I Can Merge Techniques

"Go. Find a way to recruit him into the Moon Worship Sect."

"What?!" Qian Ning was aghast, her voice trembling. "My Lady! He’s a Demon Suppression Guard! He’s a sworn enemy of our Sect!"

"And what if he’s a Demon Suppression Guard?" Lingkong Jade interrupted disdainfully. "Do you think we don’t have our own people inside the Demon Suppression Bureau?"

"He’s only been with the Demon Suppression Bureau for a few months. How much loyalty could he have? How much of a sense of belonging?"

"As long as the price is right, so-called loyalty is worthless."

Her tone suddenly grew wistful, with a hint of self-mocking. "That good-for-nothing disciple of mine, Ghost Moon, died at his hands."

"I was certainly furious at the time, but now that I think about it, that idiot Ghost Moon was nothing but trash compared to Chu Fan. His death was no great loss."

A strange glint ignited in Lingkong Jade’s eyes, like a hunter who had spotted the perfect prey. "Send someone to inform him that if he is willing to submit to the Moon Worship Sect, I, Lingkong Jade, am willing to take him as my Direct Disciple."

"I will teach him everything I know and help him become a top-tier expert as soon as possible!"

"A genius like him, if he can be used by our Sect, is worth more than an entire army!"

"If he dares to refuse, flay him alive, tear out his tendons, grind his bones to dust, and scatter the ashes!"

Qian Ning was deeply shaken. She had never seen her Lady place such importance on a member of the younger generation, to even promise to take him as a Direct Disciple.

She hurriedly bowed to accept the order. "I understand, My Lady. I will not fail this mission!"

"Go." As her voice faded, Lingkong Jade’s figure grew indistinct, transforming into a wisp of black smoke that scattered in the wind.

Qian Ning followed close behind, also vanishing quickly into the night.

...

「The next evening.」

The setting sun was like molten gold, the evening clouds like a blazing fire.

The last rays of twilight passed through the window, casting long, slanted shadows across the room.

Inside the Quiet Chamber, Chu Fan let out a long, turbid breath.

Sweat soaked his training robes, which clung to his frame and outlined his powerfully defined muscles.

He had practiced the Twelve True Forms Fist dozens of times. While his Vajra Undying Body could withstand the strain, the emptiness from his depleted Primordial Qi sent waves of bone-deep fatigue through him.

But Chu Fan didn’t rest. He went straight to the desk and carefully opened a thick, ancient-looking tome.

This was the very secret tome that Baili Bing had procured for him from the Medicine King Valley.

Its pages were made from the tanned hide of an Exotic Beast. They felt warm and smooth to the touch and had withstood the ravages of time.

It recorded thousands of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, each accompanied by exquisitely beautiful, lifelike, hand-drawn illustrations.

From the fine veins of a Spirit Grass to the sprawling root system of a thousand-year-old treasure tree, everything was rendered in exhaustive detail.

Beside the illustrations were detailed annotations in tiny, neat script: their names, growth environments, effects, and wondrous uses, and even how to determine their age by color, scent, and fluctuations in Spiritual Qi.

For an Alchemist, such a tome was a priceless, supreme treasure.

Chu Fan knew that in a place with a hierarchy as strict as the Medicine King Valley, even a senior Alchemist would have trouble laying eyes on a secret manual like this without first making some monumental contribution.

Yet Baili Bing had used her own authority to procure the entire set of tomes for him.

Recalling how Baili Bing had once chased him for a thousand li with sword in hand, Chu Fan felt a trace of gratitude well up within him now that she was silently paving the way for him.

Their past grudges had long since vanished into thin air, without him even realizing it.

[Literacy Experience Points +3]

Chu Fan glanced at his panel.

[Spiritual Essence: 3995]

[Pollution Level: 11/100]

[Skill: Literacy (Third Limit Break 6654/7000) (Traits: Generalize, Gradual Progress; Generalize, Stunning Comprehension; All Laws are Clear, Unique Wisdom)]

After three Limit Breaks, all the Traits of the seemingly basic skill, Literacy, were related to a single concept: Comprehension.

Its effects were subtle, yet critically important.

However, leveling it up wasn’t as immediately gratifying as practicing his other Martial Arts; he couldn’t feel a tangible surge of power.

As a result, Chu Fan had subconsciously been slacking on it, often only turning to his books as a form of rest when he was already exhausted.

He would spend a whole afternoon sweating it out in the Martial Arts Arena to improve his Running Technique, yet he rarely calmed his mind to study for half a day just to achieve a breakthrough in Literacy.

But many small efforts add up, and constant dripping wears away the stone.

After accumulating experience over this period, this skill, so crucial for his future potential, was finally approaching another opportunity for transformation.

’Comprehension... the higher one’s Cultivation, the more important it becomes,’ Chu Fan mused to himself.

’At lower levels, one can win with brute force and Cultivation Techniques. But to climb to the peak of the Martial Dao, to grasp the true meaning of those techniques and comprehend the ultimate principles of the world, it would be impossible to advance without extraordinary Comprehension.’

At this thought, Chu Fan reined in his wandering mind and focused his full attention on the tome.

He secretly resolved that from now on, he would set aside a fixed hour each day to advance this skill.

Time slipped by quietly as he focused.

As the sky outside the window grew completely dark, the crucial moment finally arrived—

[Literacy Experience Points +7]

["Literacy" has reached its limit. 200 Spiritual Essence can be consumed for a Limit Break. Consume?]

’Yes!’ Chu Fan thought without the slightest hesitation.

The next moment, an indescribable and profound sensation washed over him!

He felt himself fall into a trance, as if his Divine Soul was about to leave his body and roam through a cosmic sea of knowledge formed from countless ancient Runes.

Every character glittered with the light of wisdom, scrambling to pour into his mind.

BUZZ—!

A feeling of utter clarity, like a sudden enlightenment, swept through his entire body. The heavy fatigue accumulated from his earlier fist practice was completely swept away, vanishing without a trace!

His mind had never felt so clear and nimble. It was as if a crushing weight had been lifted, and his thoughts moved several times faster than before!

[Skill: Literacy (Fourth Limit Break 2/10000) (Traits: Generalize, Gradual Progress; Generalize, Stunning Comprehension; All Laws are Clear, Unique Wisdom; Universal Teacher, Daoic Feedback)]

[Universal Teacher, Daoic Feedback: Observe all phenomena of heaven and earth, and they shall become the Chapters that define you. Sense the flow of creation, and it shall all become fuel for comprehending the Dao. Inspiration strikes without thought; skills advance as naturally as a river carving its channel. You can peer into the profound and illuminate the subtle, pointing directly to the source. You are able to glimpse the true meaning of Cultivation Techniques and discern the embryonic form of the Great Dao. From this point on, innovation will be as easy as pointing a finger, and comprehensive mastery will feel innate. The cornerstone of a First Generation Grandmaster has been laid.]