"Even if you weren't certain, you should've told me about it!" Tian Yang spoke loudly.
"Sorry…" Seeing his expression, Chao Shuying could only apologize like a child who knew they'd done something wrong.
"So, does this mean the illness is contagious?" Ren Xia suddenly asked.
"We considered that at first, but we don't believe that is the case," Chao Shuying said. "If it were contagious, it would've affected all of us much earlier."
"If it's not contagious, then they got it through other methods, such as their bloodline." Ren Xia remarked before turning to Tian Yang, staring at him with a perplexed face.
"What is it?" he asked. "If you know something, tell me."
She sighed before speaking, "What if the illness is caused by the Great Mammoth Body Refinement technique? What if it contaminated his bloodline? I considered this before, but I quickly tossed that thought away because if that were the case, his children would also be affected by the illness. Since it was exclusive to Kulas at that time, I thought that wasn't the case. However, now that his children are also affected…"
Tian Yang and Chao Shuying's eyes widened at Ren Xia's speculation.
Although it sounded ridiculous, it was the most logical explanation.
"The Great Mammoth Body Refinement was something I acquired in Han Zexian's Tomb, and the possibility that it might be a corrupted technique never crossed my mind, but now…"
While countless cultivation techniques in the world function flawlessly, there also exist those that are fundamentally flawed or even harmful to their users. The most common among them are techniques that grant immense power with little apparent effort at first—only for the cultivator to suffer a violent death later, when the hidden flaws of the technique finally manifest.
Such techniques are exceedingly rare in the modern era due to advances in cultivation knowledge. However, in the Primordial Era, when the cultivation world was still in its infancy, they were far more common.
Tian Yang couldn't believe how naive and trusting he had been. Han Zexian was a mysterious individual, someone the world knew almost nothing about, so why had he trusted the man's cultivation techniques so completely, without even questioning them?
Yet Tian Yang was far from alone in this. Almost everyone who had ventured into Han Zexian's tomb had trusted its rewards without question.
Perhaps the merciless trials themselves were to blame, grinding away doubt. After all, who would believe that someone willing to design trials where failure meant death would leave behind a corrupted technique as a reward?
"There's only one way to confirm this speculation…" Tian Yang suddenly spoke. "I have to study the technique until I have full comprehension."
"It's too risky! What if it also affects you?!" Ren Xia rejected the idea.
Tian Yang smiled and said, "Relax, I am only studying it with the intent of increasing my comprehension. I am not actually going to train it."
Starting from that day, Tian Yang spent nearly all of his time studying the Great Mammoth Body Refinement technique.
Time continued to pass, and as Tian Yang's comprehension of the Great Mammoth Body Refinement technique eventually surpassed even Kulas' own understanding, more and more of Kulas' children started to fall sick.
"I thought it was just a coincidence at first, but there's no doubt that the illness is more likely to affect men than women," said Chao Shuying.
Over two hundred of Kulas' children had fallen ill at this point, but only three of them were female. "Any progress with the Great Mammoth Body Refinement technique?" she then asked Tian Yang.
He nodded and responded with confidence, "There is definitely something odd about the technique, and I am very close to understanding it."
More than two thousand years had passed since Kulas fell into a coma. The Giant Race's war with the Three Pillars of Heaven dragged on, its end nowhere in sight. However, as more and more of Kulas's children began to fall ill, it became inevitable that the Three Pillars of Heaven would realize something was wrong.
It wasn't only the Three Pillars of Heaven who sensed that something was wrong. The giant citizens of the continent also noticed the palace's growing absence of presence, not to mention the constant disturbances emanating from within.
Another two hundred years later, even giants with no direct relation to Kulas began to suffer from similar mood swings. And because these episodes occurred openly within the cities, it became virtually impossible to prevent the truth from spreading.
During their mood swings, giants would attack any visitors who entered the continent. As a result, people eventually stopped visiting altogether.
Seeing an opportunity, the Three Pillars of Heaven seized upon these incidents as a pretext to officially declare war on the Giant Race, branding them a threat to humanity.
"The Giant Race has finally revealed its fangs! They have always harbored ill intent toward humanity! We sensed that something was wrong long ago, but lacked the evidence—until now! There is a reason they abandoned their humanity to form their own race!"
With such words, the Three Pillars of Heaven spread their propaganda throughout the Divine Heaven, instantly turning the Giant Race against humans. A year after the Three Pillars of Heaven's official declaration of war, Tian Yang finally unraveled the mystery behind the Great Mammoth Body Refinement technique.
"T-This is… impossible!" Tian Yang was left in shock by the discovery.
"What did you discover?" Ren Xia asked him.
He gritted his teeth and replied, "There is another technique within the Great Mammoth Body Refinement technique…"
"What sort of technique?"
He looked at her and continued, "A communication technique."
"What?" Ren Xia raised her eyebrows in puzzlement.
However, Tian Yang shook his head and apologized, "Sorry, but this is all I can tell you for now, as it contains forbidden information that requires your longevity to understand."
With a resolute expression, Ren Xia responded, "You've kept it to yourself for long enough, my dear. Why don't you share some of that burden with me? Even if I have to sacrifice some of my longevity, I want to know."