I Can Merge Techniques

Chapter 442: Chapter 149: Hunting the Acupoint Realm

Mo Yunzi caught the Jade Box instinctively, completely stunned.

’Seven-leaf Star Orchid!’

A priceless, unobtainable treasure she had only ever heard of in legends.

’Master... just tossed it to me like that?’

Just this morning, she had come to assassinate him, her heart set on murder!

Only at the brink of death did she have a stroke of genius, forcing herself to submit and enter into that humiliating master-servant pact.

Yet now, he was bestowing such an unimaginable opportunity upon her!

The hands with which Mo Yunzi held the Jade Box trembled uncontrollably.

She had spent many years in the Yin Demon Sect and was accustomed to deceit and betrayal. Fellow disciples would fight tooth and nail over the slightest benefit, and backstabbing was a common occurrence.

If a Seven-leaf Star Orchid like this were to appear, she feared that every one of her sect brothers and sisters would swarm it like sharks smelling blood. What would they care for fellowship then?

’And yet...’

"Master... this... this gift is too precious. I... I am unworthy..."

"Just take it," Chu Fan cut her off, his tone still impassive. "You are my subordinate now. When your Martial Arts improve, it’s the same as my own strength increasing. Improve your skills as quickly as possible so you can be of use to me. Otherwise, you’ll just be a burden."

His words were simple and direct, but they sent a tremor through Mo Yunzi’s heart.

She pressed her lips together and silently tucked the Jade Box away.

At that moment, the way she looked at Chu Fan was completely different.

The initial unfamiliarity, apprehension, and fear had transformed into an ineffable gratitude, reverence, and a strange emotion that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

In that instant, the final trace of resentment and indignation, which had coiled deep in her heart like a venomous snake, silently vanished without a trace.

Saying no more, Chu Fan rose to his feet and began practicing another art in an open space on the clifftop.

The Seven-leaf Star Orchid was indeed precious, but he still had the Sumeru Rings from Baili Youyou, the young mistress of Medicine King Valley, and her "Third Grandpa."

Inside their Sumeru Rings were several Treasure Plants even more precious than the Seven-leaf Star Orchid.

He had enough of those resources for himself, and he had even set aside cultivation supplies for Tianxing, Master Cao, and his senior brother Cao Yan.

His greatest asset was the Map of Mountains and Rivers.

Everything else was merely external.

It was best to have them, of course.

But even without them, as long as he had the Map of Mountains and Rivers, breaking through in his Martial Arts or Cultivation was only a matter of time and effort.

Chu Fan’s figure suddenly became erratic.

He took a single step, leaving a distinct Residual Image in his place while his True Body appeared several meters away.

[Art: Ghost Shadow Illusionary Body Step (Perfection), Progress: (2411/2500), Trait: None]

He had acquired this Body Technique long ago, but it was extremely difficult to learn. Before reaching the Mortal Transformation Realm, it was nearly impossible to practice.

It wasn’t until he broke through to the Spirit Awakening Realm that he could use Primordial Qi to activate it, allowing him to practice it all the way to the Realm of Perfection.

Now, after extensive practice, this Upper Grade Step Technique was finally on the verge of Breaking its Limit!

Once he broke the limit, the power of the Step Technique would reach a new level. The brand-new Trait he would obtain would push his speed to an entirely new realm!

Under the moonlight, Chu Fan’s figure blurred into a series of Residual Images, zipping across the clifftop at high speed and kicking up gusts of wind with his Force.

Mo Yunzi, sitting at the mouth of the cave, watched with a pounding heart.

That morning, it was precisely with this bizarrely unpredictable and incomparably swift Step Technique, paired with his vicious and sharp Palm Technique, that Chu Fan had utterly defeated her. Despite her Cultivation at the Divine Power Realm, she had been completely powerless to fight back.

...

「Qing Province City, Demon Suppression Bureau.」

Inside the command hall, the atmosphere was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Cao Feng, Li Qingxue, Cao Yan, and Baili Bing from Medicine King Valley all wore anxious expressions, pacing back and forth in the hall like ants on a hot skillet.

An entire day had passed.

The Demon Suppression Bureau had not only dispatched a large number of elites but had also mobilized several thousand garrison troops. A torrent of iron armor had poured from the city gates to conduct a carpet search of the vast forests and mountains outside the city.

Cyan Snake had also joined forces with her younger sister, White Snake, to use the Demon Race Secret Technique, Myriad Dharma Bodies. She had transformed into countless motes of light, scattering in all directions to track Chu Fan’s unique aura.

However, even as the Blood Moon rose high into the sky, there was still no word of Chu Fan. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

Suddenly, there was a change in a corner of the hall.

Countless firefly-like motes of light materialized from the void. Like a hundred rivers flowing to the sea, they converged into a stream of light and shot precisely into the body of Cyan Snake, who was sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed in meditation.

Cyan Snake’s eyelashes fluttered, and her eyes snapped open. She stretched languidly and said in a lazy, teasing tone, "Found him."

"You found him?!"

Those two words were like music from the heavens, instantly igniting everyone’s hope.

Cao Feng, Li Qingxue, and the others immediately crowded around her, their faces etched with urgency.

But Cyan Snake was in no hurry. She pouted and said in a sour tone, "Here we are, running around in circles and frantically searching for him, and what’s he doing? He’s off getting cozy with some beautiful woman in a lover’s nest. It’s infuriating!"

Hearing this, Li Qingxue’s elegant brows knitted together. Her cool voice held an unshakeable conviction. "Chu Fan is not that kind of person!"

"Hmph!" Cyan Snake retorted, unconvinced. "He subdued his pursuer on that mountain, and now they’re all cuddled up together..."

Before she could finish, Baili Bing, who had been silent all this time, suddenly widened her eyes and interjected in astonishment, "But... the person chasing us... was a man..."

The moment she said that, the air in the hall seemed to freeze solid.

Everyone stared at each other, their expressions turning utterly bizarre.