Beast Taming Star Journey

The cold stone walls stretched into the deep darkness. I groped my way forward, a chilling, damp aura hitting me as if I had stepped into the tomb of an ancient behemoth. The rumbling sound of the stone door closing behind me still echoed in my ears. Su Yao's cries were blocked by the thick stone walls, leaving me alone to face this unknown fear.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. Beyond this stone door should be the trap maze the Beastmaster had mentioned.

The Dark Lord's castle lived up to its reputation, fraught with danger at every turn.

"Whoosh!" A sharp arrow shot out from the darkness, almost grazing my cheek, and embedded itself in the stone wall behind me, its fletching still trembling slightly.

I broke out in a cold sweat, my heart pounding. If it had been any more off course, I would be dead!

I quickly dodged behind a protruding rock wall, and only then did I feel a little safer.

In the darkness, I seemed to hear Su Yao's anxious voice coming from the other side of the stone door, but her words were distorted by the heavy stone door, and I couldn't hear what she was saying at all.

"Damn it!" I cursed under my breath, filled with frustration.

I intended to use this stone door to escape the pursuit of the Gadolin Beastmaster and the giant black python, but I never expected to put myself in an even more dangerous situation.

I forced myself to calm down and carefully observed my surroundings. In the darkness, I could barely see a small area in front of me.

The maze's passages were narrow and winding, with strange patterns carved on the walls on both sides, which looked like some kind of ancient writing or symbols.

I reached out and touched the cold stone wall, feeling a rough texture on my fingertips. The patterns were uneven, seemingly hiding some kind of pattern.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" Several more arrows shot from different directions, and I dodged hastily, looking quite disheveled. The maze's mechanisms were truly ingenious, making it impossible to defend against them.

I dared not act rashly any longer, and could only cling tightly to the wall, groping my way forward step by step. I had to find the pattern of these mechanisms as soon as possible, or I would be riddled with arrows sooner or later.

Suddenly, my finger touched a slightly protruding rock. This rock was slightly different from the rest of the rock face; it seemed movable.

I tentatively pressed it lightly, and with a soft "click," a stone slab under my feet suddenly sank down, revealing a dark hole.

I quickly pulled my hand back and took a step back to avoid falling.

"So this is the mechanism..." I thought to myself, my eyes fixed on the protruding rock.

I tried pressing other stones a few more times and found that some stones would trigger hidden arrows when pressed, some would open traps, and some would have no effect at all.

I began to carefully observe the position and shape of these stones, trying to find some patterns.

Just as I was intently studying these mechanisms, I suddenly heard a faint sound, as if something was approaching...

"Who?" I turned around abruptly, staring warily in the direction the voice came from.

In the darkness, a pair of eerie green eyes slowly lit up, like a demon lurking in the abyss, sending chills down one's spine.

I held my breath, clenched my fists, and prepared to deal with any sudden danger.

As those eyes drew closer, I finally saw their owner—a gigantic spider, entirely black, with eight long legs covered in sharp barbs, and green venom dripping from its mouthparts, making it nauseating.

This spider was clearly no ordinary beast; it exuded an evil aura that strangely matched the atmosphere of the maze.

A chill ran down my spine; this maze was indeed fraught with the threat of death.

Legend has it that this labyrinth was set up by the Dark Lord according to an ancient and evil formation. It is not only full of traps and mechanisms, but also teems with all kinds of ferocious monsters to guard his most important secret.

I dared not be careless and hurriedly activated the beast-taming power within my body. I signed an equal contract with my natal beast—a pure white spirit fox—to share each other's power.

The fox spirit's power surged into my body, bringing me warmth and dispelling much of my initial fear. The giant spider hissed and lunged at me.

I dodged its attack by sidestepping, and at the same time threw a punch, striking its abdomen hard. "Bang!" With a muffled sound, the giant spider was knocked back several steps, but it wasn't seriously injured. Instead, it pounced even more fiercely.

I knew that fighting head-on wouldn't work; I had to find the exit from the maze as soon as possible. While dodging the giant spider's attacks, I continued to observe the surrounding rocks.

I discovered that the patterns on these stones were not random, but arranged in a specific order. I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down.

I carefully recalled the stones I had touched before, and how they triggered the mechanisms.

I noticed that the stones that triggered the hidden arrows had sharp, pointed patterns, while the stones that opened the traps had round patterns.

I started trying to selectively touch some of the stones, based on my assumptions.

Sure enough, I successfully avoided a series of hidden arrows and traps, and found a relatively safe passage.

The giant spider continued its relentless pursuit, but I had gradually grasped the maze's patterns, and its attacks no longer posed a significant threat to me.

I hurried along the passage, the hissing of the giant spider behind me fading into the distance. A surge of joy filled me; it seemed the exit was just around the corner.

Suddenly, a stone door appeared at the end of the passage. My heart leaped, and I rushed towards it. I pushed open the stone door, and a bright and clear view opened up before me. I had finally escaped the maze!

Before I could even breathe a sigh of relief, I heard a familiar voice: "Nong Yu!"

I turned around and saw Su Yao standing behind me, her face full of worry.

She rushed up to me and grabbed my hand tightly... Su Yao's hand was warm and strong, holding mine tightly as if trying to pull me back from the danger I had just experienced.

Her eyes were full of trust and reliance, which gradually relaxed my tense nerves. I held her hand in return and gave her a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine, it was just a small maze."

“I know you’re amazing,” Su Yao said, her eyes sparkling with pride and admiration, “but don’t make me worry like this again next time.”

She gently punched my chest, her tone a mix of reproach and playful coquetry. I smiled and ruffled her hair, a warm feeling welling up inside me.

After the brief moment of warmth, we dared not let our guard down. Although we had escaped the maze, we were still within the Dark Lord's castle, and danger still lurked all around us.

I looked around. It was a spacious hall with strange patterns carved on the walls, and a sinister atmosphere permeated the air.

Just then, a cold voice came from the depths of the hall: "I never thought you would actually be able to walk out of my maze alive, Nong Yu."

My heart sank. I looked in the direction of the sound and saw the Beastmaster slowly emerge from the shadows, a sinister smile on his face. "It seems I underestimated your abilities."

"You're waiting for us here?" I asked in a deep voice.

“Of course,” Gadolin Beastmaster sneered, “I knew you would come here. This castle is my territory, and if I want you dead, you can’t live.”

Before he finished speaking, he commanded his beast—a huge black python—to attack us.

The giant python opened its blood-red maw, revealing sharp fangs, and lunged at me with a stench.

I dared not be careless and hurriedly activated my beast-taming power. The figure of the spirit fox appeared beside me and let out a clear cry.

My mind was in sync with the spirit fox's; I dodged the giant python's attack in a flash, and at the same time commanded the spirit fox to launch a counterattack against the giant python.

The fox was agile and extremely fast. It kept running around the giant python, occasionally attacking its vital points with its sharp claws.

Although the giant python was enormous, it appeared somewhat clumsy under the agile attacks of the spirit fox and was unable to defeat it for a time.

Upon seeing this, the beast tamer's eyes flashed with surprise, then he sneered, "It seems your beast taming is not simple either. However, do you think you can defeat me like this? You're too naive!"

He chanted incantations and rapidly formed hand seals, as a surge of black energy flowed from his body and into the giant python's body.

The python's body began to swell, its scales hardening and emanating a chilling aura. A shiver ran through me, and I felt a strong sense of unease.

This giant python seems to have become even more ferocious, and... it seems to have acquired some new ability.

I gripped Su Yao's hand tightly and whispered, "Be careful, something's wrong..."

The giant python suddenly let out a deafening roar, its eyes turned blood red, and a powerful pressure emanated from it, making it difficult for me to breathe.

"What's this……"