A Failure's hopeful Journey

It was morning when You Xi Wang and the others returned to the base. The ruin was now open for exploration. This privilege belonged to the squad who made the discovery. You Xi Wang Wang called Issac, Klaus, Gena, and Yuki. They were in charge of teams to explore the ruins. Along with Fenny. 

Only she was brainy enough to coordinate every one of them together. You Xi Wang shoved everything over to his friends because he was reaching the peak of his middle level of Primal soul. He needed to go in seclusion. He distributed the tasks to the people and came to the command center. 

He walked inside and saluted. Lilian, Victoria, Animo, and Maddison were all here. You Xi Wang spoke, "The tasks have been distributed. The squad has been dispatched again."

Maddison asked, "Why did you not take charge yourself?"

The boy replied, "They need to grow. I cannot do it for them all the time. Don't worry they will be fine. Fenny is with them. Also, I am reaching a breakthrough. I need to go in seclusion. Will take some time."

Animo nodded, as she spoke, "You seclude on the airship then. We will be leaving when your squad returns."

You Xi Wang nodded and after a salute, he went to the ship. 

...

Near the ruins, the squad was posted on alert. Issac spoke up, "Boss, we found the entrance. Seems like we will have to go underground."

Fenny was looking for the entrance in some other area. The ruin was very big and vast. She said, "Wait, We all enter together. In case you find any other entrance. We five head inside. The rest guard. If you find a new entrance you tag it and guard it."

The channel rang out with a yell from the squad. The people did not question, they would just follow the instructions. Because these You Xi Wang and Fenny had earned this obedience. Soon, Fenny and the other four gathered. 

She said, "Let us go. The time is short and we do not know how much time it will take to get out and explore it properly. Do not let the guard down. We don't know what we may encounter."

This was not enough for them she had Maya, Shroud, Luna tag along with them. Night hounds had the sharpest instincts so they could be of help if they are in danger. Since the beasts were going in. The human companions cannot be left behind. This may expand the size of the team by two but it was fine. Allan was a medic now, and Neo was a scout.

The six people entered the ruins. The inside was all dark. It was under the ground after all. Neo was in the lead. He switched on the light on his battle suit. In an instant, the surroundings lit up. He said, "You guys switch on the lights. The darkness is too dense here."

Fenny and the others started the illumination array on the mask and the area lit up brightly. The team found them themselves in a dark dusty corridor. Issac said, "This area has not been entered for centuries."

Allan spoke, "Don't be so sure if they left human warriors to guard here and they were corrupted by the dark energy. We will be in a bind."

The others nodded. Fenny spoke, "Gena you take the second point with me. Yuki and Issac in the back. Allan in the middle and Klaus in the back. Okay?"

"Aye." everyone nodded. The team started moving ahead. 

...

The speed was slow and steady. Neo was able to sense a lot of traps but still, some of them were solved by Gena. The Night hounds cleaned up some guard zombies. Allan predicted correctly. There were indeed some guard forces left by the predecessors. Although the strength was not strong now. The numbers would have overwhelmed them. 

Maya led the hounds very gracefully. If You Xi Wang was the leader of the humans then his beast companion was the leader of the beasts. Her control over the beasts was so strong that even the naughty Snowflake would become disciplined. 

Two days have passed since they came inside the ruins. They finally reached a big door. Gena glanced at the door and said, "This is probably the vault storage. But we cannot open it."

Klaus asked, "Why? Is it some array?"

Gena shook her head and said, "This is a spirit rune formation."

Yuki asked, "What is the difference between them?"

Gena explained to the team, spirit runes were as the name suggested, were runes made of materialized spirit energy. These designs were more like puzzles. While spirit arrays were arrangements of spirit stones. 

To solve an array you need to find the root node and then take it away before triggering the array. But a rune was different. One was needed to solve the puzzle but channeling spirit energy inside the rune in a certain manner. After listening to the explanation. The team had a somber mood. Klaus asked, "You Xi Wang cannot open it?"

Gena shook her head, "I don't know, but this spirit rune formation is above my grade. As for him? I don't know how far he is in this knowledge."

Issac spoke up, "We did not find anything else. This room is the only place that has not been invaded by the dark creatures. Let's head back and report it to Master."

The rest nodded and walked back to the base with the squad. The ruins were left to guards, and Fenny set up some surveillance equipment as well. When the squad reported the situation back to the elders in the command center. 

They were all praised, finally, Victoria spoke, "How about we call for Senior Animus?"

Animo shook her head and said, "No. Master is almost ready for the breakthrough. He cannot come here. I have some knowledge of the spirit runes but after looking at the recording these kids brought back, all I can say is we need someone who has a talent of grade six spirit runemaster. That we may not be able to find so easily."

Gena spoke up at this moment, "Report."

Victoria nodded to her, and the girl continued, "Elder, my ancestors were runemasters. So if we can reach my hermit ancestors to see if they can help us."

The three ladies had their eyes spark up. Animo nodded as she said, "The day of ancestral assessment is close. We can try. You all pack up. We are going back home. You have a month to strengthen yourself as much as you can. The only way we can get the ancestors to help us is to pass the trial and visit them."

Fenny asked, "Elder, where are the ancestors. All we know is that they are all in seclusion."

Animo and Victoria exchanged a glance, then Lilian spoke, "Come on, these kids have been working very hard, you can tell them about this." her voice was cheerful, she has been resting and cultivating in here, recovering her vigor. 

Animo nodded and said, "The ancestors of every family. When they reach a certain age and are unable to succeed in their cultivation base. They all then go to a planet in our solar system. This planet is called, Inja. A place where all the ancestors practice in seclusion. The reason they go there is so that they can detach themselves from the world and focus on cultivating. Humans only have these two planets under them. The rest is uncharted."

She paused and Victoria continued, "The ancestors will only act when their families are in mortal danger. The last time when You Xi Wang dealt with Colts, their ancestors tried to act but then the council reported to them about the reason. That is why it is a rule to not harm the innocent in wars. So, every 100 years there will be an assessment by the Ancestors. Those who pass can go to Inja for training. For your information, Inja is 10 times as big as Metropia, so a lot of places are uncharted yet."

Her words excited the five people. Fenny said, "When will we go back home elder?"

Victoria smiled, "Tomorrow, now you guys rest and clean up."

The six people nodded and left the base. Lilian spoke as they left, "How is You Xi Wang doing?"

Maddison replied, "He is immersed in cultivation, elder. It will be a few days before he wakes up."

The lady nodded and said, "This kid is very strong. Maybe he can do what nobody did."

Animo shook her head and said, "This time, the ancestors will be surprised. Senior, this boy is a freak of nature and if you visited his family you will be shocked by the ways they follow."

Lilian asked, "What do you mean?" she was curious to know.

Animo smiled and said, "Senior, this boy has made amendments in the families. They all follow ancient ways of cultivation. Not only that. He is also a business tycoon. The weapons and things you see around all are invented by him and his friends. The stagnation of Metropia came to an end because of him, though indirectly but he is the pioneer of the new age of our home." 

Her words carried the pride of a Master Aunt. Lilian was surprised pleasantly and said, "Well, that is what I expect from my grandnephew-in-law." 

Her words triggered a peal of laughter among the ladies.