Opening the wooden gates leading inside, he saw a beautiful small garden to his right; it had small flowers and shrubs growing around. A puddle of water in some places, indicating that it had rained a while back.
To his right was a small well as well as a big area with well-settled soil, suitable to train his sword and elemental spells.
Looking forward, it was somewhat of a 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.
The sweet smell of wood rushed outside, bathing his nose in blissful wonders. The ground and the stairs around the front of the house had some water dripping down from this morning's rain.
It was an aesthetic place, nothing too excessive other than being too big for him. It had all the facilities Ruel needed: a bed, a washroom, a kitchen, as well as a bath.
This was the kind of place Ruel liked and would always settle for. He would have been annoyed with something classy or just average.
Exploring the place some more, he browsed through the kitchen and the bath, finding some of the everyday necessities in them as well as a small compartment for storing things just beside his room.
Cleaning some of the places infested with dirt and webs, he finally went towards his room. Taking out a mattress from the small compartment in his room, his body fell down on it, slumping down in its soft texture.
He had too much to plan as well as sort out. This may be the best sleep he would have had in quite a long time.
His body became relaxed, figuratively melting into 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 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 brand-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 one 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 from 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. However, the ones who knew the real value of it were the ones who had ventured and survived just by luck.
Luck wouldn't help every time, would 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 to 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 someone in 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, and now he wouldn't repeat the same mistake. Some of these kids survived and achieved greater heights 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 to one's 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, adapt to the situation and then devour 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 showed his identification jade to her.
Ruel asked, "Can you tell me the location of these classes?"
Answering back to him in a modest tone, the receptionist said, "Please give me a moment"
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 Ruel's information, the receptionist showed no reaction, indicating her professionalism.
Writing down something from the hologram, she gave it back to Ruel while explaining directions to 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 toward the classes he would have.