Chapter Seventy-Three: The Replica of Historical Events, the Vine Monster

Ye Yu was the first to raise his foot and step into the swirling vortex of the dungeon before them, with the others following closely behind. Yet the moment Ye Yu entered, his brows knit together ever so slightly. This time, as he crossed the threshold, a chill seeped into his bones—a coldness barely perceptible, but unmistakably a warning: danger.

Sensing this cold, Ye Yu’s dark eyes gleamed with a faint, icy light, as if they could pierce through all things. The pitch-black surroundings gradually became clearer before his gaze, as the scenery around them slowly emerged from the gloom. The oppressive darkness here was many times thicker than before, and it felt as though they had entered an endless world of shadows.

“Where are we? This place doesn’t resemble the Stone Forest Ruins we connected to earlier at all,” murmured Wenjiu, finally noticing that something was amiss. While there was a faint similarity to the Stone Forest Ruins, the atmosphere here was far more stifling and intense.

“So you’re saying the entrance just now led us to a different dungeon?” Huang Hong asked, his expression grave as he surveyed their surroundings.

In the world of Divine Desolation, the interior of a dungeon was typically connected to the outer environment where one entered. Even if the setting grew more perilous, it would never be such a complete transformation. But now, the area they found themselves in was entirely distinct from the depths of the Stone Forest Ruins they had entered—it looked as if it had once been a forest, yet all that remained were dead, lifeless trees and withered branches. The ground was parched and cracked, devoid of moisture, its fissures grim and jagged, with tendrils of black mist curling up from the crevices.

“The ruins… This dungeon must be here to reveal the truth behind the Heart of the Stone Forest deep within the Stone Forest Ruins,” Ye Yu muttered, observing the scene with a furrowed brow.

But Wenjiu seemed to realize something and said, “The reason the Stone Forest Ruins became like this is probably because someone released something here, turning a once gentle and vibrant place into a suffocating realm of darkness. The dungeon we’ve entered now is no ordinary one. You really are lucky—first you unlock the Ancient Land, a map hidden for years, and now you stumble into a dungeon like this.”

Listening to Wenjiu, Ye Yu’s face showed little emotion, his gaze still somber as he looked into the distance. “If we want to return, I’m afraid we’ll have to clear this dungeon first.”

“It seems the vortex we entered transported us somewhere else, but maybe this is a stroke of good fortune after all,” Ye Yu added, a slight curve tugging at his lips and a fiery gleam flashing in his eyes.

“Good fortune? Third Brother, did you get your head caught in a door? Or is it the aftereffect of your ‘Overtime Mode’ that’s gotten this bad?” Qu Zheng blurted out, unnerved by the eerie surroundings, and quickly moved behind Luo Feng.

“Speak for yourself. This dungeon is a historical event type. We just happened to stumble into a good one—though it’ll probably be a bit tougher,” Ye Yu shot back with a laugh, explaining.

“So we might get some special materials or equipment here,” Luo Feng nodded, glancing at the oppressive, sinister environment. The immersive realism was overwhelming—anyone unable to endure it might suffer unimaginable aftereffects.

Divine Desolation’s design perfectly captured that authentic, original flavor, even adding a touch of mysticism—Western sorcery and more…

Just then, from the jagged cracks in the ground, vines wreathed in black light began to emerge, slowly revealing themselves. Entangled in the vines were beasts, creatures, and even humans. Yet their forms had clearly been possessed and controlled by something within, stripped of reason and, in many cases, already dead—entirely puppets of their parasitic hosts.

Their numbers grew rapidly; in the span of a few breaths, nearly twenty vine-entwined monsters had appeared before Ye Yu and the others.

At this point, Wenjiu’s hands glimmered with white light. A massive ancient sword appeared in his right hand and a giant rectangular shield in his left, both glowing faintly.

“In any case, let’s clear this dungeon first. When their numbers increase, it’ll be much harder to deal with them,” Wenjiu said, stepping forward and swinging the ancient sword in a wide arc, cleaving two of the nearest vine monsters in half with a single stroke.

Meanwhile, Huang Hong wielded his spear and leapt into the fray. Backed by Luo Feng’s support buff, his spear blazed with fire as he moved, dashing like a streak of flame across the battlefield.

In a matter of moments, Huang Hong dispatched several of the vine monsters with ease.

Ye Yu, in contrast, retreated to the back, his gaze sweeping the area as a faint light shimmered around him. With one hand, he summoned an ancient zither, which hovered before him.

“I’ll leave the front line to you two—the rear guard is my responsibility,” Ye Yu said, giving Qu Zheng a meaningful glance, clearly signaling him to bide his time for a lethal strike against the monsters.

Understanding Ye Yu’s look, Qu Zheng’s timid demeanor vanished, replaced by a cold, murderous air. His eyes gleamed with killing intent as he stepped forward and, like a wraith, disappeared from sight.

In the distance, a black shadow flitted among the vine monsters with ghostly speed. Each time a flash of silver light—bright as the full moon—passed by, a vine monster would split in two and collapse to the ground.

“Third Brother, you sure know how to talk!” Huang Hong called out with a smile, his tone tinged with mock annoyance.

But Wenjiu simply smiled back. “This is nothing. Relax.”

…