"No. I wish to take part just like everyone else, Afterwards, I will come to find you."
"You insolent whelp, do you not understand the privilege you were given!"
Approaching the pair, he was almost taken aback by the shouting match that was happening.
Even more surprising, was that a mortal was directly challenging a master. That sort of thing did not happen, in his 182 years and counting this was the first time he baring witness to such a thing.
Granted the master was only at the foundation stage which, to Samuel, meant that he was still but a babe in the path of cultivation.
The young woman, barely passed her maturity, stared daggers at a man who could slaughter her with a slap.
"Hah! Do not talk to me about privilege! I know very well who you work for Uncle Dang! Tell my father, I am not playing his games anymore!"
The male master was now visibly red in the face as essence coursed throughout his body.
"You insignificant..."
"Taking your rage on a mortal is beneath you, fellow master."
Samuel took this moment to interject while at the same time emitting a bit of his divine will, a powerful ability, on the man robbing him of the essence flow.
Both woman and man stopped in their tracks as they turned to the third member who injected himself into their conversation.
Like the rest of the crowd, once the pair noticed his presence both let out an audible gulp even if for different reasons.
The male master was first to regain his bearing and immediately bowed in an apology.
"Elder! This lowly master apologizes for his brashness!"
Samuel let out a disapproving snort but remained amicable.
"Rank should not be the motivator for behavior but I did not come here to lecture nor is it my place to guide you. I merely took an interest in the one you are talking to."
The young woman took one of her delicate slightly tan fingers and pointed to herself. Her large blue eyes framed with long beautiful eyelashes blinking rapidly in shock.
There was this aura of grace to everything she did, making Samuel assume she was perhaps part of some minor noble. Major nobles and people of their ilk liked to use more private paths to enter sects.
"U-Uh-Umm... Arre... Are you talking to me?"
Her plush pink lips struggled to form words and yet even in her stutter, she managed to keep some poise only further cementing his assumptions.
Samuel tilted his head pointing to the still-bowed master.
"Who else? I do not believe this master was speaking to anyone else."
An unintentional giggle escaped her lips which were more at home with his expectations of women her age.
But then her eyes widened as a blush formed on her cheeks that fit her face in a charming heart shape.
"No..."
Samuel raised an eyebrow unsure about why the woman was acting so shy. Seconds ago she was in a heated argument with someone who could end her just as easily as he could.
Now she looked like a typical meek maiden.
While he could understand that he was handsome, anyone at his level was, he should not command such a response.
"Am I making you uncomfortable?"
He said trying to be more soothing.
It made the surrounding women(and some men) who were all eavesdropping on the hunk of a man feel very very hot.
The direct target of his attention was in a very similar boat.
"What? No!"
"Then why are you having trouble speaking with me?"
Samuel's straightforward delivery combined with the natural timber of his voice made for a very pleasing pair.
Being the recluse he was, surrounded by equally beautiful men and women, he never gave the effect he had on those of a much lower realm than him any thorough thought. Barely having much interaction with them till now. Even then he suppressed his presence heavily.
Lucia, for example, got mobbed by men and women whenever she visited a mortal settlement unless she suppressed her presence to an insane degree.
He was having that effect on the men and women here except those in the vicinity had much higher self-control and survival instinct not to get in his way. His clothing and the way he carried himself had an air of unspoken power.
They had no way of knowing that his disposition made him effectively harmless to them, otherwise, Samuel would probably be taking part in an impromptu gangbang with him as the main event.
"Because... I was surprised at your sudden appearance... is all."
Unbeknownst to him, the woman in front of him was showing the greatest restraint of all. She was not immune to his natural magnetism but her past gave her the experience not to do anything untoward to the polite man.
"I see..."
Samuel was not a complete idiot when it came to social interaction. Names were a good conversation so he tried that.
(This was not true, rocks understand social cues better than this man, he just happened to read enough books to imitate an approximation of social adaptability.)
"Well, how about we give each other our names? Mine is Samuel, no family name."
"Elizabeth Purewater, it is a pleasure to meet you."
It worked as the woman whom he could now put to visibly relaxed. Hoping to carry it he said.
"Elizabeth, an oath to divinity. A beautiful name indeed."
Elizabeth could not help it, she swooned... and was caught in Samuel's powerful arms as he caught her mid-fall.
Elizabeth stared into the mismatched orbs that seemed to glow as he looked down in worry, her heart trying to beat out of her chest.
This was the first interaction between two figures who would one day shake the entire cultivation world.