Put Away Your Divine Techniques Now! Chapter 1432 - 428: [Celestial Venerable]_3

Of course, as for which one of the two it actually is, with Zhan Li’s level and status, she has no way of knowing.

After Zhan Li walked a few steps, she stopped. The Great Celestial Venerable, however, tugged at the corner of his mouth, as if forcing out a trace of a smile, and his tone was as gentle as he could make it.

"Do not fear, little girl. Come a bit closer."

Zhan Li’s heart pounded wildly. Suppressing the horror and tension in her chest, she shuffled forward a few more steps, slightly bending her body, making a thoroughly respectful posture.

At last, when she was standing less than three steps away from the Great Celestial Venerable, he no longer spoke.

Only those pitch‑black eyes seemed to be fixed on Zhan Li, scrutinizing her.

Under that pair of black pupils, Zhan Li’s body felt nothing at all—yet in her heart there arose a strange sensation, as if those eyes had seen through every last detail of her entire life.

A few seconds later, the Great Celestial Venerable slightly nodded. "Barely counts as three parts of spiritual insight. Not very good, but not the worst choice either."

Finished speaking, he seemed to glance toward the Saint. "So it turns out to be a Celestial Human Realm who has undergone Scattering and Rebuilding. You did pick quite a fitting piece of material.

With cultivation short of a Celestial Being, and insight insufficient, these eyes could not bear the burden.

With cultivation too high, it would be too close... it would be noticed.

Scattering Technique and rebuilding, abolishing your own cultivation—that is to hide yourself away, no longer under its inspection.

Mm. This step of yours is aggressive, but... not without reason."

He paused, then asked, "Can she walk out of here?"

"I will escort her out."

"You cannot." The Great Celestial Venerable shook his head, his tone heavy. "You have already Entered the Saint Realm. Last time you came down with Tribulation Crossing, it was an avatar descending into the mortal world. But now your tribulation is concluded, your Saint Position restored—you must not act, and you cannot leave."

"Then send a suitable person to take her out."

The Great Celestial Venerable nodded. "I already have someone in mind. You need not concern yourself with this. Just see the matter through to this point; the rest, you don’t need to do anymore."

The Saint was stunned, then sneered. "You mean that fellow of the Ghost Race..."

"Her methods are not as radical as yours, but her arrangements run deeper than yours."

Hearing this, the Saint frowned, looking somewhat displeased, but in the end only snorted and did not refute him.

The Great Celestial Venerable turned his gaze back to Zhan Li. Seeing the panic on her face, he gave a gentle smile—yet his features were so stiff that, in Zhan Li’s eyes, that smile only looked three parts more terrifying.

"Do not fear, do not fear. A Celestial Venerable does not eat people."

The Great Celestial Venerable chuckled softly. With that strange, rigid visage, his tone yet was exceedingly mild.

Then he slowly said, "Next, there will be a little pain. But rest assured, we will not make you do this for nothing. You will naturally gain a stroke of fortune from it. Only... how it shall end, that depends entirely on your fate."

He paused again and sighed. "A destiny of destruction before rebirth—it does, in its way, fit the pattern. Enough. There is no other path left to us; let us at least try."

With that, the Great Celestial Venerable drew a deep breath and slowly raised his left hand.

Only then did Zhan Li notice that this Great Celestial Venerable’s left hand was withered like a tree branch, the skin ashen, almost like a corpse!

His fingers trembled slightly, then slowly clenched into a fist, leaving only one finger extended.

It was the ring finger of his left hand.

"Since it is nameless, that which it points to shall also be nameless. All that is nameless is neither recorded nor remembered, neither inspected nor seen."

After the Great Celestial Venerable softly intoned these few lines, suddenly a gentle, faint current of power flowed forth along the ring finger of his left hand.

Though that trace of power was weak, Zhan Li could feel that it seemed to contain an incomparable, overwhelming momentum!

This shred of Mana looked insignificant, but the aura of its rank made Zhan Li’s legs give out instantly; she collapsed to her knees on the ground!!

Right after that, that stream of Mana touched the center of Zhan Li’s brow and seeped straight into her forehead.

Zhan Li immediately felt a sharp pain deep within her skull!

The pain came so abruptly that she opened her mouth to scream. Yet before the sound left her throat, the Saint suddenly pointed a finger; Zhan Li’s throat seemed sealed at once by the Saint’s Mana, and not a single sound could escape!

Zhan Li’s vision went black from the agony. Her body went limp and toppled sideways onto the ground, like a fish just pulled from the water, twisting and struggling!

At last, gradually, her body ceased to move, and she lost consciousness.

The Great Celestial Venerable drew a deep breath, his voice sounding a few degrees weaker. "My Nameless Art can only shield her for a short while. Whether she can smoothly evade the inspection... that will come down to fate."

The Saint gave a cold laugh. "It is precisely because I refuse to believe in fate that I struggle like this. If I believed in fate... I would long ago have been like those fellows on the other side, letting things take their course!"

The Great Celestial Venerable’s expression remained calm. "It matters not... do as you will. Whatever the result, I cannot hold on much longer.

Whether the ending is good or ill, I have already reached my limit.

As for what fate awaits you all—utter defeat and ruin, or a single thread of life—hereafter... it will, in truth, have nothing more to do with me."

Hearing this, the Saint fell silent.

She seemed to ponder for a long time, then slowly stepped back and bowed deeply toward the Great Celestial Venerable seated upon the ground.

With that bow, she assumed a posture of full respect.

"Though you schemed against me, in the end it was you alone who held up this heaven and earth to this day. Whatever the outcome, you are, in the end, worthy of the title Celestial Venerable."

She paused, then slowly said, "On the day the ending comes, if we lose, it only means all of us are finished.

If we win... I will personally come to your grave to offer wine and incense."

The Great Celestial Venerable pressed his lips into a smile.

"Remember, I favor the ling fish of the East Sea. Bring me the fattest part of the belly, and offer me three hundred catties.

I delight in Peach Blossom Wine of Xiang Mountain; go and ask Saint Ruo Hua..."

Speaking to this point, his tone suddenly faltered.

The Saint sighed, her voice carrying a slight tremor. "The ling fish is easy. As for the Peach Blossom Wine... the Great Celestial Venerable has forgotten—Saint Ruo Hua, ten thousand years ago, already belonged to that side."

The Great Celestial Venerable let out a long, quiet sigh, slowly lowering his head once more, returning again to that state of utter stillness.