The Old Gods

Chapter 1051 Night Rain Sacrifice

The night rain was pouring down.

After Qin and Li left, the old house returned to silence.

Lu Ran remained kneeling before the shrine, motionless, his consciousness having entered the spiritual world and arrived in the sculpture garden.

His figure hovered in front of a humming, trembling stone sculpture.

This is the Evil Sculpture - Green Lamp, which is the two sides of the same coin of the Third-Class God - Flower Support.

Once, Hua Tian inherited the stone sculpture of Cheng Hua in the garden, and then directly devoured the god Cheng Hua, who had two divine positions.

Therefore, this stone sculpture of a green lamp has remained in the garden.

Now it has come in handy, as it can be used to resurrect a dead body.

"Sect Master? Sect Master, you've arrived!" A joyful voice rang out, blending into the buzzing sound of the stone sculpture.

"Hmm." Lu Ran placed one hand on the lamp, carefully sensing it. "Is everything alright?"

"Your subordinate is doing very well! I'm diligently devouring its entire consciousness and replacing this evil body," Hua Qingying said repeatedly, thanking her profusely, "Thank you, Sect Master, thank you, Sect Master!"

"Reincarnation is a long process; haste makes waste." Black flames ignited on Lu Ran's body, and the evil sculpture under his palm trembled violently once again.

"Ah!" Hua Tianjiang, despite possessing a powerful divine soul, groaned in pain.

The countless remnants of souls that were originally inside the evil sculpture were also being consumed by the black flames.

Remnant soul?

Thousands of broken souls?

Yes.

After Lu Ran became the "tomb," he finally learned how the stone sculptures in the garden came to be:
It was built up from the souls of the dead.

After the deaths of human believers and demon minions from different sects, their souls contain more or less a trace of primordial energy, which is naturally tainted with the aura of different divine and demonic sects.

The domineering sheep collected them and wove and pieced them together thread by thread within the park.

This is a massive project, and also a tedious job.

It requires a lot of patience, a lot of patience.
Through the stone sculptures, Lu Ran seemed to be able to see what had happened here over the past forty years.

It was a black fire ram's head.

It wandered alone through this dimly lit sculpture garden.

Today, I brought back a Nightshade's soul, and through meticulous analysis, I carefully crafted the Nightshade's base using the last wisp of Origin Energy.

Tomorrow, I will bring back the soul of a paper doll and use the meager amount of primal energy within its soul to weave the hem of the paper doll's stone sculpture.

Day and night, year after year.

This dark and desolate land, once empty and barren, later became filled with statues of gods and demons.

How long did it take?

From the day the gods and demons descended to earth until the first day of June 2018, the day Lu Ran paid homage to the gods.

Thirty-eight years.

Perhaps even longer, maybe the tomb was already being prepared long before the gods and demons came to be.

Of course, it could be even shorter, but in any case, the amount of work involved is there, and there's no faking it.

The tomb, in this unknown place, has been traveling alone and painstakingly building itself over the long, dark years, gradually creating this sculpture garden of gods and demons.

It's like birds building nests for their next generation.

Branches, cotton, soil—all for the purpose of nurturing new life.

Just for the grave of the young.

I imagine Mr. Yang must feel an immense sense of accomplishment on the day the sculpture park is completed.

Actually, it doesn't have to be so hard.

Will the next generation really need the many divine and evil sculptures in the park, such as the Fog Shadow Man and the Bamboo and Wood Demon?

But Lord Immortal Sheep did it anyway.

Over the years, it has always told Lu Ran: "Go your own way."

That's not just talk.

Among the five major war zones, the tomb chose the most powerful one and created all the divine and evil sculptures within this realm.

No matter how Lu Ran wants to develop, whether he specializes in one area or is proficient in everything, whether he excels in melee or ranged combat, healing or crowd control, or whether he particularly likes a certain special technique.

No matter which path he chooses to take
From the powerful Sword One and Blood Skull, to the insignificant Fairy Pa and Ice Rose, and then to the weak Blood Calamity Hound and Straw Demon.

The tomb provided everything it could.

Thinking of this, tears welled up in Lu Ran's eyes.

In the small bedroom, he looked up at the small sculpture in the shrine, his vision gradually blurring with tears.

Lu Ran covered his eyes with one hand and lowered his head deeply.

Inside the small shrine, the little sheep sculpture still smiles.

It seems she's still looking at Lu Ran.

But its pure white and lustrous appearance will never be stained black again.

The deep, hoarse voice would never echo in Lu Ran's mind again.

There will be no more sneers and rebukes, nor will there be any occasional tenderness or the trace of care hidden behind a hoarse voice.

Lord Immortal Sheep is dead.

Disappeared.

It interpreted the meaning of its existence through death, and completed its final act of self-preservation.

"Ha," Lu Ran's sigh trembled slightly.

Hot tears soaked his palms and dripped down his fingers onto the emperor's robes.

At the entrance, Yan Shuangzi, who was hidden from view, looked worried.

For three days, Lu Ran's emotions remained stable. Sadness was inevitable, but he did not have such an emotional breakdown.

She thought everything would gradually pass, but for some reason, on the third night after Lord Xianyang's death, Lu Ran suddenly started sobbing without warning.

Outside the window, the night rain was still falling, but not heavily.

The pattering rain couldn't drown out the young man's pathetic sobs.

This old residential building, this small bedroom, once again witnessed the darkest moment in the owner's life.

The last time, he was still that thirteen-year-old boy, curled up alone in his small bed crying, unable to accept the cruel fact that his father had passed away.

This time, the boy has become a young man, with powerful allies by his side, standing alone at the pinnacle of gods and demons. But things don't seem to have gotten any better.

Life and death separation

They were still not spared.

"call!!"

A powerful surge of divine energy emanated from the living room.

A full-length mirror tears open the space, forcefully piecing together the form.

Yan Shuangzi turned her head and saw a woman wearing a green raincoat and blue hat walking towards her.

I walked step by step toward the small bedroom.

Yan Shuangzi opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing, quietly taking a step to the side and clearing the doorway.

"Leave." A hoarse voice came from inside the room, belonging to the young man in imperial robes.

However, his authority and indifference did not stop the woman in the straw raincoat from walking.

Deng Yuxiang came to Lu Ran's side, faced the shrine, took off her wide straw hat, and knelt down to pay her respects.

After bowing three times to the deceased, she straightened up and turned to look at Lu Ran.

Lu Ran turned his head away and faced the other side.

Deng Yuxiang remained silent, simply pressing his head with one hand and forcibly turning his face towards her, while her other hand gently rested on his cheek.

Cool fingers brushed across his tear-filled eyes, wiping away the tear streaks on his cheeks.

"Heh." Lu Ran laughed helplessly, "You can learn from your best friend and give me some face by pretending you didn't know or see it."

"Mmm." Deng Yuxiang responded softly, pressing down slightly on the top of his head with one hand, and gently kissing his hair with her head.

Lu Ran's body stiffened.

Her embrace was icy cold, and you could feel the bleak atmosphere of late autumn in Northeast China.

And a faint camellia fragrance.

After a long while, Lu Ran said in a low voice, "I'm covered in such a heavy aura of death, it must have been hard for you."

Deng Yuxiang pursed her lips tightly.

It's indeed a difficult situation.

Even after becoming a god, he still looks like a human, with flesh and blood, retaining his human nature.

But that's not the case at all.

If nothing unexpected happens, he has become a special kind of pure energy being.

This eerie energy entity is terrifying to behold from a distance.

The close contact sent shivers down her spine.

"The battle is not over yet, Lu Ran, our journey has not yet come to an end."

Lu Ran seemed somewhat dissatisfied, his voice hoarse: "I only held a memorial service for three days."

"Hmm." Deng Yuxiang gently stroked Lu Ran's hair, her voice unusually soft. "The life of Jade Venerable is the best offering you can give to Immortal Sheep Lord."

Lu Ran remained silent for a long time before finally closing his eyes.

She's right.

Deng Yuxiang was cold and unapproachable, yet her voice was gentle: "Can the Dragon God General, Flower Heaven General, and Wutian General be resurrected?"

“Yes, but it will take a long time,” Lu Ran said in a muffled voice. “I gave the Cloud Mace to the Dragon God General, brought Hua Tian General into the Green Lamp, and sent Wuya’s soul into the Demon Masked Man’s Evil Sculpture.”

Deng Yuxiang frowned slightly: "Dragon God General Cloud Mace? Boundless Fang-Faced Man?"

Lu Ran nodded slightly: "If it's about resurrecting a body, it would take at least six months to a year, which is much simpler than creating a new stone sculpture."

The key is to be more cautious and have a higher degree of certainty.

Deng Yuxiang understood immediately and asked, "Could the Jade Venerable's soul that you imprisoned before be used to create stone sculptures?"

"can."

"can?"

“But it’s not made of jade.” Lu Ran said in a low voice, “Those I create can only be things within the framework of gods and demons, and are fundamentally different from the Jade Venerable.”

"Hmm," Deng Yuxiang pondered for a moment, then sighed softly, "The progress is quite slow, isn't it?"

After all, Lu Ran said that resurrecting a body through possession is much simpler than creating a new divine sculpture.

Therefore, even if a "Faceless Stone God" could be created, it would be a very, very long time from now.

However, the struggle for survival between the Burning Gate and the Faceless Jade Venerable will probably not last long.

Forget about the even more difficult task of creating a new divine figure; even if the Dragon God General, Wutian General, and others were resurrected, they might not be able to make it to the final chapter of the battle.

From this perspective, if the soldiers of the Burning Gate die, then they are dead.

They were unable to participate in this war.

“The progress is indeed slow, but it can be faster,” Lu Ran suddenly said.

"Oh?" Deng Yuxiang held Lu Ran's shoulders and looked down at his face.

When he arrived, he was still just as sad.

At this moment, his face was gloomy, and he exuded a cold aura, as if making the room filled with a cold wind.

Honestly, if the two hadn't struggled and grown together, Deng Yuxiang would probably have thought of Lu Ran as the biggest villain in the world!

Lu Ran slowly raised his head, his dark eyes meeting hers:

"The stone sculpture is based on the divine soul of the Faceless Jade Venerable, and is sculpted from the primordial energy imbued with her aura. I have already laid the foundation."

Deng Yuxiang suppressed her utter terror and nodded gently.

Lu Ran smiled, his smile as bright and cheerful as ever, but his eyes were too sinister and cold: "The Jade Venerable's minions are endless, and each one has a dead soul, and they are all dead souls from the Heavenly Realm."

More importantly, each of the gods and demons in the sky is a unique item, with only one of each kind.

There are many Jade Emperor statues, which means that…

Deng Yuxiang's eyes gleamed: "She has many souls at the divine soul level!"

Lu Ran's voice was hoarse: "The more Jade Venerables we kill, the sooner the Faceless Stone Venerable in the garden can be completed."

After a moment's thought, Deng Yuxiang confirmed, "She is yours."

"Yes, during the shaping process, her soul will be torn into countless pieces by me, and like other divine and evil sculptures that have little independent consciousness, it will completely belong to me."

Deng Yuxiang gripped Lu Ran's shoulders tightly: "Okay!"

(End of this chapter)