their robes…?".

"Was it 'Metal'? It was 'Metal' wasn't it!"

"They were from the Titanic Steel Sect?!"

"Why are they here?!"

"But even if they were… we still outnumber them, right?"

*Thwack* a rock flew and hit the person that said that square in the face.

"FOOL! The Titanic Steel Sect isn't a mere sect, it's one of the 5 great sects! Their entrance requirements are far more stringent, their resources and techniques are far more abundant and the teachers there are far better than what we can ever imagine!".

"And there's one thing you don't even realise! Unlike us small sects which regularly send disciples of all ranks out to earn resources, only Inner Disciples or above are allowed to leave the sect outside of special circumstances! If you meet a Titanic Steel Sect disciple outside they'll all be formidable cultivators! That goes for the other great sects as well!"

"So we're just supposed to let them come and take resources that were meant for us small sects?" One complained, causing the thick browed man to snort.

"That's just how the world is, the strong take from the weak… but… we won't actually need to do anything anyway" A slight grin crossed his face "Let a great sect deal with a great sect" his eyes narrowed as he looked over the horizon "I'm sure the Everlasting Ocean sect won't take nicely to another great sect eating through its bottom line".

An image of two inhuman figures was pictured in his head.

"Especially those two monsters".