Awakening of the Ancient: Rise of the Fallen

Xu Ming reached the Ranking Pavillion, but he was surprised as he saw it empty.

Other than the girl that handled the matters of the Ranking Hall, there was no one else there.

He walked to the girl.

"I was supposed to have a battle with the 1st Rank Sun Mu today. Is he not here yet?" he asked the girl.

"Sun Mu? He hadn't come here," the girl shook her head.

"He hasn't? Did he cancel it again?" Xu Ming muttered as he stepped out of the Ranking Pavillion and walked towards the courtyard of Sun Mu.

Xu Ming knocked on the door and met up with the servant of Sun Mu.

"Where is he?" Xu Ming asked.

"Master is in his room. He can't come out. Please go back," the servant said as he tried to close the door, but Xu Ming stopped the door from closing as he used his hand.

"Enough is enough! Call him out this instant, or I'll come inside! I'm not wasting even a second more on this stupidity! Does he think that I'm a beggar? I'm asking for a fight, not for him to give me anything that belongs to him! Call him out!" Xu Ming roared in anger.

"If he's not out by 5 minutes, I'll come inside and drag him out myself!" he added.

"I-i can't," the servant shook his head even though he looked scared.

"Step aside!" Xu Ming pushed him to the side and entered his courtyard.

He walked to the nearest room and pushed the door open.

As soon as the door opened, Xu Ming was stunned. He stood there, bewildered.

Sun Mu was lying on the bed; his eyes were closed.

He was shirtless, and Xu Ming was able to see the deep wounds on his chest, which still hadn't healed.

"Master still hasn't healed. Generally, these wounds should have healed in 2 days, but the healing is taking much longer than we had expected. He's also gaining and losing consciousness regularly," the servant said to Xu Ming as he stood behind him.

Xi Ming walked closer to Sun Mu and looked at the wounds.

"Was this because of the Core Entrance Tests?" he asked the servant standing behind.

"Yes. I don't know what cruel tests they have to harm my master so badly. The last time he went to the test, he came back injured as well, but that wasn't as serious as it is this time," the servant replied.

"He was stronger than last time if I'm not wrong. Still, he came back worse than before. It seems like the test is something that gets worse; the stronger one is," Xu Ming muttered.

He turned back to look towards the servant.

"I'll be back to check on him after a few days. Hopefully, he would be healed by then," Xu Ming stood.

He left Sun Mu's courtyard and walked back towards his courtyard.

"His one year without accepting a challenge will end in 2 weeks. I don't think the sect will punish him seeing his situation. I don't like the fact that it is delayed, but it doesn't seem like I can do anything," he muttered.

"Hey! Stop!" 

Xu Ming recognized that voice, but he didn't stop. Instead, he fastened his pace, and soon, he was running.

A girl was running after him, calling him out, but Xu Ming was much faster.

He again used his Origin Movement and entered someone's Courtyard and left from the other side as he lost the trail of the girl.

He got back to his Courtyard.

"I can't believe I'm running away from a girl, but she's crazy. No matter how many times I tell her, she doesn't understand. I can't marry her for a stupid reason like that," he muttered as he sat on his bed.

He laid on the bed as he closed his eyes and calmed down his mind.

"It's just the beginning of my life, and I'm already feeling too tired. I would never have expected my life to change like this. It's all because of him,"  Xu Ming muttered as he remembered War God Zhen's face.

****

Back in the Immortal Realm, the Northern Emperor and the others have looked all around, but they haven't found Xu Ming.

At the moment, War God Zhen was standing before the Northern Emperor, just staring at him silently.

"So you still haven't found him," War God Zhen said.

"I've searched every corner of the Immortal World, but I didn't find him. That can only mean that he's not here. He should be in the Mortal World or the Demon Realm if he's not in the Heavenly Realm," Northern Emperor said.

"You think someone from the Heavenly Realm would go to the Mortal Realm when they wanted to go to the Immortal World? There's no Spatial Crystal that can take one to the Demon Realm! This is the only place he can come! Stop pretending! Tell me right this instant where he is!" War God Zhen said as he used his aura on the Northern Emperor to show his dominance.

"Please control yourself. Everything I've said is true! I'm not going to sit here and die for your paranoia! You want to kill me, then do it! But remember one thing! The immortal world won't be neutral anymore! Our Immortal World has always stayed out of the conflict of the Heavenly Realm and the Demon Realm, but if you don't stop this right this instant, then that might change!" The Northern Emperor replied without stepping back even an inch.

War God Zhen looked at him and started laughing out loud.

He stepped closer to the Northern Emperor slowly. Each of his steps seemed to resonate with the world.

He stood just half a meter away from him and looked deep into the Northern Emperor's eyes.

"Are you trying to threaten me?" he asked in a heavy tone.

"I'm not. I'm just saying that I never lied to you. The kid is not here, and if you still don't believe me and attack our world, then you can imagine how our relationship would become. I'm suggesting you to not throw everything away because of a stupid suspicion," Northern Emperor replied.

"Very Well. I'll look into the mortal world as well. If that kid is not there, then I wouldn't care who you join up with. The immortal world will become history just like the Royal Family of the Heavenly Realm is history now," War God Zhen muttered before he turned back and left.

The Northern Emperor watched him leave before he walked to his throne and sat on it. He was tired after facing War God Zhen's aura for so long.

*****

Xu Ming didn't realize when he fell asleep on the bed. He woke up after 4 hours.

He sat up and left his courtyard as he looked towards the sky.

He didn't know why, but he suddenly had an urge to get to the sky. It was as if something was calling for him. 

He kept looking towards the sky, but that feeling didn't weaken. It only got stronger. The feeling kept getting stronger until it abruptly disappeared as if it was never there.

He just stood there confused, wondering what had just happened.

He again walked back into his courtyard and started cultivating.

He cultivated for four days straight before he went to check up on Sun Mu. He was told that Sun Mu's condition was somewhat better, but he still wasn't healed. He wasn't in any condition to fight.

After getting the news, Xu Ming walked back, engulfed in disappointment.

He again got back to his courtyard and drowned himself in cultivation to increase his strength and utilize the time he spent waiting for him to heal.

Just like that, time kept passing.

Another week had passed, and the reply was still the same. Sun Mu's condition was better, but his wounds hadn't healed.

He even entered the place once more to see Sun Mu himself, but it was just as the Servant had said. He still looked injured, but at least he wasn't unconscious anymore.

"You must be Xu Ming. The person that is eager for the battle," Sun Mu weakly said to Xu Ming.

"Yes," Xu Ming replied.

"I'm sorry for delaying it so much. I found out about your challenge when I came back from training, but I wanted to try the test first. I worked so hard for it, I wanted to be in my best condition when I attempted the test, and that's why I went for the test before fighting you. If I had succeeded, we would have gotten what we wanted, but things didn't go as planned," Sun Mu said.

"Don't worry, though. I'll definitely give you that fight. I believe that I might heal in a week, and if I still don't heal, it doesn't matter. I'll fight you in whatever condition I am at the moment. There won't be any more delay in it," he added.