Chapter 1578: Chapter 1616: Ten Sins of Central Earth

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’?

’Inferior’ means lower or incomplete.

Could it be that Entering the Sage through luck has drawbacks?

He tentatively asked: "In the Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul Realm, if the foundation is unstable, it is easy to encounter bottlenecks in subsequent realms."

"Is it possible that sages who Enter the Sage through luck also have similar bottlenecks?"

The woman’s remnant soul seemed gratified: "Indeed, you are smart."

"Correct, those Entering the Sage through luck are forever stuck at One Calamity Realm."

"And back then, to accomplish everything in one go, many who lacked merit were allowed as an exception to Enter the Sage through luck as Heavenly Human Five Declines."

Jiang Fan was enlightened.

That also explained why today’s resources were far inferior to the ancient times.

The luck had been drained, and various resources were exhausted, just like the comparison between Taicang State and other states.

He frowned: "But does being an Inferior Sage mean they will be traitors?"

Becoming a traitor should relate to interests and character.

It has no causal relation to the method of Entering the Sage.

The woman’s remnant soul coldly said: "If you were an Inferior Sage, forever unable to advance."

"What if someone told you that you could continue to advance by accumulating resentment?"

What?

Jiang Fan was shocked; an Inferior Sage could advance this way?

He already knew what happened next and said solemnly:

"So, the Inferior Sages couldn’t resist the temptation and chose to defect to the Giants’ side on the eve of victory, causing the beings of Central Earth to harbor resentment?"

The woman’s remnant soul nodded and then shook her head:

"Not all Inferior Sages were tempted—there were ten."

"But those ten were enough to turn our decisive battle against the Giant Emperor from an absolute advantage to a disadvantage."

Jiang Fan could imagine the scene at that time.

Every sage was an exceptionally valuable fighting force—losing ten meant the enemy gained ten.

This subtraction and addition created a gap of twenty!

Any advantage would be instantly overturned.

The woman’s remnant soul said: "The result is imaginable; our sages of Central Earth were utterly defeated."

"Several sages fell under their coordinated attack, and the Heavenly Eye Sage chose to perish with the enemy."

"As I was about to fall, I detonated the World Artifact, the Jade Paper Heavenly Book, taking one Giant Emperor down with me."

"The strongest Great Sage, Beixuan Sword Master, faced the Nine-Day Giant Emperor and the Sleeping Giant Emperor alone, without falling behind."

"But due to the inclusion of several traitors, it ultimately led to the fall of Beixuan Sword Master."

"The freed Giant Emperors and Giant Kings began a massacre on the Human Clan’s Divinity Transformation Realm and Nascent Soul Realm armies."

"The situation of Central Earth rapidly deteriorated from a promising victory to the brink of extinction."

Jiang Fan listened with sparks in his eyes, pounding the ground heavily with his fist.

"Those ten bastards!"

Having personally experienced the betrayal of Evil Crow Venerable, he knew too well how troublesome it was when one’s people betrayed at a critical moment.

Moreover, the betrayers were ten sages, a threat a hundred times greater than Evil Crow Venerable!

The woman’s remnant soul snorted: "Calling them bastards is an insult to the word! They are the Ten Sins of Central Earth!"

"Now that a millennium-long war is reigniting, if they are not dead, they are sure to follow the Giants to Central Earth to continue absorbing resentment."

Jiang Fan’s eyes glinted coldly, swearing that if Heaven gave him enough time, he would devote his entire life to eradicate the Ten Sins of Central Earth!

He calmed down and asked again: "What happened afterward?"

"Why did the Ancient Giants retreat?"

According to the situation at the time, all of Central Earth would have been eradicated.

At least, the Virtuous Realm and Divinity Transformation Realm would have been killed with none remaining.

But as things stand now, there are still some old sages from a thousand years ago in Central Earth.

The woman’s remnant soul said:

"Someone stepped forward, using something to change the tragic fate of Central Earth’s demise."

She said slowly: "That was... the Ancient Token."

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