I Can Merge Techniques

Chapter 450: Chapter 150: Breaking Limit, Ghost Fire Burning Soul Sacrifice Skill; Breakthrough, Yin Demon Observing Lotus Divine Power Realm

Anger flushed her face and her voice rose sharply. "Compete with them? They’re the ones who refuse to let us be!"

"Does the Demon Suppression Bureau really think it can run the whole Great Yan Dynasty? Just because one man from a branch family in Cyan Yang Ancient City, Zhang Yunpeng, was a demon from the Moon Worship Sect, they’re going to treat the entire Zhang Family of Qing Province like criminals?"

"Do they really think our Zhang Family is afraid of them?!"

A biting anger instantly filled the pavilion, and the very air seemed to freeze.

Xiaocui’s face went deathly pale, and she trembled all over.

An imperceptible flicker of tension also crossed Tang Yu’s abyss-like eyes.

Though this was the heart of the Zhang Family’s territory, the Demon Suppression Bureau’s methods were unfathomable. There was no guarantee that the walls didn’t have ears.

The Zhang Family might be one of Qing Province’s three titans, wielding immense power, but the Demon Suppression Bureau was a sharp blade hanging over the heads of all the Noble Sects in the Great Yan Dynasty!

’The Young Miss is being a little too reckless...’

Seeing their nervous expressions, Zhang Ling’er gave a disdainful snort. She reined in her anger, her cold demeanor returning. "Enough. Tang Yu, have your people keep a close watch on the Demon Suppression Bureau. Any news about Chu Fan from outside the city must also be relayed back at once."

She paused, her tone allowing no argument. "Furthermore, I want you to go personally and deal with that Mo Daozi."

Tang Yu froze for a moment, a look of confusion on her face. "Young Miss... The Zhang Family has never had any dealings with the Yin Demon Sect. Though we do not fear them, moving against Mo Daozi now might create needless complications. It’s not necessary."

"Necessary?" Zhang Ling’er leaned back lazily against the stone chair, her voice indifferent. "Of course it’s necessary. My game has just begun, and I’ve already written the script. How can my little mouse, Chu Fan, be killed by some stray cat passing by?"

"That would be far too boring."

Her voice softened, but it was laced with a bone-chilling cold. "I want him dead, but he must die at my hands."

"Only then will this resentment in my heart truly fade."

Tang Yu fell silent for a moment before bowing. "Yes."

Then she added, "But, Young Miss, Mo Daozi is as cunning as a fox and as savage as a wolf. If he’s truly dead set on killing Chu Fan, I fear Chu Fan is already dead without a complete corpse to show for it. We... might not be in time."

"It doesn’t matter." Zhang Ling’er waved her hand dismissively. "If he really dies, then that’s just his fate. Let it be..."

Suddenly, as if remembering something, she asked with great interest, "Tang Yu, tell me, who do you think is stronger? Me or that Mo Daozi?"

Tang Yu hesitated for a moment before saying in a low voice, "In terms of pure Cultivation, Young Miss, you are a step above Mo Daozi. In terms of Cultivation Techniques and Secret Skills, our Zhang Family’s legacy is far superior to the Yin Demon Sect’s heretical arts."

"But Mo Daozi crawled his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. He’s killed countless people. You cannot compare to him, Young Miss, when it comes to practical combat experience, killing techniques, and his brand of vicious, reckless cunning."

"Mm." Zhang Ling’er nodded slightly, unsurprised by the answer.

A hint of frustration crossed her face. "If Father hadn’t forbidden me from leaving the city, I’d really love to go and see for myself—watch how that Mo Daozi hunts down Chu Fan, and then kill Mo Daozi with a single palm strike right in front of him."

"I’d love to see the look of utter horror and despair on that wretch’s face when he witnesses true hopelessness."

As she imagined the scene, the corners of her lips curled up involuntarily.

Then, she gave a casual wave of her hand.

Tang Yu bowed and retreated. Her figure transformed back into a plume of black smoke, melting silently into the night as if she had never appeared.

...

「Meanwhile, at the Demon Suppression Bureau.」

The people from the Seven Stars Gang had long since left.

After a brief period of clamor, the Demon Suppression Bureau returned to its usual grim tranquility.

Outside the assembly hall, a group of Demon Suppression Guards were walking down a long corridor, having just left a meeting.

They chatted in low voices as they walked.

"You guys think what Cyan Snake and Li Qingxue said is true? That Chu Fan isn’t just trying to escape, but is actually planning to make a move on Mo Daozi?"

One of the Demon Suppression Guards had a look of utter disbelief on his face.

"Who knows? It’s completely unheard of!"

Another immediately chimed in. "Chu Fan’s strength is certainly strange. Even if he can kill someone in the Divine Power Realm while being at a lower level, who is Mo Daozi? He’s a genuine master at the Second Heaven of the Acupoint Realm! Our intel also says he’s refined two Demon Puppets, each as strong as an expert at the same level! Taking him on is like one person fighting three Second-Heaven Acupoint Realm masters!"

"Exactly! And in this situation, Cyan Snake says Chu Fan wants to turn the tables and kill him? She must have been scared out of her wits."

Once the topic was opened, everyone shook their heads, their faces filled with confusion and doubt.

"If Chu Fan makes it back safely this time, I’m definitely going to have a sparring match with him and see what kind of powerful trump cards he’s hiding!"

A burly Demon Suppression Guard with a powerful aura said in a deep voice, "I remember when he joined the Demon Suppression Bureau at the Spirit Awakening Realm. We found it incredible even then. To think it’s been such a short time, and he’s already reached this outrageous level..."

As soon as he finished speaking, a familiar companion beside him teased, "Old Wang, I’d just forget about it if I were you. If Chu Fan really manages to return safely from Mo Daozi this time, you shouldn’t go looking for a sparring match."

"And why is that?" The burly Demon Suppression Guard raised an eyebrow.

His companion chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. "If he comes back, that means he has, at the very least, the ability to contend with a master at the Second Heaven of the Acupoint Realm."

"If you try to spar with him then, it’s not a sparring match, it’s a death wish!"

"Er..." The burly Demon Suppression Guard was instantly at a loss for words.

After all, he was only at the Peak of the Divine Power Realm. As confident as he was, he wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could contend with an Acupoint Realm master.

Just as his companion said, if Chu Fan could truly escape from Mo Daozi, a master at the Second Heaven of the Acupoint Realm, how could his own strength at the Divine Power Realm possibly compare?

To challenge him then would truly be a joke.

After a long moment, he just shook his head with a bitter smile and let out a long sigh. "I don’t get it. I really just don’t get it... What kind of monster is that kid? If I don’t face him myself, this feeling bottled up inside me is just unbearable. I have to get an answer somehow."

His voice, echoing in the empty corridor, also gave voice to the confusion and anticipation in the hearts of everyone present.

...

A sliver of dawn was just breaking on the horizon.

The thin morning light struggled to pierce the dense fog shrouding the mountain forest, coating everything in a layer of cold, silvery gray.

Deep within a jagged pile of rubble, a figure slowly rose, like a phantom emerging from the shadows.

He was shrouded in a wide black cloak, the hood pulled so low that only his pale, bloodless chin was visible in the shadows.

This was none other than Mo Daozi of the Yin Demon Sect, whose vicious reputation made him feared by both righteous and demonic paths.

He stepped out from a crevice in the rocks. The cold morning wind billowed the tattered hem of his robe, carrying a faint, strange scent—a mixture of blood and medicinal herbs.

Mo Daozi looked up. Beneath the shadow of his hood, his face was terrifyingly grim.

His long, narrow eyes were shot through with fine red veins, betraying a suppressed ferocity and frustration.

Being hunted was nothing new to him.

From the day he set foot on the Demon Dao, his name listed on the bounty boards of the Demon Suppression Bureau and the Six Gates, his life had been a cycle of being hunted and turning the tables on his pursuers.

He even enjoyed the thrill of living on a knife’s edge.

This time, however, he felt more cornered and aggrieved than ever before.

’That old bastard...’

He squeezed the words through his teeth, inwardly cursing the eighteen generations of the grand-uncle who had given him this mission.

Just to help that old fool hunt down some woman, he had accidentally exposed his position, attracting old enemies and a pack of assassins who swarmed at the scent of blood.

’What an utter calamity!’

What enraged him even more was that the old bastard had never mentioned it—the target he was supposed to be hunting was from the Medicine King Valley!

And judging by the Protective Magical Treasure the woman had thrown out in a panic, her status in the Medicine King Valley was far from ordinary.

Medicine King Valley!

He, Mo Daozi, might kill without batting an eye, but he wasn’t an idiot.

He never feared fighting powerful masters, but he was terrified of provoking a behemoth like the Medicine King Valley.

Those Alchemists themselves might have mediocre combat strength, but the Elixirs they possessed were enough to make countless sects and top-tier masters do their bidding.

If the Medicine King Valley so much as put out the word, offering a single Spirit Pill capable of helping someone break through a bottleneck, countless self-proclaimed "heroes" and desperate fugitives across Qing Province would swarm to take his head and offer it up as tribute!

Being hunted by the Demon Suppression Bureau and the Six Gates already had him treading on thin ice.

And now he had gone and completely offended the Medicine King Valley...

He could almost see it: in the future, there would be no place left for him in the vast expanse of Qing Province.

What infuriated him most was that he now had three leeches stuck to him, like gangrene on a bone, that he couldn’t shake off no matter what.

If not for his suspicious nature, which had led him to lay several vicious traps and illusory formations throughout this forest, his head would have likely been taken last night in exchange for a heavy bag of Spirit Jade.

Just then, Mo Daozi’s heart skipped a beat. Sensing something, he abruptly snapped his gaze to the air in front and to his right.

There, in the thin mist, a translucent Spirit Butterfly with a wingspan of barely an inch appeared out of thin air, as if it had just broken free from the bonds of the void.

With each flap of its wings, it left faint, pale blue ripples of light in the air as it flew directly toward him...

It was a Sound Transmission Spirit Butterfly from the Yin Demon Sect.

Mo Daozi slowly raised a hand concealed within his black robe.

The Spirit Butterfly landed obediently in his palm, its cool touch vanishing in an instant.