Chapter 410: Chapter 145: Mirror of Perception, The Fusion of Three Saber Techniques

"Why is he using the Seven-Star Bead Slash one moment,"

"and then switching to the Ninefold Thunder Shock Saber and Nine Blood Soul Blades the next?"

"It seems like... he isn’t just switching between saber techniques."

"Look at the way his step technique links together, the instant his Primordial Qi shifts..."

"He seems to be trying to find some kind of connection between these three saber techniques."

"He wants to fuse them together?!"

Li Qingxue’s beautiful eyes went wide in disbelief!

Just then, Chen Xuan also figured it out and said, "Is he trying to fuse three saber techniques?"

"Fuse three saber techniques?!" Upon hearing this, the elders from the Cao and Li Families nearly jumped out of their skins.

They already knew Chu Fan had considered fusing the Ninefold Thunder Shock Saber and the Seven-Star Bead Slash.

In fact, they had high hopes for it.

But those were two saber techniques with vastly different styles!

And now, he was trying to fuse three completely different saber techniques on the spot?

This was simply...

Fusing saber techniques was no child’s play.

Every advanced saber technique had its own unique path for circulating Primordial Qi and its own method of generating force.

A forced fusion, with even the slightest misstep, would lead to scrambled meridians and a crippling Primordial Qi backlash!

"This... this is far too risky!" A Li Clan Elder frowned, his face etched with worry.

But Chu Fan was completely immersed, his mind consumed with understanding the clash between the three Limit-Breaking Saber Techniques.

He was running through them again and again, searching for a way to fuse them...

Suddenly, ripples of faint golden light spread across the Map of Mountains and Rivers panel in his mind, and a line of clear text appeared...

[Ninefold Thunder Shock Saber (First Limit Break), Seven-Star Bead Slash (First Limit Break), Nine Blood Soul Blades (First Limit Break), Firewood Splitting Saber Technique (Fourth Limit Break), assessing compatibility... Compatibility requirements met. Fusion is possible! Fusion requires 600 points of Spiritual Essence. Proceed with fusion?]

This abrupt notification sent a shock through Chu Fan’s mind, causing his hands to falter for a split second.

’The Map of Mountains and Rivers... can directly fuse Martial Arts?’

A wave of ecstasy washed over him, mixed with a hint of exasperated complaint—

’Why didn’t you tell me sooner?’

’I wasted so much time racking my brain and fumbling in the dark!’

’Why didn’t you tell me sooner?’

He quickly checked the brief explanation for fusion and finally figured out the rules...

If two or more Martial Arts of a similar nature had both reached the First Limit Break, he could spend the corresponding amount of Spiritual Essence to have the Map of Mountains and Rivers perform an optimal fusion, generating a new, more powerful martial art.

The prerequisites for fusion were that the Dharma Master must have a strong desire to perform the fusion, and they must have enough Spiritual Essence.

’No wonder. The Extreme Night Cold Prison Hand, the Twelve Forms Fist, and the Nine Nether Yellow Springs Finger have all reached a Limit Break, but I never got a prompt like this for them.’

Other than an early attempt to combine the Extreme Night Cold Prison Hand and the Twelve Forms Fist, he had never seriously tried to fuse them afterward.

’Why didn’t you tell me sooner?’

A thought flashed through Chu Fan’s mind. Just as he was about to confirm the fusion, eagerly anticipating the birth of a new saber technique, he heard a voice.

"Boss Chu! Boss Chu!"

Liang Qiu’s urgent shouts and the sound of his running feet grew closer, shattering the immersive world of the Dao of the Saber that Chu Fan had entered.

Chu Fan’s brow furrowed. He forced himself out of that profound state of deduction, a flame of irritation igniting within him at being disturbed.

He doubted he’d be this furious even if someone had interrupted his wedding night.

He retracted his saber momentum and turned, his face grim, to look at the gasping Liang Qiu.

"What is it?"

His voice, still tinged with a lingering, cold saber intent, was sharp.

Liang Qiu gasped for breath and said urgently, "Boss Chu, this is bad! A huge commotion has broken out at the Martial Arts Arena! Disciples from the Celestial Wolf Gang and several other major gangs are demanding a sparring match with you by name. The Gang Leader and the Hall Masters are losing control of the situation. It’s chaos!"

"Oh, dear! We completely forgot about that!" The two Cao and Li elders slapped their foreheads and hurried over.

The Li Clan Elder said, "We came over to ask you to handle this very matter. Who knew those guys would lose their patience so quickly!"

Chu Fan’s gaze turned cold.

His gaze swept over the two elders from the Cao and Li Families. He saw the helplessness on their faces, mixed with a hint of anxiety.

A Cao Clan Elder stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Fan, we were about to ask you to head over as well. For some reason, people from several gangs showed up at the Seven Stars Gang’s headquarters today. They claim it’s a ’visit,’ but anyone with eyes can see what’s really going on—they’re here to see what we ’newcomers’ are made of!"

The Li Clan Elder sighed. "Even a mighty dragon can’t crush a local snake. Our Seven Stars Gang just got here. If we weren’t backed by the Demon Suppression Bureau, we would’ve been devoured, with not even the bones left!"

"Why would the local factions of Qing Province be willing to let us take a share of their resources?"

"They don’t dare to move against us openly, but they’re more than happy to use these ’sparring matches’ to put us down and break our momentum."

Chu Fan understood instantly.

What was bound to come had finally arrived.

The day he reported to the Demon Suppression Bureau, Demon Suppression Envoy Leng Qingqiu had warned him that the waters of Qing Province ran deep and that he should be careful.

He never expected that trouble would still find him, even when he was holed up at home, training relentlessly.

Chen Xuan spoke from the side, his voice low. "For them to call you out by name, someone must be pulling the strings. The most likely culprit is the Zhang Family of Qing Province!"

"Everyone knows you’re a Demon Suppression Guard. Ordinary gangs, even if they had the guts of a lion, wouldn’t dare to provoke the Demon Suppression Bureau! Even if they won, would they dare to make a name for themselves by trampling on a Demon Suppression Guard? For the Celestial Wolf Gang and the others to take on such a thankless task... claiming no one is pulling the strings? Not even a ghost would believe that!"

The two elders from the Cao and Li Families looked worried.

The Seven Stars Gang’s top-tier combat strength was, admittedly, in an awkward position right now.

There wasn’t a single Divine Power Realm master in the gang, and they had only a handful of experts at the Spirit Awakening Realm.

Cao Yan and Li Qingxue were strong enough to fight, but as Hall Masters of the Seven Stars Gang, their victory would be taken for granted. If they were to slip up, or even just win unconvincingly, it would do more harm than good to the Seven Stars Gang’s reputation.