Under Wu Tao's deliberate guidance, the group chatted and laughed all the way, creating a very harmonious atmosphere.
During this period, Wu Tao subtly probed, easily extracting a considerable amount of useful information from the unsuspecting giants without them realizing it.
...
Of course, these were not secret matters, and the giants answered all of them truthfully.
Thus, Wu Tao not only learned a great deal about the giant tribe but also their names.
The leading giant was named Wu Zhe, and the other giants had simple names like Wu Xi, Wu Da, Wu Er, Wu San, and so on.
Of course, these dozen or so giants also asked Wu Tao questions, intentionally or unintentionally, but Wu Tao brushed them off by saying he had just been born and rarely interacted with others of his kind.
Seeing that Wu Tao did not wish to reveal information about himself, Wu Zhe and the others politely did not press further.
To them, as long as the other party was indeed a member of the giant tribe, that was enough.
...
Next, Wu Zhe and the others led Wu Tao across the hilly terrain and then a grassland, finally arriving before a very large mountain range.
Upon entering the mountain range, the giants Wu Tao and his group encountered suddenly increased.
There were both adults and minors, men and women, old and young.
Wu Tao observed that even the underage giants he encountered on the road had an aura at or above the Foundation Establishment stage.
This demonstrated the immense power of the giant tribe's bloodline talent.
Furthermore, Wu Tao discovered that the way the giant tribe differentiated status was determined by the feathers they wore on their heads.
For example, Wu Zhe, Wu Xi, Wu Da, Wu Er, Wu San, and the others wore blue feathers, while Wu Zhe, as the leader, wore silver feathers.
Wu Tao could discern this because he noticed that other giants treated Wu Zhe, who wore silver feathers, with great respect.
The giant tribe's way of life was centered around the entire Giant Kingdom, supported by countless subordinate tribes.
The tribe where Wu Zhe and the others belonged was called the Great Stone Tribe, with a population of just over a thousand people, including men, women, old, and young.
The Giant Kingdom's territory spanned tens of millions of kilometers, with hundreds of tribes.
These hundreds of tribes were scattered across tens of millions of kilometers, and even wider areas.
Tribes with a population of less than ten thousand were all considered small tribes.
Those with a population of over ten thousand were considered large tribes.
Wu Tao listened with some astonishment; the giant tribe's strength was not to be underestimated.
Although they did not pose a significant threat to the human cultivators of the entire Purple Continent's cultivation world, this was based on the combined forces of all human cultivators in the Purple Continent. If any single force, including the Liu Imperial Family, were to face the giant tribe alone, they would not fare well.
...
Due to their less sophisticated intelligence compared to humans, the giant tribe had only a shallow rule: pure strength was revered, and individual combat prowess represented everything.
The Great Stone Tribe's surroundings were all small tribes, with no large ones.
As for what lay further afield, even Wu Zhe and the other giants did not know.
Wu Tao was actually quite satisfied with the information he had obtained.
At the very least, he understood the giant tribe's ruling system and their emphasis on individual combat strength and bloodline, which would make his future path much easier.
Not to mention, the pure Ancestral Giant bloodline he possessed was enough for him to establish himself within the giant tribe.
Of course, Wu Tao desired much more. To put it arrogantly, his ambition was to swallow the elephant whole and control the entire giant tribe for his own use.
Achieving this would undoubtedly be extremely difficult, but Wu Tao was not without hope.
However, where there was good news, there was also bad news.
From Wu Zhe and the others, Wu Tao inferred that there were undoubtedly Ancestral Witches in the giant tribe equivalent to human Purple Mansion stage cultivators, and possibly more than one.
Although the stronger the giant tribe became, the stronger Wu Tao's own forces would be after assimilating them, as the weaker party, Wu Tao would prefer the stronger party to be as weak as possible during the assimilation process.
Otherwise, the Ascending Immortal Sect, led by Wu Tao, would simply be unable to swallow the giant tribe.
Because the spiritual energy of the Cloud Continent far surpassed that of other cultivation worlds,
all sorts of ancient divine beasts and creatures that were previously extinct could be found.
When Wu Tao and Wu Zhe returned to the Great Stone Tribe, they encountered a Teng Snake that tried to ambush them.
This divine beast, the Teng Snake, was very powerful and easily defeated Wu Zhe and the other dozen or so giants.
Just as the ten-thousand-zhang-long Teng Snake opened its monstrous maw to swallow the giants whole,
Wu Tao, who had been observing from the side, drew his sword and cleaved it in two!
The Cloud Continent not only harbored many divine beasts and exotic creatures but also a multitude of highly venomous creatures in its forests.
Even with their tough hides and mountain-like bodies, these giants were not immune.
As it happened, an adult giant named Wu Da was accidentally stung by a Shadow Scorpion.
At first, nothing seemed to happen, but after a while, Wu Da began to feel unwell.
Dark spots appeared on Wu Da's skin, which then began to swell.
After another half an hour, the swollen spots burst, releasing foul-smelling, terrifying mucus. This scene was as disgusting as it was terrifying.
The horror of this potent venom could be gauged by the agonizing screams of the unfortunate Wu Da.
Fortunately, Wu Zhe and his experienced group found the corresponding antidote within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
However, this spiritual medicine could only alleviate the symptoms, not cure the root cause. At best, it could prevent the poison from spreading, but it could not completely eradicate the potent venom.
It was only when Wu Tao couldn't bear to watch and refined an antidote pill that the poison was completely removed.
Even so, Wu Da was left with layer upon layer of scars on his body.
Looking at the countless scars on Wu Zhe and the other dozen or so giants, Wu Tao couldn't help but shake his head.
It seemed that despite the giant tribe being one of the two dominant races in the Cloud Continent, their lives were still extraordinarily arduous.
At the very least, ordinary humans would not survive a single day in such an environment.
Seeing Wu Da's miserable state, Wu Tao couldn't help but become more vigilant.
Although Wu Tao was confident that he wouldn't be easily infected, one couldn't be too careful.
What if he were bitten by some venomous insect from the ancient or primordial era? Even if he could be cured in the end, wouldn't he have to suffer greatly?
Not only were the ground and its inhabitants fraught with danger, but the sky was also teeming with threats.
Various divine beasts and giant birds with sharp beaks, massive claws, and wings that could obscure the sky, constantly circled overhead, searching for prey.
A large group of purebred divine beasts and giant birds, immense in size and radiating ferocity, swept over their heads.
The hundred-zhang-long mythical bird Guiche with a wingspan of a thousand zhang was child's play. There were also the Kunpeng and the Golden-winged Great Roc, which occasionally made their presence known.
Setting aside the terrifying innate divine abilities of these mythical beasts and raptors, their shadow-casting forms alone were enough to instill fear.
These were only the mythical beasts and giant birds that Wu Tao recognized. There were even some that gave Wu Tao a sense of threat, unknown mythical beasts and giant birds!
Indeed, the more concentrated the spiritual energy, the greater the danger, just as heavenly blessed lands were invariably guarded by divine beasts.
Of course, given that the giant tribe had lived in the Cloud Continent for so long and become its overlords, their mystical powers were naturally extremely formidable.
Along the way, Wu Tao observed that although the giant tribe was not skilled in forging magical artifacts nor proficient in spells and divine abilities, their combat techniques were exceptionally potent. While simple, they were extremely practical.
The combat techniques used by Wu Zhe and the others were all killing arts, each move and stance designed for lethal effect.
These techniques were clearly honed by the ancestors of the giant tribe through years of combat, specifically suited for the giants.
Wu Zhe and their Great Stone Tribe were located within this vast mountain range.
Wu Tao discovered that the interior of this mountain range was a flat and open basin.
Wu Tao, Wu Zhe, and the others gazed at the Great Stone Tribe from afar, appearing like a colossal fortress.
The perimeter of the Great Stone Tribe was constructed from massive, iron-hard boulders, each measuring about a zhang across.
Due to the giants' naturally enormous size, their walls were built to be ten thousand zhang high, with a thickness of about a hundred zhang.
At least on the ground, ordinary adult divine beasts could not breach these walls.
And in the air above their tribe, their Great Priest had set up an aerial witch array. If any divine beast or giant bird invaded, the entire tribe's giants would immediately rise to meet the challenge.
The imposing giant, the Great Stone, proudly explained that this was the origin of their tribe's name, his demeanor clearly brimming with pride.
Wu Tao nodded thoughtfully as Wu Zhe proudly introduced their settlement.
Compared to humans, who could construct arrays that encompassed entire cities, the giant tribe's method of defending their tribal settlements was indeed far behind.
However, even a primitive defense method, if it had endured since the primordial era, must have some merit.
As Wu Tao walked into the Great Stone Tribe, he observed the densely packed structures, all simply piled from massive stones, while he intently assessed the strength of the Great Stone Tribe.