Summit of the Old Gods

The next day, early morning.

Lu Ran arrived at the council hall early, and was seated behind the desk, fiddling with the Cloud Sea Blade.

As his fingertips brushed over the blade, the Cloud Sea Blade occasionally trembled slightly.

Was it responding to its owner?

However, such a level of feedback could barely be defined as a "Divine Weapon Seed"; to become a true Divine Weapon, the Cloud Sea Blade still had a long way to go.

[Master, Elder Bai requests an audience.] Suddenly, a voice transmitted into his mind.

"Enter." Lu Ran laid the Cloud Sea Blade flat on the desk and looked towards the grand doors of the council hall.

An elderly figure, tall and thin with white hair, came into view.

Guided by the Divine·Earth Trace Sword, Bai Yanhui walked to the center of the hall and respectfully bowed: "This old man greets the Sect Leader."

"Elder Bai, how do you feel today?" Lu Ran went straight to the point.

"Please wait a moment, Sect Leader." Bai Yanhui raised his aging hands and expertly formed a seal.

An illusory Da Xia character "Heart" spread out from his body.

"Hoo~"

Lu Ran quietly observed the blind elder, seeing clearly how Elder Bai resembled a Caster's true form.

His white hair and beard, yet he was strikingly spirited.

In his long white robe, he indeed appeared immortal-like!

Eighty-something, full of wrinkles, yet giving off an incredibly handsome impression...

Perhaps, this is the legendary "atmosphere"?

"This old man feels peaceful and hasn't noticed anything amiss," Bai Yanhui slowly spoke.

"Oh?" Lu Ran tightened his grip on the handle.

Bai Yanhui respectfully bowed again: "I wish the Sect Leader victory in battle."

"Good!" Lu Ran felt a surge inside, unexpected, today was the perfect day to sweep clean Sword Ridge Peak!

He immediately ordered: "Evil Shadow, inform the warriors, gather in the council hall in half an hour!"

[Yes!]

Not even needing half an hour, merely a few minutes later, everyone had gathered in the council hall.

Lu Ran wasted no time, moving to the center of the hall, raising his hand to cast a spell.

"Hoo~"

The Ancient Bronze Mirror quietly appeared, rapidly changing nature, transforming into a floor-length mirror.

Deng Yuxiang took the lead, stepping into an icy, snowy landscape.

Snow fog filled the sky, obscuring the sun.

The biting wind akin to small knives blowing across Deng Yuxiang's face.

She vigilantly scanned the surroundings, immediately recognizing the place.

On their last attack on Sword Ridge Peak, they stood atop this snowy mountain, turning Sword Ridge Peak, twenty to thirty kilometers away, into a chaotic mess.

"Hm?" Deng Yuxiang softly voiced her doubt.

She looked northeast, but did not see the towering peaks piercing the clouds.

The North Wind Sect's base was indeed grand!

Not only were there four peaks in all directions, but the main peak even touched the sky, reaching the vast Cloud Sea.

Very conspicuous coordinates.

But now...

Where are the peaks?

"Ah?" Lu Ran was equally astonished, gazing at the former site of Sword Ridge Peak.

"I didn't transmit to the wrong location!" Lu Ran's expression turned sour.

Sword Ridge Peak... was gone?

After the last battle, the North Wind Sect suffered heavy losses, and simply relocated?

"You stay here, I'll go take a look." Lu Ran said in a deep voice.

"Conceal yourself." Jiang Ruyi did not stop him but advised.

"Mm." Lu Ran's figure quietly vanished.

With the Divine Technique·Wolf Concealment activated, any skill Lu Ran employed would cause divine power fluctuations.

However, despite the fluctuations, his invisibility remained.

Several simple flashes later, Lu Ran stood on the south side of the frozen Ice River.

He and the Big Nightmare had previously been searched by North Wind disciples in the Snow Forest back then, and were required to kneel and submit.

Now, the world has changed.

Lu Ran's gaze skimmed over the Ice River, looked north, and saw the collapsed mountains...

Last time, the Ran Sect members indeed caused damage to Sword Ridge Peak, but the mountains remained tall and firm, not destroyed so severely.

Now, the five peaks, including the main one, were all damaged!

Some peaks had collapsed.

Some still stood stubbornly, but had been cut off!

The cross-sections covered in thick snow, resembling "flat tops."

"Whoosh~"

Lu Ran's figure flashed again, stepping onto the collapsed mountain body.

"No way!" His heart sank.

He initially thought the North Wind Sect had moved.

But seeing the situation, Sword Ridge Peak clearly underwent a fierce battle!

Did another sect arrive first, annihilating Sword Ridge Peak ahead of Ran Sect?

Lu Ran pondered quickly.

Who could possess such power to destroy the North Wind Sect's base?

Sword One One Sect?

But that group of ruthless female sword immortals was afar!

Could it be the Mountain Lord Sect?

Both are Second-class God sects, and these two powerful cults have always been at odds.

In the Human World of Da Xia, Divine·Mountain Lord and Divine·North Wind's territories border each other, their two powerful divine sculptures are merely two hundred kilometers apart!

No weak god sect to act as a "buffer," unique to Da Xia.

In Holy Spirit Mountain, while Lu Ran hadn't encountered Mountain Lord disciples, he had pertinent information, knowing the Mountain Lord sect's base was also in the northeast of the continent.

Damn!

The more he thought, the worse Lu Ran's expression became.

After further searching, Lu Ran activated the transmission mirror again, and Ran Sect warriors filed out, quickly surveying the surroundings.

"There's no one here." Lu Ran said solemnly.

Anyone could tell, the Sect Leader's mood was bleak.

Deng Yuxiang, Yan Shuangzi, and others also looked grim.

Yu Changsheng suggested: "Sect Leader, let's conduct a detailed search, see if we can find some valuable information."

"Mm, don't act alone, be cautious." As he spoke, Lu Ran noticed Bai Yanhui among the crowd.

The old man's calm demeanor, was it because this expedition had no enemy?

"Pop~"

A pale golden fish soared upwards, golden beams quietly descended.

Yu Changsheng's expression turned grave as he discovered a corpse amidst the collapsed mountain.

"Damn it!"

Yu Changsheng secretly lamented; the scenario he least wanted to see appeared.

He cleared away the rubble to reveal a frozen body.

This was a middle-aged man dressed in white, with bloody holes on his body.

Such attire indicated that he was a disciple of the North Wind.

This face, frozen stiff, still bore an expression of terror as if he had seen something horrifying before he died.

"Sigh..." Yu Changsheng sighed heavily in his heart.

If there were no corpses here, everyone could believe that the Sword Ridge Peak had relocated entirely and destroyed its old site.

But the reality lay before them, buried within the collapsed mountainside were one corpse after another...

This once again confirmed that the Sword Ridge Peak was attacked!

In this way,

what will happen to the Evil Shadow Guardian...

The Sword Ridge Peak left too many scars on Yan Shuangzi.

Pain that pierces the heart and gnaws the bones, indelible.

After enduring endless humiliation, Yan Shuangzi finally amassed enough strength and, full of rage, came for revenge, only to find that her enemies were already annihilated.

How could her knot in the heart ever be untied?

Someone else slaughtered the Sword Ridge Peak, how could that count as her own revenge?

Though it's said that life has more disappointments than fulfillments.

Yet this filthy world has been far too cruel to Yan Shuangzi.

"Swish..."

Yu Changsheng pushed aside the frozen rubble and saw another disciple in white.

But this time, the corpse was only half intact.

Yu Changsheng looked up, gazing at Lu Ran standing by the pit's edge, their eyes meeting, sharing a mutual understanding.

"Whoosh~"

Yan Shuangzi gripped the crow blade fiercely, her figure vanishing.

Lu Ran turned his head, opened his mouth.

Looking at the desolate snowfield, he hesitated for a long time and finally didn't send a voice transmission.

This scene was an unbearable blow to Yan Shuangzi.

"What kind of wound is this?" Jiang Ruyi asked with furrowed brows.

Yu Changsheng lifted the corpse, examining the bloody holes closely.

From the side came the icy voice of Deng Yuxiang: "Knife wound, or sword wound."

"Hmm." Yu Changsheng nodded, looking at the other half of the corpse, which was cut in half; the incision was very smooth.

"Too few samples." Lu Ran casually activated the transmission mirror, instructing, "Hall Master Jing, go get Xiong Xiong and the others."

"Yes!" Jing Hong immediately walked into the mirror.

Deputy Hall Master Xiong, Shi Yong, and Shi Biao were all Shanwei believers, equipped with Perception Techniques: Mountain's Intent, capable of understanding surface and subsurface information.

In no time, Jing Hong returned with the trio, promptly beginning their work.

"I'll check on Shuangzi." Deng Yuxiang's voice remained cold.

"Let me." Lu Ran said deeply, "You're about to explode yourself, can't comfort anyone."

Deng Yuxiang suppressed the turmoil within, speaking softly: "Do you know where she is?"

Lu Ran nodded silently, flickering away.

When he reappeared, he was in the depression between two peaks.

Although most of the mountain had collapsed and the pointed peak was gone, the cave located in the middle and lower part of the steep cliff persisted stubbornly, like a stubborn illness.

This cave was once where Yan Shuangzi was imprisoned.

At that time, she was forced to tear up her contract, deprived of flying techniques, it was truly a dead-end.

Of course, even if she could fly, the prison guards watching her daily wouldn't let her escape.

Lu Ran floated slowly forward, landing at the cave entrance, and indeed saw a figure standing silently.

She was fearfully silent, gazing at the northwest corner of the cave, unmoved.

That was where she once lay, living without dignity, awaiting death.

"Whoosh!!"

The cold wind, as always, poured into the cave through the entrance.

Blowing over Yan Shuangzi, as if also blowing over the thin, emaciated woman in the corner.

The disheveled-haired woman did not shiver.

Not due to habit.

Before her physical death, her spirit had already been tortured to collapse, thoroughly destroyed.

"I." Lu Ran gently reminded, fearing this silent trapped beast would stab back.

Yan Shuangzi, like a sculpture, remained unresponsive.

Lu Ran stepped forward, reaching towards her back, but paused mid-air.

Full two seconds passed before his palm finally landed on her back.

Yan Shuangzi's body trembled slightly.

"Evil Shadow..." Lu Ran started to speak but abruptly stopped.

Only when he stood beside her, seeing her profile did he realize her face was already covered in tears.

No sound, no sobbing.

She just stood silently, looking at herself in the corner, battered, like a dead dog, motionless.

Scalding tears burst out uncontrollably.

She finally returned.

With a heart of vengeance, with those closest to her, she had come back to kill.

But the one who cruelly tortured her was no longer there.

Pain, despair.

Powerlessness.

The familiar feeling surged in, this place that once imprisoned her once again left her thoroughly scarred.

Why?

Why is the heavens treating me this way...

"Elder Xing is a Sea Realm Great Power, won't die so easily." A gentle voice came from beside her.

Yan Shuangzi turned her head slowly like a lost puppet.

Tear-blurred eyes could only see a vague outline.

Yan Shuangzi undoubtedly was a resilient woman.

At this moment, her near-broken appearance made Lu Ran's heart ache intensely.

"The peak masters and sect elders of Sword Ridge Peak are all Sea Realm, they won't die easily." Lu Ran softly repeated, "We dig out all the bodies, and you identify them one by one, okay?"

"What if...he really...is dead...?"

Lu Ran fell silent.

He gently embraced her, pressing her tear-drenched face against his shoulder, holding her by the nape.

Lu Ran's gentle eyes turned indescribably grim.

No way,

The North Wind Sea Realm disciples fly very fast.

They escape quickly.

Lu Ran kept comforting himself.

But if that old wretch was really dead, then his soul returned to the embrace of the North Wind.

North Wind...

North Wind!!

...