A Failure's hopeful Journey

You Xi Wang activated the array formation and stepped inside. He had already asked his third grandfather to arrange for some family disciples to watch over the team and also to sneak attack. The purpose of the sneak attacks was to help the team develop vigilance. In the upcoming battle fest, they can not act like they do in daily life. It will just spell a loss for them all. He shook his head and got rid of all unnecessary thoughts inside his mind. The stone plaque outside suggested that one sit down cross-legged. 

You Xi Wang sat down crossed-legs in the center of the array cloak. He closed his eyes and waited for the array to work. 

Buzz... 

A buzzing sound rang out in his ears. He sensed himself falling down from a high altitude. He opened his eyes and found that his body was falling down a vertical tunnel. His eyes turned foggy. After a few seconds of free fall, he snorted and clarity returned to his eyes. He observed his surroundings to find different lights shining around him. He looked below and saw a pinpoint of light shining in the distance. This was a scene from the Abyss. Abyss is said to be the pathway to hell. This description is matched to a very common folk book in Metropia. You Xi Wang felt a weird power trying to confuse his mind was constantly getting stronger. He closed his eyes and started deducting a way to break this level of the formation. After careful analysis, he let go of any slightest restraint he held in his mind. 

The fall abruptly came to a halt. He opened his eyes and returned to his seat in the center of the array. A lot of information flashed in his mind. This information was regarding the first level of the array.

This was the first level of the mental prison. As a cultivator, one must have a stable and smooth mindset. This level stimulated the scene where one falls down the Abyss. When humans are pushed into situations, they do not expect, they panic. This panic disturbs their mindset and a messy mind can never be a good weapon. So You Xi Wang calmed himself and give up resistance. Abyss is not a real thing, but fiction created to teach people to be good. You Xi Wang only concluded that why resist something that does not exist? The array intercepted his brain waves and returned to normal.

The second level of the formation activated and with another buzz, You Xi Wang found him on a black pedestal. In front of him stood a man in white clothes. The man said, "Welcome, are you ready to face your demons? I warn you, there is a risk of losing yourself while facing the mental demons."

You Xi Wang nodded, showing that he was aware of the risks. The man nodded and waved his hands. The scene changed, You Xi Wang found himself in his office. The office of his firm back on earth. Today was the day when he had fallen from his pedestal. This day was his biggest mental demon. He wanted to go back in time and change himself. He sat down there silently immersed in this nostalgic familiar surrounding. 

CLICK...

The door opened and a group of people came inside. They all had enraged expressions on their faces. You Xi Wang saw them and smiled. His smile enraged the others even more. One burly man could not hold it and come up to him. He slammed his fist hard on the table. 

BANG.

He cursed, "You Xi Wang, you fucking loser. You still have the gal to smile? We are all in this shit because of you. If you don't give us an answer, then don't even think about leaving here."

You Xi Wang spoke, "Brother Mo, all I can say is I am sorry. I always thought that by relying on myself I can make it big. It was so delusional that I took all of you for granted. Blinded by arrogance and glamour of minuscule success I messed up everything." then he stood up from his chair and came to the side he bowed to the man called Mo. Then he bowed to all the people inside the cabin. 

Last time in reality when he was facing this situation, he was so arrogant that he blamed everyone else for the loss and called them incompetent. The result was that he had to spend a whole month in the hospital. But this act of his shocked the mental demons. The array would project the scenes one feared from his old memories. This was a test, one can only pass the test when they accepted their mistakes and learned from them, and You Xi Wang had learned his lesson a long time ago. Today, he only needed to implement what he learned. 

You Xi Wang's figure stood up and looked at all the old faces and said, "I ask for a chance. The world has not ended and I believe together we can clear this up. I don't want to conquer the peak if you all are not there. When we started this firm, it was you all who supported the burden with me and it was also you who tried to keep this firm alive. While I was adding on to more losses, it was you people who tried to offset it. I never even reflected on myself before today. I will give up 99% of the shares I have. You all divide it. I will also resign from the CEO post. You all decided who is better suited for the job. I will work my way up again to earn back what I have lost." his tone was sincere. In the past, he wanted to say all these words countless times but he did not have the guts to go out of his house and face his colleagues. One time when he encountered one of them by chance on the street, he could stand what the other party jeered at him and then ended up in the police station. His parents had to pay the bail, and even then he acted badly with them.

Remembering the scene, his eyes brimmed with tears. The mental shadows saw this, and they all faded slowly. The man on the pedestal appeared again and said, "Young man, you are brave. There are many people who have tried the Mental prison array. Some passed, some failed. The secret of the mental prison array lies not in your mind but in your heart. One who can reflect on his mistakes, accept them, correct them, and still feel guilty for what he did is the only true conqueror of the mental prison array. This array tempers a person's will. Will comes from the emotions a person feels. Only when a person can control his emotions, can he think of controlling his destiny. Now you know the secret of the array."

You Xi Wang was surprised by what he heard. At first, he thought that this man was just an embedded hologram or something, but he did not know that this person was a self-conscious entity. He asked, "May I ask, Who are you senior?"

The man chuckle and said, "It has been centuries since I have been able to interact with someone. My name is Animus. I was an orphan. What you see is just a leftover consciousness I leftover in the arrays I created through time. I thought it would be interesting to watch how the younger generation performs."

You Xi Wang was shocked. He wondered if the real person is dead and this is his spirit, like those in the novels. Animus suddenly chuckled and spoke, "Boy, you are an interesting one. I am alive, currently, I am cultivating in seclusion."

You Xi Wang was surprised again. This old man could read his thoughts. The old man spoke again, "Correct, I can read your thoughts. Though, it is not actually reading your mind."

You Xi Wang blurted out, "Micro-expressions."

This time the man was surprised. He spoke, "Correct, it is micro-expressions. Tell me where did you hear about it?"

You Xi Wang suddenly kowtowed to the old man. He spoke, "Disciple greets Grandmaster Mentalist."

The Oldman spoke with a strange expression, "You know my name in the circle?" his aura changed, a crushing pressure came over You Xi Wang. The boy had no resistance to it. His forehead was directly touching the ground. As prideful as You Xi Wang was, he did not even put up the slightest resistance. He spoke with his gritted teeth, "My master is Alester Book. The Educator."

The Educator was Alester Book's name among when he used to hunt dark dwellers. He to this name because he would preach some moral values to all his preys before killing them. The pressure subsided, and the man said, "You are the disciple of the book worm disciple of mine?"

Yes, Animus a.k.a. the Mentalist was the master of Alester Book. He is at this moment a cultivator of the peak Dao formation realm. He was one of the high elders of the council. The high elders were those who would only act if the situation is enough to danger the world system. Animus was the strongest array master in the world. He was 16 when he passed the exam of Level 1 array master. At present, there was no one in this world who wouldn't know of his legend. He was also known for a skill that only he could master. The mind-reading. That is how he became famous as a mentalist. In his youth, his brain was so sharp that he could read the micro-expressions, and he used this trick to extract a lot of information from the dark dwellers. 

He was a man who always tried to learn new things, and that was why how he took in Alester Book as a disciple when the latter used to be a teacher. Alester Book used to work as a teacher for the poor children when he was not hunting the dark dwellers. His character impressed Animus, and he took the former in. 

Animus waved his hand and You Xi Wang was lifted from the ground. You Xi Wang did not dare to resist at all. Animus looked in his eyes, reading his micro-expressions. Suddenly, he laughed, "Good, grand disciple. You have real talent. Alester told me about you. The first person to have an affinity to the five elements. I wonder how those old guys feel when they find out. Hahaha... I will gift you with my array, comprehensions. It will come in handy in the future."

He pointed his finger at You Xi Wang, and a ray of golden light pierced through the latter's glabella. You Xi Wang sat there lost in the comprehension of the arrays. Animus spoke, "Hmm, quick enlightenment. Good boy. I will see you in the future." with that he flicked his sleeves, and the array deactivated while You Xi Wang kept sitting there on the ground with his eyes closed, unknown that he has set off a storm in the Chen Family.