Chapter 1552: Great Victory!

When Jiang Fan returned, the various sect forces who had been pursuing the remaining Ancient Giants also arrived back, one after another. They carried large heads, dropping them onto the battlefield.

The Hall Master of Myriad Tribulations Sacred Hall was covered in blood, and a shocking wound piercing his chest left him weakened. But his eyes were unusually bright as he announced loudly, "Reporting to Your Holiness, all remnants of the Ancient Giants have been annihilated!"

Venerable Heart Demon nodded. Looking at the desolate Hall Master, the tragic state of the surviving Myriad Tribulations Sacred Hall disciples, and the ground strewn with the corpses of their members, the usually rough-and-tumble Venerable couldn't help but get red-eyed, saying in a trembling voice, "You... have endured so much."

Tears also streamed down the Hall Master's face as he sorrowfully replied, "Your Holiness has also endured so much."

Venerable Heart Demon mustered his courage and asked, "What are the casualties?"

The Hall Master couldn't bear to say it, and it was a long time before he spoke. "All six Nine-Orifice Nascent Soul seniors tragically sacrificed themselves. Of the fourteen Eight-Orifice Nascent Soul seniors, only Song Lingyu, Zhou Wenyuan, and Huang Linzhou are severely injured and unconscious. Only two of the six department heads survived. Half of the remaining Nascent Soul disciples died."

The shocking casualties caused Venerable Heart Demon to close his eyes in pain. The cost of this battle was too brutal. But he quickly composed himself, opened his eyes, and reassured the Myriad Tribulations Sacred Hall disciples with a resonant and powerful voice, "Don't be sad! Originally, we were destined for total annihilation. The fact that more than half of our members survived is already a miracle! We have won the war against the Ancient Giants!"

The disciples' spirits lifted, and some of their sorrow receded. Indeed, although the battle was brutal, their survival with more than half of their members was a miracle of miracles! Before the battle, no one believed they could, with five Soul Transformation Venerables and five hundred late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, defeat eight Giant Kings and over a thousand Ancient Giants. It was the self-sacrificing acts of individual martyrs, like moths to a flame, that turned the tide of the battle for them.

The Great Yin Sect's casualties were similarly brutal. All Nine-Orifice Nascent Soul cultivators died in battle, and few Eight-Orifice Nascent Soul cultivators remained. Over half of their remaining Nascent Soul cultivators were casualties. Sects like the Fire Worship Cult, the Myriad Phenomena Void Realm, and the Horizon's Edge Pavilion all suffered catastrophic casualties. Of the over seventy small and medium sects, only about forty remained. Half of the original hundred-plus sects were completely annihilated. The cold statistics represented the demise of one sect after another, incredibly cruel.

Jiang Fan approached the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion's contingent. His heart was in his throat as his gaze swept over the crowd. Fairy Yunshang, the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion Master, Liu Qingxian, Xia Chaoge, Slave-Heart Demon Emperor... Familiar faces flashed before his eyes, gradually easing his mind.

However, after scanning everyone, he noticed some were missing. Excluding the Rebellious Kid and the Little Tiger, twenty-five members of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion had participated in the battle. Now, only twenty-two remained. His heart sank with a thud, and he asked in a trembling voice, "Where are the other three?"

Lin Yuheng replied desolately, "Steward Ning Kun blocked an Ancient Giant's long tongue for me and was dragged away and eaten..."

Ning Kun? Was that the stern and rigid old man whom all Heavenly Mystery Pavilion disciples held in awe? Jiang Fan had even forgotten when he last spoke to him. He clenched his fists and asked, "Does he have descendants on the continent?"

Lin Yuheng said guiltily, "He has a family. I will do my best to take care of his clan members."

Jiang Fan took out a spatial storage item and handed it to her, saying, "Take my contribution too." Then, with a heavy heart, he asked, "Who else?"

You Yunzi hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Steward Yun Yang."

Jiang Fan's heart was heavily struck. Was that the master he had apprenticed himself to when he first entered the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion? Though it was only for a brief month, and their interactions weren't extensive, her figure, often seen holding a book, left a deep impression on him. She was gone too.

"Is her body... still here?" Jiang Fan asked, his voice choked.

You Yunzi replied tearfully, "Yes, I plan to take her body back to the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion for burial."

Jiang Fan's eyes were slightly red, and he asked in a trembling voice, "And the last one?" He didn't want to hear it anymore; he didn't want to hear anyone else's name.

"Ah, I guess I'm one of them." A helpless sigh drifted over. Jiang Fan looked over, his vision blurred. A fist-sized soul figure, holding the Moon Realm, floated before him. It was Liang Feiyan. He scratched his head and said, "When I was dodging a giant's attack, some brainless brute on a chariot ran over my head and crushed it."

Jiang Fan, with tears in his eyes, couldn't help but laugh. The initially sorrowful atmosphere turned into a mixture of laughter and tears because of Liang Feiyan's unfortunate incident.

Liang Feiyan's old face flushed hot. "Stop laughing!" he said. "Ren Guhong, has your privates recovered after being smashed by that spiked club? And you're laughing?"

Ren Guhong, who had been trying to suppress his laughter, stiffened, then his face flushed crimson, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into. This dog-like Liang Feiyan had to drag him down too after embarrassing himself? No, he couldn't be the only one getting mocked. He looked around, zeroing in on the Rebellious Kid who was laughing carelessly, and snorted, "What are you laughing at? Have you washed the pee out of your cloth wrap yet?"

The Rebellious Kid immediately looked at its cloth wrap; it was damp and slightly yellowish. During the big battle earlier, it was nearly trampled to death and was so scared it peed itself on the spot. Its small face, covered in green scales, instantly flushed crimson.

"Hahaha, someone else wet themselves? That's hilarious!" Gu Xin'er clutched her stomach and burst into laughter, tears almost streaming from her eyes.

The Rebellious Kid was infuriated and ashamed. "Is that so funny? Huh?" it demanded. "You woman with no distinction between your front and back!"

Gu Xin'er immediately stopped laughing, her small face turning cold. "Say that again? What 'no distinction between front and back'?"

The Rebellious Kid snorted. "I didn't say that! An Ancient Giant was mumbling in infernal language about how your head was on your back."

Hahahaha! Everyone could no longer hold back and burst into laughter.

Gu Xin'er's face flushed crimson, and she stomped her feet in a frenzy. "Which bastard giant said that? Take me to him! I'll chop his body into pieces and feed it to the dogs, feed it to the dogs!!!" At least Jiang Fan still said she was a 'handful.' That despicable giant, was he utterly blind? To actually say her front was the same as her back! How preposterous!

After this commotion, Jiang Fan's mindset adjusted back to normal. Compared to other sects, where either their members were halved or the sect was directly annihilated, the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion's minimal casualties were already a miracle. This was partly thanks to the Heavenly Robe Divine Water and Void Reversal Spirit Pills gifted by Jiang Fan, which effectively gave them two lives on the battlefield. It was also due to Jiang Fan ascending to the Celestial Realm twice and then entering Heavenly Relic City, bringing fame to Taicang Grand State and earning the respect of the world. Consequently, on the battlefield, members of various sects took special care of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion disciples.

The most typical example was the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion Master. When first fighting the Stone Battle Legion, at the moment the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion Master was about to die, an elder from the Great Yin Sect sacrificed himself to save him, perishing in the process. Everyone else, to varying degrees, received their overt and covert protection. This could be considered the blessings Jiang Fan had accumulated for the people of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion.

Thinking of this, he bowed to the forces of each sect, one by one, offering silent thanks.

At this moment, the sky shimmered. Nine projections reappeared. The war situations in each state were simultaneously displayed across the Nine Provinces of the Central Lands. The forces in each state could see the battle conditions in the other states.