Chapter 579 557: Prophet

The piece of Rootless Wood on the puppet dragon that Master Xiao had previously shattered should have been dead.

Since it was still alive, the one that died was definitely not its main body.

Gu Ming retracted his Divine Sense, his face showing little emotion. He simply took out his personal notebook from his pocket, the pen tip gliding quickly across the paper.

He organized the information he had observed and wrote a brief analysis.

He had lacked evidence before.

Even when he wrote an analysis based on the system's prompts urging everyone to watch out for the Demonization phenomenon, it ultimately wasn't persuasive enough.

Now, the intensity of the border war was rising. Space rifts had appeared in residential areas, ignoring the border's protective space barrier, and the danger of a nationwide war was drawing near.

He made his judgment on the war's escalation based on the speed at which the rifts were spreading, the scale of the Demon Fiend influx, the features of the Rootless Wood's roots, and the timing of the Eight-star Demon Fiend's appearance.

A warning had to be issued to Beastmasters who hadn't cultivated the new Cyan Pine Unmoving Technique. It was even necessary to monitor their words and actions to prevent them from getting hurt.

They were highly likely to undergo Demonization, and the main culprit behind this was the now-defunct environmental organization, the Friends of Nature.

He didn't send this article to Peak Journal. Instead, he chose to submit it to the *Young Beastmaster Daily*, a publication with a larger circulation and wider reach, aimed at the community of Low-star Beastmasters.

At the end of the manuscript, he included his name and his top-tier journal publication credits.

The article's call to action and warning were outrageous. While disrespectful to many traditionalists and Beastmasters who hadn't updated their Cultivation Technique, when war arrived, death would show no mercy to any person or Pet Beast.

After his tour of the border, a new theory formed in Gu Ming's mind.

'The Demon Fiend invasion instigated by that southern environmental organization... it's highly likely that Rootless Wood, a great demon lord from the Inner World, is pulling the strings.'

'They're both Grass Element; it's hard not to see a connection.'

As the rifts at the border continued to expand, the same phenomenon was bound to occur throughout the interior.

After sending out the analysis, he closed his notebook and waited.

'Hopefully, this article will alert more people in advance.'

But his warning had come too late.

That evening, communications were still up.

The editors at Pet Beast Weekly were delighted to receive a submission from a top-tier journal author. They replied enthusiastically, attaching a layout proof and the estimated publication time, clearly excited about the exclusive.

Then, on the very evening the daily issue was released, the flames of war engulfed cities across the nation.

That morning, as soon as his article went live, the internet had erupted with a torrent of abuse, with people launching indiscriminate ad hominem attacks against Gu Ming.

'No one's going to switch to a new Spiritual Technique years after graduation, especially not after they have kids.'

'We've been cultivating our Spiritual Techniques for years and nothing's ever happened.'

'So why does a top-tier journal "genius" like you have to stir up trouble over it?'

'So you published a few articles in top journals, Gu Ming. Does that make you some peerless prodigy whose every word is gospel?'

'Plenty of high-and-mighty High-star Beastmasters haven't said a word. Who the hell does Gu Ming think he is?'

'Telling everyone who hasn't cultivated his new Spiritual Technique to just switch...'

Gu Ming knew a tidal wave of protests and insults would flood the internet, but he had made his voice heard. The rest was up to time.

The internet-wide backlash also made the topic a trending search.

The Friends of Nature, who were still operating in the shadows, naturally stumbled upon Gu Ming's world-shaking, viral article.

If the Friends of Nature had held back, the controversy might have remained a hot topic for days, or even the entire month.

But the coming war wouldn't slow down for this. On the contrary, with their plans potentially exposed, they decided to start ahead of schedule.

And just like that, as evening fell, bad news began to pour in like an avalanche.

First, it was the remote towns. They suddenly went dark, losing all contact. The messenger Pet Beasts dispatched to them never returned.

Next were the mid-sized cities. On the monitoring network, the signals from their City Defense Arrays winked out one by one, like candles being extinguished in the dead of night.

Finally, even some major cities saw their communications become sporadic, with the only messages getting through being desperate pleas for help.

Gu Ming, sitting in his room at the temporary border garrison, was unaware of all this.

The system's pop-up notifications only described the resurgence of the border war, with no other messages.

It wasn't until nightfall that the short video feed on his phone changed.

There were fewer short videos cursing him out.

Instead, videos about cities going dark had suddenly multiplied.

By the time Gu Ming saw the short videos—pleas for help from across the web, reporting the appearance of Demon Fiends and trending into a hot topic—it was already past seven in the evening.

His expression turned grim. He immediately went to find Teacher Tang.

"Teacher Tang, this is bad. Take a look."

Gu Ming handed him the phone.

Tang Tianyi quickly watched the videos and fell into thought.

"Are you suggesting the Rootless Wood's root system has already spread to the frontier towns, smuggling Demon Fiends across?" he asked.

Teacher Tang hadn't initially known about the analysis Gu Ming had published. He only found out in the afternoon when someone mentioned it in the faculty and student group chat.

He found Gu Ming's analysis quite interesting and felt it was very reasonable.

The other Beastmasters in the group agreed. They didn't see it as alarmist fear-mongering, but as a very real possibility.

So they all advised those around them who hadn't cultivated the new Spiritual Technique to perform a self-check.

However, whether to practice the new Cultivation Technique was a personal, subjective decision.

The most they could do was inform people of the risks; they couldn't force anyone to switch.

Predictably, among those with any foresight, opinions were split. After careful consideration, about half felt Gu Ming's analysis deserved serious attention, while the other half remained skeptical.

As for the general public, they couldn't have cared less.

Without a true, large-scale bloody incident, it was impossible to convince the masses to switch to the new Cultivation Technique.

At nine o'clock that night, the first inside reports came in from the Ruan Family.

Everyone in the research lab fell silent upon hearing the news.

Large cities garrisoned by Seven and Eight-star Beastmasters quickly suppressed the sudden internal uprisings, suffering minimal casualties.

A situation that could have resulted in millions of casualties was kept below a thousand.

Even so, the number was horrifying.

But from the places without Seven or Eight-star Beastmasters to stand guard, little to no news escaped.

By the time an Eight-star Beastmaster personally led a team to investigate, they discovered that some towns were completely devoid of life.

The towns were filled with demonized Pet Beasts and humans who had been corrupted and lost their sanity.

Initial reports indicated that over three hundred small towns and cities had been wiped off the map of Great Zhou, all contact lost.

Another one thousand cities, which lacked the protection of Seven or Eight-star Beastmasters, suffered heavy casualties.

However, the Beastmasters in those cities had fought back together. There is strength in numbers, and they avoided complete annihilation.

Their casualties, however, were the most devastating, several times higher than those in the smaller towns.

This information came from the Ruan Family's internal channels; it was not what was being reported to the public.

The official news reports, however, simply stated that some towns had lost contact. It warned Beastmasters everywhere to be on alert for a Demon Fiend invasion, claiming a new type of High-star Space Element Demon Fiend had penetrated the Barrier's defenses and smuggled others inside.

The higher-ups, however, knew the truth.

Except for the exact timing of the outbreak, every other prediction in Gu Ming's morning analysis had been spot on. The Friends of Nature had simply made their move ahead of schedule.

Across the country, large numbers of Beastmasters who hadn't switched their cultivation had suddenly undergone mental Demonization.

Vast numbers of Pet Beasts were demonically controlled, embarking on an unrestricted killing spree.

According to the Ruan Family's most conservative estimate, in a single day, the nation of Great Zhou had lost over two hundred million ordinary citizens, Beastmasters, and Pet Beasts.

Overnight, the Friends of Nature became the most wanted organization in all of Great Zhou, topping their kill-on-sight list.

As for Gu Ming's new Cultivation Technique, it had already gained some traction from being promoted during the college entrance exams and the university league. This had sparked a minor cultivation craze, which in turn saved a portion of the Beastmasters.

But compared to the total number of Beastmasters in the country, those who had made the switch were far too few.

Now, with the disaster truly upon them, people were finally beginning to take the path of 'self-awareness' seriously.