Grassroots Travel: The Star Lord of Another World

Chapter 142 Mysterious Monster

Gao Xingchen was startled by the sudden light and quickly retracted his hand. The light lasted for a moment and then disappeared. The stone tablet returned to its calm state, as if nothing had happened. But he was sure that what he had just seen was definitely not an illusion. The light contained a powerful force that made him feel palpitations.

He told Nan Li about this, and Nan Li was also very curious about it. The two decided to study the stone tablet together, hoping to find clues to leave this space. However, they had never heard of the words on the stone tablet, let alone crack the mystery.

"It seems we have to find another way." Nanli sighed and turned his eyes away from the stone tablet.

Gao Xingchen nodded and suggested, "Let's go somewhere farther away, maybe we can find something new."

Nanli readily agreed, and the two packed their bags and set out on their journey of exploration again.

This time, they chose a road they had never taken before, which led to a vast forest. In the forest, ancient trees towered into the sky, vines entangled, and the sunlight shone through the dense branches and leaves, casting mottled light and shadows, which seemed mysterious and quiet.

Just as they went deeper into the forest, a powerful aura came from the front, accompanied by heavy footsteps that made the ground tremble slightly.

"Be careful!" Gao Xingchen grabbed Nan Li and protected her behind him, staring ahead vigilantly.

I saw a huge creature slowly walking out of the dense forest. It was covered with blue-black scales, had two sharp horns on its head, and a pair of blood-red eyes emitting a fierce light.

"What kind of monster is this?!" Gao Xingchen was shocked. He had never seen this creature before, neither in his previous life nor in this life.

The creature seemed unhappy with their presence. It let out a deafening roar and pounced towards them with its bloody mouth wide open.

Gao Xingchen reacted quickly, pulling Nan Li away, and at the same time, a ball of fire condensed in his hand and blasted towards the creature. The fire hit the creature's scales, making a loud "bang" sound, but failed to hurt it at all.

"Its defense is very strong!" Gao Xingchen's face was solemn. The strength of this creature was far beyond their imagination.

Nan Li also drew out his dagger and joined the battle. The two of them worked in perfect harmony, constantly attacking the creature's weaknesses, but their attacks were like scratching an itch, and could not cause any substantial damage to it.

Just as they were struggling to hold on, the creature suddenly stopped attacking, turned around and walked deeper into the forest, seemingly losing interest in them.

Gao Xingchen and Nan Li looked at each other, not understanding why it suddenly left. But they did not dare to take it lightly, and watched the surroundings vigilantly, fearing that it would suddenly return.

"Let's go." Gao Xingchen took Nan Li's hand and said, "It's too dangerous here."

Nanli nodded, and the two of them carefully bypassed the creature's territory and continued forward.

Although they successfully avoided the powerful creature, this encounter sounded a wake-up call for them, making them realize that this space is far more dangerous than they imagined.

On the way back, Gao Xingchen and Nan Li found some strange traces. These traces seemed to be some kind of ancient formation, and they were somewhat similar to the patterns on the stone tablet...

Gao Xingchen and Nan Li did not want to fight, as they knew the gap in strength between themselves and the terrifying creature. They chose a path in the opposite direction of the way they came, hoping to bypass that area.

"What exactly is that thing?" Gao Xingchen asked as he looked around vigilantly, with a hint of fear in his tone.

Nan Li frowned and shook her head: "I have never seen this kind of creature. There is no information about it in ancient books or family traditions."

Gao Xingchen was silent, and a sense of uneasiness surged in his heart. This space was full of unknowns, and the unknown often meant danger.

They traveled through the forest for most of the day and finally walked out of the depressing area. Just when they breathed a sigh of relief, Gao Xingchen suddenly stopped and his eyes fell on a towering tree in front of him.

There were some strange patterns carved on the trunk of the giant tree, which were very similar to the ones they had seen on the stone tablet before.

"It's this kind of symbol again!" Nan Li also discovered those patterns and said in surprise, "Could it be that there is some connection between this forest and that stone tablet?"

Gao Xingchen didn't say anything. He walked to the giant tree and carefully observed the lines. He found that these lines were not carved randomly, but were arranged and combined according to a certain rule to form a complex pattern.

He stretched out his hand and gently stroked the lines. A cool feeling came from his fingertips and went straight to the bottom of his heart. At the same time, some fragments suddenly emerged in his mind. Those fragments were blurry, but they gave him a sense of déjà vu.

"Xingchen, what's wrong with you?" Nan Li noticed that Gao Xingchen was acting strangely and asked with concern.

Gao Xingchen came back to his senses and shook his head: "I'm fine, I just feel that these patterns are familiar, as if I have seen them somewhere."

"Familiar?" Nan Li was puzzled. "Have you been here before?"

"No, I haven't been here." Gao Xingchen said affirmatively, "But I feel like these lines seem to have touched somewhere deep in my memory, making me want to remember something, but I can't grasp it."

He closed his eyes, concentrated his mind, and tried to capture the fleeting fragments in his mind. Gradually, the fragments became clear, and he saw a vast starry sky, countless stars twinkling, and...

"Nine Star Realm!" Gao Xingchen suddenly opened his eyes and exclaimed, "These patterns are the star map of the Nine Star Realm!"

"Star map?" Nan Li was stunned for a moment, then reacted, "You mean, these lines are used to record the distribution of stars in the Nine Star Realm?"

"That's right!" Gao Xingchen said affirmatively, "I've seen a similar star map in an ancient book before. Although the details are different, the overall structure is the same!"

Nan Li suddenly understood something, and she exclaimed, "You mean, there is some kind of connection between this space and the Nine Star Realm?"

Gao Xingchen nodded, his eyes becoming deeper: "I think we have accidentally entered a forgotten ancient world, and the secret of this world may be hidden in these lines..."

He looked up into the distance with a firm gaze: "Nanli, if we want to go home, we must unlock the secrets of this world!"

Gao Xingchen's words revealed a firmness, which also ignited the hope in Nanli's heart. The two realized that in order to return to the Nine Star Realm from this strange space, they must uncover the mystery of this space.

They began to search carefully around the giant tree, hoping to find more information about the star map and this space. The forest was unusually silent, with only the occasional chirping of insects and birds, adding to the mystery and unknown.

"Xingchen, look!" Nanli said, pointing to a protruding stone slab at the root of the giant tree.

Gao Xingchen walked over and found that the stone slab was not formed naturally, but was deliberately embedded there. The surface of the stone slab was as smooth as a mirror, and some complex patterns could be vaguely seen, which seemed to be in the same vein as the star pattern on the giant tree.

Gao Xingchen tried to push the stone slab with his hands, but found that it didn't move at all.

"It seems that a special method is needed to open it." Nan Li said, "Have you noticed the changes in the patterns? Every time you touch the stone slab, their light changes subtly."

Gao Xingchen nodded, and he released a trace of spiritual power, carefully injecting it into the lines on the stone slab. As the spiritual power was injected, the lines on the stone slab gradually lit up, emitting a dazzling golden light.

Suddenly, a crack appeared in the middle of the stone slab, and a powerful energy gushed out from the crack and rushed straight into the sky! Gao Xingchen and Nan Li were hit by this sudden energy and retreated repeatedly, looking at everything in front of them in surprise.

This energy was boundless, as if it contained the power to create the world, but it also carried a familiar aura. Gao Xingchen vaguely felt that this energy seemed to be somewhat similar to the energy fluctuations he had felt on the stone tablet before, and was also inextricably linked to the Nine Star Realm.

Could this be the key to returning home? Gao Xingchen was extremely excited, and he couldn't wait to figure out the source and purpose of this energy.

However, just as they were about to study this energy in depth, the unknown creature they had encountered in the forest appeared again. It let out a deafening roar, and its huge body pressed towards Gao Xingchen and Nan Li like a small mountain.

Its scarlet eyes stared at Gao Xingchen and Nan Li, as if it had sensed their intention to use this energy, and were filled with hostility and murderous intent.

Gao Xingchen and Nan Li's hearts sank. They knew that a fierce battle was inevitable. The strength of this unknown creature was unfathomable, and they had not yet found a way to deal with it.

Can Gao Xingchen and Nan Li successfully unlock the secrets of space? How will they deal with the obstruction of unknown creatures?

Energy gushed out, as if a giant dragon had awakened, bringing with it a pressure from ancient times, which shocked Gao Xingchen and Nan Li. This energy was so powerful, yet so familiar, like the call of hometown, echoing in Gao Xingchen's mind. Could this be the key to leaving this strange space and returning to the Nine Star Realm?

Gao Xingchen was about to sense this energy carefully, but suddenly he felt a strong sense of uneasiness in his heart. He turned back suddenly and saw the unknown creature he had met in the forest before, slowly walking out of the depths of the dense forest with heavy steps. Its huge body blocked out the sky and the sun, and every step made the earth tremble. Its scarlet eyes stared at Gao Xingchen and Nan Li, like two burning flames, full of greed and murderous intent.

"Why did it appear again? Has it been observing us secretly?" Gao Xingchen's heart sank.

"It seems to be very interested in this energy." Nan Li whispered, a hint of solemnity flashing in her beautiful eyes, "Perhaps, it also knows what this energy represents."

The unknown creature let out a deafening roar, and its huge body pressed towards Gao Xingchen and Nanli like a mountain, and the violent energy fluctuations swept over like a raging wave.

Gao Xingchen and Nan Li did not dare to delay and each released powerful spiritual power, which turned into two streams of light and narrowly avoided the attack of the unknown creature.

"boom!"

The unknown creature's attack missed, and its huge body fell heavily to the ground, causing the earth to shake and the surrounding trees to fall down one after another.

Gao Xingchen and Nan Li looked at each other, and saw solemnity in each other's eyes. The strength of this unknown creature was even stronger than they had imagined. Just this casual attack was enough to crush them into dust.

"If we can't defeat it by force, we can only outsmart it." Gao Xingchen calmly analyzed the situation in front of him, dodging the attacks of the unknown creature while looking for its weaknesses.

However, the unknown creature was too fast and its attack was completely disorganized. It relied entirely on its powerful strength and instincts to force Gao Xingchen and Nanli to retreat step by step.

"We can't go on like this, we will be exhausted to death by it!" Nanli said anxiously while resisting the attack of the unknown creature.

At this moment, the gushing energy suddenly changed. The originally violent energy fluctuations gradually subsided and turned into soft rays of light, enveloping Gao Xingchen and Nan Li.

Gao Xingchen was surprised to find that under the cover of this light, his spiritual power recovery speed was much faster. On the other hand, the unknown creature, after coming into contact with this light, let out painful roars, and its huge body trembled violently, as if it had suffered great damage.

"Is this its weakness?" Gao Xingchen's heart moved, and a bold idea came to his mind.

However, the unknown creature reacted extremely quickly. It seemed to have sensed the threat posed by this energy to itself, and it desperately tried to break through the constraints of the energy and attack Gao Xingchen and Nanli.

"Roar!"

The unknown creature let out an earth-shaking roar, and its huge body suddenly expanded, actually tearing apart the light that enveloped it.

Gao Xingchen and Nan Li felt a sinking feeling in their hearts, knowing that the situation was not good.

"Come on!"

Gao Xingchen grabbed Nan Li's hand, and the two of them turned into two streams of light and fled in different directions.

The unknown creature roared, and its huge body chased after them, completely separating Gao Xingchen and Nan Li...