SWDnovel Chapter 144 The battle is over!
Chapter 144 The battle is over!
This brand of horsehide was a gift from Aunt Qin.
When Lu Yuan took the gun, he never imagined that its first bullet would be used on Shen Jizhou.
To be honest, Lu Yuan could have blown Shen Jizhou's head off with that shot.
But, of course, you can't do that.
Lu Yuan only wanted to win this challenge, but he didn't want Shen Jizhou's life.
However, in a sense, Lu Yuan has already won this challenge.
If that shot had been fired three inches higher, the bloody hole in his arm would now be on his head.
Of course, this statement cannot be made so absolutely.
If it weren't for the rules of the "Challenge to Heaven," Lu Yuan would have died eight hundred times over.
Moreover, if it weren't for the rules of the challenge, Shen Jizhou wouldn't have been forced to stay in the arena and endure the hardship.
At that moment, Shen Jizhou's body trembled violently, as if struck by an invisible bolt of lightning.
He slowly turned his head, his gaze passing through the collapsed ruins and fixed on Lu Yuan in the distance.
Lu Yuan remained limp, blood streaming from his seven orifices, his breath as faint as a candle flickering in the wind.
A weak but triumphant smile appeared on Lu Yuan's lips.
Almost simultaneously, the Dao Fruit light sphere above Shen Jizhou's head, which was struggling to maintain its position, suddenly trembled!
The upward momentum came to an abrupt halt!
Shen Jizhou looked down at his right arm, which was bleeding profusely.
A gruesome blood hole is gushing blood.
Normally, this situation wouldn't be too bad for a cultivator like him.
With just a few steaming cycles, the bleeding will stop and the wound will heal in no time.
But now one
He is confronting the Emperor's Seal!
His life's work, his entire mind, and all his true knowledge were concentrated on that sphere of light.
Engaging in the most primal struggle with the awakened will of the human emperor!
Every part of the body is a battlefield.
This shot is tantamount to cutting off the fuel supply at the root of the problem!
The light from the Dao Fruit sphere began to flicker wildly, and its originally stable rotation became chaotic.
The upward momentum that had been building has stalled.
Then one
It's starting to fall!
The Human Emperor Seal seemed to sense its opponent's weakness, and its body hummed!
An even more violent suppressive force than before descended like a celestial river pouring down!
puff!
The ball of light was instantly pressed down three inches!
Shen Jizhou's arms trembled uncontrollably, and from the wound on his right arm, along with the gushing blood, was the Dao Fruit power that was leaking out wildly!
He was like a punctured balloon.
True essence, soul, and will are irrevocably flowing away through that bloody hole!
For the first time, an emotion called "despair" appeared in Shen Jizhou's eyes.
He suddenly bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the ball of light!
The sphere of light shone brightly!
But it was only for a moment.
Because his right hand can no longer exert force as before.
The penetrating wound disrupted the flow of energy in his right arm.
When the true steam reaches this point, it will be obstructed, disordered, and leak out.
He tried his best, but could only exert half of his previous strength!
50%.
For the confrontation with the Emperor's Seal, 50% is far from enough.
The ball of light began to fall inch by inch!
Three inches!
Five inches!
Seven inches!
One foot!
Shen Jizhou's legs began to bend, and his kneecaps made a teeth-grinding cracking sound.
His spine, like a fully drawn bow, groaned as if it were about to snap!
Blood was gushing from his seven orifices!
But he still gritted his teeth and persevered, using his trembling hands to hold onto the ball of light tightly!
He can't fall!
He is Shen Jizhou!
He is the highest mountain in the Daoist sect outside the Great Wall!
Shen Jizhou looked up to the sky and roared, his voice like that of a trapped beast:
"That's just a despicable tactic!!!"
Before the whistle had even faded, he exerted force with both hands again!
He actually managed to push that teetering ball of light back three inches!
Lu Yuan was completely dumbfounded when he saw this scene.
This……
This Shen Jizhou... is he a fucking monster?!
It's already like this!
It can even push back three inches?!
Lu Yuan simply couldn't imagine what it would be like if Shen Jizhou were in his prime, wielding a magical artifact...
This……
Is this the power of the Grand Celestial Master?!
Do not……
This is definitely not just about the Grand Celestial Master...
Of course, Shen Jizhou's actions came at a price!
A burst of blood mist suddenly erupted from the piercing wound on his right forearm!
The meridians are severed!
Shen Jizhou let out a muffled groan, his entire right arm trembling violently, unable to maintain the previous hand seal any longer!
The ball of light instantly lost its balance!
The light flashed wildly, and the rotation became completely chaotic!
The Emperor's Seal seized this opportunity.
That suppressive force, like the collapse of the sky and the splitting of the earth, crashed down!
The sphere of light shattered!
It wasn't shattered, but forcibly crushed by the force of suppression!
It transformed into countless points of light, scattering and splashing in all directions!
Shen Jizhou coughed up a mouthful of blood, and was blasted back several steps by the force of the recoil!
His right hand hung limply at his sides.
Blood dripped from his fingertips, drop by drop, onto the ruins.
But he remained standing.
He still used his intact left hand to barely maintain the last bit of defense.
The Emperor's Seal hovered three feet above his head.
That suppressive force continued to press down relentlessly.
The outcome is now decided!
Shen Jizhou was powerless to reverse the situation!
Lu Yuan was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.
But then Shen Jizhou's eyes suddenly widened, and a final, crazed light shone from his bloodshot eyeballs.
On his right forearm, blood was gushing from a bloody hole, but he still had his left hand!
The left hand suddenly shot out!
He grabbed the crumbling fragments of the light sphere!
They were slipping through his fingers, being crushed, erased, and reduced to nothingness by that suppressive force!
Shen Jizhou roared and clenched his left hand tightly, actually managing to forcefully reassemble the fragments that were about to fall apart!
The flesh and blood body, upon touching the fragment of the Dao Fruit, was instantly torn apart!
Blood gushed from the palm of his left hand, so deep that the bone was visible!
But he actually managed to reassemble that ball of light!
Although it was a third smaller than before, although its radiance was much dimmer, and although its surface was covered with spiderweb-like cracks...
But it's still there!
"Get up!
Shen Jizhou roared to the sky, his voice echoing across the land!
With his bloodied and mangled left hand, supporting his broken cultivation, he once again faced the sky!
The sphere of light, trembling, moved upwards!
Lu Yuan, who was slumped in the distance, suddenly had his pupils contract.
That old man...
Even after things have come to this point, they still managed to resist!
He's still holding on.
With his mangled left hand, with that tattered orb of light, with his already exhausted body, he clung on desperately. But…
It was all in vain in the end.
Lu Yuan's shot, fired without warning, was truly deadly.
After all, no one could have imagined that in this battle between sects, one side would actually pull out a Ma Pai pistol.
This is really shameless.
Shen Jizhou's right hand hung down at his side.
The piercing wound was still bleeding.
Blood dripped down his arm, onto the ruins, blooming into scarlet flowers.
With each drop of blood, his breath grew weaker.
With each drop of blood, the orb of light dimmed a little.
With each instance of bleeding, the Emperor's Seal would press down one more point.
Take a breath.
Two breaths.
Three breaths.
Shen Jizhou's sphere of light began to fall.
It wasn't that he didn't want to push, but his right hand was dragging him into the abyss.
The gaping wound was like a bottomless pit that could never be filled, relentlessly devouring his vital essence, his blood and energy, his life. Every time he tried to exert force, more power flowed away from that wound.
No matter how strong his left hand is, it can't fill the hole in his right hand.
The Emperor's Seal pressed down once more.
This time, instead of a slow downward press, it was...
The dam has burst!
That suppressive force, like a celestial river pouring down, crashed down with a deafening roar!
The sphere of light shattered!
This time, it's really broken!
Before those fragments could even disintegrate, they were crushed into powder by the suppressing force!
Along with Shen Jizhou's last moments of radiance, they all vanished into nothingness.
The seal suddenly pressed down!
That suppressive force was like ten thousand mountains crashing down at once!
boom!!!
A deafening roar shook the heavens and the earth!
Centered on Shen Jizhou, the ground within a radius of several tens of feet collapsed instantly!
The arena has completely collapsed!
The foundation upon which the Myriad Streams Returning to One Formation was set up collapsed.
The array diagram, which contained the spiritual energy of countless magical artifacts, was torn apart.
That ruin, scorched by lightning and fire, cleaved by golden light, and impacted by Dao fruits countless times.
After enduring the final suppression, it finally came to a complete end.
It collapsed with a roar!
The rubble cascaded like a waterfall, and the dust rose like a dragon, soaring into the sky!
The central area of the entire Celestial Venerable Ceremony was transformed into a desolate wasteland.
A hundred feet away, the ground beneath the feet of the onlookers trembled violently, as if an earth dragon were turning over!
Countless people lost their footing and fell to the ground with gasps of alarm.
They looked back in horror.
At the edge of the horizon, the former arena has completely vanished.
Instead, there was a hideous, enormous crater.
The pit was over thirty feet in diameter and its depth was unfathomable, like a rift leading to the underworld.
The bottom of the pit was pitch black, and nothing could be seen.
Only the Emperor's Seal remained, silently suspended directly above the deep pit, radiating a chilling residual power.
Shen Jizhou... has disappeared.
Life and death do not know.
But everyone knew that Shen Jizhou had lost!
In the distance, Lu Yuan, slumped in the ruins, gazed at everything, at the Emperor's Seal that was slowly losing its luster.
The smile on his lips finally turned into complete relief.
Regardless of the process.
No matter what methods were used.
They still... won.
The dust settled slowly.
The solemn and majestic venue for the Heavenly Venerable Ceremony now resembles an abandoned graveyard.
"clatter."
With a crisp sound, the Emperor's Seal exhausted its last bit of spiritual energy and fell from the sky, rolling among the rocks.
It regained its original whiteness, as smooth and warm as jade, but no longer possessed any of its mystique.
Lu Yuan felt a sense of relief.
Thankfully, it wasn't destroyed.
Take it back and nourish it with your own Qi and blood for a period of time, and it will recover.
The cold wind howled as it swept through the ruins.
He swiped up fine dust, torn strips of cloth, and a few pieces of paper ash that seemed to have drifted in from who-knows-where.
The ashes swirled in the wind, drifting towards the huge, deep pit.
It eventually disappeared into the dim, yellowish sky around two or three in the afternoon.
Dead silence.
True deathly silence.
A hundred feet away, the onlookers remained frozen in place like stone statues.
No one speaks.
No one moved.
Crane-Patrolling Celestial Venerable, a Taoist giant on par with Shen Jizhou, has now completely lost his composure.
He stood at the front of the crowd, his hands trembling slightly, gazing at the ruins. His lips moved, but he couldn't say anything.
Shen Jizhou has truly lost.
He was defeated by Lu Yuan, a one-star Celestial Master.
This made the Heavenly Lord Crane Patrol feel very unreal...
It feels like a dream.
But when the Celestial Crane Recluse recalled the various scenes from before…
Then he thought that if Shen Jizhou still didn't lose after that, then something truly strange would happen...
He Xun's throat moved, and he swallowed hard.
His gaze turned with difficulty to the young man slumped in the ruins in the distance.
Lu Yuan.
At this moment, Lu Yuan was covered in blood, and his breath was so weak that it could be extinguished at any moment.
He leaned against the boulder, his head drooping limply, the blood seeping from his seven orifices already congealed.
But he slowly raised his head.
His movements were slow and laborious; every inch he moved seemed to require all his strength.
His eyes were unfocused, and his face was as pale as paper.
But a smile lingered on his lips.
A smile that was both extremely weak and extremely radiant.
He won.
We really won.
In the distance, the Taoist disciples finally recovered from their shock and began to tentatively move towards the edge of the ruins.
Crane Patrol Celestial Venerable was the first to move, his figure transforming into a blur as he rushed straight towards Lu Yuan!
At the same time, Shen Shulan was the same.
Of course, Shen Shulan was going to find her biological father, Shen Jizhou.
That domineering seal delivered its final blow...
That final blow was so terrifying that it completely devoured her own father, Shen Jizhou. She dared not even think about what might happen...
Lu Yuan slowly closed his eyes.
There was no ecstasy of victory, only endless exhaustion, as if it were draining his very soul.
He didn't want to think about what to do tomorrow.
I don't want to think about whether Shen Jizhou is dead or alive.
He didn't want to think about how he would face Shen Shulan if Shen Jizhou really died.
Right now, all he wants to do is sleep.
A ray of afternoon sunlight pierced through the dust and fell on his face, but it brought no warmth whatsoever.
A cold wind blew gently, ruffling the hem of his blood-stained clothes.
Everything returned to calm.
Then one
"Cheer".
A soft sound.
So light it was almost drowned out by the sound of the wind.
Lu Yuan, who had already closed his eyes and was about to fall into a deep sleep, suddenly stiffened.
He used his last bit of strength to pry open his heavy eyelids, his pupils reflecting an unbelievable horror.
No... that can't be...
What?! Are you kidding me?!
"Splash!"
The sound of rubble rolling down could be heard clearly.
One hand.
A bloody, mangled hand suddenly emerged from the pile of rubble at the edge of the deep pit!
Immediately after
Another hand also emerged from the crack in the rock!
Gravel rolled down, and dust rose again.
A figure slowly rose from the darkness.
First, the head.
Then the shoulders.
Beneath the tattered Taoist robe lay a body covered in charred and torn marks.
His chest heaved violently, each breath accompanied by a hissing sound like a broken bellows.
Waist and abdomen.
Both legs.
last one
That person rose from the ruins, from the deep pit!
Shen Jizhou.
He stood at the edge of the giant pit, amidst the ruins that symbolized his defeat.
Covered in blood and bruised all over.
The breath was so faint that it was almost imperceptible.
But he remained standing.
His head slowly rose.
Those eyes had lost all their sparkle, leaving only endless weariness and emptiness.
But his gaze still pierced through space, landing on the young man slumped beside the boulder in the distance.
It landed on Lu Yuan, who had completely frozen in place.
Lu Yuan's mind went blank.
His body, as if all his strength had been drained, leaned limply against the boulder.
His eyes were fixed on the figure that rose from the ruins.
That figure, covered in blood and barely breathing, still stood there.
In the distance, the Taoist disciples stared at the figure rising from the ruins, frozen in place like stone statues.
The afternoon sun pierced through the clouds and shone on the blood-soaked figure.
It shone on his empty yet still burning eyes.
It sprinkled on his slightly trembling, yet still straight, spine.
He, Shen Jizhou, is the highest mountain in the Daoist sect outside the Great Wall!
Always.
A cold wind howled past.
He swept up the dust from the ruins, the shattered Taoist banners, and the scattered remnants of magical artifacts.
Two figures stood facing each other from a distance.
One of them sat slumped beside a boulder, his expression frozen.
One stands proudly atop the ruins.
The Emperor's Seal lay quietly among the scattered rocks.
Shen Jizhou raised his chin slightly, and his chapped lips moved slightly.
A hoarse, weary voice, yet filled with endless sarcasm, clearly reached Lu Yuan's ears.
"What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?"
"continue."
The outcome is decided!
Lu Yuan...
defeat!!