The Old Gods

Chapter 1088 The Mark of the End
Once again, Lu Ran fought his way out of the white jade city wall, and the view ahead suddenly opened up.

He strained his eyes to search for the figure of the enormous jade statue, then quickly concealed himself, his figure flashing again and again.

Where are you.

Jade Emperor, where are you?
Lu Ran could teleport tens of kilometers at a time, his dog eyes searching for a colossal creature with a shimmering white luster in the dim and empty world.

Suddenly, his rapidly flashing figure stopped.

A jade-adorned army came into view.

A large number of jade attendants are surrounding a massive jade sculpture, speeding eastward.

"Whoo~~~"

The jade robe fluttered.

The enormous jade statue held its forehead with one hand and occasionally gripped its hair, looking as if it were in great pain.

She didn't know who she was.

They had no idea where they were or what had happened.

This tastes absolutely awful!

What terrified Jade Venerable even more was that a tiny being had destroyed him; it was the most unique of all his "selves".

He should be the strongest one!
And those tiny species were so terrifying, so fierce and powerful.
"You're here."

A hoarse voice suddenly came from ahead.

The enormous jade statue suddenly stopped flying in front of it!
Along with this, a large number of Jade Venerable's henchmen also stopped, each with an increasingly stiff expression.

"Whoo~"

The next instant, the Jade Venerable Clan was shocked to find that the energy within their bodies was uncontrollably surging outwards.

Strands of mist streaked across the sky, eventually converging at one point.

In the empty space directly in front, a tiny figure finally appeared.

A young man in imperial robes?

The enormous jade vessel suddenly changed color!

It's him!

It was him, somewhere unknown, who killed his most powerful self.

"Snap! Snap!"

The Jade Venerable's minions were rapidly losing energy, and cracks were constantly appearing on their bodies.

Only the massive jade vessel, with its abundant energy, can continuously supply the land with fuel.

"That's a good move, Lu Ran. You know you can't defeat me, so you choose to erase my memories."

Rarely, even one of the Jade Venerable's henchmen spoke.

They all have independent souls and consciousness, and were created before the Jade Venerable's original body lost its memories, so they naturally inherited the original owner's nature.

It was also clear that the henchmen were speaking in the voice of the main body.

"I can fail."

"I can also perish."

"But remember this, Lu Ran! Deep down, you know I am right, gods and demons must perish!"

Lu Ran remained silent, watching as the skin of the Jade Venerable's henchman peeled off piece by piece.

It slowly crumbled, a poignant and beautiful sight.

There were many of Jade Venerable's henchmen present, but none of them struggled or resisted.

The scene was truly ironic.

Because the henchmen faced death with equanimity, without hysteria, and remained as noble and elegant as ever, retaining their former glory.

On the contrary, the enormous jade statue protected behind them looked terrified and trembled with fear.

"You think you've found the way? You think you can forever restrain gods and demons, is that it?"

Another Jade Venerable's henchman spoke, her jade body continuously shattering, large amounts of energy flowing away.

"No, Lu Ran!"

“Those stones will always be dirty stones; their root is rot.”

"One day you'll regret it, Lu Ran. You, well, maybe you won't."

A faint smile appeared on the face of the Jade Venerable's henchman, his shattered eyes glancing gently at the young man in the imperial robes:

"Perhaps you will decay just like those dirty, vile stones."

One of the jade-adorned minions broke open.

Her entire body transformed into pure energy and surged towards Lu Ran.

"Crack! Click!"

The second one, the third one.
Dozens or even hundreds of Jade Venerable minions were shattered one after another, leaving behind a massive Jade Venerable, which floated in place, bewildered.

"You, you are called... Were we... Were we friends?" the enormous jade deity asked in a trembling voice.

Lu Ran remained silent, watching the panicked creatures.

Clearly, she wanted to live.

The henchmen's words contained no mention of friendship; at most, they forced the assumption that Lu Ran internally agreed with her beliefs.

She never mentioned the matter of having her memories erased.

"Do we have different opinions? Because... because of the stone?"

The enormous jade deity abruptly stopped speaking and suddenly flew backward.

Because the tiny creature ahead, holding a blade, was closing in.

It was this very knife that drained the energy of Jade Venerable's minions and took their lives, and it continues to drain her energy now.

“I surrender,” the enormous Jade Venerable suddenly said.

Lu Ran's expression froze slightly.

It's hard to imagine that such words would come from the mouth of the Jade Emperor.

"Okay, okay?" the enormous Jade Venerable asked in a trembling voice, "I surrender, I agree with your ideas, I don't want to die."

Those eyes, which were always cold and indifferent, now revealed a hint of pleading.

Lu Ran sighed inwardly.

He knew that Yu Zun was dead.

The true faceless jade deity could never utter words like "surrender" or "agree with your ideas."

The jade vessel before me was completely blank.

Without experiencing all that, she wasn't sculpted and molded into the faceless jade deity Lu Ran knew. She reverted to being just an ordinary member of the White Jade Clan.

As a naive and innocent creature, her instinct was to survive; was it wrong to simply want to live?
That's absolutely right.

"Is it alright?" The enormous jade spirit asked cautiously as Lu Ran stopped.

Lu Ran suddenly said, "How many more bodies like yours are there?"

The enormous jade statue pursed its lips, but did not utter a word.

Lu Ran said in a low voice, "Even if you don't tell me, I'll know the answer."

He has too many ways to get the answer.

For example, if you search for it yourself, the Jade Emperor's memories are stored in the form of Floating Life Coins, one by one, inside the Phoenix Pattern Gourd.

"Four!" The enormous jade statue trembled.

The reason she didn't respond immediately was an instinctive desire to protect herself. Now, by telling the truth, she clearly realizes that she has no right to hide anything.

They have no right to deceive.

"Besides you, there are four others." Lu Ran nodded. It seems that the other four major war zones in the world still have a Grand Jade Venerable left.

It seems that their thoughts and ideas are still interconnected.

Otherwise, this enormous jade deity could not have given such an accurate answer.

Since their consciousnesses are connected, if the Phoenix Soul Imprint is engraved on this Jade Venerable, the other enormous Jade Venerables should also be able to submit to the Burning Gate.
"Wait for me here." A spider lily bloomed in Lu Ran's hand.

As the young man in the imperial robes departed, the world fell into a deathly silence.

The enormous jade vessel stood alone.

They did not run away.

She couldn't bear the consequences of doing so.

Pang Da Yuzun had no idea where the young man in the imperial robes had gone or how he would deal with her, but she knew very well that she could not escape his grasp.

Sure enough, a teleportation array suddenly opened up a few seconds later.

Inside the magic circle, a statue of the same size as her descended.

But she's not as pretty as him.

After all, she was made of white jade, lustrous and warm, while the unfamiliar statue in front of her was just a dull stone artifact.

"You... surrender?" A cold voice came from behind.

"Yes, yes." The enormous jade scepter nervously twisted his fingers and nodded repeatedly.

Jiang Ruyi's feelings were somewhat complicated as she looked at the once invincible, enormous jade statue.

It all feels so unreal.
She lowered her eyes, looking at the young man in imperial robes in her palm, hesitant to speak.

Lu Ran transmitted his voice: "Leave a Phoenix Soul Imprint within her soul, then we'll bring back the Great Jade Venerables from the other four war zones."

everything,
That will end it completely.

"Hmm." Jiang Ruyi pursed her lips and activated her magical artifact.

"唳~~~"

A melodious phoenix cry rang out.

A golden phoenix phantom reached directly to the center of the massive jade statue's brow.

The Jade Venerable Clan seems to have been created specifically to counter the "tomb".

Her unique body material made her impervious to the tomb; her soul, hidden within that unique material, made her inaccessible to the tomb.

However, in addition to the tomb, the Jade Venerable Clan will also suffer attacks on the soul level.

When attacked by the domain of Liang Ye Sword: The Calamity of Remaining Life, she will freeze in place, lost in thought.

She will suffer unbearable pain when she is burned by the Phoenix Divine Fire.

Faced with the Phoenix Soul Mark, the enormous Jade Venerable cried out in equally pitiful agony, "Ah, why? I've already surrendered... Waaaaah... Why are you still hurting me?"

"Shh." Lu Ran suddenly appeared in front of her.

His small hand gently landed on her large, white eyes, and his hoarse voice was surprisingly gentle: "Truly surrender, and do not harbor any disloyal thoughts."

It will pass quickly, I promise, the pain will be over soon.

"Waaaaah~ Waaaaah."

The only response to Lu Ran was the sound of the enormous jade statue weeping in anguish.

If he could, Lu Ran truly wished that the being before him was still the original Faceless Jade Venerable.
Just nine minutes later, a phoenix soul mark was etched deep within the soul of the Jade Venerable.

To Lu Ran and Jiang Ruyi's surprise, the enormous jade statue stopped wailing after only a quarter of an hour.

This means that she truly has no ulterior motives.

Faced with absolute power, creatures driven only by the instinct for survival have no other path to take.

"Whoo~"

Jiang Ruyi slowly flew forward.

She reached out her palm and smoothed the messy long hair on the forehead of the enormous jade statue, looking at the blurry face up close for the first time.

With their consciousnesses connected, the other enormous jade deities, whose souls were empty, also submitted.

Otherwise, the Jade Venerable before us would not be able to settle down.

"Lu Ran, what do you plan to do with her?"

"Now that we've joined the Burning Gate, let them watch."

"Looking?"

"Let's see if the gods and demons under my rule will ever decay," Lu Ran said in a low voice.

Jiang Ruyi nodded silently, her fingers reaching out to the jade vessel.

Lu Ran simply leaned back and lay directly on her fingertips. Looking up, he saw an upside-down, stunningly beautiful face.

Gradually, a smile appeared on Lu Ran's face.

It is full of the meaning of liberation.

ended.

The powerful external enemy was completely defeated and submitted to the Burning Gate.

This time, it's really over.

The book will be completed tomorrow.

Thank you all for your companionship along the way.

It is expected that there will be a few side stories after the book is completed. Uh, I'll talk about the details in the author's closing remarks.

　Thank you to Jiangzhu Yuqiao and Zhenbianxiaomei de Sheng for the generous donations! Thank you for your support!
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(End of this chapter)