I Can Merge Techniques

Chapter 397: Chapter 143: Eerie Phantoms of the Stone Forest, Struck by the Blood Curse; The Qing Province Zhang Family’s Conspiracy, Burial Immortal Valley Stirs Up a Tempest

Chu Fan took an "Essence Enhancing Pill" from his Sumeru Ring and tossed it into his mouth. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

The Elixir melted the moment it entered his mouth, transforming into a warm current that flowed into his Qi Sea.

He rose and left the cave. With a light tap of his feet, his body unfolded like a great bird, and he swept down toward the mountain path below.

’I must be close to Qing Province City...’

’I wonder if Tianxing and the others have settled in safely.’

’Qing Province, one of the thirty-six provinces of the Great Yan Dynasty, is a land of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. I’ll have to be extra careful there.’

’I should probably hide out in the Demon Suppression Bureau to cultivate for a month or two before making any moves.’

...

Three hours later, Chu Fan, who had been sprinting nonstop, gradually slowed his pace.

Gazing into the distance, he could already see the silhouette of Qing Province City.

The city resembled a colossal black beast that had been dormant for ten thousand years, lying silently on the plains.

As he slowly approached, he finally got a clear view of Qing Province City’s walls...

The walls were built from some unknown material, shimmering with the cold, hard luster of Profound Iron. They stretched for dozens of miles from east to west, with no end in sight, like a great mountain range that had risen naturally from the earth.

A breeze blew from the direction of the city, carrying a faint Spiritual Mechanism and the sharp scent of metal.

Chu Fan focused and sniffed carefully, faintly detecting the scent of the Runes carved into the walls.

It was said to be a "Nine-Turn Spirit Gathering Array," something only a major sect could deploy.

Ordinary cities struggled to maintain even a basic Protective Array. Yet Qing Province City’s protective light membrane rippled like pale cyan water under the sun, so much so that even the wisps of cloud drifting across the sky were dyed a hazy, jade-green.

By the time he reached the South City gate, Chu Fan truly felt his own insignificance.

The gate doors were crafted from thousand-year-old Yin Chen Wood wrapped in Red Gold, and carved upon them was a fearsome, baring-fanged Taotie Divine Beast.

The Divine Beast’s eyes were two "Red Eye Stones" the size of pigeon eggs. They swirled with a dark red light in the sun, as if truly about to open their mouth and devour the entire world.

The gate was about two hundred feet high and a full one hundred feet wide, and at this moment, it stood wide open.

The stream of people coming and going moved like a colony of ants, yet they didn’t even fill a tenth of the gateway.

Chu Fan’s gaze swept across the crowd...

There were Noble Family Members riding Cyan Mane Beasts, their saddles adorned with jade-inlaid Sword Scabbards, which were further embellished with Bright Pearls;

There were Alchemists with medicine baskets on their backs, a Copper Token from the "Pill Furnace Pavilion" hanging from their waists, glittering brightly in the sun;

And there were laborers pushing enormous beast-drawn carts, which were covered by heavy black cloths. Beneath the fabric, one could faintly see protruding horns, suggesting the skeletons of some high-level Demon Beasts.

The city guards all wore Profound Iron Armor, and pale golden Spirit Patterns flowed within the seams of the plating.

Chu Fan sensed the auras of these guards and found that every one of them was above the Spirit Awakening Realm!

Just then, three figures who had been sitting by the city gate suddenly stood up and ran toward Chu Fan.

The three were none other than Zhao Tianxing, Jiang Yuanfan, and a skinny, dark-skinned boy.

The skinny, dark-skinned boy was the fastest. He was still a ways off when his voice arrived first: "Fan! Fan! You’re finally here!"

Chu Fan froze for a moment. Staring at the skinny, dark-skinned boy before him, he failed to recognize him at first. "And you are?"

The skinny, dark-skinned boy grew anxious and quickly said, "Fan, it’s me, High-end and Grand!"

"Pah!" Chu Fan frowned, looking him up and down. "What kind of family gives their kid a name like that? You don’t fit a single part of that description, do you?"

The skinny, dark-skinned boy’s eyes reddened, and he looked like he was about to cry. "I... I’m Fatty!"

Chu Fan was even more bewildered, and his tone grew heavier. "You brat! You’re nothing but skin and bones, and you have the nerve to call yourself Fatty?"

Despite his words, Chu Fan broke into a grin, a warmth filling his eyes.

He reached out and slung an arm around Fatty’s shoulders. The force was neither too light nor too heavy—just the familiar strength from their old roughhousing—as he gently patted his back. "You rascal!"

Fatty’s eyes reddened first. Tears welled up, but he stiffened his neck and stubbornly held them back.

His voice was a bit nasal as he said, "I-I... I thought... you didn’t recognize me."

"How could I not recognize you?" Chu Fan shook his head with a smile. "I’d recognize you even if you were burned to ashes."

"Huh... Huh?" Fatty stared blankly.

Chu Fan reached out and pinched the flesh on Fatty’s arm, his brow furrowing slightly. "It’s only been a few days. How did you get so thin? There’s no meat left on your arms."

"Oh, him—"

Zhao Tianxing walked over, shaking his head with a laugh. "On the way to Qing Province, he saw a patch of wild mushrooms and lost his mind. He just had to go pick them."

"He still hadn’t fully recovered from the internal injuries he got from that Demon’s palm strike back in Cyan Yang City. He took one bite of those mushrooms and poisoned himself to within an inch of his life. If it weren’t for Jiang Yuanfan carrying an antidote, we wouldn’t have been able to pull him back from death’s door."

Chu Fan’s gaze swept over Tianxing, then fell on Yuanfan, who was smiling silently to the side. As he nodded, a sense of reassurance settled in his heart. freeweɓnøvel.com

Ever since they parted ways in Cyan Yang, he had been worried something would happen to them on the road. Now, seeing them all safe and sound, the weight on his chest finally lifted.

He placed a hand on Tianxing’s shoulder and patted it twice, his fingertips feeling the firm muscle beneath the fabric. "It’s only been a few days, but your aura has grown much deeper. You seem more stable than before. Looks like you’ve been working hard."

The tips of Zhao Tianxing’s ears turned red. He grinned and scratched his head, causing the short hair on the nape of his neck to bounce.