I Can Merge Techniques

Chu Fan stopped in his tracks, a look of confusion on his face.

He turned and looked at Leng Qingqiu, puzzled. "Lord Leng, I’ve already reported on the mission and received my reward. I honestly can’t think of anything I’ve forgotten."

Leng Qingqiu let out a soft sigh, a trace of resignation flashing in her moonlit eyes.

She slowly walked over to Chu Fan, her perceptive eyes fixed on him. "You used the Ten Thousand Souls Banner to refine Zhang Lie, the Sect Leader of the Blood Shadow Sect. Do you not intend to tell me what you found in his memories?"

The moment she spoke, Chu Fan’s heart jolted, and the smile on his face froze.

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner!

This was one of his greatest secrets!

’How could Leng Qingqiu possibly know?’

He forced an awkward smile and asked tentatively, "Lord Leng, how... how did you know I have the Ten Thousand Souls Banner? Did Lord Yue Mankong tell you?"

"Obviously!" Leng Qingqiu said, raising an eyebrow.

Chu Fan scratched his head. "Lord Leng, I’ve only sealed Zhang Lie’s soul in the Ten Thousand Souls Banner. I haven’t had a chance to refine it yet, so I’m afraid..."

"No matter." Leng Qingqiu cut him off, her expression impassive. "Just release his soul. I will perform the Soul Search myself."

Chu Fan’s heart grew cold upon hearing this.

’A direct Soul Search?’

’This was a Secret Technique that required immense Divine Sense strength and skill. The slightest mistake could result in a backlash from the soul.’

He hesitated no longer. With a nod, he beckoned with his hand.

A small black flag, inscribed with countless twisted Runes and emitting an ominous aura, instantly appeared in his palm.

Chu Fan performed a Spell, and the Ten Thousand Souls Banner swelled in the air, instantly growing as tall as a man.

In that instant, the temperature in the room plummeted as if to freezing.

A grim, abyssal Cold Qi filled the air. The lamplight in the corner flickered erratically, its glow dimming.

Thick black mist billowed from the banner’s surface, and the faint, harrowing sounds of ghostly wails and wolfish howls could be heard, enough to send a chill down one’s spine.

With a grave expression, Chu Fan’s fingers formed another Spell as he pointed at the banner from afar.

"Out!"

The next moment, a harsh RATTLE of chains echoed.

A humanoid mass of black mist, pierced by several pitch-black chains, was violently dragged out of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

It was the soul of Zhang Lie, Sect Leader of the Blood Shadow Sect!

"ROAR—!"

The moment Zhang Lie’s soul emerged from the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, it let out a bizarre shriek filled with endless malice and savagery, transforming into a black shadow as it tried to flee out the window.

But the chains piercing its Soul Body held it fast, yanking it back!

No matter how it struggled, it couldn’t break free in the slightest!

Leng Qingqiu, however, remained unfazed by the rampaging soul, not even batting an eye.

She simply extended an index finger, as crystalline as jade, and gently tapped it in the direction of the black mist.

An invisible ripple spread through the air.

Zhang Lie’s soul, which had been struggling and roaring wildly just a moment before, instantly fell silent, as if struck by an Immobilization Spell.

Its entire savage aura was utterly suppressed by a stronger, colder power.

Leng Qingqiu raised her slender hand, palm facing up.

The massive, humanoid black mist began to shrink and solidify at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Eventually, it transformed into a small, spinning black orb of light, hovering docilely in the palm of her right hand, completely devoid of its former ferocity.

Chu Fan stood to the side, watching in utter amazement.

’A Demon Suppression Envoy is truly, absurdly powerful!’

’He hadn’t seen her use any complex Magic Techniques, nor had he felt the slightest fluctuation of Primordial Qi.’

’So effortlessly, she had toyed with the soul of a peak Acupoint Realm expert in the palm of her hand, and even read its memories directly.’

’And this was Zhang Lie’s soul!’

’A Demon infamous in life, his soul was tough and his will stubborn—far beyond that of any ordinary Cultivator.’

’An ordinary person attempting a Soul Search would first need to lay down numerous restrictive seals and then carefully peel back the layers one by one.’

’Yet Leng Qingqiu did it as casually as if she were flipping through a book.’

’Her control over her power was simply inconceivable!’

A moment later, Leng Qingqiu looked up, her cool eyes landing on Chu Fan again as the black orb in her palm floated toward him.

"I have erased Zhang Lie’s residual consciousness for you," she said calmly. "The Refinement will be much easier for you later."

"Thank you, Lord Leng!" Chu Fan was delighted. ’This was a huge help; it would save him a great deal of time.’

He bowed slightly, and then with a thought,

the chains connected to the Ten Thousand Souls Banner snapped taut with a WHOOSH, instantly yanking the sphere of pure soul energy back inside.

The Yin Cold Qi in the room dissipated, and everything returned to normal.

Leng Qingqiu glanced at the Ten Thousand Souls Banner in Chu Fan’s hand, her expression suddenly turning grave and her tone becoming hard as iron. "Chu Fan, remember this."

"Until your Cultivation reaches the late-stage Acupoint Realm, you must never use this banner in front of others."

"There are two reasons."

"First, this banner is exceptionally demonic. Every time you activate it, it requires an immense amount of Primordial Qi and a powerful Divine Sense to sustain."

"At your current level of Cultivation, if you were to use it with your full strength, I’m afraid it would drain you dry in an instant and could even damage your foundation."

"Second, and most importantly..."

"This Ten Thousand Souls Banner is a high-grade Ancient Treasure that Lingkong Jade, the Divine Sacrifice Envoy of the Moon Worship Sect, spent decades of painstaking effort to refine."

"If you ever reveal it, that madwoman will stop at nothing to hunt you to the ends of the earth. She won’t rest until one of you is dead."

"Back in Cyan Yang Ancient City, after Yue Mankong gave this to you, he had the Demon Suppression Bureau spread the word that *he* was the one who had taken the Ten Thousand Souls Banner from Lingkong Jade."

"Therefore, everyone believes the Ten Thousand Souls Banner is in his possession."

"As long as you don’t use it, you will be safe."

"But the moment you use it and she finds out, given that woman’s madness, she would dare to storm even the heavily fortified Qing Province City all by herself to get to you!"

"...I understand!" Chu Fan’s heart skipped a beat. His expression turned grave as he nodded heavily.

’He knew the Ten Thousand Souls Banner involved great trouble, but he had never imagined it was this serious.’