"Our next destination is the Ancient Vine Forest."
Ye Lin slowly rose to his feet and spoke.
His aura was immensely profound; he had already refined all the violent power within his body.
"Set off."
Iron Hammer raised an arm and shouted.
Having just eaten his fill, he was desperately itching to move around.
The Ancient Vine Forest lay south of Shattered Star Lake, a strange forest formed entirely from countless ancient vines thousands—or even tens of thousands—of years old, woven together.
The vines were as thick as dragons, dark brown or purple in color, some of them even gleaming with a metallic luster.
By the time Ye Lin's group of four arrived, the entire forest was deathly silent. Not even insects chirped. Only the faint rustling produced by the occasional writhing vine could be heard.
The sound was exceedingly strange, sending a chill crawling down one's spine.
"According to the map, the crystal is located in the deepest part of the Ancient Vine Forest, inside the Mother Vine's roots."
Looking at the dense mass of vines around them, Ye Lin spoke.
"The wood spiritual energy here is so dense it cannot be dispersed."
Sword Demon frowned slightly as he surveyed the surroundings.
"These vines are alive. I'm afraid they're the most dangerous thing here."
After Sword Demon spoke, Blade Fanatic tested the waters by slashing out a faint gust of blade wind.
Its target was a thin vine at the edge.
The blade wind swept past, and the thin vine snapped at once. Yet dark-red blood gushed from the severed end. At the same time, all the vines within a hundred miles suddenly began to writhe like a nest of snakes startled awake.
Those vines slowly stretched and probed toward the direction from which the blade wind had come,