After dealing with the two devils and Mei Nu, Lin Ran strode to the Heavenly Lake. Vast sacred beast power surged into the lake, breaking the seal Ming Ye had placed there, and he retrieved the Marrow-Cleansing Seal.
"Wow! There are so many spirit carp in this Heavenly Lake. Let's roast some fish!"
Lin Ran took a look. There really were! But he still had something else to do first.
Following the principle of wasting nothing, Lin Ran swept out his sacred beast power, obliterating all the lesser demons and devils in the Shangqing Divine Realm and earning over a million Origin Points. He nodded in satisfaction and shrank his body.
"Jump in and catch some fish. Let's see who catches the most!"
"Master, wait for my good news!" Linglong plunged headfirst into the Heavenly Lake. Before long, she leaped out of the water carrying a carp as tall as a person.
Not to be outdone, Tantai Jin also caught a large fish. Only Li Susu was a total noob. She floundered around in the Heavenly Lake for ages without touching so much as a fish scale!
"Little White! These fish are picking on me because I swim slowly! Hurry up and teach them a lesson!" Li Susu hugged Lin Ran, rubbing against him in displeasure.
Lin Ran waved a paw, and a whole school of large fish immediately leaped out of the water, flopping endlessly on the ground.
The spirit carp were utterly dumbfounded. What had happened? Why were they jumping onto the shore?
Li Susu gleefully knocked them unconscious and put them into her storage pouch. Two would be enough for them to eat: one for Lin Ran himself and one for the three of them.
The two girls deftly built a fire while Tantai Jin cleaned the fish. Then he skewered them and set them over the fire, sprinkling on seasonings as they roasted.
"Mmm, this is delicious! Our immortal sect only raised two, and they wouldn't even grow big. They didn't taste good at all. Fish raised in this immortal lake really do taste better!"
Linglong spoke with a satisfied expression, unaware that when they had roasted those two spirit carp last time, Immortal Zhaoyou had nearly died of anger. In the end, he had tearfully begged for half a fish tail and devoured it with gusto.
Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, the three people and one tiger lay down on the ground and began their daily slacking off. According to Lin Ran, this was a form of spiritual cultivation, and all three firmly believed him!
"If you want to have some fun, you can stay here a while longer before leaving. If not, we can go now. I've already dealt with all the demons and devils here."
"Let's have fun! Master, Sister Susu, Brother Jin, this is my first time here! And this Divine Realm is so big. There must be other delicious things!"
Once Linglong spoke up, everyone had to give in to her.
And so, for a while afterward, the three people and one tiger began wreaking havoc on the immortal creatures within the Divine Realm, enjoying a good meal every day.
Three months later, Lin Ran teleported them back to the immortal sect. He waited for a while longer, but Susu's bargain-bin father never came to deliver the Heaven-Slaying Sword.
Lin Ran thought back and seemed to realize where the problem lay. In the previous life, Di Mian had escaped because of Tantai Jin and the two devils. Now that the two devils had croaked, was Di Mian trapped and unable to get out?
After letting Little Jinjin know, Lin Ran went alone to the Desolate Abyss. He made a circuit and discovered that quite a few demons and devils had accumulated there again. At one of the seals, he found Di Mian.
"Di Mian, have you been well all these years?"
"Who are you?" Di Mian was somewhat puzzled. He had never met Lin Ran.
"A friend of Susu's. Oh, right, Susu is Chuhuang's daughter." Lin Ran stared at Di Mian with a half-smile.
"Really? Then could you give this to her for me?" Di Mian asked, somewhat excited. Lin Ran looked at it. It was that lousy stone.
"Why don't you ask me to help you escape, so you can give it to her yourself? Besides, Susu now bears the Evil Bone. Immortal Hengyang sent me to find you. He said only your combined strength could seal the Evil Bone."
"What? Susu bears the Evil Bone?"
"Yes. Immortal Hengyang also asked me to find the Heaven-Slaying Sword. Do you know where it is?"
"No. Ever since the Devil God fell, there has been no trace of the Heaven-Slaying Sword. Perhaps it dissipated along with the Devil God," Di Mian said, shaking his head as though he had truly never seen the Heaven-Slaying Sword.
"How could that be? The God-Slaying Crossbow and the Marrow-Cleansing Seal have both been found. Only the Heaven-Slaying Sword is missing now. Once the Evil Bone and all Three Devil Artifacts are sealed, the Devil God will have no hope of reviving."
"Never mind. Tell me how to help you escape. Let's go back and help Susu seal the Evil Bone first."
"The Devil God placed this seal ten thousand years ago. You need to hold it up for me temporarily. Once I'm free, we can combine our strength to shatter it."
"All right!" Lin Ran used his sacred beast power and, after immense effort, finally managed to hold back the seal's power temporarily.
As Di Mian watched Lin Ran struggling bitterly against the seal's power, a cold gleam flashed through his eyes, and he thrust a sword at Lin Ran.
"In the end, you still covet the Devil God's power. You were even willing to murder Chuhuang to obtain power. You truly live up to being one of the Devil God's most capable subordinates." Lin Ran instantly shattered the seal and knocked the Heaven-Slaying Sword away with a swipe of his paw.
"You were bluffing me?" Di Mian asked in shock.
"You could say that. You'll pay with your life for Susu's mother." Lin Ran smashed the object Di Mian had intended for Li Susu with one swipe, then unleashed his full combat power. Di Mian, an ancient demon king, was utterly overwhelmed.
Under Di Mian's unreconciled gaze, Lin Ran smashed his body apart, then obliterated his primordial spirit. Having easily dealt with Di Mian, Lin Ran rose above the Desolate Abyss and immediately unleashed his newly comprehended divine ability, the White Tiger Heaven-Slaughtering Claw.
A white tiger phantom that blotted out the sky and sun towered above the Desolate Abyss. At that moment, all the immortal sect disciples stared in astonishment at the figure looming over it.
Sacred beast power gathered heavily in his right paw. Lin Ran's gaze turned cold, and he slammed it down toward the Desolate Abyss.
After an earth-shaking crash, Lin Ran's Origin Points soared by over four million. The special land known as the Desolate Abyss was reduced to ruins, and no demons or devils would ever be born there again.
"System, how many Origin Points would I get if I left this world now?"
[Host, I'm not too sure before settlement either. If you leave now, it should be around ten million Origin Points.]
"Is there anything else I can do to gain more Origin Points?"
[You can leave behind your legacy, Host. As long as that legacy continues, you can receive an endless stream of Origin Points.]
"That's great! Sustainable development!"
He got straight to work. With the System's help, Lin Ran spent a million Origin Points, and a magnificent sect stood atop the mountain peaks. He nodded in satisfaction and named his sect the Holy Heaven Sect.
After some thought, he decided to appoint Linglong as its first sect master. Once he returned to the Hengyang Sect, Lin Ran told Linglong and the other two about founding the Holy Heaven Sect.
Linglong happily took up the post. Lin Ran assumed his true form, and huge characters condensed from sacred beast power hung high in the sky. Everyone beneath heaven learned of the Holy Heaven Sect's existence.
"I am the founder of the Holy Heaven Sect and the only god in this world. In three months, the Holy Heaven Sect will hold its first disciple selection. Anyone interested may enter their nearest teleportation array and come to Nine Mysteries Mountain to participate!"
His rolling divine voice spread in every direction. Lin Ran looked coldly toward the Chixiao Sect and slammed a paw down directly before its entrance as a warning.
Over the next three months, more and more people arrived near Nine Mysteries Mountain. With too few people to handle everything, Immortal Zhaoyou and Immortal Hengyang also brought outstanding disciples from their sects to help. Of course, they had all come voluntarily. Lin Ran had not forced them! Absolutely not!
Dressed in purple robes, Linglong stood atop the mountain, looking down at everyone participating in the selection.
At Linglong's command, the first selection officially began. It was divided into four stages: the first tested character, the second aptitude, the third whether they possessed immortal bones or the like, and the fourth overall practical combat. The System had prepared all of this, so Linglong and the others only had to use it.
Over a month later, the first selection finally ended, with over five hundred disciples selected in total.
Lin Ran assumed his true form, his terrifying pressure awing all around him. All the immortal sect disciples gazed up at him. Was this the power only a god could possess? Even simply standing there, he made others bow in submission.
"The Holy Heaven Sect has no intention of participating in struggles between immortal sects. Anyone who dares offend the Holy Heaven Sect will be killed without mercy!"
Having built up the Holy Heaven Sect's prestige, Lin Ran could leave with peace of mind. Linglong seemed to sense something was amiss with him and came straight to find him.
"Master! Are you hiding something from me?"
"Uh-there is indeed something I need to tell you. I'm leaving this world."
Looking at Linglong's expression, Lin Ran knew she had not understood his words.
"The myriad worlds are made up of countless worlds. The world we're in now is only one of them. It's already very difficult for me to improve any further here."
"Then can you take me with you? Master, I don't want to be separated from you!"
"Not for now. You need to look after the Holy Heaven Sect for me. Once the sect has developed well and you've reached the Divine Realm yourself, you can call out to me."
Lin Ran left her a jade slip and a token containing his full-powered strike, then gently patted her head with his tiger paw.
"System, settle up!"
[Yes, Host. Settlement in progress------] [Side quest: Three Devil Artifacts collected! Evil Bone collected!] [Main quest: Rewrite the fate of the Devil God's descent into the world! Calculating------] [Calculation complete! Origin Points +16230845]
Very good! Now Lin Ran had nearly thirty million Origin Points. No matter which world he transmigrated to next, he would have some security!
[This world's coordinates have been captured. Host may spend one million Origin Points to return to this world!]
"Good work, System!"
"Little Linglong, don't cry. I'll come back to see you. Just think of it as me going off to wander the world. Cultivate diligently, understand?"
"I understand, Master. I'll definitely cultivate hard and strive to catch up with you soon."
Lin Ran smiled and nodded, rubbing his large head against Linglong's cheek as his figure slowly faded away between heaven and earth.