Ghost Catching System

All those present were not ordinary people; a hundred catties of weight meant nothing to them.

At this moment, with nine hundred meters left to the Holy City, each step taken increased the body’s weight. It seemed to grow heavier the more one walked; no wonder some couldn’t bear it, unable to endure the pressure, their blood vessels bursting, crushed to death by the weight.

As they approached another hundred meters, aside from Chu Hao, Emperor Bai Jiang, and the toad, the others began to sweat, some unable to hold on.

Chu Zhiyuan cursed, ”Damn it! This is way too heavy.”

Chu Xionghuan, leaning on his cane, also said, ”Indeed, it’s very heavy.”

Shangu Imperial City showed apprehension; he certainly did not want to die now and said, ”Let’s go back. We can still enter on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.”

Chu Hao said to Chu Xionghuan, ”You guys go out first. I want to get a closer look.”

There was no choice; the others, lacking Chu Hao’s constitution, could only go this far.

In the end, Chu Hao, the toad, and Emperor Bai Jiang continued onward together.

As they drew another hundred meters closer, the weight reached around five hundred sixty to seventy catties—an unbearable load for an average person!

It wasn’t just about their physical bodies; under such oppressive weight, the most vulnerable parts were the blood vessels, which were very likely to burst.

The two men and the toad continued to approach. After about another hundred meters or so, the weight had reached a thousand catties.

This wasn’t like carrying a thousand-catty stone on one’s back; rather, every inch of the body felt suppressed by something, an extremely uncomfortable sensation.

At this point, they were still five hundred meters from the Holy City.

Sweat broke out on Emperor Bai Jiang’s forehead, and he gritted his teeth, ”So heavy.”

Sweat also appeared on Chu Hao’s forehead. The toad, however, was still doing relatively well; its body was naturally different. It disdainfully said, ”You can’t handle this? Then this Emperor will go in first.”

With that, the toad swaggered onward, not forgetting to look back disdainfully at Chu Hao and Emperor Bai Jiang, as if to say, Look at you pathetic lot.

Emperor Bai Jiang, surprised, asked, ”That Gem Toad is so formidable, but why is its terror rating only five stars?”

Chu Hao replied, ”Because it’s ugly.”

The toad, leading the way, fumed internally. Your grandmother’s! Just wait until this Emperor accomplishes a great feat and raises my terror rating! Then we’ll see who dares to say such things!

Chu Hao was well aware of what the toad was: made entirely of jadeite.

I should rush in at once, Chu Hao thought. I could use the Dou Character Mantra from the True Word Brush to increase my combat power, but there’s a chance it might fail. If it weakens me instead, that would be tragic.

It’s time to integrate the True Word Brush, especially since I have a lot of Pretentiousness Points now.

Chu Hao said, ”System, integrate the broken True Word Brush.”

”Ding... Host is integrating the broken True Word Brush. Consuming 60,000 Pretentiousness Points. Remaining Pretentiousness Points: 28,000.”

The System notified him: ”Host’s True Word Brush upgraded. Obtained Nine-character True Words. Improved Lin Character Mantra. Improved Xing Character Mantra. Improved Array Word True Word. Improved Dou Character Mantra. Other True Word characters await improvement.”

Each of the Nine-character True Words possessed different abilities.

All the True Words Chu Hao had obtained before were already upgraded, but the newly obtained True Word characters had not been enhanced and still needed to be purchased. Chu Hao checked the price and found that the damn System required 30,000 Pretentiousness Points to upgrade a single character.

How many Pretentiousness Points have I spent on this True Word Brush altogether? It’s just too expensive!

Chu Hao couldn’t help but curse inwardly, System, why are you such a rip-off?

System: ”The True Word Brush has been fully activated. However, the newly obtained True Word abilities cannot yet be used by the Host at your current strength, so you need to purchase them. You get what you pay for; this System does not support idlers.”

Damn you! Chu Hao fumed. He really wanted to mess with the System.

Chu Hao took out the True Word Brush and inscribed the Dou Character Mantra.

He focused on its properties:

Item: Dou Character Mantra

Ability: Consumes Mana Points to increase combat power by a corresponding amount, up to a maximum of tenfold.

The enhanced Dou Character Mantra has no possibility of failure, he noted.

Writing down the ”Dou” character, Chu Hao chanted the incantation.

”Ding... Host has consumed 50,000 Mana Points, increasing combat power fivefold.”

The next moment, Chu Hao felt his True Qi surge within him. His skin turned fiery red, emanating a pale red, steam-like aura.

The change in Chu Hao’s aura shocked Emperor Bai Jiang. Feeling the expansion of Chu Hao’s power, he exclaimed in wonder, ”You?!”

Chu Hao stretched his limbs. Now with fivefold combat power, he felt much lighter. He waved his hand and said, ”Old genius, if you can’t handle it, just back off. Don’t wear yourself out.”

Immediately afterward, Chu Hao pushed off the ground and charged forward. What feeling of gravity?

”Ding... Host has successfully shown off, earning 4,000 Pretentiousness Points.”

Even Emperor Bai Jiang, upon hearing the term ”old genius,” couldn’t help but retort angrily, ”Who are you calling old genius? You’re just like your father, damn it!”

The silver-haired Emperor Bai Jiang was momentarily puzzled, but then a slight smile touched his lips. ”Do you really think I can’t get in?”

He then took out the Yin Yang Mirror.

With fivefold combat power, Chu Hao sprinted onward, even stepping on the head of the toad, who was moving slowly, prompting a stream of curses from the amphibian.

When Chu Hao was still about a hundred meters from the Holy City, he suddenly felt an incredible heaviness all over his body. He was unsure how much weight was pressing down on him.

Startled, Chu Hao exclaimed, ”No, it’s not just gravity!”

Now, about eighty meters from the Holy City, his True Qi was rapidly draining away; moreover, his vital energy was also dissipating.

Chu Hao gritted his teeth. The Holy City was within sight. He was desperate to enter and see for himself, having already spent so many Pretentiousness Points on the True Word Brush’s integration.

”Charge!”

Chu Hao sprinted.

The gravity around him was so intense it felt like it could crush mountains. Each step Chu Hao took was agony. His True Qi drained quickly, and his vital energy even more so. If this continued, he would be staking his life on this struggle.

Perseverance paid off. Finally, Chu Hao stepped into the Holy City, one foot crossing the threshold.

The next instant, the crushing weight on his body disappeared. Chu Hao steadied himself and surveyed his surroundings.

The city was vast, almost boundless, with an ancient atmosphere washing over him. The streets were old, the buildings dilapidated, with scattered plants entwined around them, vines snaking out from walls. Towering, age-old trees grew nearby, a spectacular sight.

Most of this ancient city was made of mud. When the wind blew, it stirred up dust, as if transporting one back to ancient times.

However, the silence here was unsettling; not a soul was in sight, giving him the creeps.

Finally, the toad joined Chu Hao.

Upon entering, the toad was panting heavily, clutching its thigh, as tired as a dog. It could barely move and exclaimed excitedly, ”This Emperor has finally returned! WAHAHAHA!”

Chu Hao asked, ”Where is the treasure you mentioned? This place is too big.”

The toad glared at Chu Hao. ”Kid, you just stepped on this Emperor’s head!”

”I was just kidding around. Don’t sweat the small stuff.”

Without another word, the toad leaped up and bit at him.

After a brief fight, the toad realized it was no match for Chu Hao, whose combat power was now five times its own. Having been taught a lesson, it fumed, ”Enough fighting! This place is desolate, not even a Ghost Shadow in sight.”

Seeing it stop fighting, Chu Hao asked, ”You walked out from here? For real?”