Chapter 1122: Desperate Contrast

Ming Ye stroked his beard and said, "Are you asking how the ancient giants were born?"

"The origin of the very first ancient giants is no longer traceable. It is generally accepted that there were no ancient giants during the Great War between the Two Realms. They are creatures that mysteriously appeared only after that great upheaval in the Heavenly Realm."

"Some say they are a curse cast by the Heavenly Realm's creator, who, unwilling to accept defeat, sacrificed his own essence to punish all invaders. Others speculate they are alien beings who seized the opportunity to invade during the Heavenly Realm's chaos. Still others guess they are dark malevolent spirits drawn in by your Middle-earth Realm."

He glanced at Jiang Fan, and said gravely, "In any case, after their appearance, they quickly dominated the Southern Heavenly Realm. All living beings became their prey. If it weren't for their supreme being, who replaced the Southern Heavenly Realm's creator and re-established the rule of a hunt every hundred years, traces of our Hell Realm descendants would have long vanished from the Southern Heavenly Realm."

Jiang Fan fell into deep thought. The origin of the ancient giants remained incredibly mysterious.

He frowned and asked, "Then, Mountain Wind once said that you couldn't escape the fate of turning into ancient giants. What does that mean?"

Ming Ye sighed, "That's something that only began a thousand years ago. A thousand years ago, the Great Hunt of the ancient giants resumed, which was when your Middle-earth Realm was nearly annihilated. The ancient giants suffered heavy losses, and their numbers significantly decreased.

"Just as the remaining forces of us Hell Realm creatures thought they could launch a major counterattack and overthrow the ancient giants' rule, a world-sweeping earthquake occurred in the Southern Heavenly Realm. At the epicenter of the earthquake, an ancient sinkhole appeared."

Here, he let out a long sigh: "I don't know if it was fate or human intervention. The ancient giants were not fated to perish. Within that ancient sinkhole, there was mysterious blood-water. After we Hell Realm creatures were thrown in, there was a certain probability of being transformed into ancient giants. They were not much different from normal ancient giants. The difference was that their cultivation would be fixed at the moment of transformation, unable to progress further.

"The ancient giants used the sinkhole to rapidly expand their clan. Not only did they avert the crisis of extinction, but they also surpassed their past peak strength."

He looked at Jiang Fan, his eyes showing sympathy. "Your Middle-earth, this time, I'm afraid there will be no escaping it. The ancient giants today are far more powerful than they were a thousand years ago!"

Jiang Fan's gaze became solemn. Just when the ancient giants were weakened, an ancient sinkhole appeared. And the Hell Realm creatures who entered it, by no coincidence, happened to transform into ancient giants, not some other kind of being. How could this be fate? An unknown entity was secretly helping the ancient giants.

"How many ancient giant troops are there in the entire Southern Heavenly Realm now?" Jiang Fan asked for the answer he most wanted to know.

Ming Ye said, "Ten thousand. Spread across the nine provinces of Middle-earth, each province would face a little over a thousand troops."

Jiang Fan frowned. He looked at Bai Xin and asked, "Commander Bai, have we tallied the number of cultivators at Nascent Soul Mid-stage or higher in our Taicang Grand Province?"

Bai Xin replied without hesitation, "If the numbers reported by the various sects half a year ago were not concealed, then across the more than one hundred large and small sects in Taicang, there are a total of over five hundred cultivators at Nascent Soul Mid-stage or higher."

Jiang Fan's expression changed. "Only that many? That shouldn't be right. I once saw more than a dozen cultivators with Eight-Orifice Nascent Souls from the Jian family. By extension, the Seven-Orifice, Six-Orifice, Five-Orifice, and Four-Orifice Nascent Souls should increase progressively, right? By any calculation, there should be seventy or eighty of them. Adding the Three Divine Sects and the Seven Great Teachings, none of them would be weaker than the Jian family. How could we not even gather a thousand Nascent Soul Mid-stage cultivators?"

Bai Xin calmly said, "Sixty years ago, your calculation would have been fine. But you forgot, the Hellish Beast appeared sixty years ago. At that time, Taicang Grand Province already anticipated the ancient giants' imminent return. Therefore, all sects concentrated valuable resources on the powerful figures of that time, hoping to create a Venerable before the catastrophe arrived. It was precisely for this reason that there was a surge in Eight-Orifice Nascent Souls. Cultivators of other levels did not receive this treatment. So, their numbers don't represent the quantity of powerful figures at other levels."

Jiang Fan was stunned. He had almost forgotten that the Hellish Beast had appeared sixty years ago. It had simply been suppressed by the Tiger Demon Emperor. Thinking further, whether it was the Myriad Calamity Sacred Hall, Mount Sanqing, or the Jian family, he had personally seen no more than two Seven-Orifice Nascent Souls in each faction. And Revered Master Bai Yu, with a Five-Orifice Nascent Soul, was once known as a renowned grand expert. It was clear then: Nascent Soul Mid-stage cultivators were far rarer than Jiang Fan had imagined.

Bai Xin asked, "Did you get any information?"

Jiang Fan said, "There are over ten thousand ancient giant troops known in the Southern Heavenly Realm."

Bai Xin's finger trembled slightly. Even with her usual composure, she was startled by the vast disparity. She whispered, "We're in trouble."

Jiang Fan said gravely, "More than just trouble. It's hopeless! Ancient giants are immune to divine abilities and spells; this alone makes them stronger than Middle-earth cultivators of the same rank. Add to that their numerical advantage, which is manifold. And our Nine-Orifice and Eight-Orifice Nascent Souls also have the factor of going mad. Taken together, defeat at the Nascent Soul level is inevitable."

Thinking of this, Jiang Fan then asked, "What about the Giant Kings? How many are there in the Southern Heavenly Realm?"

Ming Ye shook his head and said, "That's hard to say. The Southern Heavenly Realm is divided into nine regions, and the number of Giant Kings overseeing each region varies. Among them, the Black Sun Royal Court was the region that attacked your Taicang Grand Province last time. As far as I know, there are ten Giant Kings, including one Five-Star Giant King."

Jiang Fan's heart sank again. How many Venerables did Taicang Grand Province have? Everyone knew of the three Transformed Deities and one Bodhisattva, the Grand Libationer of the Imperial Astronomy Bureau, and then there was the Jian family's mysterious battle corpse and the red-faced old man from the Fire Worship Sect. At most, there were only seven in total! However, the red-faced old man from the Fire Worship Sect was not from Taicang Grand Province, so he might not be willing to fight for it. In contrast, the Black Sun Royal Court had a full ten. One of them was even a Five-Star Giant King who had defeated the three Transformed Deities and one Bodhisattva, and struck down Venerable True Word, causing him to lose his memory and divine halo!

He rarely felt despair. Even at Jieshan that day, when a mere two hundred people faced an army of over ten thousand corpses, he had never despaired. Now, however, the oppression made it hard for him to breathe. Whether at the Nascent Soul level or the Venerable level, they had no chance of victory!

Ming Ye's eyes flickered slightly, and he said, "You of Taicang Grand Province don't need to be overly pessimistic. I have a method that might be able to help you."

Jiang Fan looked up, forcing himself to appear energetic, and said, "Please tell us, Chief."

Ming Ye said, "My grandson is merely a Three-Orifice Asura, yet he was pursued by a Nine-Orifice giant and then a Giant King. Young friend, do you find that strange?"