Summit of the Old Gods

First Layer of Heaven, Southern Region.

Lu Ran concealed his form, instantaneously teleporting along the way, when suddenly his figure stopped.

"Well, well~" Lu Ran grinned slightly.

He saw beyond several tens of kilometers the Divine Mountain, where yellow and white paper money was fluttering in the air.

If he were in the Human World, Lu Ran would certainly not look twice if he encountered someone burning paper. If he encountered someone scattering paper money along the road, he would also definitely put away his smile and detour around it.

Being born human, the most basic reverence still should be given.

But here?

Lu Ran had no taboos, heading straight for the flurry of paper money.

As he got closer, the situation on the Divine Mountain came fully into his view.

This place was called "Pear Garden Divine Mountain," because the lead mountain-guarding general belonged to the Martial Artist-Yin Flower Dan factions.

First-class God Demon!

"Tsk, tsk~" Lu Ran watched the Martial Artist-Yin Flower Dan henchmen wreaking havoc everywhere and couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration.

He squinted his eyes and saw many tall, thin, pale shriveled corpses — Ghostly Eyes Ghost.

On the skin of these pallid corpses were stretched layers of phantom shadows.

They looked like middle-aged men, wearing yellow robes, with handlebar mustaches above their lips, a goatee on their chin, and whiskers on both sides of their cheeks, all complete!

Each of them had eyes that shone like torches, their hands either scattering paper money or wielding a whip to drive corpses, or holding a stick to beat.

There were even some dinging a gong and some folding paper horses...

Ninth-class God·Corpse Suppressing Official!

Also the two sides of the same coin of the ninth-class Evil Demon·Ghostly Eyes Ghost.

Those fluttering paper monies were toll money and quite a rare dual-effect skill.

At first, this method enabled rudimentary perception effects, then anything living that was touched by the paper money would experience slight soul stings.

This was how the "toll" was paid.

The fiercely lashing whips were corpse-driving whips. Lashing them onto the target would also cause slight soul stings.

The Ghostly Eyes Ghost clan had low intelligence and were hard to communicate with.

The Corpse Suppressing Official used the whip to drive each Ghostly Eyes Ghost to act.

The club shadows smashing in mid-air were called mourning sticks.

They were considered a rare remarkable skill of the Corpse Suppressing Official faction. Although it had no physical output effect, the club shadows landing on living beings could evoke the pain of losing a loved one.

One had to admit, this kind of spiritual output was indeed insidious.

The problem was, this method had no effect on God Demon henchmen or the Faceless Jade Venerable!

They did have a knack for messing with people's minds though...

As for the ringing copper gongs, those were road-opening Yin gongs, and when the gongs sounded, the beings within a certain range would be pushed away by an invisible force.

Even though the effect was like this, whether they could really push away enemies... well, that's another matter.

On this Heavenly Realm Battlefield, the most useful Divine Technique for the Corpse Suppressing Official faction was the "Soul Ferrying Paper Horse".

Those paper horses, capable of collecting souls into the paper, would carry them back to the Divine Mountain.

Lu Ran tried to recall the six Divine Techniques of the Corpse Suppressing Official faction.

Huh?

Why was one missing?

Toll money, corpse-driving whip, mourning stick, road-opening Yin gong, soul ferrying paper horse... oh, right!

There was also a Spirit Defense Technique.

"Hmph." Lu Ran coldly snorted.

Some Gods were ranked ninth to hide their strengths; some Gods stayed in the ninth rank because they indeed belonged there.

Counting the various techniques of the Corpse Suppressing Official faction, only the Spirit Defense Technique·Corpse Suppressing Heart barely made the cut for being decent.

With all the dinging Yin gongs and folding paper horses...

It sure was lively?

"Bang! Bang!"

"Boom!" Lu Ran followed the sound of explosions and saw a cyan-gold pill furnace.

Floating beside the pill furnace was the phantom of an old man.

Ninth-class God Demon: Pill Master - Cyan-Gold Furnace!

Lu Ran was somewhat familiar with the Pill Master faction, as he had rescued a Pill Master disciple from a wolf den in Holy Spirit Mountain before.

If another Sect Master had captured a Pill Master disciple, they would likely resort to consuming pills daily, indulging in drunken and dreamy states.

However, Lu Ran had little interest in elixirs.

After all, high-quality elixirs required human clan corpses as raw materials, and those crafted from rare herbs and flowers were not satisfactory in effect.

Moreover, the most famous elixir, the "Drunken Life Pill," particularly repulsed Lu Ran.

This pill could immerse a person in an incredibly realistic and wondrous illusion, fulfilling every deep-seated desire.

Taking this pill was almost equivalent to being reborn in an Otherworld.

Once the effect wore off, one would gradually wake up, having lost everything.

One would become obsessed with seeking the elixir, trying to return to the "Otherworld," where one's most perfect life and every desire and thought existed...

Lu Ran had self-awareness and knew well that he was a person of deep obsession.

If he ever got entangled even once, his life would probably be ruined!

"Two Gods with four burdens, huh?"

Lu Ran slowly floated closer, his expression growing increasingly strange.

No wonder the Martial Artist-Yin Flower Dan faction was a first-class God Demon!

The Corpse Suppressing Official, Ghostly Eyes Ghost, Pill Master, and Cyan-Gold Furnace were a total of four ninth-class God Demons, each weaker in combat than the last.

Which ordinary God could possibly lead them?

Lu Ran observed for a moment before flying straight upwards, piercing through the thick cloud sea, arriving at the Second Heaven.

"Haha~" It's indeed true that when one is speechless, they tend to laugh.

The Pear Garden Divine Mountain in the Second Heaven saw even more intense battle.

Looking around, there were those singing opera, holding funerals, and a group selling elixirs...

The opera singers yowling, the mourners beating gongs and folding paper horses, the sellers holding steaming pill furnaces, with the lids clattering!

What a bustling scene~

The Faceless Jade Venerable clan fit right into this locale.

Because they were dressed entirely in white...

Lu Ran gazed at the gap in the Cloud Sea above the Divine Mountain. Through the drifting paper money, he aimed for the Third Heaven, his figure darting forward.

In an instant, the world fell silent.

"Ah~" Lu Ran felt completely at ease and lifted his gaze towards the swirling dark clouds.

There would always be minions of the Evil Demon sliding down the mountain wall. Lu Ran just needed to wait a while and lock onto the vortex where the Ghostly Eyes Ghost resided.

He calmed down and watched, while transmitting a message in his mind: [How is it going? Have you come up with a battle strategy?]

Yu Changsheng responded: [Sect Leader, the most threatening skills of the Ghostly Eyes Ghost are its Pupil Skill and the Corpse Decay Poison it spits out.

We only need to make some adjustments, deploy people with Spirit Defense Techniques and Purification techniques, and use high-speed movement to certainly take down this Evil God without harm.]

[Hmm.] Lu Ran nodded quietly, [Tell me specifically, who is Ran Sect sending for this battle?]

Yu Changsheng immediately said: [Apart from the Sect Leader, we can send out four groups of warriors. One group is Lady and the Xuan Shuang Guard.

The second group is Elder Lu Yuan, Mad Immortal Guardian, and myself; the third group is Heavenly General Huangfu, Cold Heavenly General, and Luo Divine General. All are configured for speed, purification, and output.

Heavenly General Yan forms a solo group to disrupt the Evil God...]

After listening attentively, Lu Ran approved of such a battle plan and transmitted: [The Ghostly Eyes Ghost is located at the Pear Garden Divine Mountain, where Martial Artist-Yin Flower Dan is stationed.

I once visited the Southeast Front, coincidentally when the Faceless Jade Venerable attacked Nu Ying. At that time, Martial Artist and Yin Flower Dan's support was particularly rapid!]

If these two great deities could quickly reach the Southeast Front, it goes without saying they could swiftly arrive at the neighboring vortex on the same Divine Mountain.

Once these two deities arrive, it would become quite troublesome!

Lu Ran's voice was serious as he continued: [For this battle, it must be resolved swiftly and decisively! Does everyone understand?]

[Yes!]

[Understood!] The Fake Gods in the garden all responded.

Lu Ran responded in satisfaction and suddenly his gaze sharpened as he saw withered corpse-like figures falling from the vortex in the dark clouds.

He waited a moment, then his figure flashed into the vortex beneath it.

"Ugh." Lu Ran hurriedly covered his mouth with one hand.

A foul stench of corpse decay directly invaded his nostrils.

In the pitch-dark night, a desolate territory was filled with a faint green corpse gas, although it did not cover the vortex's entrance and exit, the smell was undeniable.

Lu Ran resisted the waves of nausea, looking up and seeing a pitch-black curtain along the mountain wall.

He wasted no time and immediately shot upward.

Going directly from the lower Demon Cave to the upper Demon Cave.

The instant he entered, Lu Ran's eyes widened!

The Evil God Ghostly Eyes Ghost stood atop a stone pillar, surrounded by faint corpse gas, constantly corroding Lu Ran's Water Flow Armor.

Lu Ran, wielding his Divine Weapon, promptly flew to the side.

Until he flew out of the Evil God's position, Lu Ran was astonished to find that his Heavenly Grade Water Flow Armor had suffered little damage.

The Divine Grade corpse gas cast by the Evil God's own deity was actually this weak?

"Ugh~" Lu Ran tightly covered his mouth with one hand.

He also wanted to endure, but the physiological nausea really made Lu Ran suffer.

[You've changed your target.] Suddenly, a hoarse voice dropped in his mind.

[Lord Immortal Sheep...I'll slay the god first, explain to you later. I really can't stay in this wretched place for even a moment!] Lu Ran's face looked very uncomfortable.

He had already shut down the Evil Sense, reducing his sense of smell again and again, but his stomach still churned violently.

[Hmm.] Immortal Sheep responded casually, without stopping him.

Lu Ran steadied his mind, opened his Simurgh Eyes, and quickly surveyed all around.

Inside the Ghostly Eyes Demon Cave, there were no signs of flowers, grass, or trees, only an endless barren wasteland and the faint tang of corpse gas everywhere.

[All combat personnel, prepare!] Lu Ran turned around and looked at the Evil God Ghostly Eyes Ghost.

Even though it was made of stone, it still appeared thin and withered, with those long, sharp fingernails making Lu Ran's skin crawl!

"Swish~"

After understanding the surrounding situation, Lu Ran's figure flashed, appearing eight hundred meters behind the Ghostly Eyes Ghost.

[3...2...Kill!!]

With Lu Ran's command, in an instant, several stone sculptures in the Sculpture Garden disappeared without a trace.

"Huh?" The Ghostly Eyes Ghost turned its head to look behind, instantly dumbfounded.

A pile of stone sculptures!

A pile?!

Where did this bunch come from?

Their appearance was no different from gods and demons, with stone bodies large and majestic, but...

Why didn't it recognize them?

The Ghostly Eyes Ghost was already not the brightest bulb, and now it couldn't grasp the situation at all.

"Zzz~zz~" Thunder and lightning wrapped around Heavenly General Huangfu's feet, as he grabbed Cold Tianxing and Luo Ying and dashed to the left.

"Woosh!" Lu Yuan, holding a flower blooming in his hand, led Si Xianxian and Yu Changsheng teleporting to the right.

Only the Xuan Shuang Guard, embracing Lady, flew straight ahead.

"Ugh!"

The Ghostly Eyes Ghost was shocked, although its intelligence wasn't high, instinct still remained, and it could sense the thick killing intent!

Green liquid oozed from its mouth, and a mouthful of corpse decay poison spewed forth.

"Woosh!!"

Countless plum petals fluttered down, Cold Xushuang left afterimages in mid-air, carrying Jiang Ruyi diagonally up.

Facing the rapidly approaching mouthful of corpse decay poison, Yan Chou instead pressed forward rather than retreat!

His body slightly leaning forward, moved directly through.

A massive stone sculpture body suddenly appeared above and behind the Ghostly Eyes Ghost!

The Ghostly Eyes Ghost reflexively turned its head sharply.

And at this moment,

the stars and arrows from the west, the Fiery Fire Hammer from the east, and the oncoming talismans from the south... began the assault!

"Snap!"

Lu Ran grabbed the Eight Desolate Blade, injecting it with a strong divine power.

In this battle, swift and decisive victory is a must!

First Divine Weapon Domain·Eight Directions Annihilation, activate!

"Buzz!!"

...