Chapter Seventy-One: The Bridge of Flames

A group of people arrived beneath the great stone pillar. Ye Chen placed his hand upon it, and instantly a line of quest information appeared before his eyes.

“As adventurers who have successfully reached this place, you are eligible to accept the following quests: 1. Heart of Stone (King-level). Venture into the deepest part of the Rock Forest, slay the Rock Lord there, extract his heart, and deliver it to Commander Xiong of Lie Mountain City to receive generous experience rewards. 2. Heart of Flame (King-level). Go to the Flame Demon Domain on the left side of the Rock Forest, kill the Fire Elemental Giant there, obtain the Heart of Flame, and deliver it to Pasteur—you will be unexpectedly rewarded.”

Without hesitation, Ye Chen accepted both quests. When the team members received the notification, they were all a little surprised. Even The Unthievable Rogue couldn’t help but ask, “Why did you take the second quest? That Fire Elemental Giant never drops anything, and no one has ever found the NPC to turn in the Heart of Flame.”

“If the quest exists, then it must have a purpose. Do you really think the dungeon would deliberately set up a pointless quest for the players? I believe this one hides a great secret, and if we unravel it, there should be a pleasant surprise.” Ye Chen smiled faintly. The very reason he dared to lead this team into a King-level dungeon lay here. The quest NPC was indeed well hidden, but for Ye Chen, who possessed a full walkthrough, it wasn’t a secret at all. Just because they couldn’t find it didn’t mean Ye Chen couldn’t.

“Well, I’ll look forward to it then. To be honest, even our Dragon Ascendant Guild has tried many times, but we’ve never cracked the mystery of that quest,” The Unthievable Rogue replied with a smile. If anyone else had said they could unravel the secret, he wouldn’t have believed it, but coming from Ye Chen, he halfway did.

“Hmph, does he take everyone for a fool? With so many people in Lie Mountain City unable to break the secret, I don’t believe he can,” Left Handed Legend muttered under his breath, only to earn a round of eye rolls. Now, the team members were far warmer towards Ye Chen than towards him. Even if they weren’t sure Ye Chen could solve the second quest’s mystery, it didn’t stop them from hoping. If Ye Chen really did, perhaps they’d benefit as well. In this atmosphere, Left Handed Legend became the group’s odd man out and was naturally met with scorn.

They pressed forward. In the Stone Forest, rock golems would often ambush the party—three or five at a time was common, seven or eight not unusual. Such attacks could easily wipe out an unprepared group. But Ye Chen seemed to know exactly where the monsters would strike, warning the team ahead of time every single time. His uncanny precision left The Unthievable Rogue and Dragon Ascendant Star deeply unsettled, quietly raising their estimation of Ye Chen’s abilities by several notches.

As for the other members, they were now completely convinced by Ye Chen. Whatever orders he gave, they obeyed at once. Especially Dragon Ascendant Bull, their main tank—he’d go wherever Ye Chen pointed, so much so that even Dragon Ascendant Star admitted he’d never been obeyed so thoroughly.

Dragon Ascendant Bull’s excellent performance didn’t go unrewarded; Ye Chen would occasionally offer pointers on ascetic monk combat tactics he’d picked up from videos. The players in those videos were true elites—at least as skilled as The Unthievable Rogue. With these insights, Dragon Ascendant Bull felt he was learning a great deal and respected Ye Chen all the more.

Even The Unthievable Rogue was impressed by the techniques Ye Chen shared. As a top-tier player, he was only deeply familiar with the combat tricks of his own class, and knew little about others. Yet Ye Chen, though a secondary healer, was proficient in ascetic monk techniques—a surprise indeed.

In truth, what Ye Chen shared weren’t profound secrets—those can’t be gleaned from videos alone. They were simple, practical tips. But since ascetic monks were a newly released class in the fourth region, most players hadn’t studied it much. So the advanced techniques crafted by experts and relayed by Ye Chen seemed particularly impressive.

“Not good, the monsters are launching another ambush!” A berserker in the group suddenly shouted. A rock golem, struck by a critical hit from an elemental mage, instantly abandoned the berserker and roared as it charged at the mage.

“Chaos Spell,” Ye Chen intoned, waving his staff lightly. A beam of violet-red light wrapped around the golem, causing it to abandon its intended target and run amok. The elemental mage, who had inadvertently drawn aggro, shot Ye Chen a grateful look, while the berserker quickly regained the monster’s attention.

The melee fighters hurried to surround the monster, and together, blades flashing, they brought down the battered golem within seconds.

“A drop—equipment!” Dragon Ascendant Bull exclaimed in delight, picking up a small, round, blue ring from the ground.

[Strange Stone Ring] (Bronze)

Attack: 10–27

Intelligence: +13

Level Requirement: 23

“Brother Chen, equipment for you,” Dragon Ascendant Bull said, proudly presenting the ring to Ye Chen, who accepted it without hesitation and slipped it onto his finger. Though the other spellcasters from Dragon Ascendant eyed the ring with envy, none spoke up. The previous drops had all gone to their guild, and even if this ring was tempting, it would be unseemly to compete with Ye Chen—especially when their progress through the dungeon was all thanks to him.

“Why does he get it? I can use it too—I demand we roll for it!” Left Handed Legend blurted out. He was just being difficult—his gear was already all bronze.

“You want it? For what? Have you contributed as much as Brother Chen? Get out of here.” Dragon Ascendant Bull glared, giving Left Handed Legend a shove that nearly sent him tumbling.

Ye Chen ignored the outburst and led the party onward. The experience from a King-level dungeon was too rich to walk away from—Left Handed Legend, having tasted its sweetness, wasn’t about to leave now. Seeing no one supported him, he grumbled but quickly followed, unwilling to miss out.

“Up ahead is the Bridge of Flames. From our past experience, the higher the dungeon difficulty, the greater the fire damage on the bridge. I don’t know if we’ll make it across at King-level,” The Unthievable Rogue said, gazing at the long bridge ahead, flames leaping from below, his brow furrowed in worry.

“There are no unsolvable hazards in a dungeon. This Bridge of Flames must have a solution,” Ye Chen replied, looking out at the fiery span. This was another major difficulty in the Rock Forest—flames would shoot unpredictably from the chasm below, dealing tremendous damage. So far, the only method players in Lie Mountain City had found was to gear up and brute force their way across, with the under-equipped perishing every time.

Hearing this, The Unthievable Rogue’s frown didn’t ease. They’d already studied the bridge many times, but never found a way to overcome it. He doubted Ye Chen’s solution would come easily.