[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-invincible-female-ghost-is-a-bit-of-a-hopele":3,"chapter-the-invincible-female-ghost-is-a-bit-of-a-hopele-the-invincible-female-ghost-is-a-bit-of-a-hopele-chapter-141":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Invincible Female Ghost Is A Bit Of A Hopeless Romantic",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1706520,2180,"Chapter 141: \"No!!\" \"I WON!!\"","the-invincible-female-ghost-is-a-bit-of-a-hopele-chapter-141",141,"\u003Cp>What Shen Jizhou extended was, indeed, only a single hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But with that single hand, his five fingers wheel-turned, and in an instant he formed a hand-seal Lu Yuan had never seen before!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The opening motion of the seal looked like a common sword-style seal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thumb hooked the base of the ring finger, the index and middle fingers pressed together, the little finger slightly raised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the next moment, his wrist twisted at an inhuman angle, and the joined fingers suddenly split apart!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One finger to the heavens!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One finger to the earth!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thumb clenched into the palm, the ring and little fingers interlaced, forming a bizarre seal that propped the sky and steadied the earth!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Others might not recognize it, but Lu Yuan could!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Legend said it was an unsurpassed seal passed down from Laozi, the founder of Taoism!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once formed, it could prop the sky above and brace the earth below, the body becoming like the pillar of heaven, impervious to all laws!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cultivation method for this seal had been lost a thousand years ago, now surviving only in fragments within the Yunji Qiqian!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan recognized it because the Dao heart-method manual he studied recorded this seal!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, Lu Yuan understood completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This old man had truly reverse-engineered a lost ancient technique from those old top-tier ritual artifacts!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Judging by the calm with which he formed the seal, this method had clearly reached perfection!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s lips and teeth moved slightly as he intoned sixteen true words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice was not loud, yet carried the solemnity of the nine heavens, each word becoming a great bell, reverberating across the world!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Primordial Dao unified, prop the sky and brace the earth!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Unbowed and towering, ten thousand calamities shall not topple!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The incantation fell!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The space around him violently distorted!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An invisible column of force sprang up from the ground centered on him, reaching the firmament above and piercing the nine nether realms below!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within that column of force, the shadow of a mountain, majestic beyond imagination, slowly manifested,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mount Buzhou!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The legendary divine mountain formed from Pangu's spine, the pillar that holds up heaven and earth!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the golden radiance of the Human Emperor Seal thundered into collision!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom—!!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A tremendous blast erupted, as if heaven and earth were overturning!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound was so enormous, so fierce, so feral, that everyone in the audience was instantly deafened!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where the golden light struck the mountain shadow, space was torn open inch by inch into pitch-black rifts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the rift edges, primordial chaotic currents welled forth, the original might from before heaven and earth opened!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan’s bones all cried out, but he bit down on his tongue, squeezing out the last of his spirit, and forced the Human Emperor Seal to activate again!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crunch!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The seal-body trembled anew!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The eight ancient scripts detonated with burning golden light that could incinerate all things!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The golden light no longer dispersed, but condensed into an apocalyptic pillar of light, transforming into a heavenly-punishment sword that furiously cleaved down toward Shen Jizhou’s head!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where the pillar passed, the void itself was instantly vaporized!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those black rifts were lit by the golden beam and were forcibly erased without even a chance to heal!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The propping column began to wildly shudder!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fine cracks appeared across the mountain-shadow of Mount Buzhou!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s expression finally hardened like iron.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His single-hand seal shifted again!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sky-Propping, Earth-Bracing Seal transformed into the Five Mountains True-Form Seal!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thumb pinched the middle joint of the middle finger, representing the Central Mountain Songshan!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The index finger curved to hook the thumb, representing the Eastern Mountain Taishan!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ring and little fingers spread like bird wings, representing Southern Hengshan, Northern Hengshan, and Western Huashan!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The five divine mountain shadows flashed across his palm and vanished, becoming five-colored divine lights that brazenly poured into the collapsing column of force!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Five Mountains guard, rivers and mountains stand eternal!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once the Five Mountains True-Form Seal completed, the column instantly stabilized!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mount Buzhou’s shadow ceased trembling; the cracks began to mend at a visibly rapid pace!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The golden pillar from the Human Emperor Seal arrived!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It struck the Mount Buzhou that guarded the Five Mountains with repeated blows!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rumble———\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time the sound seemed smaller.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not because the power had lessened, but because its vibration frequency had exceeded what living beings could perceive!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those destructive soundwaves could directly pulverize organs into bloody paste!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the crowd, the weaker cultivators began to bleed from the seven orifices and faint!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the advanced cultivators turned pale, desperately circulating their zhenran to protect their heart conduits!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the arena, the clash of two supreme forces had reached its final hour!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Human Emperor Seal’s golden light, now condensed into substance, frantically hewed at Mount Buzhou!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mount Buzhou stood immovable, stubbornly keeping the golden light outside!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if one looked closely, the mountain-shadow was becoming transparent bit by bit!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The golden light was penetrating!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s brows knitted into a deathly knot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the first time, his gaze changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This Lu Yuan... could actually erode the shadow of Mount Buzhou?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Impossible!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was Pangu’s spine, the pillar of heaven and earth! Even as a mere shadow, it should not be shaken by mortal power!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s mind spun, but his hand movements did not slow an inch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Five Mountains True-Form Seal shifted again!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, all ten fingers moved together!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yes, ten fingers!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His left hand, which had been tucked behind him, instinctively rose to meet it!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the body’s truest reflex at the edge of mortal danger!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the thought flashed only briefly!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s eyes hardened; the half-raised left hand was forcibly pushed back by his will!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Words uttered, law followed!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had vowed to use only one hand; even if he died, he would not go back on his word!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the left hand withdrawn, only the right remained, transforming into the Three Purities Seal!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Qing, Shang Qing, Tai Qing—the three supreme holy realms—appeared as shadows in his palm, forming three layers of light screens, each layer bolstering Mount Buzhou!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Three Purities above, guard my true body!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chant fell, and the three light screens fused with Mount Buzhou!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The golden light of the Human Emperor Seal struck down!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First breath: it cleaved through the Yu Qing holy realm!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Second breath: it tore apart the Shang Qing holy realm!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Third breath: it pierced the Tai Qing holy realm!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The golden light that had penetrated the Three Purities was already half-dimmed, but it still carried the supreme imperial might and struck the true form of Mount Buzhou heavily!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mountain-shadow shuddered violently!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s face finally altered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The muscles at his mouth twitched uncontrollably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He at last experienced the essence of that power firsthand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was genuine Human Emperor power!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ancient sovereign might with which the archaic human emperor commanded all spirits and subdued the eight wildernesses!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if only one ten-thousandth of that power was sealed in this jade seal, it could still stagger a divine mountain!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stand-off continued for three breaths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For those in the crowd who had lost consciousness, three breaths were a blink.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Shen Jizhou, those three breaths stretched like three days and nights!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could clearly feel how the golden light tore inch by inch through his defenses, corroding Mount Buzhou’s source little by little.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He held the sky with one hand, pouring in all he had, resisting to the last!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After three breaths—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Boom!!!!!!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A great blast shattered heaven and earth!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Human Emperor Seal’s golden light finally crushed every defense!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mount Buzhou’s shadow collapsed with a roar!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Three Purities’ holy realms shattered piece by piece!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Five Mountains True-Form dissolved into an endless rain of light!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That golden beam, like the first light at creation, cleaved straight toward Shen Jizhou!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s figure was completely swallowed by the golden light!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the audience, everyone’s minds went blank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The highest mountain of the Dao Gate beyond the Great Wall...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>had fallen?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In such circumstances...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Shen Jizhou would have no strength to stand again, right?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone had seen this earlier!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even in the last moment, because of that opening vow, Shen Jizhou had used only one hand!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could it be...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan actually won?!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment Lu Yuan’s body had been totally drained!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no need to describe the physical pain; spiritually, Lu Yuan was utterly spent!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right now Lu Yuan barely had the strength to keep his eyelids open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His left eyelid hung halfway uselessly, barely lifted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his eyes were filled with hope.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>could it work?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this strike could truly defeat Shen Jizhou...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time passed second by second under everyone’s stunned gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dazzling golden light finally dissipated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan’s hope was dashed...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was still standing in the same place...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still with his hands folded behind his back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only, the hand behind him trembled slightly, unable to be fully suppressed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at Lu Yuan across from him, on the brink of collapse, his spirit flame nearly extinguished, with a complexity in his eyes that was almost unbearable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then his Adam’s apple bobbed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A thread of crimson blood slowly trickled from the corner of his mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It fell onto his dark Dao robe, leaving a small, dark stain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou lifted a hand and casually wiped the blood from his mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glanced at the smear of red on his fingertip, a barely perceptible complexity flitting through his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lifted his head and looked toward Lu Yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan swayed, his gaze beginning to grow vacant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he still stood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was truly too strong!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So strong he no longer seemed fully human!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the Human Emperor Seal...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>had only made him spit a mouthful of blood...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he had taken it single-handed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If not for that vow, then if he had used both hands, wouldn’t he have been completely unharmed?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Plop!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan’s body could no longer hold, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ritual platform behind him had already crumbled to dust; only one jagged boulder remained as his sole support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan leaned weakly against the stone, but he seemed insensitive to pain, quietly staring at that godly figure across from him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm curious.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou spoke, taking a step, then another toward the collapsed Lu Yuan, his voice betraying no anger nor joy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Curious about what...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan’s voice was as weak as a candle in the wind; he was so exhausted he could barely lift his eyelids.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s steps stopped two dozen feet away, beside a stretch of ruined rubble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not come closer; instead, he casually waved a hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crunch!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A ritual sword wrapped in purple thunder broke from the debris and flew into his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Lu Yuan’s Purple Firmament Lightning-Struck Jujube Wood Sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Shen Jizhou looked to the other side and beckoned again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dimming Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden Seven Star Lamp flew to him as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One hand held the sword, the other cupped the lamp; Shen Jizhou’s gaze returned to Lu Yuan with the appraisal of one who commands rank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Since you possess that divine seal, why did you not use it from the start?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why instead expend vast mind and zhenran to activate these?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s tone was calmly plain, but it struck like a hammer in everyone’s hearts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Right!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those at the Celestial Master Grand Ceremony finally recovered from the world-undoing duel, and the same question flooded their minds—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan’s actions had been bizarre from beginning to end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he hadn’t had that seal, everything would make sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he clearly had it!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why not use it at the outset?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Shen Jizhou was complacent and at his peak, why not drop a single seal and perhaps blast Shen Jizhou off the platform?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Lu Yuan would have won!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he didn’t!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He chose the most foolish path: using the other ritual artifacts to exhaust himself until life and lamp were spent, and only then play his strongest card.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t merely pointless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was courting death!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he had used the divine seal at the start...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There would have been a real chance...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least thirty percent!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Dad!!!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Enough! Don't ask any more!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the audience, Shen Shulan could no longer hold back; her voice quivered with tears as she snapped:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Master Uncle is barely holding on! Announce the end now!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Xun burst into curses:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Shen Jizhou! What the hell are you waiting for—stop the damn thing!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou heard them, gave a slight nod, seeming to think he had perhaps been too verbose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at Lu Yuan and sighed faintly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"However, regardless, for you to, at a one-star Celestial Master’s level, force me to—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"From a certain angle, you won. I lost...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Shen Jizhou finished, the motionless Lu Yuan on the ground suddenly answered:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Because I didn't want to gamble...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though there was a thirty percent chance that unleashing the Human Emperor Seal at full force from the start could have blasted you off the platform...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan’s voice was hoarse like a broken bellows, yet carried a chilling calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But there was a seventy percent chance of failure.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This Celestial Master title of our era, I must have it. There can be no mistake.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou: \"????\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou didn’t understand a word of the strange talk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one around him did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was that nonsense?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What kind of drivel??\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Are you dissatisfied with a thirty percent chance?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You want a hundred percent?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From everything that just happened, where would a hundred percent come from?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This kid’s brain must be fried, right?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, before Shen Jizhou could reply, the corner of his eye caught an unusual light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The light came from beneath the collapsed platform rubble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a firefly, yet brighter, with a strange pulsing rhythm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s brows knit, and he reacted instantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is... a formation?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thought barely took shape when an intense pang gripped his heart!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou didn’t even have time to trace the origin; he looked down in horror at the two ritual tools in his hands!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou sensed that the two top-tier ritual tools in his hands seemed to be weakening...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More precisely...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spiritual mechanism within these two top-tier tools... was rapidly dissipating!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, no spiritual sense was needed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You could see the change with the naked eye!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Purple Firmament Lightning-Struck Jujube Wood Sword, whose blade had glowed with purple light and dense thunder patterns,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When held one could feel the utmost yang, rock-solid thunder’s intent, as if grasping a condensed bolt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now, that purple glow was fading visibly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thunder patterns on the blade faded like ink, one after another disappearing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The blade began to tremble and emitted a mournful cry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That lament was the sorrow of a tool near death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Crack—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One crisp snap, and the last purple thunder flash on the blade exploded into specks of light and vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the jujube-wood blade that had survived millennia of lightning quickly lost luster, turned grey and brittle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It finally became a length of ordinary dried wood—light in his hand, devoid of spiritual mechanism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s pupils contracted sharply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without hesitation he looked to the Seven Star Lamp in his other hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That lamp had still emitted seven-hued brilliance moments ago; though the flame was faint, it had been alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now the seven-colored radiance on the lamp was rapidly waning; the flame shrank and dimmed,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally giving a soft \"puff\" as it fully extinguished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The nine-petaled lotus base engraved with intricate astronomical patterns blurred one petal at a time until they vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only bare bronze remained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the slim lamp shaft, the seven ancient characters of \"Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden Seven Star Lamp\" fractured; the strokes broke, turning into unreadable rust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A legendary divine lamp in an instant became a worthless old bronze relic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s face finally, utterly changed!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He snapped his head up and fixed his stare on the ever-brightening light under the rubble; that light seemed like a greedy maw devouring everything nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before he finished, screams of terror erupted from the audience!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Look! Those ritual tools!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People turned and saw that several artifacts scattered in the rubble were simultaneously undergoing drastic change!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The All-Penetrating Golden Light Mirror, which had hovered with a solemn ancient face, now had the tadpole-like esoteric runes on its surface wildly flickering, then bursting into motes of light and vanishing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sun-and-moon pearls on the mirror’s back dimmed as if all their radiance had been siphoned away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mirror trembled and let out a sorrowful cry, then...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clang—the mirror fell into the debris, its surface dulled, bereft of wonder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Five Thunders Command Token, its black body patterned in red, had once exuded oppressive authority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now the Five Directions Thunder Gods’ sigils on the token were rapidly fading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The symbols representing the Eastern Heaven-Shaking Gates Thunder God, the Southern Fiery Light Thunder God, one by one dimmed and disappeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The token trembled and gave one final thunderous sound of unwillingness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crack—the token split a hairline, and fell silent forever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Look at the Xuanming Summon Soul Banner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where the silver-thread runes had once crazily flowed with countless fierce faces struggling and roaring, they were becoming paler, blurrier, until they dissolved into nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three gray-white skull bells atop the banner pole rang wildly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then they shattered into powder with successive pops.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The banner tore down the middle and hung limply as a lifeless rag.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone stared in stunned silence, their minds blank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What is happening?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These top-tier ritual artifacts—these supreme treasures from legend—how could they simultaneously...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Be destroyed at the same time?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou whirled, his gaze like lightning, fixed on the collapsed figure of Lu Yuan by the stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan still had his eyes closed, breath so faint it was barely perceptible, as pale as paper, drenched in blood and ready to die at any moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the corner of his mouth curved into a smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A smile of triumph.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s heart dropped into an abyss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lowered his head again, his sight piercing the rubble to lock onto that increasingly blinding light source.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A horrible idea detonated in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A formation...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a formation!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He strode forward, his robe-sleeve whipping an invisible gale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Whoosh—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rubble and shards on the ruins instantly swept aside, revealing the shocking truth hidden beneath the platform.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath the very center of the arena’s foundation lay an enormous formation diagram, as huge and unrivaled as a mountain!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The complexity of the diagram exceeded Shen Jizhou’s comprehension.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Radiating from the arena center were billions of hair-thin esoteric lines,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crossing and layering, they composed a three-dimensional formation suspended beneath the earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At each critical node of the diagram lay an inlaid jade talisman that shimmered with flowing light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The jade talismans glowed faintly, light surging along the prescribed lines, ultimately converging like rivers into the formation’s center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There, in a shallow recess the size of a fist,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lay a jade seal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Human Emperor Seal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now the Human Emperor Seal had utterly changed its appearance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Lu Yuan previously activated it, the seal had been pure white jade and the eight ancient scripts had released blazing golden radiance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now the eight ancient scripts’ golden light was no longer illusory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had become viscous, substantive streams of golden liquid, slowly moving on the seal face as if alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The seal body was no longer wholly white.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had grown semi-transparent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through this translucence, a horrifying sight could be seen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Streams of light flowed within, weaving and colliding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were flashes of Purple Firmament thunder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was the glow of the Seven Star Lamp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was the divine light of the Five Thunders Command Token.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was the eerie glow of the Xuanming Summon Soul Banner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Countless primordial lights that once belonged to those top-tier artifacts were now imprisoned within the small jade seal, spinning madly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A chaos-world was evolving inside it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More chilling was the oppressive might.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That earlier imperial compression that could crush all things had now vanished without trace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not dissipated—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But intensely reined in, horribly compressed, all bound within the seal body, without a shred leaking outward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And this inwardness made it more terrifying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a divine sword: its brilliance is not dangerous when bared; what’s truly terrifying is when it’s sheathed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because when it draws again, what world-shattering force will be unleashed then, no one can know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Shen Jizhou watched, it was as if thunder exploded in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He finally understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He finally understood why Lu Yuan’s prior actions had seemed so meaningless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He understood why Lu Yuan used each artifact only once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why, despite possessing the Human Emperor Seal, Lu Yuan had chosen to deploy the top-tier ritual artifacts one by one from the start.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those artifacts...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those top-tier ritual artifacts...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Were not meant to attack him!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were meant to—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Be sacrifices!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This formation was a spirit-gathering array!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No—wrong, not merely a spirit-gathering array...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s gaze pinned to the esoteric lines of the diagram; his mind raced through memories of scattered texts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had seen this pattern before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In marginal notes of the Yunji Qiqian, in fragments of the Daofa Huiyuan, in countless lost ancient passages—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the \"Sect-Converging Grand Array\"!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A forbidden formation from pre-Qin antiquity used to craft supreme treasures!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This array can forcibly extract the primal essence from each artifact, reverse creation, and pour it into a single vessel, transforming it into a deity-like object!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The method of laying this array had been lost since pre-Qin times and existed only in legend!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan actually knew this formation?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he dared to use those top-tier ritual artifacts as offerings, feeding them to the Human Emperor Seal?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each of those artifacts alone could serve as a sect’s mountain-treasure!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Lu Yuan had treated them as kindling!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As fertilizer!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Using them all to feed this Human Emperor Seal!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou spun, his stare like twin blades, aimed at Lu Yuan slumped by the stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan still had his eyes closed, breath mere whispers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that smirk, the smile of success, grew clearer, more piercing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Celestial Master Grand Ceremony site... is guarded at night by the Fengtian City Security Regiment...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The captain of the Security Regiment, Song Zonghu...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"is my wife’s younger brother.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan’s voice was as light as a mosquito, but each word rang like thunder, clearly exploding in everyone’s ears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You just asked me... why I didn't use the Human Emperor Seal from the start...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I say...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Because I didn't want to gamble.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A thirty percent chance is too low...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What I wanted was...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan paused, took a deep breath, using his last ounces of strength to enunciate each word:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A... hundred... percent... certainty...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The instant the words fell, Lu Yuan suddenly opened his eyes!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no light left in his pupils, only a burning blood-red!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next moment, two lines of bloody tears rolled from his eye corners!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood gushed from his nostrils, ear openings, and mouth!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seven orifices bled!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was forcibly burning his life, squeezing his soul for the final surge to activate the seal!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You just said... from a certain angle, you won?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yuan twisted his face into a bloody grin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I WON!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hum—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A faint sound came from the formation’s center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was not loud, but it felt like the first rhythm when heaven and earth opened!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Human Emperor Seal rebooted!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that instant Shen Jizhou quickly scanned his surroundings, sensing changes in detail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou’s pupils contracted to the extreme,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And finally, the millennia-unchanging composure on Shen Jizhou’s face thoroughly shattered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fear, a feeling he had almost never shown, surfaced in his eyes for the first time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Jizhou...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was finally in a panic!\u003C\u002Fp>",3998,"2026-06-06T14:45:54.833Z",1,"novelbin.me","48996f5a2a5a89aa11d5e88854d7f55150e4b4a7709a6c0537432906fa5c0160","the-invincible-female-ghost-is-a-bit-of-a-hopele-chapter-142","the-invincible-female-ghost-is-a-bit-of-a-hopele-chapter-140",241,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-invincible-female-ghost-is-a-bit-of-a-hopele-cover.jpg"]