Grassroots Travel: The Star Lord of Another World

Nether Valley, located at the edge of the Nine Star Realm, is shrouded in thick fog all year round and is rarely visited by humans. The mountains here are steep, the rocks are jagged, and the valley bottom is filled with miasma. It is rumored that this is the burial place of ancient ferocious beasts, hence the name "Nether".

"Master, the Netherworld Valley is ahead." Xuanfeng pointed to the valley shrouded in thick fog in the distance, his tone solemn.

Gao Xingchen looked towards the Nether Valley, frowning slightly. Even from a distance, he could feel a gloomy aura coming towards him.

"According to intelligence, the mysterious man has appeared near the Nether Valley many times. It is very likely that their base or other clues are hidden here." Gao Xingchen said in a deep voice, "Let's go in and take a look."

After saying that, Gao Xingchen took the lead and flew into the Nether Valley on his sword, followed closely by Xuanfeng.

The two of them shuttled through the thick fog, carefully avoiding the steep peaks and strange rocks. The Nether Valley was silent, with only the occasional cries of crows echoing in the valley, adding a bit of eerie atmosphere.

"Be careful, the terrain here is complicated, and there may be traps set by a mysterious person." Gao Xingchen reminded in a low voice.

Xuanfeng nodded, holding a long sword tightly in his hand, and vigilantly observing the movements around him.

The two went deeper and deeper, but they didn't find anything unusual. Just when they thought they would return empty-handed again, the sky suddenly darkened.

"Boom!"

There was a loud thunderclap, and raindrops as big as beans fell down with a crackling sound. In a blink of an eye, heavy rain poured down, and the entire Nether Valley was instantly covered by the rain curtain.

"Oh no, why is it raining so hard all of a sudden?" Xuan Feng wiped the rain off his face and said anxiously, "This rain won't stop anytime soon, we have to find a place to take shelter first."

Gao Xingchen looked around and found a cave not far away, so he said, "Let's go over there to hide from the rain."

The two of them braved the heavy rain and quickly ran to the cave. The cave was not big, but it could barely accommodate two people to take shelter from the rain.

"The rain came too suddenly, it's really strange..." Xuanfeng muttered to himself as he looked at the heavy rain outside the cave.

Gao Xingchen didn't say anything, but frowned, feeling a little uneasy. The rain came too strangely, and the Nether Valley was always covered by thick fog, and it rarely rained. This rainstorm seemed to indicate something...

After the rain, the sky cleared up, and the Nether Valley was filled with the smell of soil and grass. Gao Xingchen and Xuanfeng walked out of the cave, but the scene in front of them surprised them. The originally rugged mountain road had been destroyed by mudslides, with piles of rocks and fallen trees, and it was a mess.

"This..." Xuanfeng was speechless for a moment as he looked at the scene in front of him.

Gao Xingchen looked solemn as he paced back and forth along the destroyed mountain road, trying to find a passable path. But the scene before him forced him to admit that the exit of the Nether Valley had been completely blocked.

"It seems we are trapped." Gao Xingchen said in a deep voice, with a hint of helplessness in his tone.

"What should we do now?" Xuan Feng asked anxiously, "We can't be trapped here forever, right?"

"Don't worry, there will always be a way." Gao Xingchen comforted him, but his eyes never left the mountain that was ravaged by the mudslide. He believed that since someone had been here before, there must be another way out.

They searched along the edge of the valley, hoping to find a hidden path. As time passed, their hope became increasingly slim. Just when the two were about to give up, Gao Xingchen suddenly found some traces of artificial excavation in a hidden corner.

"Xuanfeng, look here!" Gao Xingchen pointed at the traces and said, "There seem to be traces of artificial excavation here. Maybe there will be a road behind it."

A glimmer of hope ignited in Xuanfeng's eyes, and he hurried forward to check. Although the traces were already very blurred, it was vaguely recognizable that they were artificially excavated.

“Let’s give it a try!”

Gao Xingchen drew out his sword and carefully dug along the traces. The dirt and gravel were cleared away bit by bit, and a dark hole gradually appeared.

"Master, be careful!" Xuanfeng reminded.

Gao Xingchen nodded, signaling Xuanfeng to be alert, and he went into the cave first. The cave was very narrow, only enough for one person to pass through. Gao Xingchen groped the wall and moved forward slowly.

Suddenly, he felt something go missing under his feet, as if he had stepped on something. Before he could react, the rocks above him collapsed and buried him.

"Pavilion Master!"

Outside the cave, Xuan Feng heard the noise and shouted anxiously, but he only heard waves of desperate echoes. He frantically dug at the entrance of the cave, trying to rescue Gao Xingchen. However, more and more rocks collapsed, and his hope became increasingly slim...

Deep in the dark cave, rubble piled up and dust flew. Gao Xingchen was crushed under the rocks, and his consciousness gradually blurred. He struggled to get up, but found that his limbs were weak and he felt severe pain in his chest.

"Master! Master! Can you hear me?" Xuan Feng's anxious voice came from above his head, with a hint of trembling and despair.

Gao Xingchen endured the pain and tried to make a weak sound: "I... I'm fine... How are you?"

"I'm fine, hold on, I will rescue you right away!" There was a glimmer of hope in Xuanfeng's voice, and he sped up the digging.

After an unknown amount of time, a noise was heard at the entrance of the cave, and then several figures appeared at the entrance.

"Pavilion Master! Xuanfeng!" The person who came was Zhao Wanwan, followed by several elite disciples of the Xingchen Pavilion.

"Wanwan, why are you here?" Gao Xingchen asked in surprise.

"The Pavilion Master is in danger, how could we not come?" Zhao Wanwan said anxiously, "We came here immediately after we got the news."

Seeing Gao Xingchen and Xuanfeng trapped, Zhao Wanwan immediately organized people to rescue them. However, the Nether Valley was in a steep terrain, and coupled with the impact of the mudslide, the rescue work progressed very slowly.

Gao Xingchen and Xuanfeng who were trapped in the cave did not sit there and wait for death. They searched the cave carefully, hoping to find other exits.

"Master, look!" Xuan Feng pointed at a mark on the wall and said, "It seems like there is something engraved here?"

Gao Xingchen looked in the dim light and saw some strange symbols carved on the wall. They looked like some kind of text, but they were very unfamiliar.

"What kind of text is this?" Xuan Feng asked puzzledly.

Gao Xingchen shook his head, indicating that he didn't know it either. He carefully observed the symbols, and felt that these symbols might be related to the mysterious person they were investigating.

As time went by, the rescue team still hadn't found the whereabouts of the two. Gao Xingchen and Xuanfeng were trapped in the cave, their food and water were exhausted, and the situation became increasingly critical.

"Master, will we die here?" There was a hint of fear in Xuanfeng's voice.

Gao Xingchen patted his shoulder and comforted him: "Don't be afraid, we will definitely get out."

Although Gao Xingchen said this, his heart was also filled with worry. The longer they were trapped here, the greater the risk of exposure. And those symbols carved on the wall became an indelible mystery in their hearts.

The dark hours passed like a tortoise, and Gao Xingchen and Xuanfeng waited in agony in the secluded cave. Finally, at dusk on the third day, a ray of light penetrated the rocks at the entrance of the cave, accompanied by Zhao Wanwan's surprised cry: "Found it! They are here!"

After being rescued, Gao Xingchen ignored his physical fatigue and immediately ordered to seal off the scene and organize people to search for possible clues. However, after two days and two nights of wind and rain, coupled with human destruction, the cave had long been unrecognizable, and the stone walls with strange symbols were buried without a trace by mudslides.

In the Xingchen Pavilion, Gao Xingchen sat in the main seat of the meeting room with a gloomy face, holding a cup of cold tea in his hand, but he never took a sip. The failure of this operation meant that their months of investigation had gone to waste, and more importantly, they missed the best opportunity to uncover the mystery man.

"Master, you haven't closed your eyes for three days and three nights. Take a rest first." Nan Li walked to Gao Xingchen, with a hint of worry in her tone. Since Gao Xingchen came back from the Nether Valley, he has been locking himself in the meeting room, reading various materials without sleep, trying to find new breakthroughs.

"I'm fine." Gao Xingchen rubbed his brows, his tone unable to hide his fatigue, "We were careless this time and underestimated the opponent's strength. We must find new clues as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous."

"Master, what should we do next?" Xuan Feng asked, with a hint of self-blame in his tone.

Gao Xingchen was silent for a moment, his eyes swept across the people present, and he said in a deep voice: "This failure also makes us realize that we can no longer take the initiative by simply collecting intelligence. We must change our thinking and start from other aspects to find a breakthrough."

"Other aspects?" Everyone looked at each other, confused for a moment.

"Since they are so deliberate in covering up their whereabouts, it means they have some concerns." Gao Xingchen's eyes flashed with a gleam of light, "We might as well do the opposite and start with their concerns. Perhaps we can find new clues."

"The Pavilion Master's idea is..." Nan Li keenly captured the key information in Gao Xingchen's words and asked tentatively.

Gao Xingchen did not answer directly, but slowly stood up, walked to the window, looked into the distance, and said in a deep tone: "I remember that during the investigation, I found some clues about the other party's skills..."