Grassroots Travel: The Star Lord of Another World

Chapter 388 "A Broken Book"

Darkness, endless darkness, seemed to swallow up everything. Gao Xingchen and Nan Li were in it, feeling the suffocating pressure.

"Xingchen, are you still there?" Nanli's voice sounded particularly weak in the darkness, with a hint of trembling.

"I'm here, don't be afraid, I'll hold you." Gao Xingchen held Nan Li's hand tightly. The power of the stars was like a warm flame, emitting a faint light in the darkness, bringing a little comfort to each other.

"Can we... still get out?" Nan Li's voice was filled with anxiety. This was the first time she felt so confused about the future.

"It will definitely work." Gao Xingchen said firmly, even though he didn't know the answer. He knew that they must not lose hope at this moment, and they must not let fear devour their will.

They groped their way forward, and in the darkness, time seemed to have lost its meaning. Suddenly, Gao Xingchen felt Nan Li's fingers tapping gently on his palm, which was the code they had agreed upon.

"What's wrong?" Gao Xingchen asked in a low voice.

"Do you feel that this dark force seems... to be weakening?" There was a hint of surprise and confusion in Nan Li's voice.

Gao Xingchen closed his eyes and carefully felt the changes around him. Indeed, the suffocating feeling of oppression seemed to have weakened, but the darkness was still thick, like a bottomless abyss.

"Could it be that..." A thought suddenly flashed through Gao Xingchen's mind, "This dark force is not invincible?"

He told Nan Li his idea, and a glimmer of hope ignited in the hearts of both of them. If they could find the weakness of the dark power, they might be able to find a chance to fight back.

They continued to move forward, this time with more determined steps and more hope in their hearts. In the darkness, they relied on each other and encouraged each other, like two stars leaning against each other, emitting a faint but firm light in the endless darkness.

After an unknown amount of time, Gao Xingchen suddenly felt a strange touch under his feet. It was no longer the illusory feeling before, but a hard touch.

"It seems like we... stepped on the ground?" Gao Xingchen said uncertainly.

"Really?" Nan Li's voice was full of surprise. She immediately squatted down and touched the ground with her hand. "It's stone. It feels real!"

They finally found a foothold, which restored strength to their exhausted bodies.

"Look!" Nan Li suddenly pointed forward, his tone full of excitement.

Gao Xingchen looked in the direction of Nanli's finger, and saw a faint light in the darkness, like the first ray of light at dawn, full of hope.

They walked towards the light, and as the distance got closer, the light became clearer and clearer. Finally, they came to a huge stone gate.

The stone gate is carved with complex patterns, exuding an ancient and mysterious atmosphere, and the ray of light is shining through the cracks in the stone gate.

"This place... could it be..." Gao Xingchen seemed to have thought of something, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

"That's right, this is the legendary ruins that seal the ancient artifact!" A crisp voice sounded behind them.

Gao Xingchen and Nan Li turned around suddenly and saw a girl in a green dress standing behind them with a sly smile on her face.

"Ling'er!" Gao Xingchen exclaimed, "Why are you here?"

"Of course I'm here to help you!" Ling'er said with a smile, "I know you can definitely find this place, so I'm waiting for you here."

"Ling'er, do you know how to open this stone door?" Nanli asked. Her intuition told her that Ling'er must know something.

Ling'er nodded, pointed at the pattern on the stone door and said, "This stone door contains the secret of fighting against the power of darkness. As long as you unlock this secret, you can open the stone door and gain the power to fight against darkness."

Gao Xingchen and Nan Li looked at the stone gate in front of them, their eyes full of hope. They knew that a more difficult challenge was coming, but they were ready. For the future of the Nine Star Realm, to protect everything they cherished, they would do their best!

"Follow me." After Ling'er said that, she walked lightly towards the stone gate. Her slender fingers brushed across the ancient patterns on the stone gate, as if she was talking to the sleeping years.

Gao Xingchen and Nan Li looked at each other and followed closely. The secret of fighting against the dark forces mentioned by Ling'er was like a bright light, illuminating their way forward.

The stone door slowly opened, and an ancient and vicissitudes of life breathed in, as if it had spanned endless years and brought them back to that legendary ancient era.

The interior of the ruins is not as magnificent as imagined, but dark and deep, like a sleeping giant, quietly lurking in the darkness.

"Be careful, there is a trap here." Ling'er warned in a low voice, her voice echoing in the empty ruins with a hint of barely perceptible tension.

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a slight vibration from the ground. Gao Xingchen reacted quickly, pulling Nan Li back, only to see the originally flat ground suddenly crack open, and dozens of sharp arrows shot out from the cracks, with a sharp sound of breaking through the air, shooting towards the place where they were originally standing.

"That was a close call!" Gao Xingchen said with lingering fear. If Ling'er hadn't reminded him in time, the consequences would have been disastrous.

"Follow my footsteps and don't touch anything." Ling'er looked solemn as she led the two of them through the intricate ruins, taking every step carefully.

They encountered all kinds of mechanisms and traps along the way, including sharp blades, nozzles spewing flames, and traps that suddenly appeared. If they were not careful, they would fall into an irretrievable situation.

But Gao Xingchen and Nan Li are no ordinary people. They rely on their extraordinary strength and tacit cooperation to escape danger again and again. Gao Xingchen's star power turned into an indestructible shield to resist fatal attacks, while Nan Li relied on his keen perception and flexible body movements to cleverly avoid traps one after another.

Under Ling'er's guidance, they finally arrived at a spacious hall. In the center of the hall stood a towering stone platform, and above the stone platform, suspended a crystal ball emitting dazzling light.

"What is that?" Gao Xingchen asked, pointing at the crystal ball.

"That's a part of the Heart of the Stars," Ling'er explained. "Legend has it that the Heart of the Stars has a powerful force against the forces of darkness, and this crystal ball is the key to unlocking the Heart of the Stars."

Gao Xingchen and Nan Li were delighted. Was the method they had been looking for so hard to fight against the dark forces finally going to surface?

At this moment, numerous torches suddenly lit up around the hall, illuminating the originally dark hall as bright as day. Dozens of mysterious people in black cloaks walked out of the darkness and surrounded Gao Xingchen and the other two.

"Who are you?" Gao Xingchen asked vigilantly, tightening the Star Sword in his hand.

"The one who will take your lives!" The leading man in black had a low and hoarse voice, full of murderous intent.

A war is about to break out!

The black-clothed man came with great force, and his fierce attack came like a violent storm. Gao Xingchen and Nan Li stood back to back, and the power of the stars and the agile swordsmanship intertwined into an impenetrable line of defense. Ling'er wandered on the edge of the battle, using strange and unpredictable magic to contain the enemy and share the pressure for the two.

During the fierce battle, Gao Xingchen noticed that although these men in black had fierce moves, they seemed to deliberately avoid direct confrontation with them, and more often used their numerical advantage and flexible body movements to consume them. Could they have other purposes? Gao Xingchen was puzzled, but he had no time to think about it, and could only focus on dealing with the crisis in front of him.

"Xingchen, be careful!" Nan Li shouted, and the long sword in her hand stabbed out like a spirit snake, forcing back a man in black who tried to sneak attack Gao Xingchen.

"Their target is not us, but the crystal ball!" Gao Xingchen instantly realized that the real purpose of these men in black is to seize the Heart of the Star!

"Ling'er, protect the crystal ball!" Gao Xingchen shouted, and the power of the stars suddenly burst out, repelling the surrounding men in black and buying time for Ling'er.

Ling'er understood, and she flashed in front of the crystal ball. She formed seals with her hands and muttered something. A transparent barrier instantly enveloped the crystal ball.

Seeing this, the men in black attacked more fiercely, but no matter how they attacked, they could not break through Ling'er's defense.

"Damn it!" The leading man in black roared when he saw that he could not take down the enemy after a long time of attack. Suddenly, a black bead appeared in his hand, emitting a dark aura that made people feel frightened.

"Oh no, he's going to fight to the death!" Gao Xingchen's heart trembled. He was about to remind Ling'er to be careful, but he saw the man in black suddenly crush the black beads. A powerful dark force burst out instantly, covering the entire hall.

The shock wave of the dark power blew Gao Xingchen, Nanli and Ling'er away, and they fell heavily to the ground.

"Cough cough..." Gao Xingchen struggled to get up, but found that it was pitch black in front of him and he could not see anything.

"Nanli? Ling'er? Where are you?" Gao Xingchen called his companions' names anxiously.

"I'm here." Nan Li's voice came from not far away, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Gao Xingchen breathed a sigh of relief, "Where's Ling'er?"

"I..." Ling'er's voice was a little weak, "I'm fine..."

At this moment, Gao Xingchen suddenly felt a faint light coming from Ling'er's direction. He followed the light and found Ling'er lying on the ground, holding an ancient book tightly in her hand. The light was emitted from the book.

"This is..." Gao Xingchen picked up the book, opened it and found that it recorded a method to restrain the power of darkness.

"This is the key to fighting against the power of darkness!" Gao Xingchen was delighted and quickly helped Nan Li up. "Let's practice quickly. As long as we master this method, we can defeat the power of darkness and protect the Heart of the Stars!"

Nan Li nodded, and the two began to practice according to the method in the secret book. In the process of practice, their minds were further sublimated, and the tacit understanding between them became deeper.

Just as they were ready and about to set off, a sinister voice suddenly rang in their ears: "Do you think you can defeat me like this? You are too naive!"

Mysterious person! Gao Xingchen and Nan Li were startled and looked up suddenly, only to see a figure shrouded in darkness standing in front of them, with a chilling light flashing in his eyes...

The darkness swallowed everything. Gao Xingchen and Nan Li could only vaguely recognize each other's figures by the faint light. The light came from the ancient book in Ling'er's hand. As the pages turned, the ancient text seemed to come alive, emitting a faint golden halo, dispelling some of the darkness around them.

"Xingchen, do you feel it?" Nanli's voice was particularly clear in the darkness, with a barely perceptible tremor.

Gao Xingchen clenched the secret book in his hand, feeling the ancient power flowing between the pages, and said in a deep voice: "Well, this power... is very strong and pure, as if it came from the ancient stars, and contains endless hope."

Following the instructions in the secret book, they sat cross-legged, circulated the star power in their bodies, and tried to resonate with this ancient power. At first, this power was like an unruly wild horse, difficult to control, but with the tacit cooperation of Gao Xingchen and Nan Li, it gradually became docile, like a trickle, blending into their bodies and repairing their meridians damaged by the erosion of the dark power.

The process of cultivation was painful and long, but Gao Xingchen and Nan Li were happy with it. They seemed to be in a vast sea of stars, and every star was emitting a dazzling light, guiding them in the direction of progress. In the process of cultivation, their souls were cleansed, and the tacit understanding between them became deeper, as if they were connected in mind and could understand each other's thoughts without words.

After an unknown amount of time, when the last ray of golden light merged into their bodies, Gao Xingchen and Nan Li opened their eyes at the same time, with a determined light flashing in their eyes. They stood up, feeling an unprecedented powerful force surging in their bodies, as if they could completely dispel the darkness as long as they wanted.

"We succeeded." A smile appeared on Nanli's lips, as beautiful as a blooming snow lotus, breathtakingly beautiful.

"Well, we will definitely be able to defeat the darkness and protect the Heart of the Stars!" Gao Xingchen clenched his fists, with fire burning in his eyes.

At this moment, a gloomy voice suddenly sounded in their ears, with undisguised sarcasm: "Haha, what a touching scene, but it's a pity that all this is in vain."

Gao Xingchen and Nan Li were startled and looked up suddenly, only to see a figure shrouded in darkness slowly walking out of the darkness and standing in front of them, with a chilling cold light flashing in his eyes.

"Who...are you?" Gao Xingchen asked vigilantly.

"Haha, I am the mysterious man you are talking about." The black shadow sneered, "Do you think you can defeat me with just a crappy book? You are too naive!"

"What do you want?" Nan Li stepped forward and protected Gao Xingchen behind him. The long sword in his hand made a crisp sound, as if responding to his master's will to fight.

"What do I want?" The mysterious man laughed loudly, his laughter full of disdain and ridicule. "I want you to see with your own eyes how this world is swallowed by darkness! I want you to understand that your efforts and sacrifices are meaningless!"

As soon as the mysterious man finished speaking, an even more powerful dark force burst out from his body, sweeping towards Gao Xingchen and Nanli like a surging tide.

Gao Xingchen and Nan Li felt depressed. They knew that a more brutal battle was about to begin...