Chapter 489: The Shattered Blade Spirit

Upgrading a weapon to a Divine Weapon takes at most a few hours.

While Lu Ran was still conducting interrogations, he felt the surrounding mist growing increasingly thin.

Did the Great Da Da Mengyan succeed?

"Sect Master!" Soon after, Deng Deng Yuxiang pushed open the door and entered with long, striding steps.

Lu Ran's eyes couldn't help but light up.

The woman had first slain her enemy with her own hands, and now cultivated a Divine Weapon to advance; at this moment, she was brimming with high spirits.

Her momentum was extremely fierce!

One must remember, the Council Hall was pitch black.

Yet when Lu Ran saw Deng Deng Yuxiang, he felt she was so brilliantly dazzling.

Good, good, good.

Recalling her shattered state after the battle at Lord Bei Feng City, how wretched had Deng Deng Yuxiang been?

Now, this beautiful camellia flower had finally bloomed once more.

My own merit certainly played no small part in this!

Happy~

Lu Ran secretly rejoiced.

Deng Deng Yuxiang did not possess night vision, but as a powerful martial artist, she could feel someone's gazing eyes.

Unblinking.

As if admiring herself?

"Sect Master," Deng Deng Yuxiang came before Lu Ran and called out softly.

"Ah, it's done?" Lu Ran came back to his senses.

"Mn." Deng Deng Yuxiang drew out the broken blade and released her grip.

The broken blade, about 1.3 meters long, hung quietly suspended in mid-air.

The current Zhan Ye Dao possessed a unique kind of beauty.

The hilt remained only over 20 centimeters, while the blade body was left at about 1.1 meters; both the bottom of the hilt and the tip were slanted and uneven.

At a glance, it was simply a shattered blade.

But upon closer inspection, this blade that should have been scrapped and remelted was actually a Divine Weapon?

"Whoosh~" Suddenly, a surge of energy flowed.

From within the broken blade, a phantom figure diffused outward—the Zhan Ye Dao Spirit!

In an instant, the temperature throughout the entire Council Hall plummeted, as if plunging into an ice cave.

Lu Ran secretly clicked his tongue; looking at the blade spirit before him, it was unmistakably a God of Slaughter.

Immediately after, Lu Ran felt puzzled in his heart.

A blade spirit's appearance follows its master, sharing nine parts similarity with Deng Deng Yuxiang.

But this blade spirit... it was actually shattered?

To this day, Lu Ran had seen many weapon spirits of Divine Weapons and artifacts, yet he had never seen one whose body was covered in crack patterns!

What?

"She is a bit special," Lu Ran said softly.

"Mn," Deng Deng Yuxiang replied softly, naturally clear about the state of the Zhan Ye Dao Spirit.

The blade spirit stretched its limbs, using its illusory body to encompass the inverted Zhan Ye Dao.

Such slow movements made Lu Ran secretly worry, fearing she might accidentally shatter completely.

Humans are indeed visual creatures.

Lu Ran immediately realized that this was a blade spirit; if the Divine Weapon was not shattered, how could she shatter?

Mn... let's just consider it a set of skin.

Beautiful in a very eerie way.

Thinking this in his heart, Lu Ran observed carefully.

The cracked patterns on the blade spirit's body looked exactly like the shattered blade body of the Zhan Ye Dao after the battle at Lord Bei Feng City.

It was just that later, Deng Deng Yuxiang had entrusted disciples of the Tianchenyi Sect to repair the crack patterns on the blade body.

But Deng Deng Yuxiang had not fully restored the Zhan Ye Dao, nor returned it to its terrifying specification of 2.8 meters.

Perhaps, she wished to constantly remind herself of that painful failure she had once experienced.

"You..." Lu Ran reached out his hand, attempting to grasp the shattered palm of the blade spirit, "Why do you look like this?"

Alas, the blade spirit was illusory.

Lu Ran's hand passed right through her palm.

As everyone knows: a blade is an extension of the wielder's thoughts.

The so-called 'spirit follows the master' naturally refers to more than just similar appearance.

The blade spirit, boiling with killing intent, perceived the Lu Ran before her; her stiff facial lines softened slightly, her gaze also became gentle, and she asked softly in return:

"Should I not be like this?"

Lu Ran: "..."

It felt like speaking to another Deng Deng Yuxiang.

Moreover, this Deng Deng Yuxiang carried even heavier killing intent.

Lu Ran very much wanted to ask whether this Zhan Ye Dao Spirit and the previous Zhan Ye Dao Spirit were the same one.

But he held back again and again, still not daring to ask rashly.

"We already have a direction for growth." Deng Deng Yuxiang casually raised her hand. "The blade spirit has expressed its will to me."

Her slender fingers swept across the illusory blade spirit, tracing strand after strand of energy within it.

"What is it?" Lu Ran looked at the woman.

Deng Deng Yuxiang gripped the hilt of the broken blade; the Zhan Ye Dao blade spirit, obeying its master's intent, slowly merged back into the broken steel.

She said softly, "To restore the broken blade."

Lu Ran nodded thoughtfully.

Then from this moment on, the two characters 'Zhan Ye' would no longer carry meanings like 'severing the Immortal Eye.'

Zhan Ye was now simply a proper noun.

It represented that divine weapon before its fall—the Zhan Ye Great Blade.

Was this the direction of the divine weapon realm that this master and this blade wished to cultivate?

This was Lu Ran's speculation, and also his question.

Deng Deng Yuxiang neither confirmed nor denied; she silently slung the broken blade across her back, walked behind Lu Ran's chair, and asked, "Are you advancing?"

"Yes." Seeing that Deng Deng Yuxiang would not elaborate, Lu Ran did not press further.

Deng Deng Yuxiang removed Lu Ran's bamboo hat, pressed her cool fingers against his head, and gently began to massage it.

Thick-skinned people get to enjoy everything!

At this moment, Lu Ran was already accepting this care with a clear conscience.

Technician Deng's technique had evolved; not only did she massage his temples, but she also gently pressed his scalp.

It felt quite comfortable~

Looking back on the years since they first met and lived together, it seemed both parties were quite indulgent toward each other?

Lu Ran closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "I feel I am close to advancing as well; I am nearly touching the bottleneck of cultivation."

Deng Deng Yuxiang said, "Then let us return early."

Now that Luo Tiantu Mountain had been destroyed and their grudges resolved, the two could indeed begin their return journey.

Lu Ran weighed the Soul Prison in his hand. "After we extract all the intelligence and raid their home, we will head back."

"Mm, alright."

Knowing Lu Ran was in poor condition, Deng Deng Yuxiang voluntarily took over the interrogation duties.

Regarding the two captives, Luo Luo Tiantu and Lady Kong, Deng Deng Yuxiang interrogated them separately to ensure the intelligence provided by both was accurate.

The reality was that neither the husband nor the wife dared to lie.

This objectively demonstrated that Lu Ran's methods were quite cruel.

A single soul flame was enough that even a great expert of the Sea Realm could not withstand it; they would obediently reveal everything they knew, terrified of suffering the soul flame's scorching again.

The Luo-Kong couple had lorded it over this place for more than ten years; indeed, they had plenty of goods stashed away.

Lu Ran listened with great relish.

After one night passed, the realm of Master Yu Fu's divine statue within Lu Ran's sculpture garden stabilized at Jiang Jing · Stage Four!

Obviously, the quality of the eight Master Yu Fu disciples that Luo Luo Tiantu had kept by his side was far higher than that of the Master Yu Fu disciples left guarding the mountain.

Those previous eleven Master Yu Fu disciples were only worthy of pushing the Master Yu Fu divine statue to Jiang Jing · Stage One.

Luo Tiantu Mountain was undoubtedly an organization with a strict hierarchy.

The lowly bandit masses at the bottom truly could not get their hands on any lucrative gains.

Since everyone planned to return, Lu Ran did not rush to absorb the souls of Luo Luo Tiantu and Lady Kong.

Holding a Soul Prison in each hand, he led the couple through a thorough plundering of Luo Tiantu Mountain, then sent the two departed souls into the Reincarnation Coin.

One day later, a Xiong Xiong fire blazed up on Luo Tiantu Mountain.

Before setting the fire, Deng Deng Yuxiang specifically requested permission from Lu Ran, saying she wanted to completely destroy this place.

Lu Ran expressed his agreement, while feeling a surge of emotion in his heart:

"Luo Luo Tiantu, oh Luo Luo Tiantu, why did you have to provoke her?"

Not only killing your people and imprisoning your soul, but also raiding your home and burning down your mountain!

The codename 'Da Da Mengyan' was indeed chosen correctly.

When it came to dealing with enemies, this Divine Lie Tian Lietian Daniu was truly ruthless!

Thus, the place where Luo Luo Tiantu had lorded it over others was reduced to ashes by Deng Deng Yuxiang.

The members of the Ran Sect then carried their spoils of war all the way back to Cloud Sea Cliff.

The spoils of war could be divided into four major categories.

First were clothes and shoes, second were gold, silver, and jewels, third were various blades and weapons, and fourth were Divine Power Beads.

In Lu Ran's eyes, the value of the first two categories was far inferior to that of the latter two.

As for Shen Bing Fa artifacts, one might as well stop dreaming.

If there were any good items, Luo Luo Tiantu and Lady Kong would have kept them for themselves.

However, among all the weapons seized by the Ran Sect, Lu Ran actually found one embryo of a divine weapon!

It did not come from Luo Tiantu Mountain's weapon vault, but was the square-tipped halberd held by the female disciple of Most Dongting during the battle on the fifteenth night.

Unfortunately, no one in the Ran Sect used a halberd.

Mm... let's take it back first and store it in the treasure vault of Cloud Sea Cliff.

Waiting quietly for a destined person!

By the time the members of the Ran Sect returned to Cloud Sea Cliff, it was already the twentieth day of the seventh month.

Jing Hong, who was guarding the base, felt both joy and bewilderment; she led the Ghost General squad forward to welcome them.

The joy was because my lord, the Sect Master, had returned.

She knew all too well that within this Holy Spirit Mountain Realm, she would never find another organization like the Ran Sect.

If anything were to happen to Lu Ran and the others, for the rest of her life, she did not know what kind of enslavement or torture awaited her, or if she would simply be left to rot in the mountains and forests.

Her bewilderment stemmed from the fact that Lu Ran was draped in a black-and-gold imperial robe.

What a majestic and noble appearance he cut, radiating an air of supreme aristocracy!

Within the sweeping hem of his oversized robe, a huge bundle of weapons was tightly wrapped.

Steel constantly clashed against steel, making a clattering sound.

This appearance was the result of Lu Ran's careful deliberation.

He had originally intended to wear that sexy, revealing big red dress and use thousands of red silk threads to bind a large quantity of weapons.

Hmm... Lu Ran didn't dare.

Cross-dressing also had its levels.

Before everyone, wearing a grand red ceremonial cape was not the same concept as donning a bewitching, sexy big red dress!

It was a bit shameful~

After arriving at the base, Lu Ran led everyone in dividing the spoils... uh, distributing the loot!

In this battle, the Ran Sect had captured over two hundred Divine Power Beads.

Added to the Divine Power Beads everyone already possessed, the Ran Sect could now be said to have achieved "Divine Power Bead freedom."

To be honest, if Luo Luo Tiantu's squad hadn't been blasted into slag by multiple Reach Sea Realm techniques, the number of Divine Power Beads the Ran Sect captured would have at least doubled!

Afterwards, Lu Ran distributed the clothing and shoes, specifically giving Xiang Xiang Luoying much more.

She still had children at home, after all.

Since everyone was either at the Jiang Jing realm or the Reach Sea Realm, wearing grass clothes and straw shoes didn't matter much.

But the children, with their tender skin and flesh, would surely feel very comfortable wearing the soft clothes and shoes from the mortal world.

Xiang Xiang Luoying did not refuse, repeatedly thanking Lu Ran.

The Sect Master's care for the children was clear to everyone, and no one raised any objections.

As for weapons, gold, silver, and jewels...

Lu Ran declared that everyone could help themselves!

However, no one touched anything; only Jing Hong finally found a weapon she liked, selecting a crescent moon blade.

As a small leader of the Demon Cult squad, stationed day and night guarding the sea cliffs, she had ample time to learn techniques from the Ghost General clan.

Lu Ran naturally gave his wholehearted approval, raising both hands in support.

After arranging everything, Lu Ran obtained the departed souls of Luo Luo Tiantu and the Lady Kong from Deng Deng Yuxiang.

Then, supporting his buzzing brain, he teleported into the secluded cultivation chamber.

The Master Yu Fu divine statue inside the Sculpture Garden was already at Jiang Jing · Stage Four; now, swallowing the departed souls of the Luo and Kong couple...

Lu Ran was very confident that his Master Yu Fu divine statue would definitely advance to the Reach Sea Realm!

"Ah~" In the pitch-black secluded cultivation chamber, Lu Ran lay flat on his back directly on the ground.

Specifically, to which stage of the Reach Sea Realm would it upgrade?

Come on, Master Yu Fu!

Please be sure to shock me...

Lu Ran emptied his mind, his gaze gradually becoming unfocused, returning to the state he had been in when setting out to sea, on the Immortal Island.

Being an idiot.

Waiting for a miracle.

During this double points period, I'm asking for some monthly votes.

(End of Chapter)