Chapter Sixty-Five: The Forest of Purple Stones

“Martial Soul? What’s that? I don’t remember there being anything like that in the previous zones,” Ye Chen asked in confusion.

“It’s a new feature that’s been introduced, but it won’t be fully available for a while yet. By the way, you mentioned you wanted a dungeon guide—are you talking about the level 20 Rocky Forest? Hold on, I’ll send it over to you right now.”

With a crisp notification, a guide spanning several thousand words for the Rocky Forest dungeon appeared in Ye Chen’s friend chat. Beneath the text was a row of video links.

“From Easy to King difficulty, each level’s key points are explained in the text. For more detail on the dungeon’s specifics, you can watch the videos. By the way, these videos are all recordings of the highest-rated teams clearing the dungeon. You might pick up some useful tricks from them, but the written guide is the most comprehensive. There are many hidden key points in there—even these top teams haven’t discovered them all. If you master these, clearing the dungeon will be much easier,” 2058 said, surprisingly talkative. After a brief pause, he continued, “I’ll get back to researching the Substitute System. If you have more questions, just message me.”

“Alright, I’ll let you get back to it.”

As 2058’s voice faded away, Ye Chen immersed himself in the Rocky Forest guide before him. The walkthrough was incredibly detailed; every crucial step for each level was meticulously described. Many of the key points were so well-hidden that Ye Chen guessed he’d have wiped his party countless times without this guide. It was truly invaluable, the very essence of strategy—if word got out, countless teams would scramble to pay any price for it.

After reading through the guide multiple times, Ye Chen clicked on the video links, cross-referencing what he’d read. The combination of text and video gave him a much clearer grasp of each level’s critical elements. The hidden key points especially made Ye Chen so excited he wanted to leap up and shout. He was certain that, if put to use, these strategies could see a team through even the hardest difficulty—assuming, of course, the group was up to the task.

For over an hour, Ye Chen was completely absorbed in studying the guide and videos, analyzing not only the strategies but also the combat techniques of the players featured. He was like a sponge, soaking up all this knowledge.

It wasn’t until 11:30 p.m. that a friend notification broke his focus. Ye Chen checked his friends list and saw it was Dragon Soars, Cleaves the Stars: “Brother Chen, the dungeon opens at midnight. When are you coming? Don’t be too late—if you are, I’m worried you won’t be able to get in.”

Ye Chen blinked in surprise at the message. Not being able to get in? He’d never actually entered a dungeon before, so he replied, “What do you mean? Is there a player limit? I’ve never heard of that.”

“No, no, it’s just that there are so many people at the dungeon entrance. If you’re late, you’ll have to queue, and who knows how long that’ll take. We’re all here, just waiting on you and Shadow Rogue,” Dragon Soars, Cleaves the Stars replied.

“Shadow Rogue is coming too?” Ye Chen was surprised. Shadow Rogue had already hit level 25—surely, he should be running with Dragon Soars’ elite team.

“Haha, it’s all thanks to you, Brother Chen. If you weren’t coming, I couldn’t have convinced him. Oh, he just arrived as well.”

Ye Chen felt a bit embarrassed—it seemed he was the only one running late. He quickly replied, “Alright, no more chatting, I’m on my way.”

“Good.”

Closing the chat window, Ye Chen hurried downstairs. The Rocky Forest dungeon entrance was in the Amethyst Woods outside Blazing Mountain City—just getting there on foot would take at least ten minutes. Not wanting to keep everyone waiting, he reluctantly spent five gold coins to use the inner-city teleportation array, instantly appearing at the West Gate. From there, he walked another four or five minutes and finally arrived near the Amethyst Woods.

The moment he entered, Ye Chen was stunned by the lively scene before him. The open space in front of the dungeon entrance was packed with several thousand players. Groups of three or five clustered together, chatting, joking, dueling, and waiting for the dungeon to reset at midnight. Many players gleamed with the distinctive glow of attribute gear—green for premium equipment was everywhere, and there were even some fully clad in blue, indicating bronze-level gear, which wasn’t too rare. Ye Chen saw at least five or six blue-glowing weapons. Strangely, almost no one was openly recruiting, suggesting these were all members of established teams.

Ye Chen contacted Dragon Soars, Cleaves the Stars, and learned that their group was further inside.

Making his way through the crowd, Ye Chen soon reached the entrance. Not far off, Dragon Soars, Cleaves the Stars had already spotted him, waving excitedly as he led more than a dozen Dragon Soars members over.

Just as Ye Chen was about to greet them with a smile, a figure darted out from the side and blocked his path.

“Well, well, Night Chen, you bastard, fancy running into you here! Boys, over here—don’t let this guy get away!”

Ye Chen looked up, momentarily taken aback—it was Roaring Tiger, that fool. Fate had made them cross paths again, even at a dungeon entrance. Then again, it wasn’t surprising; any player over level 20 and still online at midnight would be here.

With a flurry, seven or eight Roaring Tiger guild members surrounded him. Most were familiar faces—players Ye Chen had previously caused to die by luring monsters their way. It was truly a case of enemies meeting again.

Seeing Ye Chen surrounded, Roaring Tiger’s face twisted into a vicious grin. “Heaven has a road, but you refuse to take it; hell has no gate, and yet you barge right in. Night Chen, let’s see where you run to today.”

“Run? Why would I run?” Ye Chen replied coldly, pointing behind Roaring Tiger. “You’d better check what’s behind you first.”

“Behind me? What could possibly—” Roaring Tiger turned to look and saw a dozen Dragon Soars players had already encircled his group. His expression changed abruptly. “What the hell, Dragon Soars, Cleaves the Stars, what’s the meaning of this?”

“Nothing much. Night Chen is running the dungeon with us today. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get lost,” Dragon Soars, Cleaves the Stars said with a soft laugh.

“You think you can just tell me to get lost? You don’t have that right!” Roaring Tiger snorted in anger, clearly annoyed by this unexpected interference.

“Maybe he doesn’t, but what about me?” a chilly voice sounded behind Roaring Tiger. A figure in a black cloak materialized—it was Shadow Rogue.

“R-Rogue… Brother Rogue…” Roaring Tiger was dumbfounded. Shadow Rogue was a true leader in Dragon Soars. He couldn’t understand why Shadow Rogue was also standing up for Ye Chen.