Awakening of the Ancient: Rise of the Fallen

The Sect Master stood up and walked towards his bedroom.

As he got there, he found the pieces of a cup lying on the ground.

"Someone was here," the Sect Master muttered as he glanced at the broken cup.

He used his Spiritual Sense to cover his surroundings in order to find the culprit. His spiritual sense was more than enough to cover his courtyard entirely. He saw himself and his servant through the use of his Spiritual Sense, but other than themselves, he couldn't see anyone else in the room.

Valerie was still in the room, but she was standing still in one of the corners of the room without moving.

"I can't see anyone, but someone definitely came here, and I don't think they left," The Sect Master muttered.

He started searching the room. He checked his wardrobe and other places, but he still couldn't find anyone.

He started walking in the direction of Valeria.

After taking a few steps forward, he stood just before her.

He looked in his direction.

"What are you doing here?" the Sect Master muttered as he extended his hands towards Valeria. 

He picked up the bracelet that was lying just a few inches away from Valeria before he stood up.

"There seems to be no one here, master. Maybe it didn't fall because of a person. It must be a coincidence that it happened," The Servant told the Sect Master.

"Maybe," the Sect Master said, but he still looked

suspicious.

He glanced back one last time before he left the room.

'How could I be so stupid. I should've been careful while searching. I would've been in real trouble if I was caught,' the girl thought before she started walking.

She had almost finished her search when she accidentally hit the cup and made it fall down.

She instantly stopped flying and stood on the side to be as safe as she could.

After the Sect Master left the room, Valeria also stepped out of it.

Instead of flying, she walked her way out and left the courtyard of the Sect Master.

After leaving the courtyard, she began flying. She flew back towards the courtyard of Long Chen.

After some time, she got back to the courtyard, but as soon as she got back, she saw Xu Ming sitting on the bed, glaring at her.

"Where did you go?" Xu Ming asked her.

"I-i went out to have a walk," Valeria replied.

"You went outside to have a walk or to steal a Spirit Crystal?" Ryder asked her.

"Steal a Spirit Crystal? What are you talking about?" Valeria acted ignorantly.

"Please explain to me where you brought this from?" Xu Ming asked her as he showed her the Spirit Crystal that she had used up.

"What do you mean where I brought this from? Do you think I hid it in my pockets when I fell down from the sky? Of Course, I found it in the sect," Valeria replied.

"I found it randomly lying on a bed," Valeria replied.

"Oh, so you found it in someone's courtyard. Don't you think that if it's inside someone's courtyard, then it would belong to someone? Taking someone's belonging without asking, isn't that the same as stealing?" Xu Ming inquired.

"T-that's not stealing. There was no one in that place. It was most probably an abandoned courtyard. Someone abandoned that poor spirit Crystal. I just gave it a home and brought it with me," Valeria said.

Xu Ming just looked at her blankly before he facepalmed himself.

He couldn't believe that he made that seem like a righteous decision.

"Isn't it possible that the owner left the place for some time?" Xu Ming asked her.

"Ah, it's possible," Valeria replied.

"I don't want to waste too much time on it, but please understand that stealing is wrong. You know how much chaos you caused in the sect because you decided to steal? I myself barely escaped getting caught because of your theft. I'll just tell you this one last time, I will not be against you stealing if it's about the resources that you need for Cultivation, but you can't steal without even telling me!" Xu Ming told her.

"The next time you decide to steal something, you must first come to me and tell me the whole situation. If you still don't understand, then you can just leave and never come back," Xu Ming further said.

"I understand. I won't do it again," Valeria said as she looked down. "I was just excited to find the resource for my Cultivation. I didn't think through."

"I can understand your eagerness. I also want to get stronger and achieve my goals as fast as I can, but you can't make decisions blindly. One wrong step and everything will go to waste," Xu Ming told her.

"I understand. I'm sorry," Valeria apologized to Xu Ming.

"It's good that you understand. Just talk to me if there's something like this first. It's always better to take a second opinion when you feel eager to do something," Xu Ming said.

"There is something that I wanted to do, but I didn't do it," Valeria told him.

"What?" Xu Ming inquired.

"I saw another Spirit Crystal. A man was using it, but I didn't take it," Valeria said.

"That's good. If you had taken it, you would have been caught. At Least you're somewhat sensible," Xu Ming let out. "Who is that man! Maybe I can trade something with him and get you that Spirit Crystal?"

"I don't know what that man is, but he has the second biggest residence I saw. He was quite old looking and had a white beard," Valeria said.

"So you were talking about an Elder, it's impossible. I don't think the Qi crystals would be enough to attract his attention and to make him exchange for that Spirit Crystal," Xu Ming muttered.

"Don't you have any treasure? I heard that old men like collecting items," Valeria said.

"There is nothing that I can trade that would make him exchange," Xu Ming replied.

'There are some things that would make him exchange anything, but those are what I will never trade for crystals,' he thought.

Valeria looked disappointed as she landed on the bed.

"Don't worry about this. If you can find two Spirit Crystals in the sect, then it must not be that rare. You will definitely get more of them in the future," Xu Ming told her.

"I understand that* Valeria replied, but she still looked down.

"Just cultivate naturally. It might be slow, but it's definitely not impossible. I've been cultivating that way as well. I can't use Qi in this world, so I'm on the same boat, but I'm still growing, and I won't let my growth ever be halted because of lack of resources," Xu Ming told her.

He sat up and got off the bed.

"I said all I wanted to say. I hope you will understand. You can never achieve anything by just being dependent on resources. The Strength has more value when you achieve it the hard way instead of the easy way," He told Valeria before he walked to the side and sat down on the ground.

"I will normally cultivate from now on," Valerie told him in a confident tone.

"That's the Spirit. I'm going to be busy in Cultivation; you can cultivate as well. Just don't do anything I told you not to do," Xu Ming told her before he closed his eyes and started his Cultivation.

Valeria looked towards Xu Ming, sitting on the ground. After some time, she stood up and left the place.

She once again flew towards the core sect.

'It would have been so good if I had the Spirit Crystal of that old man,' she thought.