Beast Taming: My System is Bugged

As Gu Ming browsed the news, he noticed the official Friends of Nature account had shared an article written by Mr. Tree himself.

The title boldly featured his name, compelling him to click and read it.

The article was a public gauntlet: a challenge to a Dao debate.

Under the guise of promoting open discussion, Mr. Tree intended to engage Gu Ming in a face-to-face public confrontation.

The challenge was for an intense, in-depth Dao debate on core issues: the pros and cons of the Cyan Pine Unmoving Technique, its Cultivation path, and the safety of the Brain Array.

He had set the location for the showdown in the public square of Gu Ming’s own city, proclaiming that all were welcome to attend in person to witness and judge the fairness of the debate.

In the Beast Taming Realm, this kind of "Dao debate" between High-star Beastmasters was not uncommon.

When two parties’ philosophies on the Beast Taming Dao were similar yet fundamentally diverged, they might settle the matter through a public debate.

The victor’s Dao Heart would often be further refined, while the loser risked having their Dao Heart damaged and their will clouded.

In serious cases, it could even cause the foundation of their Beast Taming Dao to waver and the light in their Sea of Consciousness to dim.

For young Beastmasters, getting involved in such duels too early was extremely risky.

If their own foundation of knowledge wasn’t solid, it was all too easy for an opponent to exploit flaws in their arguments, leading to an unstable Dao Foundation.

Therefore, as soon as Mr. Tree’s challenge was issued, Gu Ming quickly received direct instructions from his three mentors: his advisor Elder Huo, his counselor Teacher Luo, and his corporate mentor Teacher Tang.

Ignore it. Wait and see how things develop.

His mentors’ reasoning was crystal clear: the truth was currently on Gu Ming’s side, putting him at a great advantage.

As long as parents continued to verify the facts for themselves, public opinion online would speak for itself.

Gu Ming didn’t need to expose himself to unnecessary risk.

Besides, the power and mobilization capabilities their opponent had displayed by planning a nationwide ritual were unfathomable. The intent behind it was certainly no small matter.

Pushing Gu Ming, a mere student, to the forefront to handle this was undoubtedly a great act of negligence regarding his safety.

Faced with the unanimous dissuasion from his mentors, Gu Ming fell into deep thought.

’Should I accept this debate?’

In his eyes, confronting Mr. Tree would be the ultimate trial for his courage, the Resilience of his Divine Sense, and his indomitable spirit.

’Besides, my opponent clearly has ulterior motives. His theoretical foundation has already strayed from the proper path. Morally speaking, I’m already in an invincible position.’

「The Cyan Pine Skill you iterated on has attracted the attention of the Friends of Nature, a major Demon Fiend organization from thirty years ago.」

「A Slicer of Mr. Tree has initiated a public Dao debate with you on social media.」

「At only fifty-one years old, having just reached the threshold of a Four-star Beastmaster, you have suddenly gained national attention. The entire country is buzzing about Mr. Tree’s sudden appearance.」

「Countless people died or were displaced in the war back then. Upon learning of their enemy’s appearance, a large number of Beastmasters are flocking to Lanqi City.」

「Elder Huo tells you that you have performed a great service. During the last Demon War, Mr. Tree reaped countless lives and has been listed as an Eight-star fugitive by the Great Zhou Dynasty.」

「Your job now is to pretend to accept the challenge while waiting for the officials’ experts to capture his Slicer on site.」

Gu Ming stared at the bugged storyline from the system, a result of some temporal displacement, and took a moment to process it all.

"In the present, my teachers are telling me not to go, but in the future, everyone is using me to capture an Eight-star Demon Fiend?" he muttered. ’An Eight-star Level Demon Fiend...’

He knew Mr. Tree’s strength was definitely not just Four-star. The strange Spiritual Fluctuation that Ah Kun had perceived back then didn’t feel like it came from someone with only Four-star strength.

’Then again, it’s hard to say.’

’Perhaps he only achieved that massive power-up, that incredible Evolution, during the Demon War.’

’Before the war, his power might not have fully developed, leaving him at the Four-star level.’

So, at this stage, Gu Ming had two choices: accept or decline.

The first option was to accept. He wouldn’t actually debate his opponent, but would instead leverage the system’s temporal bug to have the experts from the future take down the "Slicer."

As long as the system registered it as a success, there was a high probability that the Mr. Tree in the present could also be subdued.

However, pulling this off wouldn’t be easy, and Gu Ming had no idea what the success rate would be.

The last time, it had taken Ah Ji a great deal of effort to win over Elder Yao, who existed in the future timeline.

He not only had to trick Ah Ji, but also needed the right plot items from the system to even have a chance of success.

In summary, the success rate of turning the system’s bug to his advantage was not high.

The second option was to play it safe: don’t respond, and wait to see what happened.

Gu Ming thought for a good ten minutes. He stroked Cyan Treasure, then flicked Ah Kun’s belly, and finally gave Ah Ji a pat on its feline rear. The cat’s tail shot up, and it glared back at him.

Finally, he made his decision—he chose the first path.

The reasoning behind his decision wasn’t complicated. In fact, it was driven by a measure of courage and a spirit that wasn’t afraid of risk.

He was intensely drawn to one particular thought:

To deliberately trigger the system’s bug and see with his own eyes how this extraordinary event would unfold.

’Just imagine it. In the present dimension, I’ll be having a public debate with Mr. Tree.’

’And in the future glimpsed by the system, official experts will be using that very opportunity to make an arrest.’

This was a scenario that should have been utterly impossible.

In the future timeline, Mr. Tree, who had become an Eight-star fugitive, would never lower himself to have a public debate with a Four-star Beastmaster.

However, in the present, Mr. Tree was still cloaked in legitimacy, moving about in human society.

To protect his organization’s reputation, stepping forward to debate Gu Ming, the one who had raised questions, was actually a perfectly logical move.

Gu Ming had cleverly seized upon this massive paradox between the present and the future. He intended to force this seemingly impossible opportunity into existence.

If he chose to avoid the confrontation, the two timelines would run parallel, never intersecting, and the controversy would eventually die down.

But Gu Ming couldn’t ignore the approaching shadow.

Next year, the Demon War was highly likely to break out.

Right now, the Friends of Nature were quietly sowing the seeds of war across the entire nation.

Although he had disrupted their plans to some extent through his livestream, such a massive war machine, once it started running, would never completely stop just because of his temporary interference.

On the contrary, his actions had likely been like poking a hornet’s nest, forcing the other side to move their plans forward by several months.

Therefore, if he could trigger this bug and borrow the strength of the future authorities—even if only to capture one of Mr. Tree’s "Slicers"—it would be immensely significant.

This might provide his comrades in the future timeline with key fragments of core intelligence about the Demon Fiends.

And that information, like trickles of water gathering into a sea, would ultimately flow back to aid the struggle in the present.

Having thought this far, Gu Ming’s mind was made up.

He didn’t yearn to be a hero who could turn the tide in chaotic times, nor did he intend to be the leader who saved the masses from dire straits.

What drove him was a much simpler vision:

He didn’t want to see his homeland shattered and its people displaced.

He didn’t want Beastmasters and their partner Pet Beasts to fall into a future where the earth was stained with their blood.

A world where order had collapsed and life was cheap was not the world he wanted.

Even though the pressure was heavy right now, and all sorts of conflicts were emerging in society, the stability and order maintained by this land were still something he cherished and was determined to protect.

So, he called his three concerned teachers one by one and sincerely expressed his apologies.

Afterward, he logged onto social media and formally responded to Mr. Tree’s highly anticipated challenge.

In an instant, the internet erupted once more.

On one side was a senior representative of a major charitable organization; on the other, a rising academic star who was all the rage.

Two Four-star Beastmasters were about to wager their entire future paths on a "Dao debate."

This was something that only High-star Beastmasters would normally do.

That fact alone was enough to ignite the passion of countless netizens just there for the drama.

The showdown was already a hot topic before it even began.

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