They were unable to properly observe what exactly Yang Jian and the other two 'newcomers' were experiencing in their clash with the Earth Giant, but by the sounds relayed to their senses, the situation did not appear to be faring exactly too well.
Th storm of dust crackled with vibrant energy as the three practitioners flared their overwhelming reserves of spiritual essence, tossing their martial arts technique into the earthen giant's mouth as though they were freshly steamed baozi.
None of the shockwaves managed to reach Shen Haoren and the others due to Yang Jian's efforts in constraining the range of the battlefield, but the group was still able to witness a spectacular sight.
The Earth Giant kneeled on one knee, both arms flailing as though they were heavy maces, sweeping around in all directions to indoctrinate with the gospel of destruction.
The storm of dust swelled and compressed as it reacted to the three practitioner's assault, guarding the fierce creature from lethal damage as well as obscuring their view to mitigate the possibility of severely injuring the mysterious product of nature.
Streaks of multicolored light swarmed around the creature of soil and stone, striking at its exposed head, limbs, and the boulders that consisted the joints.
The trails of light wrapped around the menacing, constricting grip of the dust storm, poking at the fierce creature's weaknesses to agitate it to leap into a trap.
Compared to Shen Haoren's solo performance with his war hammer, the discrepancy was evident.
"Aih, to think that those three never slacked off in their cultivation even with their appearance of a dandy fellow…"
The middle-aged man puffed out his right cheek in pretentious frustration, adopting the expression of superiority and seniority as he relaxed on the empty plains.
Shen Haoren teased the young woman besides him, his eyes closed into satisfied crescents.
"However, they seem to be causing more damage onto the Earth Giant than…"
The beautiful young woman's eyes flashed with a playful ridicule as she slapped Shen Haoren's over-inflated belly, her smooth fingers tormenting his flesh. The middle-aged man's eyes flared with a momentary desire, though a dense embarrassment sunk in.
"My beautiful wife, how could you say such words!" Shen Haoren scoffed, his hands itching to teach the woman besides him the true nature of their relationship.
"Compared to those old fellows who only need to care about attacking, this Young Master naturally had to reserve a significant portion of my spiritual essence to react swiftly to any incoming attack. My wife, you're a little too vicious, ah!?"
"Alright, alright, I was only playing around, ah."
The young woman sighed as she slapped aside a naughty hand that desired to infiltrate her dress.
Scratching his head with an awkward chuckle, Shen Haoren directed a sinister glare towards the other bystanders in his surroundings, particularly his children and the two "esteemed" guests.
Regarding the guests of the Shen Family, Tang Shiqi remained seated on the soft, pulverized soil, his eyes flashing with a dark and suppressed emotion.
The youth's countenance was snow white and devoid of consciousness, almost as though he had become possessed.
…and his lips seemed to be chanting something under his breath, creating a disconcerting and creepy sight…
On the other hand… An Fei's complexion didn't seem too pleasant as she stood whilst playing with her hair, the pair of scarlet irises flickering with a complicated mood.
The young girl tapped her fingertips on her crossed arms, her lips pursed as she stared into the distance.
A few meters away from the Earth Giant's head, Yang Jian and the others were indeed not enjoying the best moment of their lives.
As they fought, the three of them were impressively pained at the nigh impenetrable defenses of the fierce creature to the point that their attacks could do nothing except for cause the Earth Giant to stumble for a few meters.
Tumbling out of the path of an earthen finger larger than his own body, Yang Jian suppressed a curse, the emotions swirling in his heart tumultuous and frenzied in his haste.
"…to be able to defend against its attacks and still be able to launch attacks capable of piercing its defenses… Old Shen truly is formidable, just as he was in the past."
The handsome man quietly praised as he stomped onto the enormous broadsword supporting his feet, traversing through the sky to stand before the Earth Giant's right eye.
Revolving spiritual essence throughout his body without restraint to secure his footing on the sword, Yang Jian swung back his right fist before directing it forward with all of his might.
"Take this! Flare!"
The dantian surged with a powerful and domineering intent as dense rivulets of Yang attributed spiritual essence flooded the meridians, absorbing the supplementary attributes of the acupuncture points along its path.
The tributaries converged at the base of the Conception Vessel enriched of vitality and the sentience of a few hundred acupuncture points, and surged towards the tip of Yang Jian's right fist.
TA!
The fist suffused with a sea of orange light slammed into the right eye of the Earth Giant, sinking deeply into the earthen flesh as though it were merely a block of tofu.
Yang Jian urged the broadsword underneath his feet to carry him forward, intending to sink his fist into the giant's eye as deep as possible.
The Earth Giant struggled in pain, its arms flailing widely as it attempted to seek after the source of its injury.
However, due to having been detained of half of its peripheral vision, the danger of the arms shattering through the air was reduced to the minimum.
Needless to say, minimum danger did not represent safety.
"Brother Yang, hurry up with your strike, ah!"
Tang Yunhe shrieked as he abruptly ducked underneath a random fist that slashed directly over his head, the tip of his neck crawling with the terrifying sensation of death. The jian in his hands flashed as he struck forward to vent his fear and humiliation, only to be rebuffed without being able to pierce through the dense skin of soil and sediment.
Yang Jian's eyes narrowed at the statement, and the muscles of his right arm bulged as his veins filled to their maximum capacity.
The orange light surging within his Conception Vessel inundated his arm, causing half of his body to erupt with a dazzling radiance.
The Earth Giant's howls became ever more pronounced at the manifestation of the phenomenon, and the soil and sediment forming the right eye began to melt at the infusion of Yang attributed spiritual essence.
The fierce creature shook its head in pain, and ground its teeth as a massive palm of soil slapped towards Yang Jian's approximate location.
"Brother Yang!"
Whoosh!
Yang Jian nearly bit his tongue in fear as the block of soil several dozen meters tall swept towards his body with a devastating velocity, the cells in his body screaming in terror as they felt the embrace of death.
The handsome man fiercely stomped on the broadsword underneath his feet, barely dropping below the earthen palm's range.
With a glum countenance devoid of blood, Yang Jian returned to Tang Yunhe and Wen Jiu, his appearance not unlike of their own.
They had not completed more than ten exchanges before they were forced to retreat, and it was as if they had just emerged from the battleground of two clans of the Hundred Clan Coalition staking their all.
Tang Yunhe's robes were tattered to the extent that only the lower half remained intact, and his chest had been lacerated by countless small but deep wounds caused by the dust storm.
As for Wen Jiu… ahem.
His robe was perfectly intact compared to Yang Jian and Tang Yunhe, but his expression was the worst.
The handsome man's countenance had received the blessing and commandment of a perpetual scowl of self mockery and disappointment, his spirits sunk to their lowest.
Yang Jian had managed to land a solid strike against the Earth Giant with his clan's unique martial arts technique
Outside of that, he had managed to dislodge the damaged boulder caused by Shen Haoren's incessant assaults, crippling the fierce creature's movements and agility by a significant margin.
Tang Yunhe had successfully slashed through several of the meridians that traveled along the length of the limbs, prompting the dust storm to reduce its attacks to conserve the expenditure of spiritual essence. The jian was visually unappealing and completely ornamental, but few were cognizant of the fact that its sharpness could surpass numerous supreme weapons of Great Yong.
But him!
Every goddam strike he would attempt to land on the Earth Giant, no matter how well prepared he was and how favorable the circumstances were to his accomplishment, someone would always disrupt it at the last moment!
Whoever was the owner of that bullheaded f*cking steel sword with that bizarre handle that made it seem no less grotesque than his Master's custom-built weaponry, Wen Jiu desperately wanted a personal, 'civilized' conversation!