The originally flat terrain of this land had already been replaced by enormous rifts. All sorts of jagged landforms and terrain had taken the place of the former plain.
All kinds of water sources, trees, and traces left behind by Spirit Beasts trampling through had almost completely erased the marks humans had once left on this land.
The Spirit Beasts had premeditatedly and systematically destroyed the plains and humanity's infrastructure, directly obliterating this city that served as the vital link between the inner and outer regions. It was equivalent to choking the throat that connected both sides.
Moreover, aside from a small number of low-level Spirit Beasts wandering through this rift, there were basically no signs of high-level Spirit Beasts in the entire area. The highest were only a few thousand-year Spirit Beasts.
Even if they self-destructed, the destructive power they could cause would not even reach the level of the tip of the iceberg.
"Senior Shui Longjing, please carefully investigate the man-made tunnels and passages in the surrounding area. If my guess is correct, most of the major roads excavated by humans have already been destroyed using the same methods. Only a few smaller paths should still be passable."
"Since it is Young Friend Chen's suggestion, I shall naturally follow it. However, can Spirit Beasts truly possess such strategic thinking?"
The elderly Spirit Master whose Martial Soul was the Thunder Fire Sword nodded, half-convinced, as he took the map and departed.
About half a day later, he returned to the camp where Chen Ming and Qian Renxue were waiting, his expression dark and grim.
"It's truly unbelievable. All the major roads capable of accommodating armies and large merchant caravans have been completely destroyed. Either they were ruined by earth-attributed abilities, or rivers were diverted to flood them outright. Only the small paths remain passable."
"Along several of the least-damaged main routes, I saw numerous ten-thousand-year Spirit Beasts leading various thousand-year Spirit Beasts as they patrolled the area, seemingly guarding something."
"As for those small paths, there were almost no signs of Spirit Beasts. I could even see traces of human movement. It seems that not long ago, some refugees passed through these small paths and fled all the way to the pass."
"Clearly, this is a deliberate operation by the Spirit Beasts. They apply pressure while leaving behind a sliver of hope. As a result, everyone only thinks about escaping while they still can, rather than fighting to the death."
"Such profound and unfathomable tactics will very clearly destroy the will of those civilians to resist, while also making it impossible for the Heaven Dou Empire's main forces to continue advancing deeper. It is difficult to imagine that this could actually be a tactic Spirit Beasts are capable of thinking of."
The Thunder Fire Sword elder spoke with some heaviness.
Honestly speaking, in Chen Ming's eyes, this sort of tactic basically had no technical content.
But considering that this was the Douluo world, where even cutting off food supplies could be called an ingenious strategy, and considering that the ones using this method to make humans flee with no time to care about anything else were Spirit Beasts, Chen Ming accepted the old man's words.
"The biggest problem is not here. It lies in what kind of existence this being capable of commanding these Spirit Beasts truly is."
"Aside from hundred-thousand-year Beast Kings, only a handful of Spirit Beast species possess the ability to command different groups that would otherwise fight each other and mobilize them as subordinate forces."
"As for persuading Spirit Beasts to spare humans, that would be even more difficult. Even a hundred-thousand-year Beast King might not be capable of doing so—or perhaps simply wouldn't want to."
Hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts were actually nowhere near as rare as they appeared to be in this era. It was just that in this era, the hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts whose living ranges overlapped with humans had long since been almost completely killed off.
Most of the remaining hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts hid in regions humanity had yet to develop. Places such as the deep sea, or fertile lands like the northeastern corner of the Heaven Dou Empire, where medicinal herbs flourished and humans had never previously settled.
If one did not care about their life, simply finding a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast was not difficult. Go to those places on the Douluo Continent that had not been developed by humans, then plunge straight in. As long as one did not die, fighting all the way forward would probably lead to seeing a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast.
But advancing alone like this, entering places where no human had ever gone, and directly facing a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast amid hordes of Spirit Beasts—even among Titled Douluo, not even the stronger ones would necessarily survive.
The reason the three great Spirit Beast gathering grounds were the places human Spirit Masters most often went to hunt Spirit Beasts was because these three places were completely enclosed within human empires.
Not only had they already been explored by predecessors, but more importantly, once the situation turned bad, one could directly flee back into the human world. As long as one was not especially greedy, they would not end up completely isolated and without aid.
"A hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast, a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast…"
Qian Renxue's voice trembled slightly.
There was confusion, vigilance, and also an excitement and anticipation she could not conceal.
"With our strength, directly facing a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast may not be enough…"
At this point, Qian Renxue paused and glanced toward Dugu Bo.
Her gaze then unfocused slightly, as though she had thought of her guardians, Snake Lance Douluo and Porcupinefish Douluo.
In Qian Renxue's opinion, Dugu Bo's current strength was already sufficient to confront a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast head-on for a short period.
If they launched an attack at the right opportunity, then with the combined power of Snake Lance Douluo and Porcupinefish Douluo, they might be able to assassinate the hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast through a surprise attack.
It was somewhat risky, but not beyond acceptable limits.
"Hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts are not so easy to deal with. This place is also the hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast's home ground. Not only does it command large numbers of ten-thousand-year and low-level Spirit Beasts as its claws and fangs, but it also possesses considerable intelligence and tactical thinking."
"Defeating it might not necessarily cost that much strength, but if we want to keep it here, the price is probably not something we can afford."
Chen Ming felt that Qian Renxue was really being a little too greedy. There was not even the slightest sign of success yet, and she already wanted to directly face a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast?
Not every hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast was like the Titan Giant Ape or the Sky Azure Bull Python, requiring Bibi Dong to bring two Level 95 Titled Douluo, along with all kinds of Spirit Hall experts, to pursue them continuously before they could be hunted down.
But not every Titled Douluo was that kind of expert either. In this era, only experts around Level 95 could face hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts.
If Dugu Bo made a move now, he would definitely be able to kill a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast. But the key issue was that Dugu Bo's current transformation was not known to everyone. This was information kept at the bottom of the chest.
Moreover, even if Dugu Bo directly killed the hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast, judging from Qian Renxue's current state, she did not look like someone who would directly hand over the hundred-thousand-year Spirit Bone.
Even if they were to make a move, they had to do so only after everything was properly planned, and only under circumstances where their benefits were maximized.