The Family Elder who suggested abandoning the wounded was named Zhou Kangtai, and he was from Elder Zhou Mang's lineage, having taken great care of Zhou Lin all along the way.
Even now, while fleeing, he made special arrangements to ensure Zhou Lin and the other Gu Masters with Grade A Aptitude were well protected in the very center of the team.
For him, perhaps the other Gu Masters in this hunt were not important; even if half the people had to be sacrificed, as long as Zhou Lin remained safe and sound, he could accept it.
It was only because this did not conflict with the ideas of the other Family Elders that no one spoke out to criticize him.
Grade A Aptitude meant the potential to grow into a Rank 4 or even Rank Five Gu Master in the future, becoming a pillar of the entire Family, and naturally, they could not be compared to a group of ordinary Two-turn or Rank Three Gu Masters.
However, while the Family Elders could accept it, it did not mean that everyone else could.
At the rear of the team, Zhou Yu, who was galloping, suddenly pulled on the reins and slowed down.
"What are you doing!" Zhou Ming, with quick eyes and hands, grabbed him and pulled him onto his wolf, thus avoiding the fate of being left behind by the main group.
"Let go of me, I'm going down to fight!" Zhou Yu struggled unwillingly.
"What can you do by going? Seek death? Look closely behind you, the people who were left behind are almost all killed!"
"But, but, I can't just watch them cover our retreat and escape like this, just like that time..."
Zhou Yu's tears suddenly welled up.
Zhou Ming was startled, then sighed.
"There will be a time for us to fight," he said softly, looking at the pursuers who were catching up again from behind.
The enemy was well prepared and their speed was too fast; moreover, Zhou Ming did not believe that the enemy would just foolishly chase after them.
In the middle of the team, the reconnaissance Gu Master suddenly sent an urgent report.
Two enemy teams were outflanking them on both wings at an extremely fast speed, and in less than ten minutes, they would catch up to their front!
"How can they be so fast!" The faces of several Family Elders turned grim, and they all understood.
If their side could abandon the wounded to block the enemy's pursuit, the enemy could naturally also send out small teams, raising their speed at all costs, to block them in front.
They didn't need to stop them, they just needed to engage in battle to slow them down, and the main enemy force from behind would immediately catch up!
They could sacrifice, and the enemy could sacrifice, and even more ruthlessly than them!
"There's no escape." Zhou Kangtai closed his eyes in pain, then quickly opened them again, his eyes once more filled with indifference.
"Then let's fight! Prepare for the worst; at that time, we can only take a few Grade A seeds and withdraw on our own!"
Abandon the entire main force!
However, the several Family Elders merely exchanged glances, then silently nodded, agreeing to the plan.
"The front is starting to slow down!"
The Gu Masters at the rear of the hunting team soon discovered the anomaly at the front of the team and quickly received orders from the front.
Engage the enemy!
"Great, I've wanted to fight them for a long time!" Someone was rubbing their fists.
"Brother, I'm going to avenge you!" Someone's face was full of hatred.
"It's over, it's over, I'm afraid we can't escape this time." Someone was terrified.
"In a moment, you all gather around me, don't stray too far from me." Zhou Ming slowly reined in his mount, speaking to his three teammates.
"Yes, you two are not even Two-turn yet, don't stay too far from us, or we won't be able to look after you." Zhou Hao chimed in from the side.
Zhou Ming pulled Zhou Hao over and said indifferently, "That includes you."
Zhou Hao: "Huh?"
Zhou Ming ignored him, his gaze falling in the direction of the pursuers behind.
He felt a powerful Qi from there.
That was... a Rank 4 expert!
"Kill!"
"Get rid of them!"
"Hahaha, a bunch of little brats, with tender skin and soft flesh, uncle likes them best!"
"Pervert, die for me!"
In the first wave of engagement, the Gu Masters of the hunting team felt immense pressure; large-scale battles between Gu Masters were far more intense than fighting beast groups.
Wind blades, fireballs, ice spikes, electric light — countless colorful lights and shadows shone brilliantly, dazzling people's eyes, and the sounds of explosions and roars filled their ears, making their eardrums ache.
From long-range combat to close-quarters melee, it took less than three short minutes for the most brutal slaughter to begin.
Zhou Ming's group of four and several other hunting teams were surrounded by a group of Gu Masters; enemies were on all sides, and the attacks of various Gu were pervasive, frantically attacking everyone.
"Ah!" One Gu Master was the first to give out; before the healing Gu Master could even treat him, he was shattered by several attacks, his flesh and blood scattering everywhere.
The air was filled with a thick, bloody scent.
"Watch out!" Zhou Hao shouted, activating a defensive Gu to block an attack for Zhou Ke, but he couldn't avoid another Gu Master's insidious sneak attack.
"Bang!"
Zhou Hao turned his head and saw the Gu Master flying backward, already lifeless in mid-air.
It was Zhou Ming who had attacked; although he only used a Rank Three Gu, with the blessing of the Forest Sea Reincarnation Body, and no longer intentionally suppressed by him, it immediately displayed power comparable to a Two-turn Gu.
"Two-Turn Gu Master? Kill him!" More Gu Masters charged at Zhou Ming.
"Hmph!" Zhou Ming sneered, and the Rank Three Leaf Blade Gu spun, sending out streams of leaf blades in all directions as if they were free, moving at lightning speed.
A Two-Turn Gu Master, unable to dodge in time, was struck by a leaf blade and immediately screamed, one arm severed and flying off.
"That kid is strange!" The powerful force unleashed by the Rank Three Leaf Blade Gu made many Gu Masters' scalps tingle, as they cried out and dodged the flying leaf blades.
"Kill his teammates first to distract him!" A Gu Master shouted, attacking Zhou Hao and the other two.
The next moment, a vine shot out like lightning, entering his eye socket, piercing through the back of his head, and emerging, impaling his body on the vine.
Rank Three Vine Gu!
Zhou Ming, displaying his prowess, temporarily made the Gu Masters in this area hesitant to act rashly, creating a rare stalemate on the battlefield.
Just then, several figures flew quickly through the air.
A Rank 4 and four Rank Three Qi made Zhou Ming involuntarily look up.
Above, it was the strongest few of the enemy, and their direction of flight was towards the location of their own several Rank Three Family Elders!
The Rank 4 Gu Master overlooked the battlefield from the air and suddenly noticed the incongruous situation around Zhou Ming compared to other areas.
"Fu Bin, you go down and kill that kid."
"Yes, sir!"
A Rank Three Gu Master detached from the team and descended towards Zhou Ming's area.
"Ah! Elder Fu Bin!"
"Hahaha, kid, you're dead!"
Among the enemy's Gu Masters, several people saw the figure descending from the sky and immediately burst into joyous laughter.
'As expected, it's someone from the Fu Family!' Zhou Ming understood in his heart, and seeing the expressions of the other Gu Masters, he immediately realized that these Gu Masters were not from a single Family.
'It seems that several Families have indeed united to deal with the Zhou Family!'
"Kid, it's your bad luck to run into me. Go to hell!"
In mid-air, Fu Bin's face showed a ferocious smile, and his right arm quickly transformed into a giant beast claw, savagely striking down towards Zhou Ming's head.
He was indeed a Transformation Path Rank Three Gu Master; if this claw strike landed solidly, half the body of an ordinary Two-Turn Gu Master would be torn into rotten meat!
Facing this claw technique descending from the sky, Zhou Ming gave a cold smile.
Then—a blade light shot up into the sky!
Chih!