The test before him was naturally a piece of cake for Wu Tao.
In fact, if measured by the standards of the Giant race, Wu Tao, who had merged with the blood of the Ancestral Giant, possessed a noble bloodline no less than that of an Ancestral Witch.
"It's enough. You've passed."
The Great Wu in charge of the test, snapping out of his shock after hearing Wu Tao's words, handed Wu Tao a wooden token engraved with the Mark of Conquest.
The token emanated a unique power fluctuation. Although not spiritual energy, it was nonetheless extraordinary.
After receiving the token, Wu Tao took Wu Ming to the payment area, where they presented the corpses of thirty divine beasts and obtained another token.
Near the site of the bloodline sacrifice.
Thousands of giants, each standing over several thousand zhang tall, with many exceeding ten thousand zhang.
The sheer concentration of so many giants stirred such a potent aura that even their stillness caused the heavens and earth to churn.
The eternally motionless firmament above began to swirl with wind and clouds, as if threatening to descend and crush the earth.
The combined auras of tens of thousands of giants were unimaginably powerful…
An endless tide of vital energy surged from their bodies, dyeing the entire land crimson. In the next moment, even the sky turned a deep red.
Just then, a figure appeared before everyone's eyes: an old giant, one who appeared to be in the twilight of his years.
Clad in an ancient ceremonial robe, with a head full of white hair and a weathered face, the old giant slowly advanced, raising a divine bow.
From him emanated an ancient aura that seemed to belong to a bygone era.
In Wu Tao's perception, he wasn't looking at an old giant on the verge of death, ready to be buried.
Instead, he saw a figure who, in a magnificent era of myriad races vying for dominance, had wielded weapons and shields, clashing with the most powerful beings of that time.
As the old giant trembled forward, the ancient ceremonial robe he wore fluttered, unleashing waves of formidable law power!
With every step he took, everyone present felt a sense of temporal displacement.
It was as if the old giant was taking them back to that ancient era of fierce competition among myriad races.
With each step, he grew younger, his height doubling. In an instant, he stood at a million zhang, then tens of millions of zhang.
His hair was now a cascading waterfall, his muscles brimming with vitality, fully restored to his youthful peak.
At this moment, even the power of time seemed feeble before him, so insignificant that it left no mark upon his form.
"Summon the Ancestral Altar!"
A voice as profound as the Great Dao resonated from the giant, who now towered higher than the heavens.
As his words faded, a vast, boundless altar slowly materialized.
From a dreamlike illusion, it gradually solidified before everyone's disbelieving eyes, finally taking shape.
From its very inception, the altar radiated an aura that would drive practitioners of physical cultivation to madness.
For it was the aura of the Great Dao of Strength, the highest realm attainable by physical cultivators, a power that should not exist in this world.
"The Sun-Shooting Divine Bow!"
The ancient, deep voice echoed again, resonating directly within everyone's hearts.
Offerings as vast as mountain ranges, stretching for thousands of miles, were brought towards the altar.
These offerings were all the corpses of divine beasts.
Such as the True Dragon, White Tiger, Phoenix, Black Tortoise, Golden Crow, Nine Phoenixes, Qiongqi, Tengshe, Chasing Moon Wolf, Twelve-Colored Deer, Heavenly Steed, Earth Bear, Flying Violet-Patterned Leopard, and the Rhinoceros Sun-Flying Bird…
The Sun-Shooting Divine Bow was slowly raised towards the sky for the ritual.
Following this, a colossal force, akin to a black hole, erupted.
Tens of thousands of divine beast corpses were shot forward with a hum, absorbed by the altar.
After absorbing the divine beast corpses, the altar began to refine their bloodline essence, extracting drops of primordial divine beast blood. These drops of blood then seeped into the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow resting upon the altar.
The body of the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow began to emit a dazzling radiance, its supreme aura engulfing the surroundings.
As the first giant gazed upon the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow, the giant blood within his body began to boil, and an invisible transformation commenced.
Gradually, more and more giants raised their heads to behold the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow, succumbing to this change.
Pillars of vital energy surged skyward as these giants began a slow metamorphosis.
The only exception was Wu Tao.
At this very moment, his eyes were also fixed on the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow atop the altar.
However, after less than three seconds, Wu Tao felt the previously tranquil giant blood within him suddenly grow restless, threatening to devour the other bloodlines in his body.
Witnessing this, how could Wu Tao allow himself to fall into the same state as the other giants?
He quickly lowered his head, a trace of regret and annoyance flickering across his face.
"Bloodline sacrifice, huh?"
"So that's what it meant…"
"Using this altar to provide energy for the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow, which in turn activates the imprint of the Ancestral Giant, ushering in a new transformation for all giants."
"All giants would benefit greatly from this."
"Physical reinforcement, the opening of various meridians, or further advancement through boiling vital energy. At the very least, it would purify their giant bloodline."
"Unfortunately, I am not a true giant, nor can I destroy my foundation for the sake of some so-called giant bloodline."
"No matter how I look at it, it's futile, and I might even be backlashed by the primordial essence of the giants within me!"
Wu Tao sighed softly. Although he hadn't expected the bloodline sacrifice to have a significant impact on a cultivator of his caliber, he had harbored a sliver of hope that it might offer some benefit, however small.
To his surprise, this bloodline sacrifice was so potent that it stirred the giant blood within him, attempting to rebel against its master.
This was no minor pitfall; it was a chasm capable of burying a person.
Had Wu Tao not acted decisively and used his spiritual energy to shield himself from the divine light emanating from the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow, he might have suffered a slight loss.
"Hum!" "Hum!" "Hum!"
"What's going on?"
"Why isn't it over yet?"
Wu Tao, who had been staring at his feet, suddenly felt his heart pounding erratically.
Startled, he abruptly looked up at the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow on the altar.
Within the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow, a phantom suddenly appeared.
It was a handsome young giant, with black hair and black eyes, his long black hair flowing in the wind, exuding an extraordinary presence.
Wu Tao found himself involuntarily drawn to gaze at the youth on the altar.
…
Following this, for reasons unknown, Wu Tao's body began to move involuntarily. The blood of the Ancestral Giant hidden within his meridians started to leak out, resonating with the youth on the altar.
At this moment, within Wu Tao's chest, in his heart, boundless primordial essence began to stir, as if something was gestating, about to break free.
"Impossible? This is utterly impossible!"
"That primordial essence of the Ancestral Giant was long ago absorbed and refined by me. How can it be out of my control now?"
Feeling the various anomalies within his body, Wu Tao's heart grew cold. The power of the Source of Time began to circulate around him, barely suppressing the fiercely turbulent primordial essence of the Ancestral Giant.
Although Wu Tao had gained control over the primordial essence of the Ancestral Giant within him, the authority emanating from the source of the giants caused all the giants present to show expressions of awe. Their bloodlines surged, submitting to the suppression of the giant source bloodline.
The Ancestral Giant was the first giant in existence, and it was due to him that the Giant race came to be.
Therefore, the Ancestral Giant was the origin of the Giant race, holding immeasurable significance for them.
Much like the Human Emperor who led the human race to prosperity in ancient times, ordinary human cultivators could only bow in submission.
…
This was the suppression from the origin of the bloodline. Giants below the Great Wu had no chance to resist this bloodline pressure.
"I can sense the aura of the Ancestral Giant. How is this possible?"
"The Giant race perished in ancient times, and the few descendants they left behind also fell during the desolate ancient era…"
"In the upper ancient era, the last descendant of our Giant race with ties to the Ancestral Giant was the second master of the Sun-Shooting Divine Bow, Ancestral Witch Wu Yi…"
As Wu Xingtian, the last Ancestral Witch of the Giant race, no one present could understand better than him what this scene signified.
Wu Xingtian was incredibly old, to an extent that defied all imagination.
He was an ancient relic who had survived the late stages of the upper ancient era. He had personally witnessed the Giant race's journey from its peak to its decline, and finally, its escape to Yunzhou.
He had also personally participated in the earth-shattering battle to annihilate the Golden Crow clan.
Under normal circumstances, even though the lifespan of giants far exceeded that of humans, he should not have lived into the current epoch.
However, the Giant race possessed a secret technique. Hidden within the Chaos Stone, he had halted the consumption of his lifespan and successfully survived to the present day.
At this moment, his face was filled with joy.
He had never imagined that during this bloodline sacrifice, someone related to the Ancestral Giant would appear.