It turned out that seventy percent of what Teacher Zhong said in the real world was identical to the information from the system, while the other thirty percent was new.

That information came from thirty-two years in the future—the pitfalls that countless Beastmaster students had fallen into, which Mr. Zhong had committed to memory and was now sharing with Gu Ming one by one.

For the generation of the technique’s creator, Whale Master, these hidden pitfalls weren’t pitfalls at all.

When Whale Master first created the Wave-Swallowing Technique, he was still a Five-star Beastmaster. He only became a Six-star Beastmaster after completing the first step.

The first step alone took him twelve years!

The second step took ten years, and the third, nine.

The tips for avoiding pitfalls shared by the Mr. Zhong from the system’s timeline could accelerate future students’ learning, saving them from retreading a thirty-year-long path.

They had new types of Arrays to aid their studies, and the path was paved by the experience of generations of students.

In later generations, the fastest a Beastmaster mastered all three steps took only two years!

Of course, because the learning was so fast, the Pet Beast’s Evolution didn’t follow the original pace. After completing all three steps, it had only Evolved by two-stars.

’Mr. Zhong lamented, "Going too fast has its own hidden dangers. After summarizing my findings over the years, I’ve discovered that Whale Master’s Wave-Swallowing Technique is still far too advanced."’

’"If you take your time and complete all three steps properly, you are guaranteed to Evolve by three full stars."’

’"The reason this technique is so famous, becoming a signature move for generations of Water Element Pet Beasts, is precisely because this Combat Technique contains the Secret of Evolution."’

’"Even I wouldn’t dare claim to have completely deciphered this Secret of Evolution."’

’"So when it comes to Ah Kun, I will only give you the Basic Array to assist with learning Abyssal Stop. I won’t smooth out the entire path for you again."’

This large block of insights was a moment of sudden enlightenment for Gu Ming, clearing his mind completely.

The Sword Body in Gu Ming’s Sea of Consciousness swayed gently, releasing a wisp of Old Deng’s Sword Qi that swept into Ah Kun’s body to investigate its bloodline.

Soon, the corresponding Array Points of the Basic Array in his mind lit up one by one within the Grouper Fish’s body.

They weren’t actually lighting up; rather, Gu Ming was using his Divine Sense Sword Qi to simulate the Array Points. He was checking to see which points within Ah Kun’s body couldn’t be established, and which ones would require targeted, individual optimization.

Teacher Zhong, his mouth dry from talking, paused to take a sip of water and looked over at Ah Kun.

"Hm?" he grunted, releasing his Divine Sense to see what Gu Ming’s Divine Sense Sword Qi was doing inside the fish.

"Are those... Array Points? Are you performing Array Formation?"

"Why are you spacing out at a time like this?"

Teacher Zhong was a little annoyed. ’What does Gu Ming think he’s doing?’

"He’s not spacing out, Teacher Zhong." Teacher Zhang shook his head, holding up a hand to stop him.

Teacher Zhong took a deep breath and observed more carefully.

At first glance, the Array Points seemed scattered and unconnected, not amounting to much.

But a minute later, he saw Ah Kun circulating its Mana, breaking through vascular blockages, and guiding its Blood Qi into deeper meridians.

For a Grouper Fish, this was a rather severe injury.

Teacher Zhang had to step in and provide some minor healing.

Cyan Treasure also took out some of the restorative Blood Regeneration Powder from Gu Ming, applying it to Ah Kun’s body with its tail before infusing it with a Plant Life Light Wave to rapidly heal the internal injuries.

The meridians Ah Kun had ruptured with brute force healed in the blink of an eye.

Gu Ming sighed and gave up for the time being.

’Modifying an Array isn’t something you can do overnight. It’s a process of constant trial and error, of gradual improvement.’

’For now, I’ll just listen to Teacher Zhong’s lecture.’

"Please continue, Teacher," Gu Ming said.

"What Array were you just trying to form?" Teacher Zhong’s attention had been completely diverted by Gu Ming; he wanted to know what the boy was up to.

"I just heard you say that the first step, Abyssal Stop: Gathering Force into a Vortex, can be broken down into three smaller steps: ’Gather,’ ’Force,’ and ’Vortex.’"

"Using that as a core principle, I tried to construct a small, Microscopic Array inside Ah Kun to gather energy, manipulate the water’s momentum, and condense the water into a vortex. It just wasn’t very successful."

Gu Ming said, shaking his head.

Teacher Zhong understood instantly.

Recalling Gu Ming’s Cyan Pine Spiritual Technique and his method for improving the Earth Shifting Technique—both of which involved mentally using an Array Carving Technique to refine a Cultivation Technique—he understood what Gu Ming was up to.

The boy was trying to break down the Wave-Swallowing Technique to assist its Cultivation with an Array, or perhaps even implant an Array core into the Combat Technique itself to accelerate the learning process.

It was an excellent idea.

Just a moment ago, Lu You had also proposed a similar learning strategy: using knowledge of Arrays to lower the barrier to entry and the time required to learn Cultivation Techniques for the competition.

Teacher Zhong pondered for a moment. He sensed that this combination of Arrays and Cultivation Techniques was a promising field with immense room for improvement.

It was just that, ultimately, there were far too few Beastmasters who would dare to research Arrays within a Pet Beast’s body.

A genius like Gu Ming was hard to find even with a lantern. He was simply too audacious.

This was the kind of thinking that only came from absolute confidence in one’s own Talent.

Teacher Zhong paused, his mind racing, and he couldn’t help but think of something else.

’Could the Great Dao Foundation inside the Dantian also be a combination of an Array and a Breathing Skill?’

’Hmm, it’s hard to say.’

’I’ll have to watch and see.’

He shook his head, casting aside the distracting thoughts and returning to the present moment.

He looked at the shimmering river, squatted on the bank, and gathered his interrupted thoughts. With a dry twig, he drew the pattern of three converging currents in the sand.

"The key to the ’Gather’ part," he began, "is for the Pet Beast to imagine itself as a stone sunk at the bottom of the river."

He motioned for Ah Kun to sink to the riverbed, control the gentle strokes of its pectoral fins, and maintain a state of relative stillness so as not to be swept away by the current.

"Look at the river. The calmer its surface, the more it hides the undercurrents below."

"Gathering power is simple, but using that gathering step to alter the momentum of the river water is not nearly as easy."

Here, Teacher Zhong began to explain some complex Daoist Skills.

Ah Kun listened until its head spun; it didn’t really understand.

Teacher Zhong frowned. He was already using the Sound of the Great Dao to transmit his words directly into the fish’s ears.

’Why can’t it understand?’

’Gu Ming’s Pet Beast shouldn’t be this dull-witted.’

Gu Ming’s expression was awkward. He knew his own situation best.

Ah Kun was naturally slow-witted. Otherwise, back in its days at the local shop, how could it have lived nearly to the point of dying from old age without ever having Evolved?

There was no helping it.

’I’ll just have to use an Array to aid its learning.’

"Teacher, I understand what you just said," Gu Ming began. "Is it about using the ripples stirred up by its fins to control the currents and bring the entire body of water to a standstill?"

The first step of the Wave-Swallowing Technique: Abyssal Stop!

The "Abyss" in the name could be understood as a deep-sea chasm, or it could refer to this very body of water.

A One-star Grouper Fish was definitely incapable of achieving this step.

Besides, this was an advanced Combat Technique to begin with, something meant for High-star Pet Beasts to learn.

It was incredibly difficult for a Low-star Pet Beast to learn this technique.

Only a Pet Beast with exceptionally high innate potential could, at one or two-stars, barely learn its form, borrow the momentum to strike, and unleash even one percent of the technique’s true power.

Teacher Zhong nodded. "That’s correct. But it’s not good to skip the process of condensing the vortex. Have you thought of an Array-based approach?"

"I have a small idea," Gu Ming said, holding up two fingers with just a tiny gap between them.

In his mind, the model for the Array had already undergone a subtle change.

It turned out that while he was talking with Teacher Zhong...

...the future "Mr. Zhong," seeing that Gu Ming was getting on in years and didn’t seem particularly bright, had lent a helping hand. He had improved the auxiliary learning Array based on the constitution of a Juvenile Kunpeng.

In reality, this manifested as a slight tweak to the Array’s design.