A Failure's hopeful Journey

You Xi Wang rubbed his shin with an aggrieved expression. Fenny snatched the array jade from his hand and started to study it. You Xi Wang ignored her and picked up another sword. He spoke to his sister, "Big Sis, I can only engrave the arrays seven times before my spirit energy depletes. After that, you will have to carry me. One flying sword is enough to carry two people together. Will you be okay with that?"

You Zhichi smiled and gave him a nod. If she won't carry her brother then who would? Also, she had the highest cultivation realm in the whole team so she could last for a little longer than the others. She also knew why You Xi Wang asked her before refining the swords. In this place absorbing the spiritual energy was very difficult. She has been trying to refine some spirit energy but was unable to. You Xi Wang did not want to stay in this place anymore thus he told her about his condition.

Including the one sword, he has already refined the other seven will allow the whole team to move quickly. You Xi Wang worked very efficiently and engraved the array runes successfully on the swords. It took him three more hours to complete the task. He sat down on the ground powerlessly after he refined the last jade piece to control the sword. He spoke in a low voice, "Let's go, we are leaving."

You Zhichi came to his side and helped him stand up. You Xi Wang was now exhausted both mentally and spiritually. His physical strength did not matter much. If the brain is not able to control the body then it is just like an empty rifle. Yuki and Fenny shared one sword, Neo and Allan got one, Lena and snow shared one. Hercules and the others paired among themselves. You Zhichi took her brother and stood upon the sword. The sword was turned on its side making it easier for them to balance. They were cultivators and their senses and body control were better than ordinary humans. They could have easily stood on the edge of the blade but still, they could make things easier. 

The spirit beasts were all hiding inside the shadows cast by the swords levitating in the void. There was no sun in the sky but it was bright as a day. Under You Zhichi's lead, the swords flew towards the east. They did not maintain any formation at this moment because their speed of traveling was a little too fast. The flying sword would fly as fast as the cultivator riding them inputs the spirit energy. The array rune would resonate with the spirit energy in the world. The world is stronger and bigger than a human. So the more spirit energy a human would release the better the world will communicate with it. This array You Xi Wang engraved on the swords was like a small negative charged needle while the Spirit energy of the world was a big positive charge hill. Physics 101, opposites attract.

So as the team traveled the speed increased a lot. You Xi Wang was constantly trying to gather some of the spirit energy in order to alleviate his weakness. As the swords traveled through the void, he noticed that it was getting easier to perceive the spirit energy but the speed of the sword was also accelerating a little too much. He spoke to his sister, "We are getting closer to the source. The speed will exceed that of sound in a few minutes."

He spoke to his team in a loud voice, "Everyone, listen up. Cast a spirit shield, we are reaching Mach speed." no one was a fool but it was his duty as a captain to alert them all. Although they were cultivators, the impact of the sonic boom could affect their mind and senses. The slightest dizziness at such a high speed on the flying sword could cause a serious accident. The team acted quickly, one person controlled the sword and the other cast a spirit shield. 

You Xi Wang spoke to his sister, "Give me the jade, I will control the direction. The sword is now flying on its own. I have recovered some energy but it will not be enough to cast a spirit shield."

You Zhichi gave him the jade and raised her hand. Soon a thin film of light blue energy was formed in front of the flying sword. The wind rushing in their eyes also stopped. And just as they have predicted soon they heard consecutive explosions. 

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG...

The eight flying swords exceeded the speed of sound. You Xi Wang could not speak to them using normal methods. He typed a text on his Holo-Phone. They had an application that allowed them to talk to each other without Metronet. But they all needed to be within a 100 meters radius. The text asked all of them to control their swords and form a wing formation. This formation will allow them to accelerate even more. The team followed the instructions and soon they were arranged in a formation. 

Five swords in the front while three swords followed behind them. The speed all of them were moving at was uniform because they were all being pulled. So they decided to act as the spearhead in rotation and recover in a cycle. The travel speed slowly increased to Mach2. They were now being pulled for 3 days. Yes, the time passed very slowly and they were now feeling bored of both the landscape and the speed. At first, it was exciting to move at such a high speed. But now they have adapted this speed. To make things even more absurd. You Xi Wang asked them to train while traveling. 

For the past 24 hours, they have been cultivating, controlling the spirit shield and direction, and trained their senses as well. They would take a picture of the scene and then try to compare it with their own eyesight. This is not a method of training but You Xi Wang pranked them. He wanted to see when will they start using their brains and find out that they were not improving. You Zhichi took fifteen minutes and the phantoms took an hour. You Xi Wang did not let them tell the others. 

Soon, a week inside the dimensional pocket has passed. The team was now talking with text messages.

Yuki; Tell me how long will it take to reach the end of this landscape?

Neo; Who knows? The speed is not accelerating anymore. Maybe, we can get out of this rock plain today itself.

Allan; I am so bored...

Hercules; +1

Lena; +1

Snow; ...

You Xi Wang was reading these messages. He sensed the sword elevation changing. He texted, "Be alert, we are descending.

The team suddenly turned alert and they all sensed this anomaly. The system spoke in You Xi Wang's mind, [I sense a valley ahead. The spirit concentration is very dense there.]

You Xi Wang asked, 'How far?'

The system replied, [ETA 3 hours.]

You Xi Wang nodded and said, 'Okay.'

He did not convey the message he got to the team. The system can use soul sense. You Xi Wang can also do that but he is not very proficient in it. His level of control doesn't expand more than 1 kilometer while the system's capacity was unknown. They were traveling at a speed twice that of sound making it impossible for You Xi Wang to rely on his senses. 

Soon, five hours passed. The scene changed abruptly. They all saw a giant tree silver tree standing in the middle of a deep valley. The swords deaccelerated were fast and came to a stop near the tree. You Xi Wang spoke, "This tree is the source of the spirit energy fluctuation. Stay alert, be mindful of traps and tricks."

The team quickly moved and formed the previous moving castle formation. They observed the surroundings. The valley was lush and covered with a lot of colorful flowers. The giant tree was 1500 meters long from the ground to the tip. The silver leaves formed a dense and bright canopy spanning at least double the tree's length. You Xi Wang and the others checked the area around the tree and after an hour they found no abnormality. 

Hercules spoke as he exhaled deeply, "Finally, we can sit down." he leaned against the tree trunk and sat down on the ground. It was as if the tree was woken up by Hercules. The lush silver canopy trembled. The whole valley shook. The flower buds covering the valley bloomed. The team sprung up into action. Just as You Xi Wang was about to instruct the team. He was interrupted by an ethereal voice from the tree trunk. 

"Excuse me, but what are you people doing here?" the ethereal voice said. The whole team was shocked. You Xi Wang turned his head towards the source of the voice. He mentally asked Maya to come out and hide. In case the other party is hostile, she can attack. He was about to reply when the tree trunk twisted. 

In the center of the tree trunk a hole appeared. From the hole emerged a lady wearing green clothes. Her complexion was fair, her beauty was something anyone has never seen. Even You Zhichi was surprised. You Xi Wang was attracted to not her face but her extended ears. 

He blurted out subconsciously, "Elf."