Summit of the Old Gods

Two days later, at the Cloud Sea Residence.

On the large bed in the master bedroom, Lu Ran lay quietly on his back, his hollow eyes gradually regaining their sparkle.

"Hmm..." He habitually reached out, wanting to rub his head, and suddenly realized that his hand was being held, and there was a warm black flame burning on him.

It felt very comfortable, like soaking in a hot spring.

Lu Ran turned his head and saw a young girl in a black dress kneeling by the bedside.

"Brother! You're awake~" Qiao Yuansi propped her elbow on the bed's edge, resting her chin in her palm, while her other hand transmitted black fire to Lu Ran.

The elegant black swan suddenly transformed, her smiling eyes curving into crescent moons.

Extremely adorable.

"It's so cold on the ground... hmm." Lu Ran realized that the area behind the master bedroom's screen was covered with a carpet made from Evil Demon·Ghost Moon Fox fur.

He paused, then asked, "Where is Ruyi?"

Qiao Yuansi immediately pouted, displeased, "I've been taking care of you day and night for two or three days, and the first thing you ask is about Sister Ruyi!"

Ha,

jerk!

"No," Lu Ran quickly explained, "I mean..."

Qiao Yuansi withdrew her small hand, looking at Lu Ran puffily.

Under his sister's stare, Lu Ran felt his scalp tingle and softly said, "Thank you."

"Hmph." Qiao Yuansi stood up and pretended to leave, "Goodbye!"

"Don't go." Lu Ran quickly grabbed her wrist.

Qiao Yuansi turned her back to Lu Ran, her mouth curving upwards slightly.

And the diamond pendant around her neck shimmered with a deep blue light.

Dream-like.

Soon, Qiao Yuansi found that she too was enveloped in black flames, the gentle Cage Fire nourishing her body and mind.

Qiao Yuansi finally turned her head, looking curiously at Lu Ran.

Lu Ran smiled and said, "These past two days must have been exhausting, right?"

"Hmph, more or less." Qiao Yuansi sat by the bed, muttering, "The Sister Ruyi you're looking for is with the Xuan Shuang Guard, training the Evil Mirror Team.

In the days after you left, Sister Ruyi traveled to the Forbidden City, Tiangang City, and Jingxian Mountain, carefully selecting nine disciples."

"Oh." Lu Ran sat up, rubbing his eyes.

Qiao Yuansi suddenly asked, "Since you're awake now, does that mean the Spiritual Talisman Stone Sculpture has stabilized?"

"Yes." Lu Ran explored his spiritual world briefly and then said, "Sea Realm Third Rank."

The remnants of Jingting have proven quite resourceful.

I wonder how much Holy Spirit Energy the three Sea Realm Hall Masters contributed; surely, Madam Lu Si Shen Xiaotang contributed the most, right?

Qiao Yuansi couldn't help but be curious, "As the owner of the Spiritual Talisman Stone Sculpture, do you still draw dud signs?"

That's a question!

When Lu Ran transformed into the Master of the Sky, the Divine Technique·Fiery Fire Sky Leader had no constraints, open when desired, closed when not.

Now, as the Master of Spiritual Sign...

"Hoo~"

Lu Ran raised his hand, holding a phantom sign tube, among which lay five phantom-tier signs and four broken wooden ones.

Spiritual Talisman Divine Technique·Nine Treasures!

This is the highest level divine technique of the Spiritual Sign Sect, where the five phantom-tier signs represent offense, defense, control, support, and summoning.

The remaining four are naturally the annoying dud signs.

"Oh wow, as expected of my brother!" Qiao Yuansi lightly covered her mouth with a laugh, "The first draw, and it's a Nine Treasures sign?"

You rarely see Spiritual believers use the Divine Technique·Nine Treasures.

Because the odds of drawing a dud sign are just too high!

In comparison, Spiritual believers preferred to draw iron or silver signs.

What are iron and silver signs?

The materials of the Spiritual Sign Sect's divine techniques differ by grade.

Ranging from Five Treasures, Six Treasures... all the way to Nine Treasures, the materials of the signs are wood, iron, silver, gold, phantom.

"Clatter~"

Lu Ran shook the sign tube, his expression a bit odd, and asked, "What sign do you want?"

Qiao Yuansi blinked her eyes, "Can I choose?"

Lu Ran shrugged his shoulders.

Even though Qiao Yuansi was somewhat prepared mentally, she still slightly opened her mouth at this moment, "Doesn't that make you invincible?"

Lu Ran: "..."

The divine technique effect of the Divine·Spiritual Sign is immensely strong, why would it be demoted to the fourth tier?

Because of one word—gamble!

One hand poor, one hand rich.

Another hand bankrupt, treading a one-way path to the rooftop.

When a gambler doesn't play the odds with you and resorts to cheating...

Wouldn't they always win?

Mmm... always winning?

"Then give me a Divine Armor Guard!" Qiao Yuansi directly chose the hardest-to-obtain Summoning Sign.

Lu Ran looked up at the ceiling, "This room is only over three meters high; you want to demolish the house?"

"Oh fine, let's go!" Qiao Yuansi reversed her grip on Lu Ran's wrist, briskly taking him to the backyard.

The backyard was empty and silent.

"Draw it!" Qiao Yuansi pointed her little finger towards the open space.

"Hoo~" Lu Ran's hands filled with energy, and indeed a phantom sign flew out from the sign tube.

When the phantom sign reached the center of the courtyard, it suddenly expanded, emitting dazzling light.

Lu Ran shielded his face, feeling a sharp reduction of Divine Power within, losing a third of it in an instant!

Does it consume that much Divine Power?

Lu Ran secretly clicked his tongue; he was Sea Realm Third Rank!

Isn't this a straight-up massive attack?

When Lu Ran performed Night Charm Evil Blade or Barbaric Evil Axe kind of big moves, it only depleted up to two-fifths of his Divine Power.

"Wow!" Qiao Yuansi strained her neck to see but still couldn't glimpse the true form of the Divine Armor Guard.

For this Heavenly Soldier was a behemoth standing a hundred meters tall!

He wielded a Divine Power Spear, not only exuding grandeur but also incandescent brilliance.

Nine Treasures Sign of Summoning·Divine Armor Guard!

"Yuansi."

"Huh?" Qiao Yuansi looked at her brother.

"Do you know what's even more terrifying?" Lu Ran's expression was somewhat peculiar.

"What... huh?" Qiao Yuansi watched Lu Ran as he took out another illusory tube.

No skill cooldown time!

"Swoosh~"

Lu Ran shook the tube again, and another illusory sign flew out, quickly splitting into nine, and then splitting into nine once more!

During this process, the illusory flying sign transformed into a solid form.

A total of 81 flying signs, surrounding the hundred-meter Divine Weapon's body, slowly began to rotate.

Nine Treasures: Output Sign · Divine Sword Sign!

The entire Cloud Sea Cliff witnessed this astonishing scene.

The price was that one-third of Lu Ran's Divine Power was drained once more.

This is totally going all out!

How can this work out like this?

Lu Ran secretly sighed. When he uses the Divine Technique, he naturally prefers to use the Sea Grade one.

Regarding this grade, Lu Ran wants to control the total consumption of Divine Power, so it's best to use silver signs or gold signs.

"Brother!"

"Hmm?"

"You're invincible now!" Qiao Yuansi excitedly held onto Lu Ran's arm, shaking it.

As she cheered with joy, the diamond pendant around her neck once again glimmered with a beautiful light.

"Not really..." Lu Ran quickly responded modestly.

From the distant west wing, a big and a small girl came out.

Chang Ying was equally shocked.

The combination of Output Signs and Summoning Signs?

All created by Lu Ran?

"Whew..." Suddenly, the hundred-meter Heavenly Soldier broke apart, and the 81 Divine Sword Signs vanished without a trace.

Cloud Sea Residence returned to its usual tranquility.

"Sister Yingying!" Qiao Yuansi saw the big black girl and immediately waved her hand.

Chang Ying and Tian Tian walked over, looking at the Lu siblings.

Qiao Yuansi said with a smile, "Sister Yingying's name is really well chosen?"

Chang Ying had just stopped trembling not long ago, after all, her state was linked to the Spiritual Talisman Stone Sculpture in Lu Ran's mind.

At this moment, she hadn't yet tested the Divine Technique and didn't know the specifics.

"Chang Ying, always winning." Qiao Yuansi said with a bright smile, "From now on, you can always win?"

Chang Ying looked towards Lu Ran with an inquisitive expression.

Lu Ran smiled and nodded, "You need to realize that your identity has completely transformed. You're no longer a servant exploited by the Divine; you are the Fake God · Spiritual Sign itself."

Chang Ying whispered, "So?"

Qiao Yuansi quickly chimed in, "So you don't have to gamble anymore! Whatever sign you want, you can just take it yourself."

Chang Ying looked bewildered, unable to process it all at once.

Qiao Yuansi laughed and said, "Moreover, your Divine Technique has no cooldown time now! You are the Divine itself and no longer need to beg any deity!"

Lu Ran turned his head to look at his sister with a pensive gaze.

The little girl was hogging everything for herself?

A table full of delicious dishes, at least save me a plastic bag so I can take some...

"Hmm." Qiao Yuansi, holding onto Lu Ran's arm, buried her face directly into Lu Ran's shoulder.

Playing ostrich like this is quite convenient.

Chang Ying seemed a bit dazed, her body swaying slightly.

The little Tian Tian beside her quickly supported Chang Ying.

In this world, there's rarely any real empathy.

Lu Ran, Qiao Yuansi, Tian Tian, and others couldn't truly understand the mindset Chang Ying had as a Spiritual believer whenever she cast a spell.

Every time she pleaded desperately, only to be met with slap after slap from the Divine · Spiritual Sign.

The saying "nine out of ten bets are losses" was not without reason.

All along, Chang Ying was stuck in the same cycle on the same path, with expectations leading to greater disappointment, over and over again... Rarely were there exceptions.

But now, the Lu siblings told her that she doesn't need to gamble anymore!

She could be like disciples from other sects and use whatever Divine Technique she wanted!

This...

In fact, during the past two days that Chang Ying had been lying down, Tian Tian had told her a lot.

Chang Ying was processing everything — about Lu Ran's identity, his deeds on the Holy Spirit Mountain, and his grand ambitions.

Even back in high school, Lu Ran had been "deified" in Chang Ying's mind, so she could accept many things about him.

But now, Chang Ying couldn't hold it together.

"Ha..." She let out a deep breath, covering her face with her hands.

The past grievances, those rotten draws during crucial times on the battlefield and when her comrades needed her most, that profound sense of powerlessness and guilt...

Through her tear-filled eyes, she let it all out.

Divine · Spiritual Sign,

always was the dark cloud hanging over her head.

Yet she had no choice but to revere the Spiritual Sign, constantly begging and praying to it.

That inexpressible frustration, how could others understand it?

"Chang Ying." Lu Ran spoke softly.

"Sect Leader." Chang Ying was trying her best to calm down, but the massive turn in her fate made it really hard for her to stay composed.

Including these past two days in Cloud Sea Residence.

Every time she woke up, the first thing she did was look at the pillow in her arms — Tian Tian.

Confirming everything was real.

Afraid that if she woke up, the beautiful dream would shatter and she'd find herself back at the bottom of Starry Valley.

"Just call me Ranbao, like before."

"Um... okay." Chang Ying put down her hands, forcing a smile on her face as she looked at Lu Ran.

The sight of the girl's fragile state made everyone's heartache.

"There are still dozens of disciples over at Starry Valley, let's go recruit them," Lu Ran suggested. "Let them all follow you and revere you."

"Revere... me?"

"Yes." Lu Ran looked at the dark-skinned girl with a gentle smile, "Aren't you the esteemed Spiritual Fortune of our Ran Sect?"

"Uh-huh... uh-huh!"

...