Chapter 209: Full of Love

On the ninth day of the lunar month, beneath Wu Ya's feet.

Lu Ran and the others took the initiative to leave Evil Dog Village one day before the Demon Cave closed.

"It's raining," Chang Ying said as she walked out of the central building, standing under the eaves and gazing at the layer upon layer of rain.

Without needing to step into it, she could imagine just how cold the rainwater was.

Lu Ran came to Chang Ying's side and patted the girl's back: "After we return, contemplate deeply."

"I know," Chang Ying replied softly, pouting her little mouth.

Now, within the small team, only she was not yet a River Realm believer.

This expedition to Evil Dog Village lasted a full half-month; Tian Tian opened the door to advancement on the seventh day, the very day Lu Ran and the others were attacked.

And just last night, Deng Yutang finally had a sudden flash of inspiration, magnificently initiating his advancement mode.

The energy fluctuations he triggered were especially violent, even waking the girls sleeping in the adjacent room.

Lu Ran lay on his side on his small bed, quietly watching Deng Yutang advance.

This time, "Brother Kuai" did not fail.

As a believer of the Fifth-Rank God·Red Scarf, Deng Yutang actually advanced faster than Chang Ying, a believer of the Fourth-Rank God·Divine Lots!

This also indirectly proved that the so-called "sudden flash of inspiration" truly does not depend solely on talent.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Deng Yutang to surpass Chang Ying.

It is worth mentioning that immediately after Deng Yutang successfully advanced, Lu Ran asked him what thoughts had led to that sudden flash of inspiration.

Deng Yutang's response was a single, simple word—you.

To be honest, the atmosphere at that moment became slightly ambiguous.

Lu Ran felt somewhat at a loss.

Your mind was completely filled with me, and then you had a sudden flash of inspiration?

If Deng Yutang had been a girl, Lu Ran would have thought the other party was confessing their love.

Thinking about it carefully, it actually made sense.

Deng Yutang was, of course, immensely proud and full of high aspirations.

And throughout this time, Lu Ran had displayed astonishing talent and combat power, staying far ahead of everyone else.

Naturally, Deng Yutang would view Lu Ran as a goal to chase and as a role model for life.

Receiving such an answer from Lu Ran, and combining it with Tian Tian's earlier "sudden flash of inspiration," Lu Ran couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

The insights and realizations he had provided his teammates were centered around their homeland.

However, neither Tian Tian nor Deng Yutang had made use of Lu Ran's shared experiences and insights.

Instead, it was the even more powerful Deng Deng Yuxiang who, when advancing from River Realm·Stage Five to Stream Realm, completely digested and absorbed Lu Ran's insights.

The two achieved perfect compatibility, and under Lu Ran's guidance, she became a great expert in her own right.

Hmm... how should one put it?

Masterclasses,

are indeed prepared for the top-tier professionals within the industry.

Small fries like Deng, Tian, and Chang are not yet worthy!

"Do you think I might be stuck forever at Stream Realm·Stage Five?" Chang Ying asked softly, gazing up at the gloomy sky.

"How could that be?" Lu Ran said, half comforting, half scolding. "Even if everyone else thinks that way, you alone must not!"

Chang Ying looked dejected and whispered, "But there are so, so many people in this world who remain stuck forever at Stream Realm Stage Five."

I seem to have nothing special about me."

It was evident that Deng Yutang overtaking her from behind had dealt a certain blow to the girl.

Lu Ran suddenly had a thought: "After we return, pray earnestly before the shrine."

As he spoke, Lu Ran tugged Chang Ying's arm, making her lower her head, and whispered:

"As long as you are devout enough and offer enough faith power, perhaps Lord Divine Lots would be willing to help you?"

Chang Ying: "Mm."

How unsightly the eating habits of the God·Divine Lots were was obvious to all in the world.

Within his sect's Pai Shen Fa, those rotten lots, one after another, existed precisely to force believers to pray devoutly.

Lord Divine Lots did not care whether your life was at stake or not.

On the contrary, the more critical your situation, the more devout your prayer would become after drawing a rotten lot.

After all, if you showed even the slightest disrespect, the skill's cooldown time would simply not count down.

In order to save their lives, believers would inevitably suppress all negative emotions and dedicate their purest faith power to the God·Divine Lots.

Since Lord Divine Lots acted this way, Lu Ran could not be blamed for thinking along worse lines.

What if the God·Divine Lots was secretly meddling, feeling that Chang Ying's offerings of faith were insufficient, and thus deliberately suppressing her rank to prevent her from advancing?

Was such a possibility real?

Who knew?

"Just listen to me; once we're home, pray day and night," Lu Ran said; of course, he dared not speak his true thoughts aloud and could only offer this suggestion.

Lu Ran had truly exerted great effort, and he continued, "Also, while you pray, do not forget to contemplate."

You now know the insights from Tian Tian's and Deng Yutang's advancements; try each one, think about each one—it won't do any harm."

"Mm-hmm, I'll listen to you," Chang Ying said, nodding her head.

"You two! What are you doing?" Behind them came a sweet voice.

Lu Ran turned his head to look, only to see Si Si Xianxian with an unpleasant expression, her beautiful eyes sweeping over the man and woman, as three words popped from her mouth:

"Whispering secrets?"

Lu Ran rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Actually, Chang Ying was also somewhat puzzled as to why Lu Ran insisted on whispering.

The reason

was naturally that Lu Ran had a guilty conscience!

Anyone hearing Lu Ran's words just now would not be able to find a single flaw in them.

The problem was that when Lu Ran offered advice, he harbored a heart extremely disrespectful toward the Divine Lie Tian Spirit Lot!

This special psychological state inadvertently manifested in his behavior and actions.

"What bad things are you researching?" Si Si Xianxian stepped forward, dragging Lu Ran away from Chang Ying's side.

"Nothing, just giving Chang Ying some advice, hoping she advances ranks as soon as possible," Lu Ran said helplessly.

Si Si Xianxian muttered, "Men and women should not touch; pay attention.

Jiang Ruyi is such a good girl; next month she's even taking me out to play—ahem, Jiang Ruyi is such a good girl, you must not let her down."

Lu Ran:???

Where did all this come from!

Lu Ran lowered his head, looking at the hand Si Si Xianxian had hooked onto his arm:

"If men and women should not touch, then what are you doing?"

Si Si Xianxian raised her eyebrows sharply: "I'm different; I'm the Immortal Sister to both of you, I have no thoughts about you!"

Lu Ran grinned: "Chang Ying has no thoughts about me either; she doesn't like thin ones... eh?"

Lu Ran scratched his head.

Why did I just insult myself?

Si Si Xianxian's expression turned strange; it was clear she was struggling hard to hold back laughter.

"Pwahahahaha~"

In the end, the Divine Lie Tian big girl couldn't hold it back and laughed quite unrestrainedly.

"Get lost." Lu Ran directly elbowed Si Si Xianxian, pushing her away, "I'll walk you to the car in a bit; go home obediently."

"Hmph." Si Si Xianxian's smile gradually faded, "Perform well on the fifteenth; I'll be watching you."

"Aren't you guarding the city on the fifteenth?"

"I don't have any teammates, so if I don't go, I just don't go. Besides, the Moonwatch people don't trust me either; they'd still have to assign many people to watch over me."

Hearing this, Lu Ran nodded with considerable agreement.

That was true.

If you threw Divine Lie Tian believers into the shelter, you wouldn't even need demons to act; the Divine Lie Tian believers might self-detonate at any moment.

"Shall we go?" From behind came Deng Yutang's voice.

Seeing only Deng Yutang striding forward with great purpose, looking rather triumphant.

"Mission submitted?"

"When I handle things, Brother Lu, rest assured! I've even obtained the evaluation form issued by the military." Deng Yutang lifted the camouflage backpack in his hand and shook it.

"Clatter-clatter~"

One could tell it was filled with a whole pocketful of demon crystals.

Deng Yutang: "Brother Lu, that share of demon crystals of yours wasn't exchanged for money, was it?"

Lu Ran nodded: "That's right."

"Ours haven't been exchanged either; here." Deng Yutang handed the backpack to Lu Ran, "Good luck!"

Tian Tian also clenched her small fist: "Master, good luck!"

Lu Ran caught the backpack strap with one hand, feeling a touch of emotion in his heart.

Jiangjiang Ruyi suddenly raised her hand.

On that fair, tender palm rested a demon crystal fully half the size of a hand.

It should be known that demon crystals from Fog Artifact and Stream Artifact vicious dogs were only the size of a fingertip; River Artifact demon crystals were slightly larger, but still very limited.

Yet the demon crystal held in the girl's hand could be called quite substantial in scale, drawing covert sideways glances from soldiers standing guard in the distance.

"A Jiang Pin vicious dog demon crystal," Jiangjiang Ruyi said, looking at the two, Lu and Si.

Si Si Xianxian waved her hand: "Give it all to Lu Ran; isn't he close to advancing ranks?

Help him push through; who knows, he might succeed?"

Jiangjiang Ruyi extended her hand toward Lu Ran and teased, "It seems your popularity is quite good; everyone is supporting you."

Lu Ran was indeed close to advancing.

As early as three or four days ago, Lu Ran had perceived that he had touched the bottleneck of River Realm, First Stage.

Thinking back, when he first entered the River Realm, it was on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month last year.

Up to now, a full two months had passed!

This path of the River Realm was truly difficult to traverse.

"I will definitely work hard!" Lu Ran accepted the Jiang Pin demon crystal and nodded heavily.

Demon crystals were precisely meant to assist high-level believers in breaking through and advancing ranks.

Believers in the Fog Realm or Stream Realm, when stuck at a level, could also try absorbing large quantities of demon crystals.

But to be honest, there was no real need.

When you were in the Fog Realm or Stream Realm, the energy you could draw simply by worshipping before the shrine was sufficient to help you break through and advance.

If you could not take another step forward, it was not because the energy was insufficient, but because your talent and aptitude were lacking.

Only after believers advanced to the River Realm did the function of demon crystals become apparent.

This was the perfect moment for Lu Ran to use the demon crystals!

He had vaguely touched the bottleneck, yet he still hadn't been able to activate the promotion mode.

At this moment, Lu Ran could attempt to absorb a massive quantity of demon crystals at once, trying to break through the shackles.

It must be stated that this method only applies to stages one through four within a major realm.

If you are at stage five, no amount of demon crystals will help you.

After all, what you need is not just energy, but also a "flash of inspiration."

"Rustle~"

Lu Ran weighed the heavy backpack, listening to the crisp and pleasant sound.

It was full, entirely full of love!

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping across face after face; seeing the expressions of encouragement or blessing on his teammates' faces, Lu Ran couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

In the future, when his teammates touch the bottlenecks of their minor stages, he must definitely slay more evil spirits and collect more demon crystals.

To repay them double!

As for this large bag before him, Master Ran would accept it first.

Before participating in "Heavenly Pride," whether I can break through and promote depends entirely on this!

Asking for some monthly tickets~

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(End of Chapter)