The woman’s remnant soul spoke slowly:
"For ten thousand years, the only absence of the Ancient Giants was that time two thousand years ago."
"This allowed Central Earth a respite of two millennia."
"It was an unprecedented opportunity in ten thousand years!"
"We seized that sole chance to rewrite destiny."
"In two thousand years, we cultivated more sages than any period in history, nurtured the most Divinity Transformation Realm, the largest Nascent Soul army, the biggest stockpile of battle equipment, and the most extensive defensive fortifications."
"Central Earth exhausted four thousand years of resources in just two millennia to extinguish the Giants and establish eternal peace for future generations."
Jiang Fan pondered.
He had always wondered why the Heavenly Realm’s resources were so abundant, allowing ordinary creatures to grow so large.
Half of the continent’s resources stemmed from the Heavenly Realm, yet it only had a tenth of the Heavenly Realm’s abundance.
It turned out that they were depleted during the successive battles with the Ancient Giants.
Cultivation, Alchemy, Refining Talisman, Artifact Refining, constructing defensive fortifications, all required astonishing resources.
The previous generation exhausted almost all of their foundations.
Even in remote areas of the continent, a Great Wall was built, with a space storing a vast number of battle apparatus standing unused.
In contrast, the present generation’s preparations for battle only amounted to requesting the sages of Divine Weapon State to refine a thousand pieces of equipment.
The previous generation had such grand ambitions and noble aspirations!
Jiang Fan could imagine the scene, even across time and space—every part of Central Earth actively preparing for the battle against Ancient Giants, a thriving, Sky Opening aura.
If the contemporary era had such resources, this battle would not be in today’s dire situation.
He asked, "Did you still lose that battle?"
"No!"
"We won!"
The woman’s remnant soul, reminiscent of a millennium ago, still bore a look of longing:
"In that battle, Central Earth achieved the strongest record in ten thousand years!"
"The Ancient Giants’ army was nearly annihilated; less than one-tenth of the Giant Kings survived."
"We extinguished even half of the Giant Emperors."
"We created an unprecedented great victory!"
"We were even preparing to counterattack the Heavenly Realm, to utterly eradicate the Giant Clan."
Jiang Fan listened with blood boiling.
The battle a thousand years ago was so glorious!
They almost counterattacked the Heavenly Realm!
But why did they lose in the end?
The woman’s remnant soul’s eyes dimmed, a bitter smile spreading across her face:
"We won against the Ancient Giants but lost to human nature."
"At the moment of the final confrontation with the Ancient Giants, some of our sages betrayed us."
Jiang Fan’s face darkened.
He had long heard of the betrayal of some Humans a thousand years ago.
It was said that several Human Sages were killed as well.
Unexpectedly, the betrayal occurred at the critical moment of the decisive battle. He asked solemnly:
"Why?"
"What could the Ancient Giants offer them that was worth betraying Central Earth?"
He couldn’t comprehend why they would betray when thousands of years of threats could finally be eradicated.
The woman’s remnant soul did not explain but retorted:
"Do you know how to Enter the Sage?"
Jiang Fan nodded: "One is through merit, and the other is through luck, the latter being called an ’Inferior Sage.’"
"What does the betrayal of the sages have to do with the method of Entering the Sage?"
The woman’s remnant soul coldly said: "Of course, it does!"
"Do you know why those Entering the Sage through luck are called ’Inferior Sages’?"
This...
Jiang Fan had never thought about it.
Why is it that in the Virtuous Realm, Entering the Sage through merit is just ’Sage,’ while entering through luck is ’Inferior Sage’?