I Can Merge Techniques

The three days passed in the blink of an eye.

As the first pale light of dawn pierced the dense night, casting a faint, lead-gray hue over the sleeping land, seven ghostly figures appeared without a sound on a mountainside at the edge of the Burial Demon Marsh.

They were all clad in the jet-black, standard-issue armor of the Demon Suppression Guard. Their auras were as still and deep as an abyss, their Spiritual Pressure contained so perfectly that not a single trace escaped.

It was none other than Chu Fan, Li Mubai, and their men!!

The seven of them crouched like statues behind a massive green stone. Their gazes, sharp as an eagle’s, pierced the lingering morning mist to coldly survey the deathly silent marsh below.

As far as the eye could see, colorful plumes of poisonous miasma, like a phantom’s veil or a Demoness’s skirt, drifted lazily over the surface of the dark green swamp water.

It concealed all life and truth below, creating an indescribably eerie atmosphere.

The air was thick with a nauseating, cloying stench—a mix of decay and something sickly sweet.

A single breath made one’s head spin. It was clearly highly toxic.

This was the Burial Demon Marsh.

A forbidden land that even light and wind dared not enter.

The marsh was shrouded in a toxic miasma year-round, its climate harsh. Worse still, the churning sludge and murky water beneath the surface contained a terrifying poison capable of melting gold and dissolving iron.

Even a battle-hardened Acupoint Realm Martial Artist wouldn’t dare set foot here without extensive preparations. The slightest mistake would mean certain death.

Just then, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, which had lain dormant and still within Chu Fan’s body, suddenly began to tremble. It was a subtle, yet unmistakably clear vibration, filled with intense longing.

A faint, ethereal intent, like the softest whisper, flowed directly into his mind, pure and unfiltered.

It was the feeling... of a Fierce Beast, dormant for millennia, seeing an exquisite delicacy for the very first time and crying out in joy!

It was a greed and excitement that stemmed from the depths of its soul, so palpable it was almost bursting forth!

’What exactly is hidden inside this Burial Demon Marsh?’

Chu Fan’s eyes shifted as he pondered this.

Ever since he’d acquired the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, it had absorbed the souls and Evil Qi of the many enemies he had slain, but it had never reacted so proactively or with such intense emotion.

For its first unusual reaction to occur in this perilous Desolate Land was enough to prove something extraordinary was hidden within.

At that moment, the group’s leader, Demon Suppression Captain Li Mubai, swept his lightning-quick gaze over two small hills below. They seemed unremarkable, but in truth, they concealed a deadly threat.

He didn’t utter a single command. He simply raised his right hand, brought his long index and middle fingers together, and gestured lightly toward the two locations. The movement was simple, yet powerful.

The command was silent, but the response was like lightning.

The two Demon Suppression Captains behind him with the most formidable auras, both in the Acupoint Realm, instantly blurred into two indistinct phantoms. With a light tap of their toes on the rock, they launched themselves into the air. Like two night owls spreading their wings, they sliced silently through the pre-dawn sky, speeding toward the two hills.

Their movements were swift and stealthy, utterly silent.

Their Body Techniques were ghostly and nimble. Their feet touched the ground without a whisper, and the flutter of their robes didn’t stir the slightest breeze. They were like two shadows gliding over the grass.

A moment later, their two agile figures slowly emerged from the dense grass on the hillsides.

They scanned the area for a moment, and after confirming it was clear, they made a tactical hand signal in the direction of Chu Fan’s group, indicating "Sentries eliminated."

The two hidden sentries the Blood Shadow Sect had posted on either side of the marsh entrance had their throats slit while they slept. They fell into eternal darkness without a single cry of alarm, leaving not even a trace of a struggle.

Seeing this, Li Mubai gave a slight nod.

The group immediately stood up, their movements perfectly synchronized. As one, they each retrieved a Special Antitoxic Pill from their robes and placed it in their mouths.

The Elixir dissolved instantly. A cool, refreshing energy swept through their limbs and meridians, spreading throughout their bodies to form an invisible barrier on their skin, completely sealing out the pervasive toxic miasma.

Then, they grabbed the sturdy vines hanging from the cliff face. With a push of their arms, they slid silently down the steep precipice, as nimble as monkeys.

The moment they set foot within the Burial Demon Marsh, a Decaying stench, several times more potent than on the outskirts, assaulted them.

It was mixed with the characteristic fetid odor of the swamp, a smell so foul it made one want to retch.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the seven spread out into a fan formation. They kept several yards between one another, close enough to provide support yet far enough to cover a wide area. Treading cautiously on the muddy, slippery ground, they advanced silently into the depths of the marsh.

Every Blood Shadow Sect sentry post they encountered along the way, both hidden and in plain sight, was eliminated with ghostly silence.

The slaughter proceeded in the deathly stillness of the marsh. There was no flash of steel, no glint of a sword—only silent death.

Within the dim, poisonous miasma, a great net of death woven from venom and blades was slowly tightening around the heart of the Burial Demon Marsh—Cold Crow Valley. Murderous intent lay hidden in the gloom.

...

Daylight finally broke through the oppressive darkness.

The rising sun struggled over the horizon, casting down a weak morning glow.

Deep within the Burial Demon Marsh, in a forest of bizarre, twisted trees with gnarled branches on the outskirts of Cold Crow Valley, seven dark figures slowly materialized, as if crystallizing out of the very shadows.

The seven of them hid behind the grotesque trees, looking down from their high vantage point over the entirety of Cold Crow Valley.

In the valley below, many Blood Shadow Sect disciples were already up and about. Some were on patrol, others were starting fires to cook breakfast. It was a scene of deceptive tranquility.