Awakening of the Ancient: Rise of the Fallen

"We are here," Elder Mu said to him.

Their Eagle landed on the ground before a small group of people.

Elder Mu and Ryder got down from the beast.

Elder Mu brought him to the people that were standing there and introduced him.

"This is Xu Ming, the guy you've been waiting to meet," Elder Mu said to the men.

She had the second-lowest position amongst the people present here at the moment. 

There were around ten people there, and Xu Ming only recognized one of them. He didn't understand what Elder Wu was doing here. Elder Wu was an Elder of the Outer Sect. Generally, he shouldn't be here in the core sect.

"Welcome to the Core Sect, Young Man. I'm the Sect Master of the Mighty Demon Sect. My name is Rin Wankun, and these are all Grand Elders of the Sect...." 

The Sect Master introduced himself and the other people that were there. Almost all of them were big names of the sect.

"He's Elder Wu, but I heard that you've already met him, so I don't think there's a need to introduce him to you," the Sect Master said smilingly.

Xu Ming greeted them all politely. 

He still wondered if it was normal for them all to be here during the trial. He wasn't told about it, but maybe the trials were so crucial that the Important Elders attended it every time.

There was a small portal in front of him.

"Let me explain your trial. To become a core sect disciple, you need to enter the portal. You will be taken to a special place that is filled with dangers. You have seven days of time to kill and bring 50 Peak Gold Realm Beasts back," The Sect Master told Xu Ming.

"The cultivation realm of the beast is somewhat higher than your cultivation realm, and the number of beasts you need to hunt is kept higher as well, but if you can do this, You will be selected as the Core Sect disciple."

The Sect Master explained to him what he had to do.

He brought out a small golden storage ring and gave that to Xu Ming.

"It is the Peak Mortal Grade storage ring. It has enough space to keep 100 beasts inside, so you shouldn't have any problem keeping 50 inside."

Xu Ming took the ring and wore it on his left hand.

Next, the Sect Master brought out a small jade.

"This is a special jade. When you are in danger, you can crush it. We will know that you are in danger. Someone will enter that place to bring you out, as long as you can stay alive in whatever danger you were in." The Sect Master told him.

"It is a dangerous trial, and the place is a dangerous place. You will definitely die if you're not careful, and no one would be able to save you. So don't do anything that you might not be able to handle, and when you find the situation getting bad, crush the jade before it's too late," he added.

'I guess that's why he said that the stronger one's cultivation is, the tougher the trial will be,' Xu Ming thought.

He was in the Initial Gold Core Realm, but he was told to hunt 50 Peak Gold realm beasts. If he had a stronger cultivation, he would've been told to hunt even stronger beasts.

The trial was not easy, to say the least. It was almost impossible for an Initial Gold Core Realm cultivator to hunt the Peak Gold Core Realm beasts alone. 

The sect master also told him some more minor things like the portal was the only way to enter and leave that place, so he should lose direction inside. He wouldn't be able to return in time if he forgot the location of the portal.

"Do you understand everything?" the Sect Master asked.

"I understand," Xu Ming agreed.

"Good," the Sect Master nodded his head. "I look forward to your performance."

"Do you want to say something?" The Sect Master asked Elder Wu.

Elder Wu nodded his head. He looked towards Xu Ming. He smiled lightly.

If Xu Ming hadn't known about Elder Wu being blind, he would've been sure that Elder Wu was looking towards his Shoulders where Valeria was sitting.

"Best of Luck."

Elder Wu wished Xu Ming luck.

"You can enter now."

The Sect Master told Xu Ming to enter.

Valeria was sitting on Xu Ming's shoulders. She was surprised to see the men in front of her.

One of them gave her a strange feeling as if he was looking at him, whereas another person was the one whose house she broke into. She hadn't realized that the person was the big boss of this place.

Xu Ming started walking towards the portal.

He entered the portal without thinking for even a little and found himself on the other side of the portal.

He was standing in what seemed like a Jungle.

Dry leaves were lying everywhere on the ground. The trees were not as close to each other as forests generally had.

There were over 5 meters of difference between each tree.

The Sky looked the same as the Sky of the Core Sect, but as he looked back, he couldn't see the Elders. It was definitely a different place.

"This is definitely a different space. I don't think it's in the Core Sect. I wonder if I use the Sword of Judgement, would the others still be able to feel it? There's no need to take the risk," Xu Ming muttered.

He started walking ahead in search of the Beasts.

He had already brought his Gold Realm Sword out of his Storage Ring. He was holding the sword in his right hand as he continued walking inside.

He had only walked for two minutes before he saw a beast, but it wasn't a beast he was looking for. The beast he saw was a Spirit Grade beast. Way weaker than the target he wanted.

The Spirit Grade beast ran away as soon as he saw Xu Ming.

Xu Ming didn't follow him as the beast was useless for him.

He spread out his Divine Sense to see through his surroundings in order to see if there were any peak Gold Realm beasts nearby.

Using his Divine Sense, he did find a few Gold Realm Beasts. The only problem was that the beasts weren't alone.