Chapter 1308: Ancient Giant

From his commanding vantage point, he realized that the massive objects emerging from both sides of the pond were actually two enormous, pale-yellow hands. The ten “pillars” were merely the thick fingers of those hands. Now, the pair of palms was slowly rising from the earth.

The scorching light pond, spanning thirty to forty zhang, had mysteriously vanished without a trace, leaving behind an unfathomable abyss.

At the center of the pond’s depths, a strange glow flickered, revealing a colossal eyeball two zhang in diameter. The eye rotated slowly, emitting a chilling, cold light.

At this sight, Han Li shuddered, suddenly recalling a notorious race from the Spirit Realm. His face instantly paled.

Without hesitation, he doubled his speed, darting straight into the sky. However, after using the Taiyi Evanescence Talisman, he couldn’t fly any faster.

The palace-robed woman and the three lean, dark-skinned wolf youths hadn’t yet noticed the scene, but they too sensed an inexplicable danger.

The woman let out a cold snort and spat out a crimson silk handkerchief. With a flick of her wrist, a green light shot out like a flood dragon, coiling around her—a remarkably divine green flying blade. The handkerchief spun above her head, transforming into a red haze that enveloped her in a protective barrier.

The three youths simultaneously formed hand seals, their bodies radiating a faint silver glow. The three lights merged into one, forming a massive silver sphere that swallowed them whole.

No sooner had they erected their defenses than the ground within a thousand-zhang radius of the pond erupted with a deafening roar, splitting apart. The giant eye at the pond’s bottom blinked, and the suspended Sunset Crystal above the pond plummeted, vanishing into the eye in a flash.

Then, a mountainous figure slowly rose from the earth.

From his high vantage, Han Li saw it clearly.

The colossal creature stood hundreds of zhang tall, its body mostly covered in gray-yellow mud. Its arms stretched toward the sky—an unbelievably massive giant.

Had Han Li not witnessed the likes of Rahu and the Sky-Soaring Kunpeng in the human world, he would have struggled to believe such a being existed.

The giant wore a beast-hide loincloth of unknown material. Its head, resembling a mountain peak, had a deep indentation in its forehead, housing a single enormous eye. The scorching light pond was nothing more than a depression formed by that eye, filled with water.

Beyond that, the giant had an exceptionally ugly, flat nose and a long, thin mouth stretching to its cheeks. Between its slightly parted lips, sharp white teeth glinted.

The giant hadn’t fully stood up—only its upper body had emerged, while its lower half remained buried.

Its single eye fixed on the palace-robed woman and the three wolf youths, as insignificant as ants before it, its face devoid of expression.

“Impossible! An ancient giant! Run—we can’t fight this!” the palace-robed woman shrieked, her face drained of color as she finally recognized the creature.

Now she understood why City Lord Lan had retreated without even questioning the fate of the monk. He must have noticed signs of this earlier.

Without delay, the woman formed hand seals, and the red barrier around her spun rapidly.

With a muffled *bang*, the barrier shattered into crimson fragments, and the woman vanished.

A moment later, a red flash appeared fifty to sixty zhang away, revealing her graceful figure.

The three wolf youths, equally horrified, snapped out of their stupor upon seeing her escape and hastily formed seals to activate their own escape techniques.

But just then, the giant suddenly opened its mouth and inhaled with a bizarre, guttural sound.

A fierce gale erupted. The three youths felt an immense force yank at their silver protective light, pulling them violently toward the giant’s gaping maw.

Panicked, they desperately chanted incantations to resist. But even the woman and City Lord Lan, both Nascent Soul cultivators, had fled in terror. How could three mere Core Formation cultivators hope to resist?

Their bodies lifted from the ground, helplessly drawn toward the giant’s mouth.

Terror seized them.

One of the youths twisted midair, transforming into a silver wolf several zhang long. With a mournful howl, the other two youths merged into the wolf’s body without hesitation.

Instantly, two smaller wolf heads—one green, one red—sprouted from the silver wolf’s neck.

The three heads howled in unison, and silver, red, and green light sprayed from their mouths, reinforcing the protective barrier.

Though it didn’t halt their movement entirely, their speed slowed significantly.

In desperation, the three had merged back into their true form—a three-headed wolf demon.

From his hidden vantage, Han Li felt a pang of nostalgia, recalling another elegant figure. But with a sigh, he dismissed the thought and refocused on the scene below.

If the pond was merely the giant’s eye, did that mean the rebellious Spirit Clan member had already been devoured?

From what Han Li knew, ancient giants were notoriously dim-witted, prone to devouring any outsiders raw. They wouldn’t recognize something like divine blood. The vial containing it was likely inside the giant’s stomach now.

This was a serious problem.

Even the lowest-tier ancient giants possessed power comparable to early-stage Void Refinement cultivators. Some exceptionally gifted ones could rival even Body Unity experts.

Legends spoke of a Thousand-Eyed Giant capable of battling true dragons and phoenixes—celestial beings of immense power.

Han Li hesitated. Retreating now would mean abandoning his goal, but facing this monstrosity was no small matter.

Meanwhile, the three-headed wolf spat out several treasures in a desperate bid to break free. But each was instantly swallowed by the giant’s mouth, rendered useless.

Left with no choice, the wolf relied solely on its own energy, inching closer to the giant’s jaws despite its frantic efforts.

The giant grew impatient. It raised a massive hand and swatted at the wolf like a fly.

A shadow loomed overhead, pressing down on the wolf. Even before the hand made contact, the wolf’s protective flames flickered wildly, on the verge of collapse.

If caught, even its iron-hard body would be crushed to pulp.

But the wolf, held fast by the giant’s suction, couldn’t dodge.

Despair filled its eyes.

Just as the hand—large as a pavilion—was about to seize the wolf, a sudden change occurred.

A yellow flash erupted near the wolf, and a frail figure materialized out of thin air. Without a word, the figure threw two punches.

It was Elder Huan Tianqi of the Qiongshu Clan.

One fist struck the descending hand, while the other targeted the three-headed wolf.

Brilliant yellow light erupted from his fists, forming two radiant punches.

*Boom! Boom!*

The first punch collided with the giant’s palm, halting it momentarily before being crushed.

The second punch struck the wolf’s protective flames, sending it flying like an arrow, free from the giant’s suction.

As the giant’s hand descended, the youth vanished like a ghost, reappearing dozens of zhang away—right in front of the soaring wolf.

With a flick of his finger, specks of green light coalesced into a massive, crystalline mirror.

The wolf crashed into the mirror’s surface, creating ripples before being gently repelled.

“Thank you, Elder Huan, for saving my life!” the wolf stammered, its three heads shaking off dizziness.

It was miraculously unharmed.

“Stand back. You’re no match for this thing,” Huan Tianqi said coldly. “An ancient giant here… It must have been slumbering in this valley since before the Three Realms were established. Otherwise, it could never have entered.”

Nearby, another white flash appeared, revealing a white-robed man—Huangliang Lingjun. His expression was grave as he studied the towering creature.

“Indeed. A being of this size would never have been allowed past the Three Realms’ guardians, no matter how lax they were,” Huan Tianqi said with a dark smile. “But this is just a One-Eyed Giant, and it’s clearly severely injured. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have slept here so long. If we join forces, we can kill it—even if it costs us some vitality.”

“And how do we split the spoils?” Huangliang Lingjun frowned. “I heard this giant carries a large chunk of Sunset Crystal—the best material for forging supreme yang treasures.”

“I’ve no interest in what the Spirit Clan traitor carried. The Sunset Crystal is mine,” Huan Tianqi replied without hesitation.

“Fine. It’s settled.” Huangliang Lingjun turned his head, addressing distant figures coldly. “You lot stay alert. Though we’ve driven back the Spirit Clan for now, they might return.”

Han Li followed his gaze.

City Lord Lan, the palace-robed woman, and others had indeed returned, accompanied by more human and demon cultivators. But there was no sign of any Spirit Clan members.