The next morning, when Meng woke up and opened his eyes, he immediately felt something on his chest.
When he looked down, he couldn't help but smile, seeing Yufeng resting her head on his chest with a peaceful smile. Meng gently moved her head on the pillow before slipping away without waking her up.
'Sorry that I can't be here when you wake up but I need to take care of something.' Meng lightly bowed his head to Yufeng who was still sleeping before he left the room.
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The shady parts of the Divine Phoenix City...
'No matter the city, there will always be some underground organizations. As long as they are paying tribute to the Divine Phoenix Sect, they are allowed to do some shady things...' Meng thought while moving through the dark streets completely hooded while hiding half of his face.
'This should be the place according to what others told me' Meng thought when he arrived in front of the door with a sign similar to the one being used by most of the inns.
"Stop, the inn is already fully booked." 2 guards in front of the door stopped him.
'Both of them are at the peak of the Sky Profound Realm, not bad' Meng looked at both guards before he replied.
"...If you envy one person, become that person. I wish to change my fate."
"?! ...Please come in" The guards looked at each other before making a way for Meng to pass.
"Thanks..." Meng threw a few purple profound coins to them before entering the building.
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"Hmm, changing your face will be an easy feat but your height and body frame are something different. Tell me your preferences, just don't choose anyone too young, you won't fool anyone as a kid with your body frame." The old man full of wrinkles said while observing Meng's face who finally revealed himself.
"Someone in the thirties, not too young or old. Not too handsome but also not too ugly so others won't pay too much attention to me. Preferably poisonous emerald green eyes and blond hair reaching up to my chin." Meng replied with a calm expression.
"Noted! However judging by the estimated guest's face, you can't be someone from these shady parts of the city. I hope the estimated guest is aware of how the "change of fate" works, just so that-" The old man snapped his fingers and said with a satisfied smile before turning a bit more serious.
"They are just face masks, I understand that much. This is the payment" Meng interrupted the old man and put something in his hands.
"?!! This is-!!!" The old man's wrinkled eyes opened widely when he sensed the power illuminating by that thing in his hands.
"Tyrant Profound Core" Meng calmly finished what the old man wanted to say.
"W-We don't charge that much for the "fate changing". And we can't possibly give you back the change." The old man said while greedily looking at the profound core in his hands.
"I commend you for not immediately trying to rob me, however, we seem to misunderstand something here. One-hundredth of this profound core is meant as the payment while the rest is meant to keep your mouth shut till your fated day." Meng said with a malicious smile.
"Heh, you look very young but it looks like you perfectly know how this world works. I promise that even if I were to be tortured, I won't ever mention this estimated guest, hehe." The old man released quite a creepy laugh.
"Alright, I will come to pick up my order later...Also-" Meng said as he began walking towards the door but he stopped right in front of them.
"You know what will happen if you break your promise, right? Not even this stupid disguise will help you hide from me." Meng said as he glared back at the man, his left hand releasing amber glowing energy while the right hand was enveloped by the dark blue energy.
"Ack! O-Of course, I have been in this business for too long. Even I have some honor as a businessman." The old man replied and bowed down as beads of sweat started falling on the ground from his face.
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*SIGH* "To think he would be capable of seeing through my perfect disguise of the old man...Not to mention the pressure of his profound strength. He is clearly only at the Sky Profound Realm but he was able to make me feel pressured, someone of Emperor Profound Realm. To which clan does this young man belong?" The old man sighed in relief before he started tearing the skin on his body, revealing the man in his forties.
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'Finally, I will have a new identity when I will travel to the Illusory Demon Realm. I can't keep hiding my face from Yun Canghai but I also would like to keep my identity as Su Meng, Young Spear Saint a secret. I don't want Sacred Grounds targeting people closely related to me. This will also force me to finally make use of Yin-oriented arts. I will also be able to freely and publicly practice my Death Scripture. Ever since I have created [7 Moves of Ferocious Sun] I have begun neglecting my Yin energy...This will force me to finally pay attention to it and while I am at it, I can try out a different weapon. I doubt anyone would connect the new identity to me just because I would be wielding a spear but one can never be too careful.' Meng thought while making his way towards the Black Moon Merchant Guild.
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"Hahaha! So you think that our nations are nothing significant?!"
'...How did I end up in this situation?' Meng thought while being in the middle of 2 sides that were previously trash-talking each other. With the Seven Nation Ranking Tournament quickly approaching, most of the nations already sent their representatives and by the looks of it, it looked like most of them were interested in the profound array that was measuring one's talent and strength. Meng just wanted to approach the plaza and activate the profound array so he could enter the Black Moon Merchant Guild's headquarters.
"What's up with that stupid look? Do you really treat us as a wind?!" While the group on Meng's right continued, the group on his left was just glaring at him but refrained from bad-mouthing anyone they didn't know.
"Look, I don't even know you but both you and that group behind me were blocking the entrance. I just wanted to pass, it was nice meeting you guys." Meng turned to his right and replied before continuing towards the profound array.
"You-! Bah...you are not even peak of the Sky Profound Realm, if you think that profound array is easy to break, you are naive." The disciple who was previously shouting at Meng looked around to see that they were truly blocking the entrance but he didn't want to just back down as it would make him look bad. At least this time, his words weren't filled with complete hostility.
'This profound array will absorb any type of attack filled with profound energy...But with my Void Imperfection Physique, I should be capable of ignoring its protective properties against the profound energy. Well, I am not here to destroy things but for measurement. It looks like there are a lot of powerful figures inside their headquarters.' Meng thought while looking at the profound array before raising his head, looking at the headquarters.
"Ehm...Black Moon Merchant Guild, I don't mean to act arrogant or anything but the profound array is a bit too small for my strongest move, therefore I am having an unfair handicap." Meng unexpectedly announced in front of all people gathered in front of the plaza.
Obviously, most of them were stunned by his words before they started laughing aloud but Meng completely ignored it and was focused on the enormous building in front of him.
"*sigh* Alright, since you don't trust my words, I can only risk evoking the wrath of the Divine Phoenix Empire." After another minute of "silence", at least from the Black Moon Merchant Guild, Meng said and raised his hand, pointing it towards the heavens.
Suddenly out of nowhere, it started to rain for a short while before the clouds completely dispersed, making everyone look above just to have their mouths wide open. The hot burning sun was right above the Divine Phoenix City and Meng was preparing to swing his arm down to send his attack at the profound array.
"STOP!" A powerful and deafening shout came from the building behind the profound array, disrupting the hot burning sun above the city and completely eradicating it before anyone from the Divine Phoenix Sect could arrive at the scene.
'Hmm...Well, what did I expect? This figure must be around Yufeng's father's level of strength. My profound strength can't be compared to that figure so they were able to easily destroy my move that contained only my profound energy.'
By now, there was complete silence and no one dared to release a sound not to mention laugh.
The profound array lit up in purple color after a while of waiting and looked as it was inviting Meng to walk inside.
Meng walked into the profound array without a single ounce of fear despite knowing the way he used to get the entry. In the crudest view, his attempt could be seen as a threat.
"What the hell was that? Was that really his doing? How is that possible? Not even the Divine Phoenix Sect have such large area type of moves."
"I could even feel its temperature from below here...I am starting to think that we have offended someone from Divine Phoenix Sect"
"Hasn't the Senior Brother said that Divine Phoenix Sect doesn't have such large area techniques?"
An uproar was raised by others waiting in the plaza instant when Meng stepped inside the profound array.
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When Meng stepped inside the array, he was transported to the garden-like surroundings filled with completely pure air along with the strong pleasant aroma that could be caused only by very high-quality herbs.
"Hm?" Meng turned around just to see a young woman dressed in a very graceful robe slowly walking to him. The young woman's appearance could be said to be kingdom-destroying, well, that was of course in Meng's standards, otherwise, he has already seen several more beautiful ladies.
"Esteemed guest, welcome to the Black Moon Merchant Guild. I will be taking care of the guest during his stay here, if the guest will need anything, ANYTHING at all, please tell me and I will take care of it." The fairy softly said with a seductive wink at the end while observing Meng's facial features.
"Anything, huh? Does Black Moon Merchant Guild test every guest like that or is it because of my inconvenient method of gaining the entry?" Meng leaned forward and asked with a wide smile and closed eyes, having his face only a few inches away from the woman's face in front of him.
"?!" The woman's eyes slightly widened in surprise and she slightly blushed. Maybe if Meng wasn't the guest, she would have tried to use her strength of the peak of Sky Profound Realm to push him away but she had her task to do.
"I have no id-" The woman was prepared to reply with an innocent smile but was cut off by someone's laugh.
"Haha, looks like the method of entering doesn't align with the character. Bring him here." The voice belonged to the one who stopped Meng from using his Sun Calamity to test the profound array. The voice itself didn't sound angry at all, instead, it sounded quite pleased.
"...Yes. Please follow me, esteemed guest." The woman took a step back from Meng before heaving a sigh of relief.