Published: February 12, 2025
Ye Zhongming chose the second location, known in the reports as the Layered Water Desolation.
From a high altitude, this terrain looks like four water droplets stacked together, each pointed in different directions, with their round parts overlapping slightly.
The area is quite large and relatively flat, making it a suitable location overall. After all, the 'tips of the droplets' leading in four directions are narrow paths winding downwards.
Due to the high elevation of the Layered Water Desolation, all four paths lead down to steep cliffs that are smooth as a mirror; even if there is some vegetation, it is sparse.
In other words, to reach the Layered Water Desolation, there are only four narrow paths along the cliffs, apart from accessing it from the air.
Many people who see this place first feel it is a protruding half-plateau.
"The widest of the four paths leading to the Layered Water Desolation is only two hundred meters wide. The path I pointed out connects directly to the Layered Water Desolation, and at the center of the path and other turning points, the width narrows, allowing for layered defenses," Ye Zhongming said, pointing to the giant terrain map displayed on the light barrier.
"The area above the Layered Water Desolation is sufficient to accommodate our little group of nearly 200,000 people, and the terrain is very suitable for arranging formations, so I believe this place is very appropriate."
Surprisingly, Ye Zhongming provided very little information about the second terrain. Compared to the first location, he seemed to take it less seriously.
"You only see the terrain as suitable; what about other aspects?" a strategist from the Su Clan questioned loudly.
Ye Zhongming gave this person an approving glance, making the Su Clan strategist feel somewhat taken aback.
"What aspects should I be looking at?" Ye Zhongming retorted.
The strategist, feeling a bit unsettled from Ye Zhongming's earlier look, nevertheless continued according to his thoughts: "Let's first talk about the terrain. I understand your viewpoint; this Layered Water Desolation is indeed easy to defend and hard to attack. There are only four paths leading up, and even on these winding paths, we can set up barriers and take advantage of the elevated position and visibility to form multiple layers of defense."
As he spoke about his area of expertise, the strategist momentarily forgot his previous doubts about Ye Zhongming, his voice steady and confident.
"However, if we only focus on these factors, the locations previously chosen by the Su Clan, whether it was the Heavenly Vein Plateau or the Intestine Mouth Stronghold, are superior to this one. After all, in those locations, we only need to defend one side, while here, we need to defend in all directions."
Others nodded in agreement. Although all four paths were narrow, they were distributed in four directions, necessitating defense in each direction, causing a strain on military resources, making it much more challenging than defending just one direction.
The strategist looked at Ye Zhongming and noticed that Commander Qing Tong of the Star-Eye Clan was nodding at him, signaling him to continue.
Clearing his throat, he continued, "When selecting a location, we cannot just consider the terrain; we must also look at the surrounding conditions. Everyone, take a look at what lies around the Layered Water Desolation. To the east is the Blue Demon Desert; the end of the path leads right to the edge of the desert. And what is there? It is a gathering place of mutated life forms that have broken through the ninth-level limitation and become higher beings. Do not be deceived by their ninth-level magic crystals. Especially, most of the life forms in the desert are crustaceans, which have excellent defenses and not weak offensive power, and many are toxic, making them the most troublesome mutated life forms."
The strategist magnified a certain location on the light barrier, revealing a vast blue desert. The alarming numbers displayed in the upper left corner indicated that there were more prey here than in the Red Grass Plain.