215: Chapter 215 Breaking the Stalemate in South Korea

However, the subsequent actual situation greatly exceeded Qin Ce's expectations.

He had originally thought that this group of enraged Gold Rank Vicious Beasts would at least cause considerable trouble for Wang Zhuo's squad.

If they were lucky, with two or three casualties, the pursuit plan would naturally fall apart.

Even if they were unlucky, it would still stall them, draining their physical strength and energy.

But the performance of Wang Zhuo's squad was far stronger than he had anticipated.

Hovering high in the sky, Qin Ce looked down at the battlefield below through the thin mist.

Running Nine-Star Insight at full power, he took in every detail of the battlefield.

The battle had already been raging for a quarter of an hour.

Under the siege of dozens of Gold Rank Vicious Beasts, Wang Zhuo's eleven members had not suffered a single casualty; instead, they were gradually adapting to the rhythm of the battle.

Their formation had shifted from its initial defensive contraction to a balance of offense and defense, and then from that balance to a steady advance.

Qin Ce's brow furrowed.

He stared closely at every movement of Wang Zhuo's squad, trying to uncover the secret of their coordination.

Wang Zhuo's squad consisted of eleven people and eleven Pet Beasts.

They were not a disorganized rabble, but a precise war machine.

Han Zhang's Iron-Feathered Vulture was at the very front, its iron feathers pouring down like a torrential rain, suppressing the Vicious Beasts charging head-on.

The Iron-Feathered Vulture was Low-grade Gold with extremely high defense and feathers as hard as steel. Although its scattered iron feathers did not have strong individual lethality, their coverage was wide and frequency high, enough to slow down any Vicious Beast charging from the front.

On the left and right flanks, there were two Beast Tamers each riding flying Pet Beasts. The electric arcs of the Thunder Eagles and the Wind Blades of the Wind Falcons blocked the flanking routes of the Vicious Beasts from both sides.

The electric arcs of the Thunder Eagles were not direct attacks, but were woven into an electric grid blocking the left side. Similarly, the Wind Blades of the Wind Falcons were not aimed to kill, but to create a zone of Wind Blades on the right.

Any Vicious Beast attempting to approach from the flanks would either be shocked to numbness or have its flesh shredded by the Wind Blades.

The three people in the rear rode ground Pet Beasts—the Rock-Armored Turtle, the Frost Giant Python, and the Shadow Leopard.

Their task was not to attack, but to provide support.

Wherever a gap appeared, they would fill it; wherever someone was injured, they would step up to replace them.

As for Wang Zhuo himself, he rode the Silver-Patterned Peacock, hovering in the very center of the formation.

He rarely made a move, but when he did, it was a killing blow.

Every time the three-colored light of the Three Absolute Swords flared, a Vicious Beast would fall severely wounded.

The longer Qin Ce watched, the darker his expression became.

This was not a temporarily cobbled-together team; these were elites who had undergone countless coordination drills.

Everyone's position, everyone's timing, and everyone's movement route were precise to the extreme.

What was even more terrifying was that their coordination followed a set protocol.

Faced with a charging bull-like Vicious Beast, the protocol went like this: The Iron-Feathered Vulture's iron feathers would strike first, hitting the bull-like creature's scales. This was not to kill, but to slow it down, force it to lower its head, and expose its weakness.

The Thunder Eagle's electric arcs would follow, striking the bull-like creature's flank where the scales were thinnest. The paralyzing effect of the electric arcs would freeze it for a split second. In that exact instant, Wang Zhuo's Silver-Patterned Peacock would dive down, and the three-colored light of the Three Absolute Swords would slash across the creature's neck, killing it in a single blow.

Then, the Rock-Armored Turtle in the rear would step forward, using an energy wave to push the corpse aside.

The Frost Giant Python would breathe out cold air to freeze the blood, preventing it from attracting more Vicious Beasts.

The Shadow Leopard would lurk nearby, keeping watch on the surroundings.

The entire process, from the Vicious Beast's charge to the corpse being pushed aside, took no more than fifteen seconds.

It was as smooth as flowing water and floating clouds, completed in one breath.

Faced with a Jade Elephant of extremely high defense, the protocol changed.

The Iron-Feathered Vulture's iron feathers would target the eyes instead of the body, forcing the Jade Elephant to close its eyes and lower its head.

The Wind Falcon's Wind Blades would strike the ground instead of the front, creating a zone of Wind Blades around the Jade Elephant's legs, forcing it to lift its legs and slow down.

The Thunder Eagle's electric arcs would target the ground next to the Jade Elephant rather than the beast itself, with the arcs crackling across the ground to make the elephant hesitant to step firmly.

Once the Jade Elephant was forced into a corner and lost its balance, the Frost Giant Python's cold air would blast from below, freezing one of its front legs.

The Jade Elephant's body tilted violently, and its tusks lit up with a blinding white light as it attempted to counterattack.

But its direction of attack was already locked down—the Iron-Feathered Vulture was in front, the Thunder Eagle was on its left, the Wind Falcon was on its right, and Wang Zhuo was above.

Wang Zhuo's Silver-Patterned Peacock dived vertically from directly above, and the three-colored light of the Three Absolute Swords pierced into the Jade Elephant's head, penetrating its skull.

The massive body of the Jade Elephant crashed to the ground, causing the earth to tremble.

The Rock-Armored Turtle stepped forward, its energy wave pushing the Jade Elephant's corpse aside.

The Frost Giant Python added another layer of ice to freeze the blood.

The Shadow Leopard kept watch.

Fifteen seconds. Another Gold Rank Vicious Beast had fallen.

Faced with flying Vicious Beasts, their protocol was even more efficient.

The Thunder Eagle and Wind Falcon would strike first, pinching from left and right to force the flying Vicious Beast to lower its altitude.

The Iron-Feathered Vulture's iron feathers would block from below, cutting off its upward escape route.

Once the flying Vicious Beast was forced to less than twenty meters above the ground, the Shadow Leopard would leap from the earth, its Shadow Claws shredding the beast's wings.

Then, Wang Zhuo's Silver-Patterned Peacock would deliver the finishing blow.

Faced with speed-type Vicious Beasts, they used the Rock-Armored Turtle's energy waves to create obstacles, the Frost Giant Python's cold air to slow them down, and the Iron-Feathered Vulture's iron feathers to restrict their movement.

Once the speed-type Vicious Beast's speed was reduced to the minimum, Wang Zhuo would strike.

Faced with pack-type Vicious Beasts, they used the Thunder Eagle's electric arcs and the Wind Falcon's Wind Blades to create barriers, dividing the pack into small groups and defeating them one by one.

Qin Ce counted. In the short time he had been observing, Wang Zhuo's squad had used at least seven different coordination protocols.

Each protocol targeted a different type of Vicious Beast, and each was so practiced that it seemed like an instinct carved into their bones.

Who would strike when, who would retreat when, and who would fill in when was precise down to the second.

What alarmed Qin Ce even more was that these protocols were not rigid; they were dynamic.

When a Vicious Beast did not play by the rules, the formation would automatically adjust—the Iron-Feathered Vulture would step up, the Thunder Eagle would shift to the side, the Wind Falcon would retreat, and the Rock-Armored Turtle would press forward.

The adjustment took less than a second, like a precise machine automatically calibrating itself.

As one Gold Rank Vicious Beast after another fell, the energy of the diamond-shaped crystal in Wang Zhuo's hand grew at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Every time the Three Absolute Swords slashed down, the golden liquid inside the crystal would rise slightly.

From its previous half-full state, it began to rapidly climb toward seventy percent.

Qin Ce's fists clenched.

He had busied himself for so long—luring monsters, taunting, Chaotic Wind Sea, Shadow Sight, Wind Cores—using every method and deploying every calculation.

And the result?

He had only paved the way for Wang Zhuo.

These Gold Rank Vicious Beasts were supposed to be his prey, the source of his key's energy.

Now, they had become tools for Wang Zhuo to farm points.

This couldn't go on.

If Wang Zhuo and his group wiped out all the Gold Rank Vicious Beasts here, the situation wouldn't change at all.

Wang Zhuo's key energy would surge, his squad would fight smoother and smoother, and far from being hindered, his pursuit plan would only become more cohesive through real combat practice.

Meanwhile, Qin Ce would not only fail to shake off Wang Zhuo's pursuit, but his own key energy accumulation would also be delayed, causing the gap between him and Wang Zhuo to widen further and further.

He had to disrupt their coordination.

But how?

Eleven people and eleven Pet Beasts coordinated to such a degree; trying to disrupt their rhythm from the outside was almost impossible.

Their formation had no obvious weaknesses, their protocols had no clear loopholes, everyone knew exactly what they needed to do, and everyone could fill a teammate's vacancy at any moment.

Riding the Qingluan, Qin Ce circled high in the sky, his Nine-Star Insight locked onto the battlefield below as his mind raced.

He needed to find a single point.

A point critical enough and fragile enough.

As long as he shattered this point, the entire machine would collapse.

He carefully observed every member of Wang Zhuo's squad and every Pet Beast.

The Iron-Feathered Vulture, the Thunder Eagle, the Wind Falcon, the Rock-Armored Turtle, the Frost Giant Python, the Shadow Leopard, and the other four Beast Tamers riding flying Pet Beasts. The movements of the eleven Pet Beasts transformed into lines of action.

In this dynamic picture, every single one of them seemed crucial.

The Iron-Feathered Vulture was responsible for frontal suppression, the Thunder Eagle and Wind Falcon for flanking blockades, the Rock-Armored Turtle and Frost Giant Python for support and crowd control, and the Shadow Leopard for keeping watch and delivering finishing blows.

If any one of them was missing, a gap would appear in the formation.

But the more Qin Ce analyzed it with his years of mathematical modeling, the more he felt that one person was different from the other ten.

Han Zhang.

He was not the most dazzling one.

The most dazzling was Wang Zhuo, whose Three Absolute Swords shone brilliantly with every strike.

He was not the strongest fighter; the strongest were those two melee Beast Tamers, whose blades drew blood with every strike.

He was not the sturdiest; the sturdiest was the Rock-Armored Turtle's Beast Tamer, who took the attacks of Gold Rank Vicious Beasts head-on without a change in expression.

But he was the one who enabled everyone to coordinate.

Qin Ce noticed that whenever the formation needed adjustment, it was Han Zhang who gave the signal.

A gesture, a glance, or even the movement of his own Pet Beast.

All would trigger a chain reaction under his command.

When the direction of the Iron-Feathered Vulture's iron wings changed, he would raise his right hand, and the Thunder Eagle's electric arcs would adjust their impact point.

When he tilted his shoulder to reveal a gap, the Wind Falcon's Wind Blades would correct their angle.

The movement of the entire squad centered around him.

If he moved five meters to the left, the entire formation moved five meters to the left; if he pressed forward ten meters, the entire formation pressed forward ten meters.

If he didn't move, the formation didn't move; if he attacked, the formation quickly followed suit.

And no matter how their tactics changed, Han Zhang was always near the front-center of the formation, with at least five people acting as a shield around him.

His range of movement was strictly controlled within a circle less than ten meters in diameter, never overstepping, never deviating.

Qin Ce's eyes lit up.

Wang Zhuo was the sharpest blade of the entire squad, used to show off, to harvest, and to deliver the final blow under the spotlight.

But the one who actually enabled this blade to strike was Han Zhang.

He was the hub of the entire System, the brain of the eleven people, and the central processing unit of this war machine.

Without him, no matter how strong Wang Zhuo was, he would just be a blade with no arm to hold it, unable to strike.

Qin Ce took a deep breath as a bold plan took shape in his mind.

“Xiao Qing, recall all Wind Cores.”

The Qingluan's wings vibrated slightly, and the Wind Cores scattered around the battlefield were recalled one by one. Silver-white points of light flew up from below, sinking into the Qingluan's feathers.

Qin Ce squatted down on the Qingluan's back, reaching out to stroke its neck, then patted the head of Tianlu in his arms.

“Leave one Wind Core here. And leave one Shadow Sight to remain in place.”

Behind the Qingluan, a silver-white Wind Core floated out, hanging motionless high in the sky.

Immediately after, a nearly transparent Sight-Shadow Wind Blade shot out from the Qingluan's mouth, merging with the Wind Core.

A mirrored shadow coalesced into shape—a translucent silhouette of Qin Ce and the Qingluan, hanging below the clouds like a quiet sculpture.

Qin Ce straightened up, his battle saber unsheathed.

“Dive.”

The Qingluan folded its wings and dived down from the high sky.

The wind howled in his ears, and the thin mist swept past his eyes. The battlefield on the ground drew closer and clearer.

The iron feathers of the Iron-Feathered Vulture, the electric arcs of the Thunder Eagle, the Wind Blades of the Wind Falcon, the cold air of the Frost Giant Python, the energy waves of the Rock-Armored Turtle...

All the sounds, lights, and auras interwove into a chaotic yet orderly tapestry of war within the vision of his Nine-Star Insight.

When they were still one kilometer away from Wang Zhuo's squad, Qin Ce ordered once more.

“Shadow Sight! Shoot into the center of the battlefield!”

A nearly transparent Wind Blade shot from the Qingluan's mouth, heading straight for the center of the battlefield, where Han Zhang was located.

The Wind Blade flew silently through the thin mist, passing through the iron feather rain of the Iron-Feathered Vulture, the electric arc grid of the Thunder Eagle, and the Wind Blade zone of the Wind Falcon.

No one noticed it.

Riding the Qingluan, Qin Ce began to circle above.

He held his breath, waiting.

The Sight-Shadow Wind Blade flew past eight hundred meters, seven hundred meters, six hundred meters, five hundred meters.

It drew closer and closer to Han Zhang, until it was within a hundred meters!

Qin Ce took a deep breath.

“Twenty-one Phoenix Flows, absorb them all.”

The twenty-one Phoenix Flows that had long been gathering behind the Qingluan surged into its body simultaneously.

The Qingluan's body shuddered violently. Its silver-green feathers stood on end, and a golden light spread from the base of the feathers to their tips, making its entire body look like a lit lamp.

“Sight-Shadow Swap.”

The figures of the Qingluan and Qin Ce vanished from high in the sky.

In the next second, they appeared right in the center of Wang Zhuo's squad—less than thirty meters in front of Han Zhang.

All eleven members of Wang Zhuo's squad froze at the same time.

They saw Qin Ce emerge from the void, appearing out of thin air in the core of their formation like a phantom.

Qin Ce gave them no time to react.

“Eight Wind Cores, release them all.”

Eight silver-white points of light floated out from between the Qingluan's feathers. Instead of scattering, they shot densely toward the space around Han Zhang.

Front, back, left, right, above, and below, the eight Wind Cores formed an irregular spherical encirclement around Han Zhang and the Iron-Feathered Vulture.

It wasn't a perfect sphere—it took nine Wind Cores to form a complete Wind Prison, and eight was one short—but it was enough.

The eight Wind Cores activated simultaneously.

The wind direction was neither outward nor inward, but spinning.

Like a drum washing machine that had been switched on, eight wind currents from different directions spun frantically in the narrow space, engulfing Han Zhang and the Iron-Feathered Vulture.

Their bodies were pulled by the wind, spinning, tumbling, and losing control involuntarily.

The Iron-Feathered Vulture flapped its wings desperately to stabilize itself, but with eight wind currents acting simultaneously from eight different directions, every flap of its wings was thrown off course, making its movements increasingly chaotic.

Han Zhang was spun until he was dizzy. In the force field of the Wind Cores, his body was like a leaf swept up by a tempest, tossing up and down, completely unable to tell north from south, east from west.

His hands slipped from the reins, his feet left the stirrups, and his body lifted off the saddle.

The Iron-Feathered Vulture wanted to catch him, but it too was struggling to save itself in the force field of the Wind Cores.

And in this brief instant, Qin Ce had successfully established control over Han Zhang!

At this moment, the key to the battlefield was grasped firmly in Qin Ce's hands.

...