"Junior Brother Issei!" Xia Mei exclaimed when she took notice of Issei. She then walked forward to greet him, "You really came!"

Issei chuckled lightly, "Of course, Senior Sister Mei, why wouldn't I come?"

They then talked a little as they walked inside the food pavilion. During the way, although they weren't really familiar with each other, having only met the day before, they managed to talk for quite a good time.

That was mostly because of Xia Mei's warm and talkative personality, that managed to lighten up Issei's mood. Although she was still scared of Issei, she had come to the conclusion that he wouldn't hurt her. After all, if he wanted to, he could have done so a long time ago.

On the way, they were followed by the eyes of almost all of the male disciples, all of them concentrated on Xia Mei. Although she was much younger than most, being only thirteen while the normal age there was already sixteen, she managed to attract a lot of attention; after all, her face was simply heavenly and her body was already comparable to a fifteen year's old, with two big twin peaks and a smooth and round bottom. And, that was because she was wearing a robe that revealed almost nothing.

After finally arriving at one of the tables in the pavilion, both of them sat down facing each other. Even then, most of the male disciples didn't even bother to control themselves and kept glaring.

It was at that moment that Issei was grateful that the hunt was still going on and most of the disciples were still in the Medicine Peak. Who knows what would happen if the food pavilion was packed with people like it normally was?

"So, what will you have, Junior Brother Issei?" Xia Mei asked as she handed him a menu. She herself was rather excited, since this was one of the few times that she came to the food pavilion. All the previous times, she felt bothered by all the stares, and decided to not go there again. This time, however, since there were less people and she was accompanied, she decided to lunch there once more.

"Oh, well, I'll have anything, as long as it's edible," Issei said as he shrugged. He had long since gotten used to spending days without food, so to him, eating extravagant food was a superfluous luxury. As long as there were nutrients, he was fine with it.

"Then… how about this?" Xia Mei said after looking at the menu for a while and pointed at one of the names written there. Passing his eyes over it, Issei nodded.

"Good!" She then raised her hand, and not even a couple breaths of time later, an outer disciple, whose job was to serve the inner disciples in the food pavilion, headed over. Xia Mei then cleanly said the orders, before thanking the disciple.

As Issei looked at how Xia Mei asked for the orders, he could see that she was quite adept at it, as if it was something like a second-nature for her. Furthermore, when she did it, she had a noble air around her.

To Issei, the more time he spent with this girl who was older than him by two years, the more he felt she was mysterious.

Reaching a point in which he could no longer keep it in, he finally asked, "Hey, Senior Sister Mei, could you tell me something?"

"Hmm?" She said as she glanced up at Issei. During the entire time, he had only talked a couple of words, so she was interested at what his question was. "Sure. What is it, Junior Brother?"

"Well… its just that you don't seem like most people here..." Issei said in a vague tone. He decided to go with such a phrase because its answer would most likely be what he wanted to know.

"Oh? Really?" Xia Mei said in surprise before chuckling, "I guess it's because I'm not from here."

"Not from the Azure Province?" Issei exclaimed surprised, "Then which province are you from?"

Chuckling again, she said, "No, what I mean is that I'm not from the Continent Of The Nine Provinces. I'm from the Blue Wind Country. My father sent me here to study martial arts and cultivate."

"Blue Wind Country?" Issei repeated, surprised. Although he felt that she wasn't from the area around the school, and instead from some far away place, he never would have thought that she was actually from another country! "I see… but, aren't there schools in your country? Why did you have to come to the Azure Province?"

"That's because my father is a the owner of a business that specializes in selling stuff, and he was currently staying on a city on the border of the Azure Province. Since there weren't any schools nearby and this school was quite close to the city, my father sent me into it. Furthermore, its only until I turn fourteen. After that, I'll be able to be accepted into one of the bigger schools of the Blue Wind Country."

Looking over the information she said, Issei nodded. Apparently, her father had moved to a city with no sects or schools, and since the good sects required people to be at least fourteen years old to enter, he sent her here for the time being. Well, at least it answered some of his doubts. Her aura could also be something that she was taught to have, since merchants were quite wealthy and could pay for a teacher to teach such things to their daughters.

"And what about you, Junior Brother?"

"Me?" Issei asked, surprised.

"Yes," Xia Mei nodded. "It's only fair that you tell me about you."

Issei then nodded and started, "Well, I was adopted by Shinso, a mayor of the Azure Tiger City a couple of years ago. Because of my talent in martial arts, he trained me and about a month and ten days ago, I entered some tournament, got a little bit of fame and ended up being invited into this school."

Issei gave her a quite short version of what had happened to him. Obviously, he wasn't willing to tell her the whole story, because albeit they seemed quite friendly with each other, they had only met the day before and he didn't quite trust her.

In reality, as of this moment, the only person he could trust was Shinso. Aside from him, he didn't dare to trust anyone else in this world without laws. He understood that one second you could be the best of friends and on the other, deadly enemies.

Obviously, he wasn't really willing to tell his secrets to a stranger.

"Oh..." Xia Mei said before nodding. She then continued, "But, aren't you a bit too young to be in this school? You seem to be only ten..."

Issei then sighed once more. Not only did he look like a girl, he also looked younger. Seriously, were the heavens playing a prank on him or something? "I'm only eleven, but because of my attainments in cultivation, I managed to enter this school."

At that moment, Xia Mei remembered the scene from the day before. During her talk with Issei, it was as if she had completely forgotten about everything else, but she was suddenly reminded of how easily he killed four cultivators, all of them in the mid-stages of the Nascent Realms.

She couldn't help but to remind herself that the kid in front of her was dangerous, and the way he was carrying himself at the moment was nothing but an act. Nevertheless, she still wasn't afraid of him. He had saved him, after all, and she was grateful for that.

Furthermore, even when she tried to give him a Nascent Bead, he had refused politely, although she clearly knew just how precious that item was. From that, it could be seen that he wasn't really a bad person, and in fact a rather good one. Well, as long as he wasn't it battle, that is.

Because of all these things, her impression of Issei was quite good and she wanted to befriend him. Not because of the benefits that she could gain from it, just from the fact that he seemed to have a good personality. People with such personalities in this world were few, and ones that could alternate between being good and bad were even rarer.

She also, for some reason, felt good at Issei's presence. Ever since she was young, people would either look at her with respect because she was the daughter of a rich merchant, with fear for reasons she couldn't fathom or with lust, which started happening more lately. Issei, on the other hand, although she could see that he was entranced by her beauty, didn't seem to have any ill thoughts toward her.

Also, Issei was the only person up until now that treated her like a normal person. He didn't treat her with too much respect or with fear or with lust. He only talked to her normally, as if she was one of his friends.

Such a way of treating was something that she couldn't feel even in her family. Her sister was way too cold, and they didn't talk much while her father was too busy with work. As such, the first time that she felt that she was normal was when she was around Issei, and she quite liked the feeling.

After being used to extreme ways of being treated, this change of pace was a rather interesting thing for her. Also, although he hadn't even known him for a day, she also felt more natural around Issei, as he exuded an aura of calmness.

At this moment, she decided that she should really put in her efforts to create ties with him. She knew that that feeling she had when she was around him couldn't be that easily achieved when she was with another person, so she decided to keep him close.

After a while, the same outer disciple came back while holding a tray of food. He then served them both and excused himself.

After that, both of them begun eating quietly, in calm, yet pleasant silence. After eating, both of them got up and headed out of the pavilion.

On the entrance, Xia Mei asked, "Hey, is there anything you're going to do after this?"

"I don't think so," Issei answered after thinking a little. There was still two days before the reunion of the Water Devil Alliance, and since Sa Ji was still inside and he didn't have anything to do, he was quite free.

Hearing his answer, Xia Mei smiled lightly before saying, "How about we walk around the academy a little? Although I haven't been here for much longer than you, I'm still more knowledgeable. I can still show you around."

Thinking over her words, Issei nodded. The last time Issei had someone show him the academy, it was with Sa Ji, and he only brought him to the Might Weapon Pavilion, the Mighty Skill Pavilion and the Cultivation Tower. Aside from that, he didn't really know any other locations aside from the food pavilion and the dorms.

Smiling even more, Xia Mei exclaimed, "Great!" She then grabbed his left hand and started walking with him through the academy, pointing at various buildings and explaining various things. During the entire process, although not intentional of her part, Xia Mei's hand had never left Issei's own hand.