Soon, Zhang Chen, along with his classmates, including the one who had transformed into an insect, arrived before the portal.
The red portal stood hundreds of meters tall, its summit lost to sight, and over two hundred meters wide. Its surface rippled like calm water, with concentric rings occasionally expanding outwards. Several insects scuttled out from the subtly undulating center.
"What a massive portal!"
"They say the insects came from here!"
"More than that, I heard our abilities are also related to this huge portal. It appeared, and then ability users gradually emerged!"
"Could it be that beyond the portal lies another world of ability users?"
"I don't know. No one has ever emerged from the portal, and the academy prohibits students from entering here!"
"Speaking of which, if it's forbidden, why don't they put up a warning sign or station guards?"
"Are you stupid? The area outside the portal is filled with terrifying insects. What's inside would naturally be ten times more terrifying. Who would have thought someone would be crazy enough to enter?!"
Zhang Chen ignored his classmates, their minds a tangle of curiosity, shock, tension, and fear. He walked to the edge of the portal alone and reached out, touching the energy on its surface.
*Pop!*
Ripples of energy spread outwards slowly. The sensation was like plunging a hand into icy lake water.
"This portal isn't naturally formed!" Zhang Chen murmured to himself. "To create a portal of this magnitude, the power involved must be immense! To think such a powerhouse exists in a world devoid of the energy of creation and destruction meteorites! It's truly astonishing!"
The Underworld Mushroom, sensing Zhang Chen's emotional fluctuations, quickly inquired, "Master, will the thing you're looking for be in this world?"
Zhang Chen shook his head slightly. "I can't tell. Meteorites are inherently repellant to each other. So, even if it were in this world, I wouldn't be able to detect it. It's like when Xiao Ruan and I inadvertently entered the world of the time meteorite, yet I had no awareness of its existence! I'll have to go in and see!"
With that thought, Zhang Chen stepped in first.
"Teacher Zhang, wait for me!" Seeing Zhang Chen enter, Monkey quickly followed. The other students, seeing the trailing Monkey enter, didn't hesitate and plunged in after him.
Upon entering the portal, it felt as if they had entered a viscous lake. A bone-chilling cold permeated their bodies. All around them were colored lines resembling lasers, appearing close yet feeling infinitely distant, as if they could never be touched. Everyone moved as if swimming, heading towards a distant white point of light. Zhang Chen was at the very front, his speed immense, and he was swallowed by the light in an instant.
Emerging from the portal's void, Zhang Chen's vision brightened as he found himself in a dense forest. Strange-looking insects were everywhere, emitting strange cries towards Zhang Chen from a distance. But when Zhang Chen fixed his gaze upon them, they scurried back into the crevices of giant rocks and the roots of plants, terrified.
"Is this the异世界 (yì shìjiè - other world)?" Zhang Chen looked up at the sky. The azure sky was dotted with pale pink clouds, through which elongated, serpent-like creatures occasionally materialized and vanished. With each disappearance, lightning flashed within the pink clouds.
"This world feels very different from the previous ones!" Zhang Chen said slowly, taking a deep breath. "The air is filled with... an indescribable energy particle. The concentration isn't high, but it's very peculiar!"
"That's right, Master. I can feel it too, but... this energy seems difficult to digest..." The Underworld Mushroom grudgingly expelled the energy it had absorbed.
"It seems likely I'll find what I'm looking for in this world!" Zhang Chen exclaimed excitedly. "Or at least, there will be relevant clues!"
"Ouch!" Monkey, upon exiting the portal, crashed directly into a tree trunk, groaning in pain. It was then that Zhang Chen noticed. The portal was slowly moving. In the previous world, it had stood fixed as if artificially constructed. But in this world, the portal was continuously shifting in a strange manner. When Zhang Chen had arrived, the portal's center had been aligned with a massive rock. Now, it had moved several meters away, currently offset by more than a meter from the tree Monkey had hit. While the portal's movement speed might not be fast for humans, if it continued its relentless progress, no one could guarantee what it might engulf, nor where people entering from the other side would appear next time.
Monkey and Green Hair gathered all the remaining classmates and approached Zhang Chen.
"Teacher Zhang, all students are accounted for, except for the three who entered the portal of their own volition!"
"Mm, those three who courted death, how long ago did they enter the portal?" Zhang Chen asked.
"The four of us arrived on this island about a week ago. It's said that Qin Yan went directly into the portal. Then, about five days ago, Chen Yan and Yan Shi also entered. I hadn't dared to enter until now because I hadn't mastered a Level Five ability," Bi Feng replied respectfully.
"I see, several days... Who knows where this portal might be?!" Zhang Chen frowned.
*Chirp!*
Suddenly, the insect-classmate beside Monkey flapped its wings vigorously, attracting Zhang Chen's attention, and let out a strange cry.
"What? You have something to say?" Zhang Chen asked.
*Chirp! Chirp!*
"Alright, I'll give you a chance. Don't disappoint me!" Zhang Chen nodded and said. The insect quickly darted into a rock crevice, from which a sound like Morse code tapped out by carapaces ensued. Soon after, the insect classmate excitedly crawled back.
*Chirp... Chirp chirp!*
"You mean, this portal returns here periodically?" Zhang Chen's eyes lit up. "So, the portal travels along a specific trajectory! If we just follow the direction the portal came from, we're bound to find the lost students... Hmm, not bad. As a student, you're a bit mischievous, but as an insect, you're outstanding!" Zhang Chen said, smiling as he stroked the insect's carapace.