"Hey look over there! It seems something interesting is about to unfold. Let's go!" a thin young man with a fierce appearance and slightly pale complexion said as he pointed to a corner in the plaza. 

His voice was not so loud yet it was infused with a strand of Qi making it capable of being heard in a hundred meter radius.

"Hmm? Isn't that young master Lu Jie from the Lu clan? I heard he was in closed door cultivation as attempt to charge to the peak of Foundation Establishment. Does that mean he succeeded already?!" A fatty with a sleepy expression in his face exclaimed making the surrounding bystanders realize just how much power a leading clan has.

*Sigh* "It seems a backwater cultivator actually dared to provoke young master Lu Jie. He's surely tired of living." A young man with a handsome and gentle appearance sighed as he watch the event unfold. It seems most of the crowd has the same sentiments as his.

~~~

"It seems that you're quite confident in your meager cultivation. Let this young master broaden your horizon!" Lu Jie laughed til his eyes turned into two slits. "Receive three moves of mine and I'll let you walk away as if nothing happened. Don't worry, I'll suppress my strength at the early stage of Foundation Establishment lest you accuse me of bullying the weak!"

Lu Jie stretched his hand as a high grade mortal sword appeared from his spatial ring. Everyone immediately felt pressure as his lofty and arrogant disposittion changed into a fierce and ferocious one.

Opposite of him, stood a handsome young man. Although he was half a head shorter that Lu Jie, he was calm as if everything that's happening around him has nothing to do with him. His eyes were calm and deap like a serene lake. His face was like something out of a painting that was carefully drawn to perfection.

He slowly raised his left hand as a middle grade mortal sword appeared from his spation ring. As he held the sword no battle intent could be felt, in fact, it even became more calm as if he standing there with a sword in hand was the most natural thing in the world.

"If you're not going to make a move, then receive a strike of mine!" Seeing as his opponent has no intention of making a move, Lu Jie impatiently attacked. He dashed and instantly covered the 10 meter distance between them in an instant as he swung his sword in a simple manner. As promised, this simple strike only contained the might of an early stage foundation establishment cultivator.

However, something strange happened. Everyone saw that right just after Lu Jie moved to strike, the young man already had moved his sword in a peculiar manner. It was neither fast nor slow. It was like a strike that a mortal could easily do. And yet, it actually parried Lu Jie's sword strike. Take note that this young man moved his sword a little bit earlier than Lu Jie's. 

What? It seems that this kid waved his sword randomly and luckily caught young master Lu Jie's strike. That must be it! The surrounding people seemed to think the exact same thing.

But before they could wrap their heads around what just happened, the young man waved his sword in another direction just right after he parried the first strike. And as if it was a matter of fact that was bound to happen, Lu Jie's swift strike came to meet it and was actually parried once more.

"What?!" A look of disbelief was plastered in Lu Jie's face. His first strike being blocked by a random movement that was made slightly earlier than the attack can be attributed to some dumb luck, but the second one being blocked as if it was rehearsed a hundred times was something everyone can't fathom.

Feeling that something was wrong, Lu Jie Immediately flashed backwards to put some distance and to be able to digest what had just happenned.

The crowd was flabbergasted at the sudden turn of events that they were not able to notice their mouths that were open. It was silent to the point that a needly could be heard if it fell to the ground. 

"Fellow daoist, you've already made two moves. If it's fine with you, I would like to be the one to make the third move." To their surprise, it was the young man that broke the silence. He spoke neither slow nor fast. His voice was calm and collected.

"Good! Good! Hahaha! Really good!" Lu Jie was laughing but everyone could feel their hearts tighten as they feel the rage in his voice from feeling humiliation. "Come at me with your full force!" 

The young man no longer said anything as he returned his middle grade mortal sword into his spatial ring and produced 7 low grade mortal swordsg. before the crowd could say anything, one by one the swords started to float and started to form a lotus bud with all the points of the sword concentrated at the tip like how the petals of a lotus looks like while it's still a bud. It started to release an extremely sharp feeling and a droning noise making it look so ominous.

~~~

"I-is that the [Seven Lotus Buds Sword Formation]?! He actually comprehended such a rare and mystical sword formation to the first stage while he is still in the early stage of Foundation Establishment realm!!! Such monstrous comprehension!" The same young man from the crowd that had a gentle disposition gasped at the astonishing sight. 

"Is that true?! That's the sword formation that uses 7 swords for each bud, using a total of 49 swords to form 7 buds. This sword formation was said to be low grade profound rank sword formation that requires one to be at the peak of Foundation Establishment before one could attempt to comprehend it!!! Seeing as he's only at the early stage shows just how monstrous his comprehension is!!!" The fatty no longer has a sleepy expresson at the moment. 

"Look! He's about to attack!"

~~~ 

The lotus bud trembled slightly before directly flashing towards Lu Jie in a horrifying speed. 

*BANG!* a loud sound errupted as if something really fast collided with a wall.

"Fuck!" Lu Jie has long since understood that the young man before him can no longer be underestimated as he released strength comparable to a late stage Foundation Establishment cultivator to block the attack. However, he did not expect that he was still unable to fully disperse the strength of the attack and it actually pushed him back five steps and a drop of blood started to drip from the corner of his lips.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Heavens! Not only was he able to receive two moves from young master Lu, he was also capable of pushing him to the point making him bleed from his mouth!!! He's a monster... a freak!!!" The gentle looking young man exclaimed.

Thee swords had already turned to dust because of the collision causing dust to arise. The crowd was still unable to calm themselves down when they heard footsteps. It was Lu Jie. He was walking towards the young man with a grim look on his face.

"It seems that I really underestimated you. What's your name?" Lu Jie stared directly in the young man's eyes.

"Zhang Xuan" Zhang Xuan never took his eyes away from Lu Jie from start to finish.

"Good! I'll remember this name. Let's meet at the Triennial Clear Mist City Tournament. But know that I was holding back almost half of my strength. So you better raise your strength or you'll never make it to the end! Don't disappoint me." Lu Jie turned around and walked off the plaza. 

Before they could surround the young man and ask him questions, they saw the young man walk off in a different direction seeming as if the whole thing never had to do with him. 

Seeing the young man walk out seeming to not care, the crowd slowly dispersed while talking about the bizarre happenings that occured. Never did they expect that a casual stroll gave them something to talk about for the coming days.

~~~

Flavor Garden Pavillion

In a private room sat three young men and a beautiful young lady. They were talking about the events that transpired that morning. Although the one telling the story was the woman. The three men listened with strange faces. The one in the middle was listening with a face full of embarassment that actually goes really well with his gentle countenance. The fatty on the left side who was slowly savouring the food on the table had the look like everything was obvious and bound to happen. While the man on the right with a slightly pale face listened with delight and excitement. It seemed as if he was a disciple earnestly listening to his master.

"... and that young man said that his name is Zhang Xuan." The lady finished the story and slightly bowed before leaving the room. 

The best places to gather information has always been at the bar and brothel. This has been proven for countless moons. Right after the young lady left, before the three young men could speak, they heard a knock on the door.

"Come in! We've been waiting for you!" The young man in the middle with a gently aura said while giving a refreshing smile.

"Excuse us." Two men entered. Both of them were wearing clothes that were hiding almost every part of their body as if they were extremely afraid of being seen. The only thing that you could notice was that the other man was half a head taller than the other.

They sat down across the three young man that was initially in the room before taking off their hats that covered their faces. If anyone that was present from the morning plaza incident was here, they would recognize that one was young master Lu Jie, and the other was Zhang Xuan.

"Ughh. Being in these clothes is so hot!!! Good thing this brothel has private rooms." Zhang Xuan grumpily said. Unlike his clear and pure display from the morning, he was actually rowdy at this very moment.

"Brother Zhang, don't worry. This is better and was actually thought of a lot in my opinion. No one will know that you came to a brothel and was associated with any of us." Lu Jie said while smiling. He was speaking slowly like all the time in the world is his. "But brothers... why a brothel in the first place?" 

"This is the most unsuspecting place in the whole city, expecially if you want to hide your identity." The gentle young man smilingly said.

"Just imagine how many men sneak out to visit this brothel while hiding their identity. You guys entering here totally covered is not one bit suspicious. Almost everyone that enters here wants to hide their identities!" The young pale man added.

"Don't forget that this brothel sells the best wine in the city. You guys should try them." The fatty gave them cups and poured the wine for them. 

They happily clanked thier cups and drank the wine. They happily chatted about the food and wine for a while before quieting down.

"By the way, brother Cai. Your voice is really soothing, especially when it's infused with qi. I almost broke my facade when I heard you a while ago. It actually felt like i was a kid being coaxed." Zhang Xuan said after taking a sip from his cup.

"Yeah. Is that a technique that utlizes qi with your voice? It doesn't seem like that. I cultivate the Flameheart Scripture from my sect and it allows me to feel if there is a hidden malicious technique invading my senses. But I never felt something." Lu Jie added.

"Haha! You guys don't need to worry. He's always been like that. He's not using any technique, he's simply gently inside out. that's why." The pale young man energetically said.

"You'll get used to it, don't worry." fatty added. "But I still think this is nothing compared to brother Zhang's display a while a ago. If I never spoke with you 2 days ago, I would never believe you're like this even if they torture me." 

"That's just how it is. Haha. It was really effective if I do say so myself. An elder from Tranquil Sword Sect invited me over. This just goes to show that the plan was really effective. Haha!" Zhang Xuan Heatily laughed! "But brother Lu, I still don't understand why a young master like you was willing to embarass yourself like this. You're not lacking money, are you?"

"That... that's a long story. But the crux of it, is I never wanted to stand at the top. I don't want to be surrounded with people who only looks at me as if I'm an object taht they could use or brandish. I don't want to be betrothed to a girl i don't like and obviously hates me. I don't want this at all. I know I'm being an ungrateful pussy, but I really just wanted to live simply. Love and have real friends like a normal person would." Lu Jie sighed with a pained face.

"..." Zhang Xuan was speechless. He always saw young masters as someone without problems. Someone who always had what they wanted and was really arrogant. Never had he thought that he would encounter one that was against the norm. I guess everyone really has something on their plate... "Wait! Where's the pork loin on my plate? I was saving it for last and now it's gone?!" Zhang Xuan immediately sized everyone up.

"Oh. Sorry. It was me. I thought you didn't like it so I took it while you were spacing out." The fatty unhurriedly explained. 

The five of them continued to chat and get to know each other until the middle of the night. 

"Brother Cai, here's the payment for today. As promised, It contains three foundation establishment pills, fifty spirit stones, and a copy of the map of the forsaken forest." Zhang Xuan handed a spatial ring.

"Thank you so much! But as for the pills are you really sure you want to give it to us? one of these costs a hundred spirit stones. And brother Lu, are you sure you only want a copy of the map?" The young man with a surname of Cai asked.

"It's fine. Once I enter the sect, I'll be able to receive a a steady supply of those, so you can keep it. If not for you brothers, I would have to wait after the triennial tournament to be able to join the sect. I owe you brothers a lot!" Zhang Xuan cupped his hands before leaving. There are a lot of really strong people laying low, and I met four of them as soon as I enter a City. The world is really big, yet small as the same time. We'll surely meet again, and by then... I hope I  caught up with them!!!

"Brother Cai, I only need a copy of the map. I plan to stay and temper myself in the safer spots in the forsaken forest. although it's labelled as safe spots, I know the danger it catually contains is really scary. You can send the copy of the map in my place. Thank you brothers. I hope we could sit, chat, drink and eat again someday." Lu Jie cupped his hands before leaving as well.

*Sigh* Good times really do pass by really fast. "Su Qiang, Wei Gang, let's go. With this, we'll be able to buy it at last."

Just another day has passed.