Chapter 1531: Dangerous Situations Everywhere

With this command issued, the ancient giants engaged in battle let out thunderous roars, like mountains collapsing and tsunamis crashing. It was as if they had been suppressed for a long time, full of pent-up frustration.

Whether they were the ancient giants fiercely fighting on the front lines or the dozen or so giants assaulting the rear forces, they simultaneously pulled out five-zhang long, spike-covered maces from their waist pouches!

Jiang Fan's pupils contracted: "How can this be?"

He had already caused over a thousand maces and various other weapons belonging to the Black Sun Royal Court to fall by shaking the Sky-Connecting Black Pillar. Those maces had been distributed to Revered True Word and Revered Purple Cloud of Hunyuan State. How could they reappear in the hands of the ancient giants? Could the Black Sun Royal Court have deployed them from somewhere else?

Jiang Fan had personally witnessed the aftermath of a battle in the far western part of the continent's Demon Clan territory, where an ancient giant wielding a mace fought against a group of Nascent Soul experts. Innumerable spiritual artifacts had been shattered, the nearby mountains and rivers were fractured, and spiritual ley lines shifted. The destructive power was immense!

Now, with the ancient giants once again wielding maces, their combat strength surged! Screams immediately followed. An important elder from the Fire Worship Sect, a Six-Aperture Nascent Soul cultivator, had his body crushed by a mace. Then, more screams rang out. Sounds of grief, rage, and the ancient giants' sinister laughter mingled, creating an atmosphere of despair.

The mere appearance of the maces caused a significant shift in the battle on the front lines. The already one-sided human Nascent Soul experts suffered a dramatic increase in casualties! And the rear battle group was also in precarious danger!

Liang Feiyan's heart pounded. She quickly loaded her last remaining crossbow bolt and urgently shouted, "Quickly, attack!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Even denser volleys of crossbow bolts rained down, like a torrential downpour. However, the ancient giants, who should have been wary, now held their maces with savage expressions. They gripped the heavy maces as if they were light wooden sticks, swinging them effortlessly. The maces were swung with ease, precisely striking the crossbow bolts that flew towards them. Some bolts were knocked off course, while others were outright shattered!

"Humans, you will all die!" Over a dozen ancient giants charged forward, their strides thundering, braving the dense rain of crossbow bolts. The ten-thousand-zhang distance was nothing more than a few dozen breaths for the ancient giants. During this time, only three ancient giants were hit in the legs or feet and were unable to proceed. The remaining ten all reached the front lines.

One giant, with an arrow in its arm, furiously raised its mace and smashed it down onto the rows of ballistas. CRASH! Several ballistas shattered, their exploding metal fragments scattering in all directions. Immediately, screams erupted. Several early-stage Nascent Soul experts were wounded, and some even had vital areas pierced, dying instantly! The other giants rushed into the battle group, destroying ballistas and causing widespread casualties! In just one encounter, dozens were killed or wounded!

Youyunzi shouted loudly, "Everyone in front, clear the way!" Hearing this, the crowd in front quickly dispersed, and he hurled a man-sized, giant iron ball. The iron ball, covered in backward-facing spikes, activated upon landing and rolled rapidly along the ground. The giant, who was raising its mace, noticed and its expression changed slightly as it swung towards the iron ball. However, the spikes on the iron ball deflected the mace, and it swiftly rolled to the giant's legs. Empowered by immense impact, the dense, arm-length spikes on the iron ball fiercely impaled the giant's legs, piercing through flesh and bone. Both legs were punctured like a sieve. Even with the giant's immense strength, it let out a bellow of pain, collapsing to the ground and losing its ability to move.

This invigorated the human forces, and experts wielding similar iron balls began to hurl them. Unfortunately, the element of surprise was lost. The giants, extraordinarily cunning, noticed the sudden retreat of the human experts in front of them and cautiously dodged. One by one, the iron balls missed their targets. Even more dangerously, the paths created by the human forces dispersing became avenues for the giants to charge deeper into the battle group.

With a few dull thuds, the remaining nine giants exploited the gaps and slaughtered their way into the dense ranks of human experts. A single sweep of their maces created a spray of blood! In a matter of breaths, dozens were wounded or killed. Combined with the previous assault, the rear battle group, originally over three hundred strong, was reduced by a full third! Both the front and rear battle groups were on the verge of annihilation! The rear battle group was in an even worse state! The nine ancient giants were slaughtering unimpeded, as if in an uninhabited land!

Youyunzi, filled with grief and indignation, launched a martial technique across the space. However, it merely scratched one of the giants, leaving no mark and instead drawing its attention. The giant redirected the mace it was swinging forward, instead slamming it towards Youyunzi. The strike was a blur, too fast for him to dodge. Just as he was about to be crushed, a sharp feminine cry rang out: "Do not harm my master!"

A bronze war chariot, with long blades extending from its sides, sped in from the diagonal flank. Nangong Xiaoyun expertly drove the bronze chariot, charging at high speed. Seizing the moment the giant swung its mace elsewhere, she drove the chariot between its legs. The sharp blades sliced into its legs. Driven by the powerful impact of the bronze chariot, the blades cut through the giant's incredibly tough bones. With a spray of blood, both of the giant's legs were cleanly severed. It let out a howl as it crashed heavily to the ground.

Youyunzi, having narrowly escaped, his eyes lit up, and he quickly shouted, "Deploy the war chariots!" The human experts who had received war chariots clumsily activated their bronze chariots, maneuvering them through the battlefield. Caught off guard, another giant had a leg severed and crashed to the ground.

However, this good fortune did not last. The giants realized the threat posed by the bronze chariots. They stopped indiscriminately slaughtering ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators and focused solely on smashing the bronze chariots. As a Fire Worship Sect disciple drove a bronze chariot, searching for a target, his head was suddenly overshadowed. Before he could react, a massive mace smashed him and his bronze chariot flat!

Nangong Xiaoyun realized the danger and immediately abandoned her chariot and fled. But no sooner had she escaped the bronze chariot than a dark shadow loomed over her head. A giant had spotted her and, filled with rage, swung its mace down! Nangong Xiaoyun's heart plummeted. Her mind went blank, and she faintly heard Youyunzi's distant cry of alarm. But it was all too late. Only one thought filled her mind. "Am I going to die?"

At this critical moment, there was a dull thud. Then, a torrent of blood rained down on her as if from a downpour. She looked up and saw a crossbow bolt had pierced the giant's heart from behind.

Who shot it? No, it wasn't just one crossbow bolt. It was several! From their western flank, crossbow bolts tore through the air, aimed furiously at the remaining six giants. The giants, amidst their slaughter, hastily wielded their maces to block the sudden volley of bolts!

This allowed the battle group, on the verge of annihilation, to finally catch its breath. They glanced sideways. They discovered that the experts from Mount Sanqing, White Horse Temple, and the Jian Family, who had been defending the southern front, had all moved in. Those at the late Nascent Soul stage rushed to the main battlefield, while those at the early Nascent Soul stage came here.

These unexpected reinforcements greatly boosted everyone's morale. Youyunzi scanned around, spotted an abandoned bronze war chariot, immediately jumped onto it, and drove it towards the giants. Seeing this, the others all picked up their weapons again, coordinating with the reinforcements' attacks to launch a counter-offensive. The remaining six giants now had to defend against ranged attacks while also fending off close-quarters attacks from below. They, who had been slaughtering unimpeded, were immediately caught in a pincer attack.