Grassroots Travel: The Star Lord of Another World

Chapter 256: Spring comes out of dead trees

"'Tears of the Heart'...ancient ruins...unknown dangers..." Gao Xingchen repeated the old man's words in a low voice, his heart surging with turbulent waves. Nan Li was in danger, and he had to grasp this only hope.

"Senior, please tell me how to find the 'Tears of the Heart'?" Gao Xingchen's eyes were firm and his tone revealed a determination to fight to the death.

The old man looked at him deeply, as if he could see through all his inner thoughts, and said slowly: "Child, have you really thought it through? The ruins are full of dangers, even I dare not set foot there easily. If you go, you may never come back."

Gao Xingchen knelt down without hesitation and kowtowed heavily, his voice sonorous and powerful: "Senior, I am willing to do anything to save Nan Li! Even if it costs my life, it is worth it!"

The old man was silent for a moment, as if he had made some kind of decision, and then he sighed and said, "Forget it, child, get up. Since I met you, it is fate, so I will help you."

He slowly stood up and walked to the depths of the cave. He took down an ancient animal skin scroll from the stone wall, handed it to Gao Xingchen, and said, "It records the route to the ruins and some methods to crack the traps. Keep it well, it may be able to help you."

Gao Xingchen took the scroll with both hands, as if he had found a treasure, and knelt down again to kowtow and express his gratitude.

"Go, kid," the old man waved his hand, "Remember, time is limited. You must find the 'Tear of the Heart' as soon as possible, otherwise, it will be too late."

Gao Xingchen understood the urgency of the matter. He stood up and took a last look at the unconscious Nan Li, his eyes full of reluctance and worry. He walked to Nan Li, gently stroked her cheek, and whispered: "Nan Li, wait for me, I will definitely come back and save you!"

After saying this, he turned around resolutely, walked out of the cave without looking back, and disappeared into the thick fog.

The old man looked at Gao Xingchen's receding back, a hint of relief flashed in his eyes, and he murmured to himself: "Child, I hope you can succeed..."

Gao Xingchen followed the instructions on the scroll, overcame all obstacles along the way, and finally arrived at the entrance of the ruins. It was a huge stone door with ancient and mysterious patterns carved on it, as if telling a forgotten history.

Gao Xingchen took a deep breath and placed his hand on the stone door. A bone-chilling chill instantly spread throughout his body. He calmed himself down and began to input spiritual power according to the method recorded on the scroll, trying to open the stone door...

The cold touch came from the palm of his hand, and Gao Xingchen felt a chill running up his arm to the top of his head, causing him to shiver. He calmed himself down and followed the instructions on the animal skin scroll, slowly injecting his spiritual power into the specific patterns on the stone door.

With the infusion of spiritual power, the ancient pattern on the stone door seemed to come alive, emitting a faint light. Amid a loud rumbling sound, dust flew up, and the heavy stone door slowly opened, revealing a passage leading to the depths of darkness.

Gao Xingchen took a deep breath, tightly gripped the Chixiao Sword in his hand, and resolutely stepped into the ruins.

The interior of the ruins was wider than Gao Xingchen had imagined, and all kinds of rare and exotic animals were carved on the towering stone walls, which were lifelike. However, the more beautiful the place, the greater the danger it often hides.

Not long after he left, Gao Xingchen felt a fierce murderous aura coming towards him. He reacted quickly and dodged a cold light that shot out from the darkness.

"Who is it?" Gao Xingchen asked sternly, while looking around vigilantly.

In the darkness, there was a low roar, and then a huge phantom monster appeared in front of Gao Xingchen. The monster looked like a tiger, but it had three ferocious heads and exuded a blue flame all over its body, which made people shudder.

"Three-headed Flame Tiger!" Gao Xingchen recognized the beast at a glance, and his heart sank. The three-headed Flame Tiger was an ancient species with great strength and proficiency in fire magic, making it extremely difficult to deal with.

He knew that a head-on fight was not the best strategy, so he decided to outsmart them. While dealing with the three-headed flaming tiger, Gao Xingchen observed the surrounding environment, looking for a breakthrough.

Suddenly, he noticed a depression in the wall that seemed to be big enough for one person to pass through. Gao Xingchen's mind moved, and a plan came to his mind. He deliberately led the three-headed flaming tiger to the depression, and then took advantage of their unpreparedness and used his body skills to pass through the narrow passage.

The three-headed fire tiger was too huge to pass through the narrow passage, so it could only watch Gao Xingchen escape and roared angrily.

However, Gao Xingchen's test was far from over. On the way, he encountered various traps and powerful guardian beasts, and each time he encountered danger.

Relying on his extraordinary courage and wisdom, as well as his constantly improving weapon-refining skills, Gao Xingchen resolved the crises one by one, and finally, he came to the center of a spacious stone chamber.

In the center of the stone chamber, there was a crystal clear teardrop-shaped gem suspended, emitting a soft and warm light. Gao Xingchen recognized it at a glance. It was the "Tear of the Heart" he was looking for.

He suppressed his inner excitement, stepped forward quickly, and reached out to touch the gem. At this moment, a strong spiritual power fluctuation suddenly came from outside the stone chamber, and then a cold voice echoed in the stone chamber:

"Put down the 'Tear of Heart', or die!"

The cold voice was like a basin of ice water, instantly extinguishing the joy in Gao Xingchen's heart. He turned around suddenly, and saw Xuan Yu's figure emerging like a ghost at the entrance of the stone chamber, staring at the "Tear of the Heart" in his hand with cold eyes like a venomous snake.

"Xuan Yu!" Gao Xingchen gritted his teeth and spat out these two words, his heart boiling with anger. He knew that he had underestimated Xuan Yu's determination after all. He actually chased him here!

"Leave the 'Tear of Heart' behind and I can spare your life." Xuan Yu said coldly, his tone full of unquestionable majesty.

"Wishful thinking!" Gao Xingchen snorted coldly and refused without hesitation. Are you kidding? He had gone through so much hardship to get here, how could he give up so easily? Moreover, the "Tears of the Heart" was related to Nan Li's life, and he would never allow anyone to get involved!

"Since you are so stubborn, don't blame me for being rude!" A cold light flashed in Xuan Yu's eyes, and his figure turned into a residual shadow and pounced on Gao Xingchen like lightning.

Gao Xingchen was well prepared, and with a flick of his body, he barely dodged Xuan Yu's attack. He thrust out with his sword in his backhand, and the red sword light was like a flash of lightning, going straight for Xuan Yu's throat.

Xuan Yu snorted coldly, without dodging or evading, he put his right hand together with his fingers like a knife and actually clamped the edge of Gao Xingchen's sword!

"You don't know what you can do!" A trace of contempt flashed in Xuan Yu's eyes. With a flick of his wrist, a powerful force flowed along the sword into Gao Xingchen's body.

Gao Xingchen only felt a surge of overwhelming force coming at him, his body flew backwards uncontrollably, he fell heavily to the ground, a trace of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

"Is this all you can do?" Xuan Yu slowly walked towards Gao Xingchen, his tone full of sarcasm.

Gao Xingchen struggled to stand up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and a hint of madness flashed in his eyes. He knew that he could no longer hold back!

He took a deep breath, mobilized all the spiritual energy in his body, and integrated the power of "Tears of the Heart" into himself.

The power of the "Tears of the Heart" was like a warm current, flowing through Gao Xingchen's body in an instant. He felt his strength increasing rapidly, and his originally exhausted spiritual power also recovered rapidly.

"What kind of power is this?!" Xuan Yu felt the powerful aura emanating from Gao Xingchen, and his face finally changed.

"This is a power you will never understand!" Gao Xingchen roared, his body turned into a flash of lightning, and he took the initiative to attack Xuan Yu.

This time, Gao Xingchen's speed and strength increased several times, and Xuan Yu was actually a little overwhelmed. The two started a fierce battle in the narrow stone chamber, with swords flying everywhere and stone chips flying everywhere.

Relying on his understanding of Xuan Yu and the powerful strength given to him by the "Tears of the Heart", Gao Xingchen finally found a flaw and pierced Xuan Yu's shoulder with a sword!

"Ah!" Xuan Yu let out a scream, retreated violently, covering his shoulder, his eyes full of resentment and disbelief.

Gao Xingchen ignored Xuan Yu's injuries. He took advantage of the situation to pursue the enemy. The Chixiao sword in his hand turned into a series of afterimages, forcing Xuan Yu to retreat step by step.

Finally, Gao Xingchen knocked Xuan Yu away with a sword, and he fell heavily to the ground, unable to stand up again.

Gao Xingchen did not kill Xuan Yu. He knew that there was a more powerful force behind Xuan Yu. Killing Xuan Yu would only bring him more trouble. He looked at Xuan Yu coldly and turned to leave the stone chamber.

Gao Xingchen brought the "Tears of the Heart" back to the shelter and, under the guidance of the mysterious old man, injected the power of the "Tears of the Heart" into Nanli's body.

Under the nourishment of the "Tears of the Heart", Nan Li's pale face gradually regained its rosy color, and his breathing gradually became stable.

Gao Xingchen held Nan Li's hand, his heart full of hope. He knew that Nan Li would wake up soon.

However, they don't know that greater challenges are still to come. What secrets are hidden behind Xuan Yu? After Nan Li recovers, how should they face Xuan Yu and the forces behind him?