I walked toward the counter to report the completion of the mission.

"Excuse me!" I walked towards the always busy-looking senior sister and said.

Glancing at my face, the counter-sister said, "Oh! It's you. Have you completed the mission?"

Her monotonous voice reminded me of the convenience store clerks whose time seemed to be stagnant. Repeating the same thing day in and day out...

"Yes." Taking out the poisonous Lillies from my bag of holding, I handed them to her.

After checking the poisonous Lillies, the sister once again continues in her monotonous voice, "Hmm. You have completed the mission. The reward for the mission is 250 merit points. Please hand over your identification jade."

I did as told.

"Here, Take it." The sister then returned it to me.

Taking the identification jade and seeing my merit points at 250, I felt a bit happy.

"Thank you for your hard work," I said to the sister who returned a surprised glance at me.

"Yeah...Have a good day." Surprised by the sudden thanks, the sister said a bit awkwardly.

I walked away not minding the long stare from the counter sister.

...

Just as I left the mission hall, I came across a small crowd of people. I would have normally gone on my merry way but listening to an aggressive voice made me stop.

"Xiao Tian! You piece of trash, you must have cheated. How could trash like you complete such a hard mission." It seems I have stumbled on a face-slapping scene.

Well, I could go on my way, but, a little peek won't hurt anyone right?

I squeezed through the crowd and the scene of an angry man dissing Xiao Tian came into my view.

"Say how you cheated in the mission. There's no way trash like you could complete that mission." The angry-looking man said to Xiao Tian aggressively.

Well, though I know the power of the 'Hate halo' of the protagonist I could not turn my head around why this guy is getting angry over Xiao Tian completing a mission.

Xiao Tian also seemed a bit angry by the sudden unreasonable anger displayed by the other party, "Well, why don't you come to find out if I cheated?"

He showed a 'Come on' gesture.

Of course, while this was going on, a random person in the crowd was giving the details.

"Oh! This is the tenth seat of the 13th courtyard, Xue Tai. I remember that he once took the mission Xiao Tian completed but failed."

"Really?"

The crowd started to murmur among themselves. What I was confused about was why the hell does a random guy know about the mission that Xiao Tian took?

Ha...Well, it doesn't concern me anyway. I looked on as Xue Tai's face turned red from Xiao Tian's provocation.

"You are courting death!"

Hey hey hey, the guy said it. The famous classic line said by the cannon fodders.

Xue Tai rushed towards Xiao Tian with a murderous look. Xiao Tian didn't seem to show any sign of retreat as he also took a fighting stance.

Seeing that Xiao Tian didn't run away, people once again began to say," Does this guy want to die? He wants to face Brother Xue Tai!"

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"He should have run while he could."

Of course, while this was going on I had already activated insight. Xue Tai was in 3rd stage of Qi Condensation and Xiao Tian was also in 3rd stage. Xiao Tian seemed to have already stabilized his cultivation base.

I looked on as Xue Tai continue to unleash a flurry of punches toward Xiao Tian who continued to dodge expertly.

"Can you only dodge trash?" After seeing that Xiao Tian avoid every single punch, Xue Tai said angrily.

Xiao Tian suddenly stopped after that. He then moved at an incredible speed, hitting Xue Tai in the chest. Xue Tai fell to the ground spitting blood from his mouth.

His expression was distorted as if thinking how could a trash defeat him? He slowly stood up with trembling legs and said while walking away, "You wait for me. This is not over yet."

It seems this guy was the most annoying chain-type villain. I felt a bit sorry for Xiao Tian as the crowd also soon dispersed murmuring things like 'The trash beat Xue Tai.'

Looking at the lone protagonist, I walked toward him.

-*-*-*-*-*-

-The protagonist with a Grandpa, Xiao Tian-

"Hey!" A hurried voice suddenly called out after the crowd had dispersed.

"Hmm?"

Xiao Tian turned back, seeing the beautiful disciple from before. Now, that he thinks about it he never got 'her' name.

"It seems you returned safely from your mission but-" The 'girl' before him glanced in the direction where Xue Tai left. "Trouble in the sect, huh?"

Facing the gossip-filled eyes of the person before him, Xiao Tian was a bit speechless but he answered nonetheless. "Those are just some goons of my brother. They seemed to have come to harass me to curry favor with my brother."

"So, Family drama! They usually tend to be the juiciest. Sounds interesting."The 'girl's' eyebrow rose as 'her' amusement was barely hidden.

"Don't say it like I am some kind of walking show for you to leisurely enjoy." Xiao Tian couldn't help but say a bit too intensely.

The recent harassment from those goons has already crossed his bottom line.

Xiao Tian swears that he will make his brother and all those goons suffer. He swears to Heavens.

The 'girl' before him seems to be a bit taken aback but quickly spoke, this time 'her' voice having some compassion. "Oof! I didn't expect it to be so rough. Sorry." 'Her' voice sounded a bit apologetic as 'she' continued "Moreover, I didn't expect that there are still such mindless people in the sect. You must have suffered a lot."

Xiao Tian was stunned. Seeing that the 'girl' before him truly understood his pain, He felt like he had finally found a bosom friend. For some reason, everyone ignores how those goons act so unreasonably, so this new attitude was a breath of fresh air to him.

"Sorry. I may have come off as a bit too intense." Xiao Tian realized that he had leaked some of his bloodlusts.

"No, that's okay. I am surprised that you are still sane after those mindless and unreasonable harassments. Do you want some help? I have got some friends who have quite large influences in the Outer sect."

Xiao Tian appreciated the kind gesture, but he ultimately refused. "No need, I will take care of them myself."

"Well, if you say so. I just realized we have not introduced ourselves yet. I am Bai Yu from the [First Courtyard]." The now known, Bai Yu extended 'her' hand toward him to shake.

"...Xiao Tian from the [Thirtheenth Courtyard]." Xiao Tian took the pale hand and shook it, feeling the slight warmth emanating from it.

[He is a Boy, Little Tian] A voice suddenly spoke from within his consciousness. It was his Master.

"BOY?" Xiao Tian mistakenly spoke aloud. He looked on as Bai Yu slightly tilted 'her'...his head.

[Master. Are you sure? I think you might be mistaken...] Xiao Tian felt his worldview collide with the anomaly named Bai Yu and collapsed.

The cake is a lie.

Xiao Tian now somehow understood the sentiment behind this sentence.

[Yes. It must be quite surprising. But under Heaven and Earth, there are countless weird things, so you must not be too startled, Little Tian.] His Master softly consoled him.

Xiao Tian was convinced but still, looking at the 'boy' in front of him, he felt a bit deceived. How can a 'boy' be more beautiful than any girl he has ever seen?

But still, Xiao Tian is the protagonist, after all, his mental capacity is quite strong. Xiao Tian recovered from his shattered worldview, albeit a little slowly.

"So, what did you want to talk about, Bai Yu?" Xiao Tian asked slowly.

"I was just checking up on you. You seem to have suffered some injuries during our fight." Bai Yu said softly, his violet eyes scanning for any injuries.

"It's fine. The injuries were mere scratches." He mainly suffered from Qi depletion then, so now, he feels just fine.

"Then, it's good. After all, I don't want one of my friends to get injured." Bai Yu seemed to add the label of 'friend' to him quite easily.

"Friend..." Xiao Tian was stunned. The only one he has as his friend was Fatty Zhang.

"Do you not think so? We have fought side by side and helped cover each other's backs. So, I consider you my friend." Bai Yu sounded serious.

At the same time, in his consciousness, the voice of his master appeared.

[Little Tian, it's always good to make new friends. The journey to immortality will be too lonely otherwise.]

Listening to the worldly knowledge of his master, Xiao Tian also felt that he was quite a loner. So, he agreed.

"No, I mean, Yes. From now on, you are my friend, as well." Xiao Tian felt a bit embarrassed due to his lack of social interaction, yet he persisted.

"Then, let's get along well in the future." Looking at the happy smile of the violet-eyed, Bai Yu. Xiao Tian wants to seriously ask a question, how the hell is 'he' a boy?