At my interjecting words, the young master’s eyes, while still full of anger, quickly dim to a cold fire. He’s regaining control of his emotions, unlike the stereotype of a young master.

All the pomp, less of the idiocy.

A dangerous combination.

“Who, may I ask, does this Long Shui have the honor of speaking to?”

His words belay the cautiousness in his voice. That I may have backing.

That Mei Lin may have secret backing.

Besides that, I have now hit the attention trigger for the cultivator escort. Bringing loud attention to the fact that Mei Lin is looking to join the sect. Making this now his problem.

At the very least now, he can’t ignore the situation. His eyes are scrutinizing us.

Everything from this point reflects on him and the sect. Young Master Shui realizes this as well, which also probably adds to his cautiousness.

There’s no way in hell I can give him my name.

I do that and I’m not sure that even Big Sis Crane could cover me from the shit storm.

From here, I should de-escalate and appease. Get him to the point where he is not satisfied, but lets him keep face and diffuses his anger.

What’s something I can do that could be an acceptable resolution for him? Something that will give him pause. Making him research more into who I am, but also try not to offend me.

Before I can think of an idea, his voice gets even sharper, though it still holds a measure of cautious respect.

“Sir? Did you hear me? I was hoping to catch your name. I do not recall there being a male son in the Mei family.”

He’s smart, not letting his anger get ahold of him, just in case, that I have significant backing or be someone strong myself. Even though he had suspicions, he resorts to diplomacy first.

It’s clear he realized that my ability to push him away and move between him that quickly could make me a threat. Well, I still get the feeling that he’s not averse to a fight. It seems he’s trying to gather information regarding his new adversary.

I will have to use all my skills in working off this new identity I have forged.

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Straightening my back and raising my chin slightly, I nonverbally portray that I view myself at equal standing to him. My voice comes out deep and confident. Already having a deep voice, I adjusted even lower, making this one rumbling like the low tones of thunder.

Heavy healing continues to maintain this type of voice for the disguise.

“Hello, Young Master Shui. I’m glad to see you are here. Many of us are expecting great things from your entry into the sect.”

He opens his mouth a bit, but before he can ask, I say, “Ah, right. You want to know my name. Unfortunately, I’m not at liberty to give away that information at this point in time.”

My scan shows that the cultivator is starting to get interested in me.

I feel a tingle in the back of my neck, and the vestiges of a spiritual sense through my scan, wash over me.

“Rest assured, though. I too will be taking the exam. So, I’m hoping for us to be able to get long quite well as sect brothers.”

The cultivator seems to relax slightly at this, as this is now just become two prospective test takers having a war of words. Much better than a fight breaking out between a potential sect member, especially a noble clan member and an unknown outsider.

With that said, arguments and fights between prospective sect members are somewhat okay. Something that is not uncommon, as I’ve found out.

In some cases, some duels are held before they even reach the testing grounds.

Unfortunately for me, that appears to be the route that is happening here.

Taking in my demeanor, as well as my words, he responds with a surprisingly bright voice.

“Ah, a fellow looking to join the group. Would you mind if we trade tips, then?”

While his voice seems welcoming, his eyes show a true malicious glint. It looks like he’s heard all he needs to and wants to take revenge for getting in his way.

His pride must be overwhelming his common sense.

An idea comes to mind from this. Something that would allow me to quickly deal with this situation. It’s a stupid gamble.

Especially since it’s a young master.

Activating my scan, I take a deeper look at him. Looking for deficiencies in his body cultivation.

One of the grey areas for scanning is body cultivation.

That is an area that anyone can start on the journey for, but also may require the help of a master to hone. If you use certain methods, it is likely to be secret to the point, where it would be suspicious and trigger a protection.

From what it appears, Young Master Shui follows a specific method, but his body cultivation is off because of generic issues. Giving me the ability to easily defeat him and trade “tips.”

Before I accept his offer, I notice a peculiarity from my scan. One of his young master allies seems to be watching me intently. While in this scenario that wouldn’t be uncommon, I feel that he is interpreting the things I do.

It’s possible he may have a discernment ability. One that gives him an idea of what I do or could do.

Looks like I have to be careful on what I reveal. That will mean no martial arts, only brute force and speed. I also will have to abandon the trading tips idea and settle this quickly through the battle. I don’t want anything like what happened with the old man to happen again.

Luckily for me, brute force is all I’ll need against this level of the opponent. Compared to fighting against cultivators, or running through tight, twisting tunnels at extremely high speeds… it’s almost like he’s not moving at all.

Since someone has already outed my reaction speed, when this inevitably gets to the information traders and gets attached to my actual identity it will still be information they already know.

Time to get this show on the road, though.

“That sounds like a great idea. It is great learning from our peers, don’t you think?”

His face tightens in slight irritation at my casual tone as the group moves to give us a wide berth.