The Old Gods

Chapter 1089 Finale (Part )

Summer comes and winter goes, it's the first day of the sixth lunar month.

Dark clouds shrouded the deserted alleyway town, and the drizzling rain brought a touch of coolness to the sweltering summer day.

On a bench next to the lawn in Yuxiang Jiayuan residential community.

A young man sat quietly, his gaze somewhat unfocused, looking at the old residential buildings not far away.

Raindrops fell on him, but they couldn't wake him from his reverie.

Then a surge of energy appeared beside the bench, and a crystal-clear teardrop appeared, radiating beautiful starlight.

"Brother~"

A tall and graceful figure emerged from the teardrop-shaped, ice-blue energy body.

With long, flowing hair, she stood tall and graceful.

Unfortunately, the girl was born pretty and charming, and when facing Lu Ran, she had an adorable smile that didn't fit her goddess image.

Lady Yuanxi, not having lost her human nature, habitually raised her hand to shield her head. Looking at the young man sitting quietly alone in the rain, she couldn't help but have a strange expression, uttering a single sentence:
"Are you pretending to be melancholy?"

Lu Ran: "."

"Hehe~" Qiao Yuanxi covered her mouth and chuckled. Looking at her brother, who was dressed plainly, she felt something was off.

Lu Ran was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and shorts. Such simple home attire reminded Qiao Yuanxi of a saying: "Swords and spears are sheathed, horses are released to graze on the southern mountains."

However, external things are easy to discard, but people are hard to return to their original state.

Compared to seven years ago today, the day Lu Ran first became a believer, he has changed a lot.

The youthful innocence of his past is long gone, and the word "heroic" is no longer sufficient to describe his current temperament and appearance.

The divine weapon at his waist could be easily removed, but he himself had long been tempered into a blade by the years and the flames of war.

This knife,

How do I uninstall it?

The noble black and gold imperial robe he wore could be taken off, but the gods and demons beneath his feet made his very existence seem like an invisible imperial robe woven from absolute power and authority.

How can this imperial robe be removed?

Lu Ran's current state is the result of his efforts to adjust and calm his mindset.

Otherwise, Xiao Yuanxi wouldn't have been able to remain calm in front of him; she would have trembled and her soul would have been shaking under his terrifying aura.

"Why didn't you go to recruit believers?" Lu Ran asked softly.

He didn't dare look into her eyes, afraid of startling her, but following the hem of her black dress, he saw her bare, fair little feet.

Lu Ran frowned slightly, instinctively wanting to say that the ground was cold, but then swallowed the words back.

The deity is not afraid of the cold.

With the water armor in place, there's no issue of it being dirty.

Xiao Yuanxi still had a golden bell tied around his ankle, which he had tied on himself a few years ago.

Sadly, the other bell in the pair was lost forever, along with another girl in a golden dress who loved to run barefoot.

"It's already noon!" Qiao Yuanxi pouted and took two steps forward, the bells ringing crisply.

"Oh, everything went smoothly?" Lu Ran asked softly.

"Of course, everyone likes me and wants to become my disciple~" Qiao Yuanxi sat down next to Lu Ran, took his arm, and placed her fingers on his wrist.

Lu Ran's attire was very casual, except for one accessory that was quite unusual.

Fragments of Buddhist artifacts - Rebirth money!

A thin red thread threaded through the square hole of an ancient bronze coin, coiling around it and tying it to his wrist.

It contains a terrible, dead soul.

A mountain of corpses!

Qiao Yuanxi could sense the powerful spirits within, but she had never actually seen their form.

"What do you need me for?" Lu Ran asked gently.

"What are you saying? Can't I come see my brother for no reason?" Qiao Yuanxi said with dissatisfaction. "The Lord of Gods and Demons is something else, with such a big attitude."

Lu Ran felt a headache coming on and said helplessly, "I was afraid that you would feel uncomfortable if you stayed by my side for too long."

"It feels alright~" Qiao Yuanxi muttered softly, "You've improved a lot. I'm not as nervous as I was the last few times. I even dared to tease you just now."

Lu Ran rolled his eyes.

Qiao Yuanxi chuckled: "I'll ask for Yingying and Manny how Niu Tou and Grandpa Bai are doing."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ran smiled and said, "Your timing is perfect."

"Oh?" Qiao Yuanxi blinked.

"Bullhead, you can be resurrected today."

"Really?" Qiao Yuanxi was quite surprised, and then asked, "Where's Grandpa Bai?"

“The Ox-Head is a divine soul with a divine position, so it’s faster for it to be resurrected through possession of another body. Elder Bai was a false god when he died, so it’s more difficult for a Heavenly Realm ghost to completely take over a stone statue. It will take some time.”

"Oh, oh." Qiao Yuanxi understood.

Over the past six months, the warriors of the Burning Gate have been resurrected one after another.

The first to return were naturally Wuya and Hua Qingying, followed by the pseudo-god Wang Longxiang.

One interesting point is that Wang Longxiang returned to the human world through the stone sculpture of the fourth-rank god Yunjian, who was a tall and robust male general.

It will take Wang Longxiang a long time to return to his original appearance.
Of course, Wuya returned in the form of the Evil Sculptor - Fang-faced Man, while Hua Qingying returned in the form of the Demon - Green Lantern.

One was a ferocious humanoid beast with fangs, while the other wasn't even a living creature.

It's just a lamp~
Both require time to transform the shape and appearance of the stone sculpture; they cannot be rushed.

In any case, the first batch of soldiers who died in battle have all been resurrected.

Now it's the turn of Niu Zhengzheng and Huangfu Zhao's generation.

The return of each soldier filled the gods of the Burning Gate with excitement and joy. They were all comrades-in-arms who had gone through life and death together, and naturally had a very deep bond with each other.

Lu Ran added, "If you're willing to wait, I'll throw the bull's head into the fiery phoenix gourd in a bit."

You can take the gourd and personally deliver the good news to their door.

"Okay, okay~" Qiao Yuanxi shook Lu Ran's arm happily, then suddenly remembered something and hesitated.

"What?" Lu Ran's senses were quite sharp. Qiao Yuanxi said, "With your current abilities, can I achieve immortality?"

Lu Ran remained silent for a moment, then nodded slightly.

In this world, only Lu Ran is eternal and immortal.

Qiao Yuanxi's immortality is not about being immortal, but about Lu Ran being able to bring her back after her death.

Give her a next life.

In the next life, and the one after that.
"Tsk tsk~" Qiao Yuanxi whispered, "Immortality, huh? That sounds like a dream."

Lu Ran shrugged: "Unless you want to leave yourself."

Qiao Yuanxi pursed her lips: "Who would want to die when they're perfectly fine?"

Lu Ran remained silent.

The brother and sister are only in their early twenties, full of vitality and curiosity about the world, so of course they have no intention of leaving.

What about the future?
Jianyi is a good example.

Gods and demons can live for tens or hundreds of billions of years. In such a long period of time, who can guarantee that nothing will happen?

"Besides," Qiao Yuanxi said, looking at Lu Ran's profile, "with your personality, would you allow me to leave?"

Lu Ran grinned.

To put it nicely, with her brother's help, Qiao Yuanxi could achieve eternal life in the cycle of reincarnation.

To put it bluntly, without Lu Ran's permission, Qiao Yuanxi wouldn't even be able to die.

The Immortal Sheep once spoke of its philosophy and principles:

Without death, there is no life.

Lu Ran could probably understand this principle, but at such a young age, he was still unable to accept the departure of his relatives and friends.

Just like now, he is willing to spend a lot of time and energy to revive his fallen comrades.

I sincerely look forward to reuniting with them.

Such an approach undoubtedly contradicts Lord Immortal Sheep's principles.

Fortunately, this does not go against Lord Immortal Sheep's last wish.

Before the immortal sheep departed, he clearly said in front of the small shrine at home: "The concept of neither death nor birth is my philosophy, the meaning of my existence, not yours."

"Am I always right? No, I am the old thing, and I should be eliminated."

"If I had to say what my last wish is, Lu Ran, I hope that you will walk your own path."

Go your own way.

This is the Immortal Sheep's philosophy for nurturing Lu Ran, which has permeated Lu Ran's entire growth.

The young grave

What attitude should we take towards life and death, and how should we face the future?
Lu Ran has to figure out and experience everything for himself.

Take control of it yourself.

"elder brother?"

"Huh?" Lu Ran was startled awake from his reverie.

"Why are you suddenly so sad?" Qiao Yuanxi asked with concern.

"Heh." Lu Ran chuckled and shook his head. "You've got guts, daring to look me in the eye."

"Why do I need to look you in the eye!" Qiao Yuanxi tilted her head and rested it on Lu Ran's shoulder. "When your mood changes, my emotions have to follow yours. I have no autonomy."

Are you ready to coax me?

I'm so sad, I'm going to cry~

Lu Ran was a little embarrassed, but fortunately, good news came from the sculpture park.

"Whoo~"

Streams of energy surged from Lu Ran's eyes, and two enormous divine souls suddenly appeared.

"Brother Ran!" Niu Zhengzheng was overjoyed, his huge eyes wide as he looked down at the brother and sister on the bench.

The soul cannot adjust its physical size.

As a result, Niu Zhengzheng, who is 270 or 280 meters tall, has stepped on the entire residential building.

Thankfully, he was an illusory spirit, not a physical deity.

"Sect Master!" In contrast, Huangfu Zhao was much more composed. He knelt on one knee with a face full of gratitude and bowed his head in respect.

"Hey~ Bull Head!" Qiao Yuanxi raised her pretty face and waved her hands repeatedly.

"Haha, I'm finally back!" Niu Zhengzheng laughed loudly, extremely excited.

This joy of returning to the world seemed to brighten up the gloomy, rainy town.

"Brother Ran! You are my god! No, you are my reborn parents, my second parents! I, Niu Zhengzheng, will be your slave in my next life."

Qiao Yuanxi suddenly said, "Niu Tou! Your past life is over, now it's your next life!"

"Huh?" Niu Zhengzheng was stunned for a moment.

Lu Ran couldn't help but laugh out loud, breaking his own rule by looking up at the other person, eager to see what their expression was.

However, when their eyes met, Niu Zhengzheng's soul trembled violently, and his face froze completely.

Lu Ran lowered his eyes helplessly and casually said, "Just treat Yingying well from now on."

"Yes Yes."

The colossal divine soul, capable of supporting the heavens and shaking the earth, knelt tremblingly in reverence, responding in a trembling voice.

What a disappointment.

Lu Ran sighed inwardly, remained silent for a moment, and then turned to look at the first-floor house not far away.

A moment later, the window of the small bedroom was opened, and an exquisite gourd with a phoenix pattern flew out.

Lu Ran grasped the plump magic gourd and said, "Yuanxi will take you to reunite with your comrades."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly realized something and looked back at the house.

Is someone coming home?
(End of this chapter)