Chapter 1184: Died?

The Blood Giant's severed arm regenerated, appearing completely unharmed. However, everyone keenly noticed that with the growth of this arm, the Blood Giant's size visibly shrank.

The regeneration of its severed limb clearly consumed its essence, and the drain was substantial.

This realization brightened everyone's eyes. Without needing any communication, all present, being seasoned warriors, instinctively knew what to do.

Consequently, they all launched attacks, targeting the Blood Giant's six arms. Some innovatively aimed for its legs and head, making the scene even more chaotic than before.

In previous combat, the cultivators of Kyushu had held back somewhat, mindful of their own expenditure. They feared depleting their energy too much and being unable to outlast the Blood Giant, which would surely lead to the Kyushu forces' defeat.

But now, they no longer held back, having discovered a more effective method to wear down the enemy.

The Blood Giant likely never anticipated that its six arms, originally its unique advantage, would become the key to victory for the Kyushu cultivators.

In an instant, over a hundred top Kyushu experts split into nine battle groups. Each group targeted a specific arm, leg, or the neck of the Blood Giant.

Body cultivators and weapon masters charged forward, drawing the Blood Giant's attention and fending off its furious counterattacks. The others unleashed their secret arts and spiritual treasures, employing their full range of abilities.

Roaring explosions echoed continuously, and multi-colored lights streaked across the sky.

Under such circumstances, even the Blood Giant found it difficult to resist. It concentrated all its energy on fending off the Kyushu experts' attacks, leaving Lu Ye surprisingly at ease.

Previously, due to the Sacred Qi suppression, the Blood Giant had paid considerable attention to Lu Ye. But now, it had no energy left to focus on him.

The situation remained perilous. While launching their furious assault, the Kyushu cultivators also had to guard against the Blood Giant's counterattacks. Even the body cultivators and weapon masters on the front lines were careful to avoid being hit by its blows, their forms constantly shifting and dancing.

The skirmish continued, and another of the Blood Giant's arms was severed, again by the combined efforts of the two Sword Masters!

The devastating power of the Sword Cultivators was evident.

As the arm flew off, another shower of blood rained down. Once the Blood Giant regenerated the limb, its size once again shrank noticeably.

Everyone now saw the hope of victory, and their attacks grew fiercer.

Just then, the Blood Giant opened its mouth, and an indescribable roar reverberated through the heavens and earth.

This was its first sound since its birth. The fierce roar was deafening, accompanied by an boundless surge of crimson erupting from its mouth.

In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a sea of blood, fiercely sweeping across all directions.

The Blood River Art was a signature technique of the Blood Race. Any Blood Race member reaching a certain cultivation level could unleash this secret art, which combined offense and defense. Strong practitioners of the Blood Race often used it against foes, as it easily created a topographical advantage.

There was no reason for the Blood Giant not to possess the Blood Arts mastered by its race, yet it had never used them before. It likely refrained because its massive size meant it couldn't hide its form within the Blood River, even if it conjured one. However, facing an absolute disadvantage on the battlefield, it was forced to resort to this secret art.

Lu Ye had been waiting for this moment.

His presence was the only means to suppress the Blood Giant. Therefore, after his return, besides unleashing his own sea of blood, he made no other extraneous moves. Even when directly targeted by the Blood Giant, he primarily focused on dodging. In such a battlefield, he could not afford to take risks; if he were inadvertently injured or incapacitated, there would be no one left to suppress the Blood Giant.

However, if the Blood Giant were to employ the Blood River Art, that would be a different story.

As the Blood Giant's Blood River expanded, the sea of blood hovering above Jade Pillar Peak suddenly spread downwards. In an instant, the entire summit of Jade Pillar Peak was engulfed in crimson, with not a single figure visible.

As their Blood Rivers collided, waves surged. Lu Ye fully activated his power, forcefully merging his own sea of blood into the opponent's Blood River.

This was similar to the method he had used against the Blood Race's Sacred Seeds in the past.

The Blood Giant was forced to activate the Blood River Art out of desperation. It probably never imagined that such a move would hasten its demise.

Because as soon as their Blood Rivers merged, Lu Ye immediately activated the power of his Talent Tree, frantically devouring everything around them.

When dealing with Sacred Seeds, he hadn't needed to do this, as the mere suppression of Sacred Qi was enough to overwhelm them. He simply needed to directly slay the Sacred Seeds.

However, against the Blood Giant, mere Sacred Qi suppression was insufficient for victory; attrition was the primary objective of this battle.

The more he devoured with his Talent Tree, the greater the Blood Giant's consumption.

Originally, the Kyushu cultivators, having fallen into such an environment, would have been restricted at every turn. But with Lu Ye's covert guidance, the situation was different.

They were still able to maintain sharp and precise attacks, and their previous coordination remained intact.

In essence, the Blood Giant's Blood River Art not only failed to extricate it from its predicament but actually worsened its situation.

Within the Blood River, torrents surged and waves raged violently.

The Kyushu cultivators scored frequent hits, severing arm after arm, and even the Blood Giant's head was cut off once.

However, for such a bizarre entity, decapitation was clearly not fatal; blood surged from the wound, and a new head quickly sprouted.

Yet, with each successive severing, the Blood Giant's size continuously diminished.

Coupled with Lu Ye's constant devouring power, the Blood Giant finally began to buckle under the pressure.

Half a day after the battle began, the colossal titan, which had once reached to the heavens, had halved in size. At this stage, the Kyushu cultivators found it undoubtedly easier to deal with the Blood Giant. If the previous engagement was a three-tenths offense and seven-tenths defense for Kyushu, it was now fifty-fifty between offense and defense. The longer the battle progressed, the more advantageous the Kyushu cultivators' position became, while the Blood Giant grew increasingly vulnerable.

At this point, victory for the Kyushu cultivators was a foregone conclusion, merely a matter of time.

Yet, precisely at this critical juncture, no one dared to be careless. They had weathered the most dangerous moments, and to suffer a setback just as victory was within grasp would be a true tragedy.

After another hour, the Blood Giant's arms and legs had been severed countless times, and its size further diminished. Alongside its shrinking form, the Blood Giant's offensive power also waned. By this point, the Kyushu cultivators were engaging with seventy percent offense and thirty percent defense.

Of course, the Sword Cultivators were an exception.

Sword Cultivators, when facing an enemy, always focused solely on offense, never defense. They firmly believed that the strongest offense was the best defense.

Consequently, their battles were often extremely perilous. They might even appear to be at a disadvantage for much of a fight. Yet, they were always the ones to survive, because while determining victory or defeat might be difficult in their clashes, the line between life and death was crossed in an instant.

The Kyushu cultivators' attacks remained sharp, and they showed no mercy despite the Blood Giant's weakening. Having fought to this point, everyone was immensely depleted and lacked the capacity for another such large-scale battle. Thus, they naturally aimed to annihilate it completely, leaving no roots.

Lu Ye continuously maintained the devouring power of his Talent Tree, invisibly accelerating the battle's progress.

Until a certain moment, the Blood Giant, now reduced to a mere dozen feet in height, suddenly pulsed with blood energy, and its entire body began to twist and contort.

At this instant, the Kyushu cultivators surrounding it instinctively made the same decision: they all retreated!

Everyone knew that the Blood Race could self-destruct, and since the Blood Giant was proficient in various Blood Arts, there was no reason it wouldn't be able to self-destruct.

The destructive power of a single Sacred Seed's self-detonation was terrifying enough, let alone that of a Blood Giant. Even with its drastically reduced size, it remained a colossal entity, still dozens of feet tall.

If it self-destructed, there would likely be no safe place on the entire summit of Jade Pillar Peak.

Everyone was wary of such a development, so as soon as they saw the Blood Giant acting abnormally, they reacted. Lu Ye, however, didn't think it was performing a Blood Detonation Art. Because their Blood Rivers were merged, his perception of the situation was more accurate than others.

When the Blood Race executed a Blood Detonation Art, there was a very clear sign: their aura would become extremely dangerous.

There was no dangerous aura emanating from the Blood Giant. Instead, it seemed to be struggling to maintain its colossal body.

Its incubation had been incomplete; it was forcibly interrupted by the Kyushu cultivators just as it transformed into a blood fetus. Therefore, strictly speaking, it was a defective product.

When its consumption was minimal, it could maintain its massive form, but now, the depletion was so immense that it showed signs of disintegrating.

And indeed, this was the case. The Blood Giant's body twisted and contorted more severely, to the point where it could no longer launch any attacks. Though it struggled to maintain itself, it was ultimately futile.

Looking on, its form would sometimes collapse, then expand. With another violent expansion, its massive body suddenly burst apart, a torrent of crimson energy sweeping in all directions and merging into the vast Blood River.

Is it... dead?

Lu Ye was stunned.

After recalling his clone and returning, he knew the Kyushu cultivators had a high chance of winning this battle, yet he never expected such a powerful enemy to meet such an end.

But he quickly sensed something amiss, for at the location where the Blood Giant's massive form had vanished, an extremely strange aura lingered!

Almost as soon as Lu Ye detected this strange aura, it rapidly lunged towards his position, reaching him in an instant.

Its speed was so great that Lu Ye didn't even have time to move.

Amidst the pervasive crimson, an even denser blood-red light was particularly striking. At first glance, this light had a vague humanoid outline but no distinct features. All it possessed was an extremely malevolent aura.

With a sudden impact, it slammed directly into Lu Ye's body!