Chapter 788 - A Land Oppressed by Stars
A rush of dizziness befell both of them as the space around them transformed.
When An Lin reopened his eyes, he discovered that he had arrived at an extremely foreign place. This place was completely different from his mental image of what the Vast Land of Blood would be like.
The Vast Land of Blood sounded like an extremely gruesome place. It felt like it should have been a chaotic and sinister place instead of the world before them, where a sea of stars lit up the night sky overhead and the pitch-black earth was completely silent.
An Lin felt a set of fingers move in his hands, and he turned to Xu Xiaolan to find that she was also looking at him.
“It looks like we didn’t get split up into random locations as we were holding hands,” Xu Xiaolan said with a smile.
An Lin was also quite elated. “This tells us we should hold hands more in the future!”
Xu Xiaolan: “…”
There weren’t any beasts left around them.
Xu Xiaolan looked up into the sky, and the galaxy of stars was reflected in her eyes, making them appear even more vibrant and dazzling.
After stargazing for a short while, her eyes locked onto a certain star, which was crimson like blood. “The yellow star indicates the south while the blood star indicates the north. We should go to a place where the two stars are connected in a line and walk toward the yellow star in order to find the exit.”
According to the Jade Bone Immortal Bug, this was the best way to find the exit.
An Lin suggested another course of action, “We should see if there’s some good stuff we can pick up first around here. Apparently, all the beasts that walked toward the blood star have died. I wonder what lies in that direction.”
Thus, the two of them began to wander aimlessly around this strange place.
Everything was deathly silent. The galaxy of stars overhead was incapable of speech, and the vast expanse of pitch-black earth was devoid of any living creatures. The entire place appeared extremely lonesome and desolate.
Thankfully, An Lin had Xu Xiaolan by his side.
Because of her presence, the desolate landscape suddenly appeared more like a scenic location.
An Lin was getting quite excited and began pointing out a series of trivial sights and scenes.
“Xiaolan, Xiaolan, look in that direction. Doesn’t that constellation of stars there look like Little Tian?” An Lin pointed to a certain spot in the sky with a smile.
Xu Xiaolan stared toward that location for a few seconds before responding with a bemused expression, “It’s just a few stars connected in a circular formation! You’re saying that looks like Little Tian?!”
“Haha, Little Tian is round like a circle!” An Lin was quite pleased with himself.
Xu Xiaolan rolled her eyes at An Lin before forging on ahead.
“Xiaolan, look, it’s the Big Dipper!”
“… Those are just seven stars connected together, and you’re calling that the Big Dipper?”
“Of course! What else would you call it?”
“…”
Only Xu Xiaolan would be able to deal with An Lin, who was in such a carefree mood.
The two of them strolled through this legendary Vast Land of Blood and chatted about insignificant things, but they did not encounter any dangerous environments.
“My God, did we walk in through the wrong door? We’ve been walking for so long and nothing has happened!” An Lin was quite perplexed.
“Maybe… it’s because we’re quite lucky?” Xu Xiaolan’s brows furrowed as she scanned her eyes across the horizon around her. However, there really was nothing aside from more undulating black land.
“How about… we try flying? After all, flying will be faster than walking,” An Lin suggested after a moment of hesitation.
“No,” Xu Xiaolan immediately turned him down. “Have you forgotten what the Jade Bone Immortal Bug told us? All those who try to fly in this world will be oppressed by the stars!”
An Lin fell silent.
The Jade Bone Immortal Bug had told them that there were virtually no flying beasts among the beasts that had come out of this place alive.
According to a witness that happened to be in the right place at the right time, it bore witness to a flying beast being reduced to mincemeat by the oppressive power of the stars upon it taking flight. Its companion, a Steel Saber Penguin, gave up on flight upon witnessing the death of its companion and chose to crawl along the ground instead, thereby allowing it to become the only flying beast survivor.
“Then, should we try another method?” An Lin asked.
He had never seen what the oppressive power of the stars would look like, and he was quite curious.
Xu Xiaolan blinked with incomprehension. “What method?”
“Come on out, cannon fodder Gundams!”
An Lin’s storage ring flashed, and two shiny, silver Gundams appeared.
Xu Xiaolan’s lips twitched slightly. “You used to be so reliant on those Gundams, but now you’re referring to them as cannon fodder. You really have changed.”
“Go! Soar into the sky!” An Lin commanded.
The two Gundams immediately flew into the sky at his behest.
An Lin and Xu Xiaolan looked up at them with nervous expressions.
A minute passed and nothing happened.
An Lin: “… Could it be that the oppressive power of the stars is just an old wives’ tale?”
Xu Xiaolan was a little unsure. “Could it be that Gundam One and Gundam Two aren’t life forms, so they’re exempt from the oppressive power of the stars?”
Just as her voice fell, a circular constellation of nine stars suddenly flashed in unison.
White power of stars suddenly descended from the sky and pierced through space before crashing heavily into the heads of the two Gundams.
The superalloy heads of the two Gundams were as durable as that of a Return to Void Stage mighty figure, but they still caved in significantly upon being struck, and electrical sparks flew as their bodies plummeted to the ground like cannonballs.
Boom!
The earth tremored violently.
Two bottomless holes appeared before An Lin and Xu Xiaolan.
Xu Xiaolan: “…”
“Ah! My Gundams!”
An Lin’s heart throbbed as he ran over and cradled his two Gundams into his arms.
The two Gundams seemed to have sustained severe brain damage as they muttered strings of gibberish, and their bodies convulsed with sparks and electricity.
“Gasp… they got insta-killed?”
An Lin stared at the two Gundams with incredulity.
He silently put away his two Gundams before looking up at the stars with fear lingering in his heart.
“It looks like the Jade Bone Immortal Bug was right. The stars really do have oppressive power here…”
An Lin involuntarily thought back to everything that the Jade Bone Immortal Bug had said and reviewed all the cautionary aspects. This was a matter of life and death, and it was not something to be scoffed at.
The two of them continued toward the figurative line connecting the yellow star and the blood star.
“Huh? An Lin, look! There’s a spot of green light there!” Xu Xiaolan exclaimed with excitement.
They scaled a hill to discover that there was indeed a green light shining at the foot of the hill. This was an herb glowing with some sort of green light, and it looked to be of quite a high-rank herb too.
“Nice! This must be one of the rare treasures growing here!” An Lin’s eyes immediately lit up.
Discovering a rare treasure in a place like this was like picking up money, and it made them both quite excited.
The two of them approached the herb surreptitiously, in fear of startling it into escape.
“Hahahaha… Look what I found! A little herb!” At this moment, a huge cow beast with white fur growing on its body chortled with glee.
It then turned around and discovered An Lin and Xu Xiaolan as its eyes lit up. “Two pieces of Soul Formation Intermediate Stage scum? Haha, there’s a rare treasure and someone to kill! My luck is exceptional!”
Xu Xiaolan’s expression darkened a little. “Are all beasts so arrogant and lawless when they are in a mystic realm?”
In contrast, a smile appeared on An Lin’s face. “I do agree with its saying though. There’s a rare treasure and someone to kill! Our luck is exceptional!”