The Old Gods

Chapter 1060 Not By Heaven

"The Wangquan stone sculpture will be completed soon."

Lu Ran spoke slowly, and it was clear that he had tried his best to make his voice gentle.

But after all, it was a tomb, and the stone sculptures were built with the souls of the dead for a long time, which made him exude a strong sense of death from the inside out, and his words made people feel as if they had fallen into an ice cave.

"Mmm." Jiang Ruyi responded softly, her eyes still closed, holding one of his hands and gently stroking his cheek.

"Distribute these." Lu Ran took out two strings of joss paper from his pocket.

Jiang Ruyi reluctantly opened her eyes, and upon seeing the copper coins, she immediately understood what Lu Ran meant.

It seems he and she thought the same thing.

It is very clear how brutal this battle will be.

Fortunately, Lu Ran has a special ability that allows him to cross the line between life and death and bring the dead back to the mortal world. So as long as the soldiers collect the souls of their fallen comrades, there is hope for everything.

"Okay." Jiang Ruyi took the money and suddenly felt a tightness around her waist.

Lu Ran pulled her into his arms, gazing at her cold and alluring face for a long time before the blood crystal mask drifted to the side.

He leaned closer and gently pressed his lips to hers:
"I'll be there soon."

Jiang Ruyi was incredibly intelligent; she knew what he meant by taking the copper coin, and she also understood the meaning of that kiss and those words.

I disturbed him.

It's time to leave.

As the arm around her waist loosened, Jiang Ruyi sensibly stepped back. After a few steps, she mustered up the courage to look up at the young man in the imperial robe.

But he had already lowered his head slightly and closed his eyes.

His expressionless face revealed a heartbreaking coldness and alienation.

The light kiss and whispered words just now could not erase the invisible distance between them. Jiang Ruyi felt even more bitter and hurriedly turned away, not daring to look at him again.

Now, there's another reason why we must win.

Given enough time, he will eventually be able to conceal his aura like Lord Immortal Sheep.

Once the chaos subsides and peace returns to the world, he will surely be able to gradually calm down, regain his warmth, and return to the way she knew him.

"Whoo~"

With her phoenix robes fluttering, the young empress's gaze was resolute as she flew straight upwards.

In the palm of the Forgotten Spring God Sculpture, Lu Ran listened to the sound of robes fluttering gradually fading away before entering the spiritual world.

Lu Ran's figure appeared at the end of the divine faction.

In front of me is a small stone sculpture of a woman, only ten meters in size.

A graceful figure, a blurred face.

A long, elegant dress with antique charm, and long hair cascading down like a waterfall, adorned with exquisite hair accessories.
Stone Sculpture - Forget-the-Spring!

With a casual wave of his hand, Lu Ran summoned the soul of a Forgotten Spring henchman.

In the real world, Lu Ran still needs to use his Eyes of the Dead to control the souls of the dying, but since he became the Tomb, he has truly achieved complete freedom in his spiritual world.

"Heh." Lu Ran looked at the small stone sculpture of the Forgotten Spring in front of him and couldn't help but smile.

It took me so much time and effort to create this mere ten-meter-tall stone sculpture.

Creating a stone sculpture is far, far more difficult than cultivating one.

Hopefully, it's all been worth it.

A full month and a half.

If used to cultivate the Venerable Slayer Blade, it might have already advanced to the second or even third tier?
Lu Ran slowly flew forward, carrying the soul in his hand, and pressed it onto the nascent stone sculpture.

"Om~"

The stone sculpture of Wangquan trembled slightly, as if thanking its owner for everything.

Life, energy, technique, consciousness.
Or perhaps this was just Lu Ran's imagination. How could an unactivated stone sculpture have so many psychological activities?
But this is, after all, the first stone sculpture Lu Ran has created, so it will always have some unique emotions associated with it.

As for the Faceless Stone Venerable, although it was the first stone sculpture that Lu Ran started to create, progress has been stagnant.

Lu Ran reached out to the side again.

One by one, the souls of the dead lined up, obediently carried in the hands of the young tomb keeper, and then gently placed on the stone sculpture, merging into the stone body.

Meanwhile, in the northern part of the Celestial Battlefield.

A light frost mist shrouded Jianyi Divine Mountain, and beautiful, cold silver petals drifted in the wind.

Without the intrusion of the Jade Venerable Clan, Sword One Divine Mountain was desolate, yet peaceful and beautiful.

However, against this beautiful backdrop of snow-capped mountains and silver flowers, a splash of brilliant golden-red appeared.

At the mountain peak, Qiao Wanjun held a coin for the dead between her fingers, looking at the phoenix-robed empress in front of her, and could feel the solemnity in her heart.

“Aunt Qiao, I will keep in touch with you as needed. Depending on the situation on the battlefield, I would like to ask you to go and support a certain sacred mountain.” Jiang Ruyi bowed slightly, showing great respect. “Thank you for your trouble.”

Qiao Wanjun smiled and nodded: "In times of war, you may call me Emperor Juntian."

The change in address makes the meaning clear.

Qiao Wanjun clearly positioned herself as a soldier of the Burning Gate, and would absolutely obey the orders of Lady Burning Gate.

"Alright, Emperor Juntian." Jiang Ruyi looked at her beloved's mother, her voice gentle, "What about Lord Jianyi?"

Qiao Wanjun pondered for a moment and said, "We agreed to hand over the divine positions on the first day of the Lunar New Year, but it's only the beginning of the winter month now."

Two more months.

Jiang Ruyi pursed her lips, organizing her thoughts: "Emperor Juntian, this matter was also agreed upon by Lu Ran, and I will not break the agreement between you. However, at this critical moment, I hope you can ask Jian Yi to help the Ran Clan overcome this crisis."

Qiao Wanjun naturally wouldn't refuse this order, and immediately nodded: "Okay."

Jiang Ruyi handed over her magic weapon, the Immortal Binding Whip, to facilitate communication between the two. She then said, "Pray to the Lord now. The Jade Venerable's army is pressing in and will soon attack the Divine Mountain."

Qiao Wanjun took the magic whip and suddenly said, "As the ancients said, 'One should strike while the iron is hot, but the second will be weaker and the third will be exhausted.'"

This was meant to comfort the young leader of the Burning Gate, but it also stated a fact.

If the Burning Gate can withstand this wave of attack from the Jade Venerable, the scales of victory will inevitably tip in some direction.

“Yes, I understand.” Jiang Ruyi turned to look at Elder Lu Yuan beside her.

This was, of course, a lackey of the Heavenly Realm. At the lady's behest, a flower of the other shore bloomed in his aged palm, and he left with Lady Ranmen.

Qiao Wanjun raised her head, gazing up at the towering, earth-shaking Sword One Divine Mountain, then clasped her hands together and knelt in reverence:

"Lord Jianyi, I implore you to protect me one more time."

"She is Ranran's wife." The cold words echoed in my mind.

"Yes." Upon hearing this form of address, Qiao Wanjun couldn't help but lower her head and smile.

Ever since that long conversation at Xianjing Garden, when Lu Ran told Jian Yi about "Mayfly," Jian Yi has started calling him "Ranran" along with Qiao Wanjun.

"A very beautiful girl," Jian Yi said casually.

Qiao Wanjun nodded silently.

What is Ranran doing?

"He...he has his own mission." Qiao Wanjun didn't mind revealing the truth to Jian Yi, and switched to telepathy, saying, "[He's creating his own Forgotten Spring Divine Sculpture.]"

"Oh?" Jian Yi was unusually surprised, pondering, "He thinks that the Forgotten Spring can help him eliminate the Faceless Jade Venerable?"

Qiao Wanjun was silent for a moment, then said softly, "We have to try."

"Well, we should at least try," Jian Yi sighed softly, "helping you this time will repay Ranran's kindness."

Qiao Wanjun didn't expect things to go so smoothly. Would a dying person care about many things?

Lu Ran had only said a few words, describing the life cycle of a mayfly in a day and explaining his understanding of life and the meaning of existence. Could this be considered a favor?

For Jianyi, who was feeling lost, perhaps it could be considered so.

Meanwhile, further north of the Sword One Divine Mountain lies the Nightmare Divine Mountain.

All the gods and demons bowed their heads respectfully, facing Lady Ranmen who had descended upon the mountain peak.

Jiang Ruyi stood before the Nightmare Protector and asked, "How is Emperor Lu Tian?"

Deng Yuxiang's words were firm and powerful: "We are ready! For the past month and a half, Emperor Lu has not stopped for a moment and has made rapid progress. He can emerge from seclusion at any time!"

"Hmm." Jiang Ruyi nodded in satisfaction and casually shook hands.

A longsword made of blood crystal flew out from his waist, its hilt obediently landing in its owner's palm.

This is the second-tier divine weapon, the Bloodflame Sword. It was originally the divine weapon of the sect leader of the Pear Garden Sect in the Holy Spirit Mountain Realm. After Lu Ran seized it, he gave it to his wife. Unfortunately, it never made any progress.

"You shall hand over this Bloodflame Sword to him," Jiang Ruyi instructed softly. "In this battle, Emperor Lu will temporarily be under your command, and together we will protect the Three Mountains of the Northeast."

But if necessary, I will personally issue orders for him to provide support elsewhere.

"Yes." Deng Yuxiang immediately took the divine sword.

Jiang Ruyi felt a little more confident, and her hand, which was naturally hanging at her waist, grasped a small money pouch.

Through the exquisite purse, she grasped the tiny "toy soldier" inside.

That was a first-class evil god with two divine positions, and also her loyal servant—the Fire Evil Monk!

Jiang Ruyi slowly turned around, gazing at the dim sky in the distance, a series of figures flashing through her mind.

Jian Yi, Jun Tiandi, Lu Tiandi, and Huo Xieseng
Come, Jade Venerable.

Let's see if you can actually destroy us.

"Madam," Deng Yuxiang stood up and stepped forward, lowering her voice, "Lu Ran is now..."

“He will come.” Jiang Ruyi interrupted him directly. “What we need to do is protect the foundation he has built before he arrives.”

Deng Yuxiang nodded silently.

At the summit of the sacred mountain, no one spoke again.

A repressive atmosphere enveloped this place.

Twenty kilometers down the mountain, teleportation arrays were constantly being deployed, and groups of Jade Venerable's minions appeared.

Clearly, the Shadow Protector was still working on the front lines, doing everything in his power to destroy the white jade city walls on the way to the sacred mountain with the Jade Venerable's army.

"Elder Bai," Jiang Ruyi suddenly spoke, breaking the silence on the mountaintop.

“Madam.” Bai Yanhui immediately stepped forward.

"How are you feeling?" As Jiang Ruyi spoke, all the gods and demons looked at the pseudo-god stone statue.

Bai Yan Hui replied, "I don't know, it's been a long time since I've used the Heart Sensing Spell."

"Hmm?" Jiang Ruyi turned her head slightly and glanced behind her out of the corner of her eye.

Bai Yan Hui's expression was serious as he said in a deep voice, "Since this battle is inevitable, why should you trouble yourself, Madam? I believe that victory or defeat, survival or death, depends on us."

It's not up to fate!

(End of this chapter)