Undoubtedly, the Earth Giants were a likable race. Passionate, courageous, fiercely loyal, straightforward, and utterly fearless of death. Perhaps this very trait, however, was why, despite their formidable martial power, the Giants had never secured a true homeland where they could flourish and multiply.

Seeing an opportunity, two Golden Core level demonic birds led hundreds of flying beasts to assault the airship. The leader of the Earth Giants, a formidable figure as stalwart as a mountain, who possessed the strength of a late-stage Golden Core, let out a ferocious roar. He conjured a massive boulder and launched it with missile-like precision, smashing one of the Golden Core demonic birds. Simultaneously, the Giant Chieftain leaped from the city wall, his majestic, thirty-zhang-tall frame blocking the path before the airship. His massive arms seized the other Golden Core flying creature, which was barely a few dozen zhang in size. With a fierce bellow, the Golden Core bird, along with its protective astral energy, was brutally torn apart alive.

Then, with a sweeping slap, several Foundation Establishment demonic birds that failed to evade the attack were reduced to rain of blood amidst shrill screams.

“Chieftain friend. You lead your brothers to buy us some time while we set up the formation. As long as everyone follows my command, we have a chance to survive.” Witnessing the scene, Lei Dong's own blood surged with excitement. He channeled his internal energy, ensuring his words reached the Earth Giants across the surrounding battlefield. As he spoke, the formation master, Old Zhao, began directing his group to deploy the array.

Because all the necessary materials had been prefabricated and the drill practiced countless times, the group only needed a short while to complete the temporary formation behind the city walls.

Although the Giants were fearless of death, they were not mindless fools rushing toward certain doom. In this desperate situation, preserving their lives was certainly a good thing. After a brief pause of surprise, the Chieftain immediately commanded, “Everyone obey this human brother’s orders.” The remaining one hundred and sixty or seventy Giants thundered their assent, the sound shaking the very mountains.

From this, one could truly gauge how passionate and direct the Giant race was. Any other intelligent race, even if they were willing to yield command of their troops, would have hesitated for at least a moment, especially when handing control over to a complete stranger of unknown origin.

Lei Dong made no pretense of refusal. While directing his summoned ghost generals and favored pets to offer aid, he roared orders, demanding the Earth Giants focus purely on defense and entanglement, forbidding them from fighting to the death. After all, no matter how powerful the Earth Giants were, how many enemies could they truly slay in such a short time? Lei Dong’s goal was simply to preserve as many Giants as possible while buying time.

Many Earth Giants were still caught up in the heat of battle, slaughtering enemies with gusto, and were reluctant to halt and defend. The Golden Core Chieftain roared in anger, “Everyone follow orders, or you will be exiled from the tribe!” The Chieftain also began setting an example, channeling most of his strength into defense. A layer of earthy-yellow astral energy enveloped him, causing all manner of spells and attacks to dissipate harmlessly upon contact. It was clear that the true, greatest strength of the Earth Giant race lay not in offense, but in defense.

Though they were fighting for their lives, the Chieftain’s threat of exile carried significant weight. Seeing their leader take the lead, the others quickly followed suit, seeking only to defend rather than kill.

“Come out, my soul slaves.” Lei Dong hesitated no longer and once again utilized the Winged Sky.

“As you command, my Master.” As the Winged Sky materialized, the aura of its Nascent Soul level strength permeated the front lines, causing the assault by the beast vanguard to falter momentarily. After all, a Nascent Soul expert was a completely different concept from a Golden Core one. Even though the combined strength of two hundred Golden Core Giants far surpassed that of a single Nascent Soul being, the level of deterrence they exerted was far less than that of a solitary Nascent Soul entity. Lei Dong had long understood the immense pressure derived from such a vast difference in cultivation tier—a fear that welled up from the depths of instinct.

However, this pause lasted only a mere few moments. Driven by fanaticism and sheer numbers, the beasts and demons quickly overcame this pressure of tiered might and resumed their attack. Nevertheless, the Golden Core demonic beasts that possessed some degree of wisdom slightly slowed their advance, instinctively driving the Foundation Establishment beasts forward as cannon fodder.

In truth, Lei Dong could have achieved his strategic goal without summoning the Winged Sky. But doing so would have cost the lives of perhaps a few dozen more Giants in the process. In the past, this might not have mattered. But firstly, these Giants were simply too much to his liking. Secondly, Lei Dong felt that acquiring several dozen more honest and loyal Giants was far more valuable than expending the Winged Sky once.

The appearance of the Winged Sky not only greatly boosted the morale of the Earth Giants but also instilled a degree of awe toward Lei Dong. A person capable of commanding a Nascent Soul level servant was undoubtedly a powerhouse, especially since he also controlled a horde of Golden Core ghost generals.

As expected, the Winged Sky did not disappoint Lei Dong. With his addition to the defensive formation, the Golden Core demonic beasts became hesitant, forced to clump together to avoid being easily massacred by the Winged Sky. Even so, the Winged Sky’s exceptional speed and formidable combat power still resulted in the demise of Golden Core demonic beasts under his targeted strikes.

This, in turn, made the Golden Core demonic beasts among the horde even more timid. They howled incessantly, urging vast numbers of Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment beasts to charge. But how could those lesser beasts break through the superb defenses of the Earth Giants in a short span? As a result, the battlefield entered a stalemate, the pressure on the Earth Giants eased significantly, and their casualty rate was controlled.

Even Lei Dong felt a measure of relief. In a short while, half of the formation was laid out. To compensate for potential losses, he began utilizing the speed of his Asura Wings to greedily scavenge the beast souls and bodies of the fallen Golden Core demonic beasts—these were all exceptionally precious materials. Lei Dong had grown quite adept at this task, storing a vast quantity of Soul Sealing Spheres in his storage bracelet.

Misty Golden Core beast souls were easily captured, and the physical bodies of the Golden Core demonic beasts were swiftly collected into his storage bracelet.

Soon, the temporary formation behind the city wall was completely deployed. Based on estimations, this large-scale temporary illusion array could delay the beasts for at least a quarter of an hour, or perhaps half an hour at most. However, Lei Dong suddenly felt hesitant to retreat yet. Currently, the remaining one hundred and sixty-plus Earth Giants, fighting at full defensive capacity, stood like an insurmountable seawall against the surging tide, remaining steadfast amidst the terrifying tempest. They defended the short stretch of several miles of city wall so tightly that not a drop could get through.

The location the Earth Giants chose for their gathering point was quite strategic, surrounded by towering mountains and rugged peaks, making it easy to defend and difficult to assault, thus preventing the beasts from executing any large-scale encirclement tactics. The earth-attributed Giants constructed walls that were exceptionally sturdy, and despite sustaining multiple damages from the bombardment of various demonic beast innate spells, they stubbornly refused to collapse, preventing the beasts from fully leveraging their overwhelming numerical advantage. Many lower-tier beasts that were poor climbers piled up beneath the majestic walls, which soared hundreds of feet high, blocking the path of other advancing beasts.

The presence of the Nascent Soul level Winged Sky further deterred many higher-tier, survival-minded beasts from daring to charge. Only a few hot-headed, impulsive high-tier beasts rashly rushed onto the battlements, only to be easily shredded by the Winged Sky within a few blows. A mere few miles wide, this area was traversed by the Winged Sky in just a few strides, given his level of power.

Due to these various advantages and shifts, the nature of the Earth Giants' tragic delaying battle had completely changed. Under Lei Dong's deliberate guidance, the defensive battle continued even after the formation was set. Missing such a rare opportunity to reap massive rewards was unthinkable, especially since the Winged Sky had already been deployed—they needed to recoup some costs. Tantai Bingyun and Lei Dong's subordinates were equally determined, fiercely fighting the enemy while desperately collecting the beast souls and bodies swirling everywhere. Even the Foundation Establishment level beasts, though not individually valuable, were overwhelming in sheer quantity.

They held the line for a full hour. While Lei Dong reaped substantial benefits, the Nascent Soul level beast, roaring continuously at the center of the horde, finally lost its patience and led a large contingent of elite beasts to charge the battlements.

But as soon as the Nascent Soul beast moved, Lei Dong issued the order to retreat. They had gathered all the spoils they could. Having fought so long, everyone’s stamina was depleted, and continuing the fight might leave them too exhausted to flee.

At this critical moment, to ensure a clean break, Lei Dong led his forces to stand guard alongside the bold and righteous Earth Giant Chieftain one last time. This moved the Chieftain deeply, and he roared that Lei Dong was now his best brother.

This rear-guard action carried little real danger, as behind them lay a functional illusion array. While illusion arrays are often weak against cultivators skilled in formation arts, they are exponentially more effective against a frenzy of demonic beasts. After all, even the finest defensive shield cannot withstand the relentless bombardment of so many powerful beasts for long.

Inevitably, just as Lei Dong and the others successfully retreated behind the illusion array, Old Zhao activated it the moment the beasts surged forward. The beasts and birds within the range of the massive illusion array had their divine senses affected, causing them to become frenzied; their companions instantly appeared as enemies, and they began slaughtering one another.

To ensure the illusion array functioned at its peak effectiveness, Lei Dong spared no expense, using nine top-grade spirit stones. Fortunately, the massive haul of spoils had already more than compensated for the expenditure.

Looking at the corpses of the beasts, everyone still felt a pang of longing. Fortunately, Lei Dong remained rational, knowing that if the Nascent Soul level beast attacked, the illusion array would not hold for long. He immediately ordered another withdrawal. Using the Earth Giants’ secret retreat tunnel, they flew windingly for dozens of miles before emerging from a natural cavern hidden deep within the mountains.

Even the Giants' secret passage was several miles wide, and since their objective had been achieved and he wished to avoid further risk, Lei Dong abandoned any thought of ambushing the beasts again, choosing instead to lead the Earth Giants in a full-scale retreat. By consistently prioritizing the welfare of the Earth Giants during this crisis, Lei Dong had undeniably won their trust and friendship. This made Lei Dong feel that the trip had been profoundly worthwhile.