In the days that passed, news of this directive came through the ears of all the tribes. Only the best and brightest would be gathered for the duty of clearing the most dangerous of ruins. There were no tests, no battles to prove who was worthy, rather the elders decided who would join.

With all these tribes, however, there was still quite a number of them but that soon dwindled down to a mere twelve.

And these twelve then stood in front of elders, standing before their gaze within these halls. Among them were Ao Qin and all four members of the Four Claws, facing the discerning eyes of the elders.

There was a bit of silence before one of the elders stood up.

It was none other than Huxian Qie, the fox-kin, but Ruishi Wang sat right by her with his eyes closed.

"All of you have been summoned here because of one reason, we have found the teleportation array that will connect us to the other races. After several thousand years, we will finally rejoin the humans and demons. However…

"

She paused and looked at them all.

"There is a problem and this is something that the Four Claws can tell you

", she said.

Hearing their title, the Four Claws looked at her before the leader Niu Hong stepped forward and turned around.

The ox-kin cupped his fists and bowed as he greeted the others.

"My name is Niu Hong, leader of the Four Claws. We were the ones who discovered the teleportation array

", he said.

Raising his head, he took something out of his spatial ring, a paper with a drawing of the array. No doubt it had been drawn by Qiang Rong.

"This is what the array looks like and it is a hundred times the size of this drawing. With such size, it requires an enormous amount of power to activate it and maintain it. Gathering the power isn't the difficult part, in fact, it is activating it. Despite searching the array and the surrounding areas, there were no ruins nor was there any claw as to how it can be activated. Thus, we as the Four Claws can only assume that it is within another set of ruins.

"

After that, he returned to his spot and looked forward to see Huxian Qie smiling.

"As he said, we do not have the means of using it. That is why we gather all of you here. each of you excels at something, whether it is slaying powerful monsters, detecting traps, or finding treasure. You are all masters in your own right. Search what cannot be searched, find what cannot be found, that is your duty as a member of this group!

" she announced.

After that, the other elders including Ruishi Wang stood up with you, speaking in unison.

"We as members of the Chief Council hereby grant you all the title of 'Zodiac', be proud and fight on for the survival of our families. You are all members of the strongest party, the Twelve Zodiacs.

"

Each and every one of them put a closed fist to their hearts as did the new members of the Twelve Zodiacs.

After that, another elder spoke, one with the features of a goat.

"As such, we will send you off onto your first set of ruins in East, the Cracked Ten Pillars. That will be the first of your many conquests

", he announced.

"We accept this duty!

"

Speaking in unison, they bowed, fully embracing this responsibility. The elders all had looks of excitement and doubt. They understood that this could either work incredibly well or cripple them. But of course, they all hoped for the former than the latter.

The Twelve Zodiacs then scattered, going to the elders of their respective clans.

Among them, Ruishi Wang left with one of them. Although the lion-kin was quite a large person, the one walking next to him was half a head taller.

"Father, is this how you wanted it to go?

" they asked.

He sighed and shook his head.

"Of course not, but what can I do, Lei'er, my son. That witch of a fox stopped it. We of the Sengge Tribe, are one of the strongest tribes. We cannot be chained down by the other tribes like this. I refuse to let myself and my people be destroyed by the Savage Lands. It cannot overtake us, we must overtake it!

"

Ruishi Wang then turned to his son.

"It doesn't matter at this point, you are a member of the Twelve Zodiacs. Inform me of what you discover and tell me if you find anything interesting

", he said to him.

The son nodded.

"Ruishi Lei understands. I will inform you if I find anything in the Cracked Ten Pillars

", he responded.

This was Ruishi Lei, the strongest person of the Sengge Clan and Ruishi Wang's son.

Like his father, he had a lion's head, one with white fur and a turquoise mane. Taller than Ruishi Wang, his body was slightly bulkier but nothing compared to that Niu Hong, an ox-kin. Since he was gathered with the other Zodiacs, he was dressed for the occasion. There was a lion pelt wrapped around his waist with an exquisitely designed plate armor bearing the symbol of his tribe on his shoulders, a Snow Lion.

And finally his weapon or weapons, two gauntlets that covered his white-furred paws and forearms, with claws that accentuated his own. Each knuckle was sharpened to a degree that a single punch was the same as getting mauled by a lion, cutting flesh and crushing bone.

The gauntlets were beautiful in their own right; intimidating and deceptively perfect. There were no chips or cracks and especially no dull edges.

The pair left whilst the others congregated with each other.

Among them, the Four Claws quietly made their way to Ao Qin, who stood to the side. The dragon-kin looked at them from the corner of his eye but paid no more attention to them. Standing before him, Niu Hong stepped forward, cupping his fists and bowing before raising his head.

"You are the Red Dragon, Ao Qin, yes?

" he asked him.

The dragon-kin then looked at them, it wasn't a friendly look but he wasn't glaring at them either.

"The Four Claws, what sort of business do you have with me?

"

Quick to the point, Ao Qin didn't seem to waste any time and his forwardness made Niu Hong pause for a moment.

"I… I heard that you were involved with the Byakko Clan, there was quite a battle between you and their clan leader.

"

Ao Qin chuckled, revealing a little smile.

"Yes, that doting bastard of a father decided to bring out his full force against me. If it weren't for his daughter and grandson, perhaps I would've had to kill my way out.

"

The Four Claws couldn't help but gulp after hearing such words. One was a powerful member of the Reclamation Division while the other was an influential tribe. For Ao QIn to speak so confidently, it made them realize that perhaps such a thing could've happened.

However, that was not what they were asking about.

"When you were in their territory, did you happen upon anyone?

" Niu Hong asked.

The dragon-kin's smile suddenly dropped as his eyes turned to a more dangerous light.

"What do you mean?

" he asked,

"What are you implying?

"

"Nothing, nothing! We are not blaming you for anything just asking if you happened to have met someone living there. A pair of individuals that are… a bit different than us.

"

At this moment, the ox-kin stood silent and stilled his own breathing. As strong as he was, an ox could not compare to a dragon, the pressure between them was enormous. The silence lasted just a few seconds until Ao Qin leaned forward.

"I know who you are talking about but unfortunately, I do not know where they've gone.. But I can tell you now, unless they've gone to the heart of the Savage Lands, they won't die.

"