Summit of the Old Gods-Chapter 1145 - 1065: Witness to Mortal Life

The strength of the Jade Venerable was known to all among the Ran Sect Gods.

She was like a massive shadow, shrouding the gods overhead, crushing one divine mountain after another through her overpowering presence.

The gods worked together with utmost sincerity, resisting bitterly. Their combat abilities were unmatched by the bygone gods and demons, yet... the warriors still couldn’t escape the fate of being crushed.

The various regions of the Heavenly Realm would occasionally send ominous news.

This saddened the hearts of the warriors.

And filled them with dread, knowing that the next to die violently might be themselves.

Because of this, the scene at Blood Dust Divine Mountain was incredibly moving!

Insignificant humans pushed forth grand columns of fire, mercilessly flattening the enormous Jade Venerable onto the ground, ravaging her at will.

Explosion of destruction!

In an instant, the news of the Sect Master’s emergence spread across the Heavenly Realm Battlefield.

The morale of all the divine mountains soared!

If the faith of all beings was the gods, then the faith of the Ran Sect Gods was that one-of-a-kind person!

"Good, good!" Cheng Yi watched from afar as Lu Ran wreaked havoc, his heart stirred!

But in the next moment, his expression changed.

For some reason, Lu Ran suddenly abandoned the advantageous position, and his figure disappeared.

Where did the Sect Master go?

While fending off the attacks from the Jade Venerable Minions with Sand Sea, Cheng Yi searched for the figure of the insignificant humans.

The enormous Jade Venerable was still lying on the ground, her jade body had already shattered beyond repair, unable to withstand any more wind or rain. At this time, anyone going to finish her off would certainly doom her!

But... where was Lu Ran?

The soldiers were all perplexed, unsure whether the Sect Master was invisible or had instantly teleported away.

Lu Ran indeed turned invisible.

He blinked once, half-kneeling directly atop the enormous Jade Venerable’s forehead, pressing one hand downward.

"What are you doing?"

The enormous Jade Venerable struggled to speak, uttering only a few words, but her lips cracked due to the movement.

Lu Ran remained silent, casting the Divine Technique of Spring of Oblivion: Floating Life Coin!

This technique could search the memories of dead souls and extract a key memory from their lifetime, materializing it as a unique ancient copper coin.

The true effect of this technique lay in spiritual output.

Since the Floating Life Coin was formed from deeply memorable pieces of memory, it naturally contained extreme emotions, causing considerable mental impact when hitting a living being.

However, for Lu Ran, the least important aspect of the Floating Life Coin was the spiritual output.

What was useful was the memory probing!

The memory extraction!

"It’s still no use," Lu Ran murmured in his heart, listening to the crackling sound of breaking nearby.

The enormous Jade Venerable naturally wouldn’t allow Lu Ran to cause trouble unchecked; she reached up to pat her forehead, attempting to crush the small being atop it.

But she was too broken.

So much so that as soon as she raised her hand, her forearm shattered, with large patches of jade skin peeling away continuously.

The scene was quite beautiful yet tragic.

"Alas..." Lu Ran sighed inwardly; he was indeed not at the same level as the Spring of Oblivion; he could truly cross the boundary of life and death.

Unfortunately, this jade body seemed specifically born to target "tomb."

Lu Ran even used his small hand, burning with tomb fire, to explore the fissures on her forehead, reaching into her head.

But it still was of no avail.

The Jade Venerable was solid inside; the surface skin was white jade, and the inner "flesh" was also white jade material.

Her soul was integrated into her unique body, making Lu Ran’s tomb fire ineffective and unable to blur the lines between life and death.

It seemed he would have to rely on Cheng Xin.

Have him use Divine Technique·Sheep to completely change the Faceless Jade Venerable’s form and nature, before attempting to extract her memory.

Let’s forget about this Jade Venerable then.

She was about to fall apart; in case she died as soon as she transformed into a sheep, it wouldn’t be worth it.

Moreover, the Spring of Oblivion’s Stone Sculpture in Lu Ran’s garden had just been forged, still in the growth phase.

Fog Realm, Stream Realm, and River Realm were nearly instant upgrades, but upon reaching River Grade, each small rank advancement took 2-3 hours.

After reaching Sea Realm, each small rank advancement would take half a day.

Heavenly Realm would take even two to three days!

In other words, even if Lu Ran’s tomb fire was effective, his subsequent use of the Divine Technique of Spring of Oblivion: Floating Life Coin currently was only at River Grade.

The quality naturally determined the efficacy.

Hmm... it was better to play it safe for now.

Lu Ran reflected silently, suddenly feeling his body rising and falling.

The enormous Jade Venerable couldn’t figure out what Lu Ran was doing, but evidently didn’t want him to continue.

Lying on the ground, she suddenly lifted her head: "You are indeed very special, Lu Ran. If you weren’t so stubborn, your world, your home, would be far more beautiful, truly."

Lu Ran gently caressed her cracked forehead with one hand, his voice low and hoarse:

"You and I, same as each other."

"Heh." The Jade Venerable raised a ragged curve with her tattered lips, "My world, long since destroyed by gods and demons.

Gods and demons should be annihilated.

Lu Ran you, and your subordinates, Stone Sculpture... I will crush all of you."

With those words, the Jade Venerable suddenly threw herself fiercely backward, seemingly intending to use the back of her head to smash the ground.

Self-termination?

"Crack!"

Lu Ran instantly pulled out the Venerable Slayer Blade, thrusting downward, piercing through the giant beauty’s skull just before her self-execution.

This was valuable experience, not to be wasted in vain.

"Buzz~"

As expected, the feedback from the Venerable Slayer Blade was quite intense.

For the past month and a half, it had been slaying the minions of the Spring of Oblivion, harboring a desire for upgrade.

Now, finally striking the main figure, the Blade Spirit of the Venerable Slayer even felt a sense of satisfaction.

This state of mind was caught by Lu Ran, and he reminded solemnly, "Watch your mindset."

Venerable Slayer Blade Spirit: "..."

"Pfft~" Thick fog began to spread.

Lu Ran opened her Eyes of the Netherworld, fixing the emerging Divine Soul in place.

Now that she’s dead, without a living essence to act as a conceptual barrier.

Lu Ran could now employ the Divine Technique of Spring of Oblivion: Floating Life Coin to extract her memories.

Though it’s uncertain if the memories of a Dead Soul would affect a living Jade Venerable.

Lu Ran held a pessimistic view on this.

"Lu Ran." From the dense fog, the voice of the Jade Venerable emerged, more fluent now in the state of a Dead Soul.

Lu Ran remained silent, quietly absorbing the energy.

"I know you can hear me," uttered the Jade Venerable’s Divine Soul softly.

Suddenly, Lu Ran spoke: "How many true bodies do you possess?"

The Jade Venerable’s Divine Soul was silent for a moment, then gradually responded: "Endless."

"Heh heh." Lu Ran chuckled.

You sure know how to bluff!

"You cannot defeat me," the Jade Venerable’s Divine Soul paid no heed to Lu Ran’s mocking laughter, speaking gently, "or rather, I cannot be defeated."

"Is that so?" Lu Ran’s gaze was cold, "Then I must give it a try."

"You are so different, Lu Ran, you are no longer human or stone, what are you... are you too indestructible?"

Lu Ran: "..."

Strictly speaking, Lu Ran could be annihilated.

The Tomb feeds on Divine Demons.

So his condition of eternal indestructibility depended on the existence of Divine Demons in the world!

Once Divine Demons all perish, Lu Ran would lose his source of sustenance.

Even if the naturally occurring energies of heaven and earth could support the Tomb’s continued existence, Lu Ran wouldn’t wield the power to destroy the heavens and extinguish the earth like now.

Without sufficient energy, his combat strength naturally diminishes!

Of course, Lu Ran wouldn’t worry much about this.

After all, he could craft Divine and Evil Sculptures himself, infusing them with life, and over the long years of the Stone Sculptures’ existence, day and night, drawing life from them to nourish himself.

Closing the loop!

Eternal indestructibility!

Just like... hmm, molding a child, then sucking blood for a lifetime.

Lu Ran only needs to train the Stone Sculptures slightly, then cast them into the Human World, trillions of people would naturally use their boundless Power of Faith to constantly nourish the Divine Sculptures.

The ultimate beneficiary, naturally, would be Lu Ran.

One conclusion can be drawn: the more Divine Demons exist in the world, the more assured Lu Ran’s combat strength becomes.

As the numbers of Divine Demons dwindle to a certain point, his subsequent supply naturally fails to keep up.

And now, the Jade Venerable Clan is crazily destroying Ran Sect’s Divine Mountain, slaughtering all Divine Demons, which for Lu Ran, is almost akin to cutting off the supply from the bottom!

"Are you indestructible?" Lu Ran’s expression was grave, gazing through the fog at the Jade Venerable’s Divine Soul.

"If you wish to turn to me, command your Divine Demons to abandon their stone bodies, forsake the Divine Demon System, I promise you a peaceful life belonging to the Human Clan."

Lu Ran huffed: "We’ve debated this before, how could I remember you said you wouldn’t give me another chance?"

The Jade Venerable’s Divine Soul dismisses Lu Ran’s tone, gently affirming:

"Upon our next meeting, you’ve changed again."

"Report!!"

Suddenly, Lu Ran tilted his head slightly, listening to the distant sound.

"The situation at the Divine Mountain of Spear God is critical, Heavenly General Yan has destroyed the mountain and retreated to Chang Ying’s Divine Mountain!"

"Report! The mountain within the First Heaven of Star Moon Divine Mountain is severely damaged, the Divine Mountain might collapse at any moment, General Leng requests permission to withdraw to Blood Dust Divine Mountain, or Immortal Mo Divine Mountain."

The successive intelligence reports made Lu Ran’s expression somber.

Yet the soul of the Pangda Jade Venerable whispered lightly: "Both of us want the Divine Demons to be completely annihilated, we share the same goal, why have you backed down halfway?

Why choose to be one of those filthy, ugly stones yourself?"

Why?

Because I cannot entrust my fate, the reign of my clan’s survival wholly into your hands, gambling it on your whims.

Through the fog, Lu Ran flickered to the Jade Venerable’s Divine Soul, once again appearing before her forehead.

His hand reached into the illusory Divine Soul, a swirl of Divine Power surging.

"Hoo!!"

The Pangda Jade Venerable’s dead soul trembled.

Lu Ran’s Emperor Robe fluttered, tilting his head slightly, slowly closing his eyes.

"What... what are you doing?" The Jade Venerable’s Divine Soul seemed a bit agitated.

Having battled her for so long, Lu Ran had never seen her emotions fluctuate like this.

"What do you think I’m doing?" Lu Ran’s voice was deep, if not for his chilling aura, it sounded truly magnetic.

His hand, thrust into the Jade Venerable’s Divine Soul’s forehead, seemed to grip something abstract, slowly pulling it back.

"You..." The Jade Venerable’s Divine Soul’s voice halted abruptly, eyes wide, sensing the most forbidden part of her soul being brazenly touched.

Lu Ran’s movements were slow.

Such a powerful, eerie method, under his slow yet irresistible motion, appeared so cruel.

"Hoo~"

Countless wisps of translucent threads, pulled bit by bit, forcibly from her Divine Soul by Lu Ran.

These threads were her memories, her past.

And they were her foundation!

It was what constituted her essence, the fundamental basis of her being.

Thousands of threads continuously weaving and intertwining, ultimately unfolding into a dynamic, semi-transparent memory tapestry.

Lu Ran finally reopened his eyes.

He bowed his head, gazing at the ever-flowing tapestry before him.

Looking cruelly at all that made her unforgettable...

...