Chapter 157

The Silent Zhan Ye Dao and the Rosy Cloud Blade were well-fed.

As Lu Ran continuously collected Divine Ruin fragments, the vibration amplitude of the twin Tang Dao grew larger and larger.

Especially the Rosy Cloud Blade!

After all, it was his father's blade; in terms of growth, it had a much earlier start than the Silent Zhan Ye Dao.

When this grand blessing ended, the Rosy Cloud Blade hummed, as if Lu Ran would lose his grip on the blade if he wasn't careful.

Lu Ran's heart was filled with wild joy!

He even had an illusion that the Rosy Cloud Blade at this moment was just like the Night-Slaying Blade that had reacted particularly violently on the night Deng Yuxiang killed the Yin Flower Dan!

On the path to gathering an artifact spirit, the Rosy Cloud Blade was taking great strides forward.

This Divine Ruin exclusive to the "Bei Feng Blade" faction had truly benefited the Rosy Cloud Blade immensely!

Like Lu Ran, if the Rosy Cloud Blade wanted to advance to a divine weapon, it also needed an opportunity.

The difference was that Lu Ran didn't know where his own opportunity for advancement lay.

But Lu Ran knew the Rosy Cloud Blade's opportunity very well:

It must be on a certain morning of the sixteenth day of the lunar month, when the red sun rises, when the rosy clouds meet the rosy clouds filling the sky...

Fame and success!

Lu Ran was truly very happy; this trip to North Wind City was simply too worth it!

But soon, he became a bit worried.

Because Yan Shuangzi had gone missing!

A living person had just disappeared from this world along with the shattered Divine Ruin.

Could it be that she had exploded too?

Lu Ran couldn't help but secretly speculate whether Yan Shuangzi's remains were mixed in with the broken bricks and tiles he had absorbed.

Hmm... that shouldn't be the case.

The god went to such lengths to create a Divine Ruin that was hard to see in ten years, and then sacrificed the only disciple who successfully broke into it?

After the ceremony, Lu Ran had asked some Bei Feng believers, but no one knew where that radiant senior sister had gone.

Lu Ran also called Deng Yuxiang and told her everything that had happened in the city.

The Great Da Da Mengyan's reaction finally made Lu Ran breathe a sigh of relief.

She said Yan Shuangzi was truly lucky.

Although Deng Yuxiang didn't know where her close friend had gone either, Yan Shuangzi must have gone to collect her reward.

At the very least, she must have gained an opportunity for training!

Lu Ran understood; so, Yan Shuangzi had been teleported to another dimension by the god?

Lord Bei Feng, what a method!

Deng Yuxiang's firm words made Lu Ran feel much more at ease.

Because he was truly worried that the god Bei Feng had hacked Yan Shuangzi into pieces and then gifted them to the heroes inside and outside the city...

A normal person would never have such thoughts as Lu Ran!

But Lu Ran knew the true face of the god clan very well, so he always harbored deep vigilance.

Lu Ran and Si Xianxian waited in the city for another week, and when Yan Shuangzi didn't return, he dragged the play-crazed Si Xianxian and set off for home.

On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Lu Ran first sent Si Xianxian back to Jinchuan City and personally handed her over to Aunt Si at the platform.

Amidst Aunt Si's repeated thanks and Si Xianxian's reluctant farewell, Lu Ran got back on the train and embarked on his journey home.

When he returned to Rain Alley City, it was already near dusk.

"Whoosh."

Outside the station exit, Lu Ran let out a deep sigh, looking at the deserted station.

In this small station of Rain Alley City, only a dozen people got off.

The cold wind blew, mixed with bits of frost and snow, hitting his face.

Lu Ran felt increasingly desolate.

In the early morning, he was still at the feet of the god, in North Wind City.

The bustling and lively scene compared to the cold and clear scene before his eyes made Lu Ran feel a huge sense of disparity.

He stood silently for a while before heading to the supermarket nearby.

After buying milk and bread, Lu Ran took a taxi to the banks of the Wu Lie River.

Once again, Lu Ran climbed onto the rooftop of the abandoned residential building.

"Dad, it's been a long time since I came to see you."

Lu Ran said in a low voice, coming to the corner of the rooftop and placing the milk and bread he had bought on the stone railing.

"I'm at the fifth stage of the Stream Realm now; just a little bit more, and I'll be in the same great realm as you."

Lu Ran took two steps back, holding the twin blades in his left hand and drawing the Rosy Cloud Blade with his right.

"Your old comrade-in-arms is also about to become a divine weapon."

For some reason, Lu Ran's expression became a bit strange.

"Tell me, after the Rosy Cloud gathers an artifact spirit, should I call him Uncle?"

"Hmm... treating each other separately is also fine."

"I call him Uncle, he calls me Master."

The black-clad youth looked exactly like a mental patient.

In this cold winter month, standing alone on the dilapidated rooftop, talking to himself in the air.

After a long while, Lu Ran turned his head to look south, watching the rolling Wu Lie River water.

In this vast white world, everything was silent, and the world was frozen in ice.

Only this great Wu Lie River flowed stubbornly.

There was thick white mist rising above the river surface, as if the river water were boiling hot.

No matter how cold and frozen the sky is, I flow with surging waves.

"Crunch, crunch."

Lu Ran stepped on the accumulated snow, making a strange sound, and came to the stone railing.

His eyes were actually a bit blurred, as if he were entranced.

The sun set in the west,

The afterglow fell on the black-clad youth, leaving a dark golden outline, which was truly beautiful.

Dusk approached,

The beautiful outline gradually disappeared, and frost and snow had already fallen on the youth's head.

And he was still watching, gazing entranced at the river.

It seemed,

Those who attempted to block it were all swept into the rolling torrent.

Or they turned into wisps of white mist on the river surface, eventually disappearing without a trace.

"Hum!!"

Bursts of violent energy surged from within Lu Ran's body.

Yet he seemed unaware, still drunk and blurred, intoxicated by the river in the ice and snow.

The change of seasons, the passage of time.

Everything, everything, did not affect its forward rush.

The river is named Wu Lie.

Fierce, unyielding, and perhaps a touch of tragic heroism.

"Whoosh!!"

The surging energy stirred up gusts of wild wind, lifting the snow on the rooftop.

In the layers of permeating frost and snow, the person with blurred, drunken eyes had his expression gradually change, his gaze becoming increasingly fiery.

How many times had he advanced on this rooftop?

"Ha."

Lu Ran let out a deep sigh and slowly closed his eyes.

Regarding a sense of belonging,

This Wu Lie River, this Rain Alley City, didn't need to give Lu Ran anything more.

He knew he belonged here.

Yet this world still favored him time and time again.

As if afraid he would leave.

Lu Ran suddenly thought of Deng Yuxiang; her experiences should be the same as his.

That was why she gave up staying in North Wind City, gave up a shortcut to ascend step by step, and returned to Rain Alley alone.

If the Great Da Da Mengyan stayed at the feet of the god, would she be suppressed by her former close friends?

Would the person who entered the Divine Ruin be her?

At least there would be some opportunities.

In the eyes of others, the forever gray Rain Alley City seemed like a demonic purgatory.

But in the ears of Lu Ran and Deng Yuxiang, the sound of swaying wind and rain was more like the soft sobbing of their hometown.

"Whoosh!!"

In the dim sky, on the dilapidated rooftop, a terrifying energy surged.

The black-clad youth finally opened his eyes.

Light flowed within them, as brilliant as an immortal.

Jiang Jing: First Stage!

"Dad, it's done."

Lu Ran turned his head to look at the corner of the rooftop.

The milk and bread on the stone railing had long been blown away.

Hmm... not a big problem.

He had been advancing for so long, his late father should have enjoyed it long ago.

A low voice suddenly imprinted in his mind: "You don't seem very happy."

Lu Ran was startled!

He thought his old man had spoken.

He reacted for a moment, then said: "Lord Xiang Xiang Xianyang."

Xiang Xiang Xianyang: "I thought you would be cheering with joy."

"I'm quite happy," Lu Ran grinned. "I can have water flow armor, I can activate a new divine sculpture.

I can also learn the new divine technique of our Xiang Xiang Xianyang faction."

As he spoke, Lu Ran really became happy, his tone rising quite a bit: "I can turn enemies into sheep?"

Xiang Xiang Xianyang: "Of course you can, but after performing this technique, you will be no different from a lamb.

Extremely weak, vulnerable to a single blow."

Lu Ran nodded: "Then I must learn it!"

Divine Technique: Sheep, is indeed quite special.

Performing this technique, Lu Ran almost has to pay in all aspects!

Not only physical weakness and divine power depletion, but it will also make his spirit extremely exhausted.

There is another point, which is the most troublesome!

Every time this technique is performed, the caster's own soul will also suffer a certain degree of damage!

Until the caster uses it enough times and the soul gradually becomes incomplete, the whole person will eventually become an empty shell.

Because of this, believers in the world do not flock to the Xiang Xiang Xianyang faction.

Divine power can be absorbed, physical strength can be replenished, spirit can be rested, but the soul...

How do you repair it?

Such a bug-level divine technique, strong to the point of not recognizing one's own kin, even killing the caster themselves!

This is also why believers of the Xiang Xiang Xianyang faction almost never perform this technique.

The moment you cast Divine Technique: Sheep, you are committing suicide!

But for Lu Ran, the difficulty at the soul level can truly be solved!

The Black Fire Sheep Head is a master of souls; it can nourish so many evil sculptures in the garden, so what's one more for Lu Ran, the owner of the sculpture garden?

What's more, Lu Ran still has a piece of Rebirth Money in his hand.

Perhaps this is also the reason why Lord Forgetful Spring bestowed the artifact upon Lu Ran?

In short, the stronger the enemy Lu Ran faces, the more he needs to pay.

Until the enemy is strong to a certain point, even if Lu Ran pays more, this technique will not take effect.

Lu Ran had studied this technique carefully; taking his current Jiang Jing: First Stage as an example, as long as the opponent is at the Jiang Jing: Fifth Stage or below, this technique will take effect!

That is to say, as long as Lu Ran wants, he can turn the Great Da Da Mengyan into a little lamb right now.

Hmm... sounds quite tempting?

If the enemy is at the River Estuary Realm level, Lu Ran's divine technique won't work.

At that time, no matter how much Lu Ran pays, he will only suffer backlash, and the enemy will not become a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Even if Lu Ran were at the Jiang Jing: Fifth Stage, it would be very difficult to cross levels and turn a River Estuary Realm believer into a little lamb.

The gap between great realms is like a chasm!

It can never be made up for by "clever tricks."

However, once Lu Ran enters the River Estuary Realm...

No matter if you are at the River Estuary Realm: Fourth Stage or Fifth Stage, when you see the Burning God, you all have to bleat for me!

Does it have a bit of "invincible in the same realm" meaning?

Hmm... hard to say.

After all, after Lu Ran casts the technique, he is no different from a cripple.

Lu Ran can only rely on his teammates.

In the future, Lu Ran can still control demons, which can be considered bringing his own teammates?

Lu Ran was silent for a long time, then said: "Lord Xiang Xiang Xianyang, can we activate the Night Da Da Mengyan evil sculpture here first?"

"You want..."

"This disciple wants to open Evil Technique: Night Dance of the Alluring City."

As he spoke, Lu Ran pressed one hand on the railing and looked downstairs:

"I want to stand in the air, I want to walk down step by step from this high altitude!"

(End of chapter)