Chapter 588 563: Tactical Arrangement

The first to react was an old Beastmaster in the crowd.

His cloudy eyes suddenly brightened, like a clear spring suddenly gushing from the bottom of a well that had been dry for years.

He was the most experienced old hunter in this temporary squad. In his youth, he had made a living along the border, traveling far and wide with only a Pangolin by his side.

But that Pangolin had been stuck at One-star Peak for three whole years.

He had tried every evolution-guiding fluid available on the market and had even spent most of his life's savings to have someone bring him a Two-star wild Inner Core from the city to attempt a fusion.

All his efforts were for naught.

Until one day, he happened to come across an abstract for a new paper on evolution while scrolling on his phone.

The world's first Nine-Colored Certification Evolution Method, the first Evolution Method ever to be recorded in the Hall of the Great Dao, a trailblazer on a new path of Evolution.

The barrage of prestigious titles left him unable to sit still.

Such a heaven-defying new Evolution Method, and one developed specifically for Low-star Pet Beasts, no less. He had to see for himself what it was all about.

Coincidentally, his One-star Pet Beast was stuck at a bottleneck, though its own potential was not bad.

It had been unable to evolve for so long only because its foundation was poorly laid in its early years, a fact that had left him heartbroken.

He immediately asked his nephew, who worked in the city, to buy him a physical copy of that issue of *Peak* from the veterinary college's bookstore.

When the journal arrived, its cover was adorned with the Spirit Pattern foil stamping unique to top-tier Pet Beast journals, and it had a subtle, textured feel to the touch.

He flipped to the paper. The Great Dao Visualization Image next to the main text formed a vision of its own, and a resonant tone suddenly rang out in his mind, as if his skull had been thrown wide open.

The structure of the Dragon Pattern Tripod Foundation Platform actually came to life on the page. Concepts like Energy Storage, Molded Foundation, and Solid Foundation opened the door to a new world for him.

One night during the third month, the Pangolin that had been with him for most of his life began to glow with a soft halo of light.

Within its Dantian stood a Foundation Establishment Tripod bearing the patterns of a Sub-Dragon mountain beast. It supported the Inner Core that had lain dormant for so many years, which slowly split into two Inner Cores as it broke through from One-star Peak to Two-star.

Inside his Beast Taming Space, that physical copy of the journal was carefully wrapped in oil paper and hidden in the deepest corner.

And now, the young man whose name was credited at the beginning of that paper was standing right in front of him.

He stared intently at Gu Ming, his eyes wider than they had been even during the battle just now.

He had originally thought it was just someone with the same name.

'There are plenty of people in the world named Gu Ming.'

He didn't know what Gu Ming looked like or what Pet Beasts he had.

He had assumed that whoever wrote such a paper had to be an elderly scholar. He never expected him to be so young.

His rough fingers, holding the Pangolin, trembled slightly. His lips moved a few times, but too many words were caught in his throat, and for a moment, he didn't know where to begin.

It wasn't just him. Many others present who had read the journal or followed academic news began to realize just who this young man before them was.

For a moment, soft gasps and suppressed whispers rippled through the crowd.

A name that thundered in their ears!

"So... you're *that* master. My apologies for the disrespect!"

"Master, please guide us!"

Many simply cast aside their pride and began to shamelessly flatter Gu Ming.

Any trace of the subtle reluctance they had felt at being commanded by a young man was now completely crushed by the overwhelming urge to latch onto this powerful figure.

Gu Ming's expression remained unchanged.

Seeing that their reactions were changing as he had expected, he didn't give them any more time to process their emotions. His tone shifted from its previous amiability to one of decisiveness.

"Since everyone acknowledges my professional knowledge, then you should trust my judgment."

"I don't want any disagreements to arise on our journey south."

"If there are any differing opinions, my word is final."

Hearing this, the expressions on everyone's faces varied.

A few people subconsciously wanted to object.

However, they were immediately met with warnings via Divine Sense from the others.

With the backing of those two top-tier Evolution Methods, no one had any grounds to object based on Gu Ming's young age anymore.

The various schemes they had been hatching in their minds were finally suppressed.

Lu You stood to the side, watching Gu Ming with a glimmer in her eyes.

She noticed that during the journey back, Gu Ming had developed an additional, intangible aura of authority.

It was a difficult feeling to describe.

It was as if the invisible Gravity Field around him had suddenly intensified, making him even more attractive to her.

Before long, Gu Ming had formulated a new battle plan.

He gathered detailed information on the Pet Beast abilities of the twelve primary combat Beastmasters in the group.

Among them, there were four Five-star Beastmasters; the rest were all Four-star Beastmasters.

There were also several Five-star Beastmasters among the non-combat personnel, but their Pet Beasts were more socially oriented, specializing in public service-type functions rather than combat.

However, after some thought, Gu Ming also called in the Beastmasters who weren't skilled in combat, incorporating their seemingly useless functions into the strategy.

"My plan is to send out a group of decoys to lure the Demon Fiends into attacking."

"Then, we will use Cyan Treasure's Rootless Wood to lie in wait, hidden within the void."

"Once they've entered the trap, we'll tear open the Space and kill them all."

"As for large-scale crowd control, that will be handled by Lu You's Rainbow Wing Butterfly."

"As for the rest of you..."

Gu Ming looked at the non-combat-oriented Beastmasters. They looked uneasy, unsure of what they could do.

Gu Ming's gaze swept across the crowd, finally landing on a slim Grass Element Beastmaster.

The man was in his early thirties, surrounded by three or four Grass and Water Element Pet Beasts. He was a professional from the cultivation service industry, skilled in sprouting seedlings, irrigation, and fertilization.

This kind of setup was completely out of place on a battlefield. If not for the wartime conscription, he most likely would never have been on the front lines.

"How fast can you prepare the fields and sow seeds?" Gu Ming asked directly.

The Grass Element Beastmaster was taken aback for a moment, then hurriedly replied:

"I have a Four-star Dandelion Archer that can work with a Five-star Mud Field Beast to create a temporary field. I can evenly scatter a round of Grass Seeds within a hundred-zhang radius in under ten seconds."

"But ordinary Grass Seeds have no offensive power. At most, they can trip up a Low-star Demon Fiend's ankle."

"That's fine." Gu Ming circled an area on the tactical map.

"Gather all the Grass Element and Earth Element Beastmasters in the squad. Have them concentrate on seeding at top speed to lay the groundwork for the Fire Element and Wind Pets."

"I need you to complete a large-scale pre-seeding before the battle begins."

This Five-star Beastmaster, who was not skilled in combat, immediately accepted the order and went to coordinate the Beastmasters' wartime duties.

Gu Ming then turned to the Fire and Wind Element combat groups.

Among the main Fire Element combat Beastmasters, there was a Five-star Crimson Flame Wolf and a Four-star Fire Feather Falcon. Their area-of-effect Fire Element Skills had a range of about a hundred meters.

The Wind Element side had a Four-star Storm Eagle that specialized in creating directional wind pressure.

A simple squad combat plan was taking shape in his mind.

Prepare the fields, sow the grass seeds, use the wind to fuel the fire, and create a sea of flames.

Cyan Treasure would break out from the void and activate its Plant Life Light Wave.

By using the Time Dragon characteristic of the system's perspective, a large number of Grass Seeds could achieve growth that transcended time.

This was how Cyan Treasure's Rootless Wood had grown, and it was also the reason Cyan Treasure could repeatedly and quickly seize the initiative in battle.

It went from a seed to a combat-ready force almost instantly upon landing, a speed more than ten times faster than a Five-star Grass Element Pet from Iron Gate Fortress.

Ordinary grass seeds would take dozens of seconds to grow just after being sown. An outstanding Five-star Beastmaster could shorten this to ten-odd seconds, but only on the condition that there was fertile ground beneath; otherwise, the speed would be further limited.

Even if they could be flash-grown in ten-odd seconds, they would only become half a person's height in scrub grass.

It wouldn't be the dense grass wall of a combat specialist, nor would it have the ability to entangle enemies like vines. These were Beastmasters who normally just farmed in the cities to maintain production.

But Cyan Treasure's Plant Life Light Wave could catalyze the growth of the Seed of Rootless Wood Grass in seconds. When used on ordinary Grass Seeds, it wouldn't take ten-odd seconds; instead, they would instantly leap from the seed stage to the Adolescent Stage, becoming plants at the absolute peak of their Life Force.

At that point, setting fire to the grassland while several Wind Pets worked together to fan the flames would create an instantaneous sea of fire, enough to obstruct the Demon Fiends' vision. The high-temperature thermal currents would also affect the attack patterns of the Black Feathered Bird Demon Fiends.

The above was the Iron Gate Fortress squad's tactic, meant for self-preservation and simple containment. Gu Ming's side, however, would be the strike team, performing a decapitation strike. They would focus their combat power on the most valuable targets to end the battle quickly.

"I have a question. Isn't the difficult part of this strategy the fact that the Catalyst speed won't be able to keep up?"

"From sowing the seeds to forming a field of half-person-high grass—if it's too slow, the Fire Element group will have to wait too long, and the control window for the Rainbow Wing Butterfly won't sync up."

"Once the Demon Fiends break free from control, the window for the fire attack will narrow, and the entire tactical chain will break," Tie Chenfeng raised his hand and asked.

Gu Ming nodded. "Exactly. So, we can run a simple test right now. Cyan Treasure."

Cyan Treasure came forward, head held high. Coordinating with a Grass Element Pet, a light wave flashed from its mouth, and the seed on the ground instantly began to grow at lightning speed.

Tie Chenfeng had only blinked twice when he saw the Grass Seed shoot up to his shoulder height, transforming in an instant into a lush, green, and resilient chain-grass.

He reached out to touch the chain-grass. The edge of its curled leaf flashed with a sharp glint, leaving a vertical cut on his finger from which blood began to well.

'Such fast growth!'

This greatly boosted everyone's confidence.