Awakening of the Ancient: Rise of the Fallen

"This forest is so dense. It might be troublesome to fight here,"  Zi Zhenfeng exclaimed as he walked through the forest. He was in the lead while Wu Tian and Xu Ming were walking behind.

"We should look for a place to stay the night as we will not try to get the enlightening ball. Just rest and save our strength for 6 days before we attack the holder," Xu Ming said.

"I pity the people that will come across the enlightening ball. Their life is going to get so troublesome," Zi Zhenfeng said, smilingly.

"Don't Jinx us!" Wu Tian said in an annoyed tone. 

Zi Zhenfeng laughed out loud as he replied, "Hahaha, why are you so worried. It's not like the enlightening ball is going to drop right in front of u..." but he stopped midway as a ball came from the sky and landed right before him. 

The ball was semi-transparent and it had a diameter of 20 centimeters only.

"Awesome. Should I thank you for that?" Wu Tian said sarcastically.

"Go ahead. Pick it up now, it's not like we can leave it behind," He further said.

"Hey, why should I be the one to take it! You take it!" Zi Zhenfeng retorted.

"It landed in front of you so you pick it up. Isn't that right, Xu Ming?" Wu Tian asked as he looked towards Xu Ming who nodded his head.

"If you're scared, I'll pick it up," He further said as he stepped forward, but Zi Zhenfeng picked it up before he could.

"What's there to be scared of? See? I picked it up," Zi Zhenfeng said as he held the ball in his hand.

"Anyway, what should we do now that we have the ball? Should we go to an open place so that we could fight better?" He inquired.

"That's no need for that. I think we should stay here. I have a plan," Xu Ming said as he glanced at the orb.

"Let people come after the orb. We can't leave the orb in the ground, but it didn't say that we can't give it away. When there are a lot of teams after us, we can just throw the ball towards one of them. We can let them fight for the orb, while we leave. On the 7th night, we can take back the orb,"

He told them his idea that brought a smile to both their faces.

"Alright. Let's do it," Wu Tian said.

The time kept passing slowly and soon it was night. The orbs started shining brightly during the night and 20 pillars of light appeared high in the sky.

The ones that didn't have the ball started running towards the nearest pillars.

"Hmm? Why is no one here yet?" Wu Tian muttered as he waited for over 20 minutes.

"Someone coming," Xu Ming muttered as he looked to his left, and soon, 3 people arrived there.

"Ah, It's you. Senior Wu, Senior Zi, ah, have you seen a rabbit? we were chasing after it, maybe it went there. We'll see you later," The leader of the team was surprised as he saw Wu Tian and Zi Zhenfeng. He made up an excuse as he escaped.

"Indeed. There are still a few that are in the same realm as us though. Let's see if they happen to be near," Wu Tian let out as he sat down and rested his back against the tree.

Zi Zhenfeng and Xu Ming also sat down as they rested.

Throughout the night, many people came to them, but as soon as they saw the person that was holding the orb, they turned back and left as fast as they came.

"Geez, I'm getting bored just sitting here," Zi Zhenfeng let out as he yawned.

"No one is that desperate yet. They won't attack strong teams," Wu Tian said.

The night passed away and they didn't have to take part in a single fight.

It wasn't the same on the other side of the forest. Massive battles were taking place for the balls. It was so chaotic everywhere. No team was able to keep the ball with them for over 10 minutes. In fact, there were already a few deaths by now. Out of 1002 people, 87 were already dead. The fight was getting brutal, which was completely opposite to what Xu Ming's team was going through.

The night passed away just like that, and the day arrived, but the fighting still hadn't stopped. Even though the balls weren't shining anymore, the people that had seen the balls didn't want to leave empty-handed.

"If it keeps going on like this, it might be too easy to win this. We might not even have to fight after all," Zi Zhenfeng said.

"We will have to fight. It was just the first day. People don't fight the strong opponents as they think that they can find weaker people with the enlightening balls, but I believe that as the days pass, they would keep getting more and more desperate. They will attack anyone that has the orb without caring for the strength of the opponent. That's when the numbers game will come to play," Wu Tian explained, he still didn't open his eyes.

They spent 3 more days, yet they didn't move from their position. People kept coming and leaving, but no one attacked them.

They had even begun cultivating in the meantime just to not get bored. While others cultivated, one was left to keep an eye on the surroundings so that no one attacks them from nowhere. All 3 of them cultivated 8 hours each.

It was afternoon and it was Xu Ming's turn to keep an eye on surroundings while Wu Tian and Zi Zhenfeng cultivated.

It was at that moment when he heard the footsteps. He used his divine sense to see his surroundings, only to see 3 people coming towards him.

"Wu?" Xu Ming exclaimed as he saw the person in the lead. It was the disciple of the Punishment Elder that had forced him to take the mission and gave him the false map. He quite hated the guy. If he had been weak, he would have been killed and if he hadn't met Zi Zhenfeng, he would have remained lost, unable to find the way to the sect.

"About time," Xu Ming muttered as he stood up. He had already seen that there was no one other than his team and Wu's Team. It was the perfect opportunity for him to get his revenge.

A few more minutes passed before Wu and his 2 friends appeared near him.

"Hmm? You guys? You have an enlightening ball as well? Awesome," A grin appeared on Wu's face as he looked at the enlightening ball that was lying on Zi Zhenfeng's lap.

"Kid, give me that orb and I won't kill you all. Think carefully. Even if you try waking them up, it would still take a few moments before they're up. That would be enough time for me to kill all of you 10 times. If you don't want to die, give me that orb," Wu said to Xu Ming.

"You will kill us for the ball? Aren't you worried about the retaliation from the elders?" Xu Ming asked with a curious look on his face.

"Of Course, I would be worried. Especially Elder Wu and their masters, but do you think they'll know who killed you? It's a battlefield for the selection. People will die here and no one could be blamed. It's not like anyone will ever know that I was the one that killed you all? We're the only ones here," Wu said with a smirk.

"True, No one will know if someone is killed," Xu Ming muttered with a thoughtful look on his face.

"It's good that you understand. Now bring that ball to me and we will leave you alive," Wu said.

Xu Ming nodded as he walked back to Zi Zhenfeng and picked the ball up. He walked back to the others and extended his hands towards them. He was holding the ball in his left hand while his right hand was completely empty.

"Good, give it," Wu said as he extended his hand to take the ball, but a sword appeared in Xu Ming's hands which he swung and cut off the hand of Wu.

"Aaaaaa, I'll kill you!" Wu screamed like a pig being slaughtered as he attacked with his sword. Xu Ming's sword clashed with his sword and he was able to see that his strength was weaker than Xu Ming.

"H-how are you so strong! What are you looking at! Kill this guy with me!" Wu told his teammates that were still in a daze. They also pulled their swords out as they attacked Xu Ming.

Xu Ming dodged the attack as he appeared behind them and struck with his sword. In less than 2 Seconds, he had killed one of them as he sliced off the head of Wu's teammate.