I Can Merge Techniques

However, faced with this deadly pincer attack, Chu Fan moved!

In the nick of time, his figure flickered like a phantom!

WHOOSH!

Leaving a faint Residual Image in his wake, Chu Fan tilted his body slightly, and the deadly Sleeve Arrow grazed past his temple!

His right hand shot out like lightning, fingers splayed, and with incredible precision, he snatched the Sleeve Arrow out of the air!

The next moment, his Step Technique changed. Like Fleeting Shadows, he moved in the blink of an eye, at a speed and angle that defied comprehension, to bypass Tang Tinghua’s powerful, heavy slash and appear eerily behind him!

The entire sequence of movements was as smooth as flowing water, dizzyingly fast!

Tang Tinghua’s slash met only air. Alarm bells screamed in his mind as he felt an intense wave of Cold Qi at his back!

He tried to turn and defend, but it was too late!

Chu Fan’s eyes were ice-cold. Gripping the Sleeve Arrow he had just caught, he stabbed backward with a reverse grip!

PFFT!

With a soft squelch and Tang Tinghua’s shrill scream, Chu Fan ruthlessly plunged the jet-black Sleeve Arrow into the right side of his back.

Though not a fatal blow, the pain was excruciating!

"Ahhh!"

Tang Tinghua cried out in pain, his eyes wide with fury. On pure combat instinct, he forcefully twisted his body, his Long Saber swinging in a whirlwind of ferocious light as he slashed horizontally at Chu Fan behind him!

This slash, born of fury, was even more powerful than the last!

But as fast as he was, Chu Fan was faster!

WHOOSH!

The ferocious slash met empty air again. As if using Instant Teleportation, Chu Fan appeared directly in front of Tang Tinghua mid-turn, nearly face-to-face!

They were so close that Tang Tinghua could clearly see the frosty killing intent and a hint of mockery in Chu Fan’s eyes.

His face paled, his heart filling with endless terror. He desperately tried to pull back and create some distance.

But it was too late!

Chu Fan wasn’t about to give him another chance!

Chu Fan sank his weight, unifying his stance. Power surged up from the ground, channeling through his waist and hips into his arm!

Rising Elbow!

His right elbow shot forward and up like a cannonball, striking Tang Tinghua’s chin with the weight of a mountain!

"CRACK!" The sickening crunch of bone was clearly audible.

Tang Tinghua’s scream was cut short as he was thrown upward by the blow, his entire centerline exposed.

Without a moment’s pause, Chu Fan twisted his waist and hips, unleashing an uppercut elbow strike!

Like a venomous dragon emerging from its lair, the elbow shot upward, viciously slamming into the space between Tang Tinghua’s exposed chest and stomach!

"PUH!" Tang Tinghua violently spat out a mouthful of blood, his insides churning as if a storm was raging within him.

Spinning Elbow!

Following the momentum, Chu Fan spun, his left arm bent. The tip of his elbow, like a heavy hammer imbued with rotational force, smashed viciously into the side of Tang Tinghua’s face!

BAM!

Like a kite with its string cut, Tang Tinghua was sent flying backward in a spray of blood and shattered teeth.

His Long Saber slipped from his grasp, tracing a limp arc through the air before landing with a CLANG.

His own Sleeve Arrow was still embedded in his back. If he landed on it, the arrow would undoubtedly be driven straight through his body—the consequences would be unthinkable!

The square-faced Demon Suppression Captain was prepared. He flashed forward like a wisp of smoke, and with a circular motion of his palm, a gentle wave of Primordial Qi surged out. Like an invisible hand, it caught the backward-flying Tang Tinghua and lowered him gently to the ground.

When the crowd got a clear look, they all gasped in unison!

Tang Tinghua’s jaw was twisted and deformed, his face a bloody pulp. He was already unconscious, his life force frighteningly faint.

"Kick from afar, punch up close, and grapple when body-to-body. But for true close-quarters combat, unleash vicious elbows and brutal knees."

In a close-quarters brawl, the elbow is the most critical weapon—and the most ferocious.

As the saying goes, "Better to take ten punches than a single elbow."

The saying "an elbow carries the force of a thousand pounds" is no exaggeration.

In the blink of an eye, Chu Fan had used three such direct, brutal, and efficient elbow strikes to utterly incapacitate an expert of the Acupoint Realm’s Second Heaven!

Such power, such ruthlessness, sent a chill down the spine of every onlooker.

In the crowd, Wang Meng, whom Chu Fan had defeated before, swallowed hard. With lingering fear, he said to the people around him, "I told you! When Chu Fan fought me, he was definitely holding back!"

"Which one of you bastards dared to egg me on to challenge him again!"

He glared at the people around him, shouting with a mix of fear and indignation, "You lot are just malicious! You just wanted to see me get humiliated!"

The Demon Suppression Guards had been staring at Tang Tinghua’s wretched state, frozen in shock.

Hearing Wang Meng’s shouts, which were filled with both grievance and terror, the stark contrast made them unable to hold back their laughter. The heavy atmosphere lightened considerably.

Back in the arena, Chu Fan gave the unconscious Tang Tinghua a cold glance, not even bothering with a single platitude, as if he had just swatted away a noisy fly.

He straightened his slightly disheveled robes and, under the crowd’s complicated stares, turned and walked toward the Seven Stars Gang. The people parted for him automatically.

After Chu Fan left, Pei Yufeng remained standing in place, gazing at the figure disappearing at the far end of the street.

The gentle expression on his face had vanished, replaced by an unfathomable gravity. Inside his sleeves, his fingers curled slightly.

The other Demon Suppression Guards and the Demon Suppression Captain did not immediately disperse either.

An eerie silence filled the air, broken only by Tang Tinghua’s faint, pained moans.

Those three elbow strikes from Chu Fan had not only crushed Tang Tinghua’s arrogance but had also seared an indelible mark into the minds of everyone present.

...

「Back at the Seven Stars Gang headquarters.」

Chu Fan sat cross-legged on the edge of his daybed. A light flashed in his left palm, and a quaint, small bronze mirror appeared—the very same All-Seeing Mirror that had once trapped him.

The surface of the mirror shimmered, casting a soft white light that enveloped him completely.

The next moment, his body vanished from the middle of the room.

Only the bronze mirror was left, spinning a few times in mid-air before fading into the void and disappearing.

Within the space of the All-Seeing Mirror was a perfect replica of the Martial Arts Arena outside Chu Fan’s residence.

This mirror-replicated area was uncannily silent. There was no wind, no chirping of insects—only the sound of Chu Fan’s breathing echoing in the vast, empty space.