"You are doing so well, far better than me…" she said while taking out a plaque from the pocket of her robe.
"This will get you some better martial arts." Putting the porcelain plaque in his hand she disappeared before Ruel could say anything.
"I will come back to see you later~"
Sia knew her brother wouldn't take any gift from her, he was that mature for his age, and he wouldn't even burden her since their parents died while battling the demons.
With seemingly no inheritance to take support from, only she and her brother knew how they had survived those days.
At that time Ruel wasn't even a cultivator while Sia herself was inside the sect, in closed training, the sect provided a place for non-cultivator family members to stay on the sect grounds.
But there was a problem with it, the environment outside was that bad and lawless.
Why would cultivators interfere in mortal matters? They let mortals handle mortal matters.
It was the norm as well as a rule, and because of it, Ruel was tempered at a young age, seeing the vilest as well as beautiful sides of humanity.
To not give her sister another thing to worry about, he solved his problems on his own, never asking for anything even in the direst times, be it now or in the future.
Sia knew this, and that's why she left as soon as she could. After what she had seen today, her talent was worse than her brother's, so why not give him more opportunity?
Looking at his hand, Ruel sighed.
He really needed it but couldn't ever ask for it from her in the past.
The thing Sia had handed him was her contribution points, they could only be earned by doing missions in the sect.
With enough contribution points, even many of the rarest things in the world could be bought, but earning them was as hard as the things they could buy.
But Sia had forgotten one thing, he had saved the people in the twilight forest all while killing the Baleful creeper.
This earned him many contribution points.
Putting the plaque inside his pocket, he thought of giving it back to her the next time they meet.
For now, Ruel had to see his quarters and rest.
Opening the wooden gates leading inside, he saw a beautiful small garden to his right, it had small flowers and shrubs growing around.
To his right was a small well as well a big area with well-settled soil, perfect to train in his sword as well as spells.
Looking forward, it was a somewhat big house for only him, it was a magnificent house, made with wood from 100-year-old Miranda sprouts. They had one of the hardest and most durable woods that was used in making homes for cultivators.
He moved up the small set of stairs leading to the sliding door of it, opening it one swift, Ruel peeked inside.
It was an aesthetic place, nothing too excessive other than being big for him.
It had all the facilities Ruel needed: a bed, a washroom, a kitchen, as well as a bath.
Going towards his room, he jumped down on the mattress, which was already set on the ground, slumping down in its soft texture.
He had too much to plan as well as sort out. This may be the best sleep he will have in quite a long time.
His body became relaxed, figuratively melting in the soft embrace of the bed.
His heavy eyelids closed slowly until only his snoring sounds could be heard.
**********
The next morning came, Ruel woke up to find his body in an uncomfortable position, lying far away from his bed.
He had a bad habit of not fixedly sleeping in one position, rolling around late at night.
There was once a time he had rolled into a demon's lair when he was camping outside in the 'past'. He had woken up to a demon to be drooling just over his face, it was one of the dumbest things he had done.
Standing up, Ruel stretched for a few moments, popping some of the joints. As he was done with stretching, he moved towards the bath, washing himself and wearing his new robes.
Every cultivator had robes based on their realm. The cultivators of Qi cultivation had white robes with a sword sign engraved on the chest area which Ruel was currently wearing.
After getting ready, he went outside the house.
Today his academic lectures will start, and for today, he had survival as well as mainstream sparring lessons today.
The survival lectures taught about how to survive in the wild while being in any kind of special condition, how to find food on an icy plain, or how to come alive out of a situation in which you are surrounded by many beasts.
The list could go on and on, but it wouldn't end. The lecture was based on thousands of experiences the mentors had gotten from their predecessors, as well as their own time in the outside world.
Many of the cultivators thought of it as boring and a waste of their time, but the ones who knew the real value of them were the ones who had ventured and survived just by luck.
Luck wouldn't help every time, will it?
The sparring lessons were simple in that regard. People were segregated based on their talents but on their performances as well. If a person wasn't suited for that division, then he would be promoted or demoted.
This made battling between the cultivators much more fun as well as challenging.
Think about fighting with someone of the same realm and similarly smart. It was more challenging and rewarding that way.
Ruel didn't know which division he would be assigned to in the sparring sessions, but he knew that he won't stay in it for more than two to three matches if he used his sword.
He was once a big shot in the world. What could budding sprouts like these kids do to him? But that didn't mean he was ignoring them.
No.
He was more conscious and alert of them, more than anyone, he had already lost his life once in arrogance, believing his puny power was all high, now he wouldn't repeat the same mistake, some of these kids survived and achieved greater height than him, even now and even then.
They will be his stepping stones, as well as minor trials to overcome. The real aim would always be the ones standing atop the food chain.
But the world was cruel, and to survive in it, one had to adapt. That's what Ruel would do, adapting and then devouring every single thing that could lead him to a better place.
Moving his steps faster, he reached a large indoor building extending far longer than the naked eye could, housing several thousand big rooms.
Every single one of those rooms was having different lectures for different divisions of Foundation Establishment as well as Qi cultivation realm cultivators.
Spotting the receptionist some moments later, he started walking toward her.
With a slight greeting, he silently showed his identification jade to her.
She took out a transparent panel adorned with beautiful designs at the borders while putting the jade on it.
Some moments after the jade was put on, a big hologram appeared in the air, showing information about Ruel, even after seeing the dual elemental spiritual roots with an 87 percent formation rate, even after seeing this, the receptionist showed no reaction, indicating her professionalism.
Writing down something from the hologram, she gave it back to Ruel while explaining directions for the lecture halls.
"After going straight, please turn towards the third right corridor, after moving for some moments you will automatically know which one is the sparring hall as for the survival training hall, you will have to come back here and then go to the second gate from here," she commented
"Thank you" After saying this, Ruel made his way towards the classes he will have.