Chapter 589 564: First Piercing of the Great Battlefield

「Half an hour later.」

The Demon Fiend birds circling the sky, tasked with monitoring the group of humans, suddenly detected a violent fluctuation of Spiritual Power.

They looked down and saw that the human team, which had been gathered together, had abruptly erupted into internal conflict.

The light of Skills flashed fiercely among the Pet Beasts. Several of them slammed into each other, the shockwave kicking up a ring of dust, mingled with a few angry shouts and a woman's scream.

In less than two minutes, the team had split into two groups.

One group was beaten and bloodied. Several of their Pet Beasts lay paralyzed on the ground, panting heavily, their leg bones seemingly dislocated. They struggled a few times but couldn't get back up.

The other group appeared unscathed and at full combat strength. Their Five-star Pet Beasts stood steadily before them, their Star Level auras pressing the weeds flat against the ground.

Although the injured party also had four or five Five-star Pet Beasts among them, anyone could see they weren't configured for combat.

There were ones for making rain, for cultivation, and for Alchemy—all of them were utility-type pets.

The two groups hurled insults at each other across a stretch of open ground for a while longer. Then, the team that had been so painstakingly assembled, barely even established, went their separate ways just like that.

One group turned and headed back in the direction of Iron Gate Fortress, their figures looking dejected as they retreated.

The other group rested where they were. Some of them pointed north; their disagreement with the retreating party must have been irreconcilable. They wanted to go north and couldn't see eye to eye with the Beastmasters heading south.

The Black Feathered Bird sentinels circling high above exchanged a look, a short, low cry squeezing from their throats.

They didn't understand the specific reason for the humans' internal strife, but they recognized the scene.

Humans divided by infighting were always the best signal for prey.

The news spread rapidly through the low-frequency Perception waves unique to Demon Fiends.

In a matter of moments, several roaming divisions of the Demon Army up ahead had regrouped along the humans' path of travel.

The leading Black Feathered Bird commander beat its wings, swooped low, and issued a short command. Immediately, Three- and Four-star Demon Fiends from all directions fanned out, closing in from the flanks.

The earth rumbled and shook. The pitter-patter of the Demon Fiends' clawed steps on the cracked, dry earth grew into a dense, rapid drumming—a vast, dark mass of them.

When the remnant of "injured, south-fleeing" human soldiers appeared in their sights...

...a thousand Demon Fiends, each emitting black smoke, attacked from the left and right in a pincer movement, completely cutting off their path forward.

Faced with that monstrous sea of a thousand Three- and Four-star Demon Fiends surging madly toward them...

...the twenty humans, covered in bandages to feign serious injury, showed not a hint of fear. Instead, they quickly tightened their formation.

The Five-star Mud Field Beast, not built for combat, stomped its four hooves, and a dull, low thrum emanated from its belly.

In an instant, the hard ground beneath their feet disintegrated into soft, black mud, which spread outward in concentric circles.

A Dandelion Shooter followed suit. Its fluffy flower head spun wildly, unleashing a torrential downpour of white dandelion seed ammunition that laid a dense layer of white grains across the surface of the black mud.

The Demon Fiends' speed slowed slightly in the mire, but they charged forward heedlessly, trampling over the layer of seeds.

Five seconds later, the void above them suddenly split open, and a purple-black seed probed downward.

Cyan Treasure, carrying the Rootless Wood, was the first to break through the dimensional barrier. A row of Five-star Beastmasters and their Pet Beasts followed close behind. The entire assault team descended in sync from the Demon Fiends' Perception blind spot.

Cyan Treasure hovered above the black, muddy ground, a Plant Life Light Wave suddenly flashing from its mouth.

In that instant, light scattered across the land.

It was as if something had just redefined the speed of life itself.

Within a single second, all the seeds sown in the black mud sprouted branches and buds, skipping their germination and seedling stages to enter the Peak of their adult state directly.

The Time Dragon's time-acceleration trait had been triggered, bypassing the growth period entirely.

The Two-star, Three-star, and Four-star Pet Beasts of the Fire and Wind Elements had already been paired up, and they unleashed their Skills in sync.

A Storm Eagle lowered its wings, and a directional wall of wind pushed the flames forward in a ferocious surge.

A Fire-Feathered Falcon and a Crimson Flame Wolf ignited the blaze simultaneously. Aided by the wind, the fire swept wildly in all directions, following the contours of the sea of grass.

Within breaths, the great fire engulfed the entire field of grass that had grown at light speed, rapidly expanding into a sky-high inferno that enveloped the thousands of layered ranks of Four-star Demon Fiends.

The light of the fire reflected in the pupils of the Demon Fiends, and also in the eyes of every Beastmaster waiting with bated breath.

They had been waiting for too long.

From the moment Iron Gate Fortress was besieged until now, they had always been the prey, always the ones on the run.

This sea of fire was the first counterattack they had ignited with their own hands.

Every lick of flame seemed to be carved from the rage that had long been suppressed in their chests.

The Demon Fiend formation began to warp in the fire.

A few Low-star Demon Lizards got their hind legs entangled in grassy vines. Flames traveled along the vines to their bodies, burning them until they thrashed their tails and howled wildly.

At the same time, Ah Kun and Ah Ji had each locked onto a Five-star Demon Fiend.

Two Void Rifts tore open simultaneously above the Demon Fiends' heads. Vines from the Rootless Wood descended from the rifts, cutting off the two Five-star Demon Fiends' escape routes.

Ah Kun descended like a falling Star, bringing with it a surging torrent of seawater that crashed down from above. Whirling within the current was Ah Kun's signature Wave-Swallowing Technique, which swept up several nearby Demon Lizards that were attempting to provide support.

BOOM!

The Five-star Demon Fiend turned and reacted, temporarily transforming and swelling in size. But against the crushing weight of the massive wave, its resistance was a joke. It was flattened directly by the tide, its skeleton shattered and flesh splattered. It was utterly annihilated.

Amidst the surging black shadows, Ah Ji rushed forward, closing the distance at light speed. With its opening move, its fist erupted in a brilliant glow as fierce as a volcanic eruption.

Blazing Light Mountain-Breaking Fist!

The light was released at extremely close range, penetrating into the enemy's body. A sun was born within it, piercing through the Demon Fiend's form from the inside out. The energy flashed across every layer between bone and skin, leaving a dazzling, fist-shaped brand seared onto its surface.

Then, with a deafening roar, the Demon Fiend's entire body transformed into a ball of intense light, like a solar corona, and was vaporized in an instant.

The remaining Five-star Demon Fiends struggled to steady themselves amidst the turbulent shockwave, but the sky-high sea of fire and the grassy vines had already sealed their escape routes completely.

The vast number of Three- and Four-star Demon Fiends finally recovered from the initial shock of the inferno. Howling, they turned and attempted to counterattack.

However, at the very same moment they began to organize their assault, a silent Illusory Dream Tide washed over the battlefield—

Lu You's Rainbow Wing Butterfly was already hovering high above, each flap of its wings scattering a large amount of iridescent, scale-like powder.

Reflected in the firelight, the powder refracted an eerie, dreamlike spectrum of colors.

Swarms of Demon Fiends were frozen in place by this silent dream, dazed and mesmerized.

Claws that had just been raised froze mid-air. Many Low-star Demon Fiends even tripped over their own feet and fell to the ground.

By the time the Four-star Demon Fiends managed to snap out of the Illusory Dream Tide and refocus their vision...

...they discovered with horror that the battlefield was no longer what it had been moments before.

Their dozen or so Five-star Demon Fiend commanders had either already been killed, their corpses slowly turning to charcoal beneath them, or were on the verge of being critically wounded, just one final blow away from death.

The top combat power of the Five-star Demon Army had been completely wiped out in the few seconds they were dazed. The tables had turned.

Following that, more and more Rootless Woods descended from the Void Rifts.

They seemed to have no fear of the raging sea of fire. The blazing flames, far from forcing them back, instead caused each trunk to greedily absorb the Fire Element Spiritual Qi, its bark transforming into a fire-resistant texture similar to fiery scales.

The more intensely the fire burned, the more they resembled lit torches, their entire bodies accumulating immense heat before accurately stabbing at the targets below.

The scorching branches violently pierced the Demon Fiends' bodies with the searing sensation of a red-hot steel rod. After penetration, they remained embedded in the flesh, and the wounds quickly cauterized and burst into open flame.

The excruciating pain of being immolated overwhelmed the Demon Fiends' limbs and senses. Some couldn't even tell if it was fire, Demon Power, or the wails of their comrades that fell upon them.

Many Demon Fiends roared in confusion, 'Why is the Sacred Tree doing this?'

Even at the moment of their death, they couldn't understand why the genuine Sacred Tree would use the sea of fire as nourishment to turn around and slaughter them.

Before they could even begin to comprehend it, they were completely taken down by the dense web of Rootless Woods under Cyan Treasure's command. Pierced through, their bodies spontaneously combusted, leaving behind nothing but charred remains.

Gu Ming looked down upon the entire battlefield, his gaze constantly shifting between the flames, the web of vines, and the enemy lines, his Divine Sense continuously communicating with the various Beastmasters.

With every attack that landed, another layer was stripped from the Demon Fiends' remaining combat rhythm.

Once the main force was completely slaughtered, the flanks were cut off and isolated by the sea of fire.

Gu Ming's team wasn't large, but the Four- and Five-star Beastmasters had at least four Pet Beasts each. They focused their individual combat power, killing efficiently and methodically devouring the battlefield.

Under a sky of smoke that resembled fiery clouds, the remaining lesser Three- and Four-star Demon Fiends began to scatter.

They were merely stragglers pulled in for reinforcement. Now, having lost their leaders and main force, they fought for themselves. Their will to fight had completely collapsed, and they even began to trample one another.

A large battlefield was another chance for Ah Kun to shine with its area-of-effect attacks. It once again stirred up a massive, surging wave, Leapt into the sky, and used its Heaven-Devouring-star Transformation. The colossal wave rolled toward the rear lines with flattening force, pulling the Demon Fiends who hadn't been swallowed by the fire into its murderous tide.

Soon, the overwhelming force of the water crushed the ordinary, disorganized Demon Fiends, swallowing them along with the burnt ashes of the grass and burying them one by one at the bottom of the wave.

Those that managed to survive were either pinned in the mud, dead or crippled, or were left choking and gasping in the foam with their maimed bodies, utterly powerless to fight back.

Another twenty-odd minutes passed.

The last wisp of flame on the battlefield flickered out on the wet mud. Thin trails of blue-green smoke rose slowly from the burnt forest.

The members of the Iron Gate Fortress team finally stopped what they were doing, panting heavily in the hot air. They looked back in disbelief at the fiery field that had spread across the scorched earth.

Ash from the grass was swept up by the wind, carrying with it the faint, charred scent of burnt Demon Fiends.

Someone stood there, mouth agape, and after a long moment, let out an incoherent curse.

"'You all died too soon!'"

After that cry, someone started to weep, quietly wiping away their tears.

Before this, they had been chased all over by these thousand Demon Fiends, forced to hide behind cover and dodge, never once managing to inflict any real damage on their pursuers.

The people who had broken out with them had either died, or had been so heavily injured that they chose to stay behind and hold back the enemy, unwilling to drag the team down.

But this time?

This time, just by following Gu Ming's battlefield control and his lightning-fast decapitation tactics, they came out of the combo attack with only a few allies suffering injuries light enough to require simple bandages.

No one died. No one was left behind.

Not only had they survived, but they had also pierced straight through the smaller Demon Fiend forces on the outskirts that had been besieging Iron Gate Fortress.

The enemy forces in this direction had most likely been cleared out. There would be no one else lying in wait for them on the road ahead.

This window of opportunity would be enough for them to quickly push south and make a straight shot for Lanqi City.

If only their previous teammates could have held on for just half a day longer for Gu Ming to arrive, they too could have headed to Lanqi City with him.

'It was a matter of timing... a matter of fate.'