I Can Merge Techniques-Chapter 127 - 103: This Night, Cyan Yang City Is Destined to Be Sleepless
"..." Fatty and Jiang Yuanfan froze.
’Damn it, the Incense Master is looking for you, and you’re still here making small talk with us?’
The two of them were on the verge of tears. Without even a goodbye, they turned and fled.
"Hey?"
Chu Fan raised his voice. "Not even a ’goodbye’? Where are your manners?"
By the time he reached Cyan Wood Hall—
Seven people were sitting in the room. The atmosphere was heavy and tense.
Zhou Tianci’s expression was grim.
Xia Huanhuan, Zhou Ye, and the others all wore pained expressions, as if someone had them by the balls.
"Chu Fan, you’re here!"
Seeing Chu Fan enter, Zhou Tianci’s expression softened slightly. He forced a smile. "Come, come, sit next to me."
Chu Fan walked over, sat in the chair next to Zhou Tianci, and asked, "Incense Master, what happened?"
"After a brutal fight, the Blood Saber Sect has withdrawn from Xingning Street," Zhou Tianci said in a low voice. "It used to be a three-way struggle for dominance, but now it’s just us and the Iron Armor Sect."
Chu Fan listened quietly, his thoughts stirring.
’Xingning Street is a juicy piece of meat, rich with profit. In the past, the three factions schemed and fought, suffering countless casualties, but no one could ever claim it completely.’
’The Blood Saber Sect is weak now, getting torn apart by a pack of wolves. Their withdrawal was inevitable, but I didn’t expect it to be this soon.’
"We were all seeing red fighting for territory before. The Blood Saber Sect launched a desperate counterattack, and no one came out ahead. Our losses were considerable."
Zhou Tianci continued, "So this time, the Iron Armor Sect and I have agreed on some rules. We will fight for Xingning Street through a duel: best two out of three."
He looked up, his gaze falling on Chu Fan. "One match for an ordinary disciple, one for a Small Leader, and one for an Incense Master."
"For the Incense Master’s match, Hall Master Qin chose me."
"For the Small Leader’s match, Xia Huanhuan was chosen. As for the ordinary disciple’s match..."
Zhou Tianci paused, the fingers tapping on the table coming to a halt. "I recommended you to Hall Master Qin."
In the room, all eyes fell on Chu Fan.
Even the defiant Zhou Ye had no objections.
They were all well aware of Chu Fan’s track record in the Seven Stars Gang—
Before even breaking through to the Blood Nourishing Realm, he had easily defeated Ling Feng, who had already been in that realm for some time.
A few days after breaking through to the Blood Nourishing Realm, he thrashed Sun Zixuan, who was already in the Blood Refining Realm.
After that, he chased Blood Saber Sect Members all over Xingning Street, escalating the conflict and causing Zhou Ye, Sun Zixuan, and others to get dragged in. They were constantly getting ganged up on by Blood Saber Sect Members and had to find someone to patrol the streets in his place.
Below the Bone Marrow Forging Realm, who in the entire Seven Stars Gang, besides Zhao Tianxing, would dare claim they could guarantee a win against Chu Fan?
Seeing Chu Fan’s silence, Zhou Tianci added, "In this battle, you can only win. You cannot lose."
"If you win, there’s a generous reward from the higher-ups!"
"If you lose, I’m afraid you’ll find it hard to take a single step in this gang from now on!"
"Alright." Chu Fan didn’t seem to mind, giving a slight nod.
’A task like this might be troublesome for others.’
’But for him, it wasn’t much of a challenge.’
’Getting to complete such a simple task and receive a generous reward on top of it was more than he could ask for.’
"Very good."
Zhou Tianci said, "Rest for a moment. We’ll leave the city through the North City Gate together and go to a valley outside North City."
"The dueling location is in that valley!"
"We’re going now?" Chu Fan couldn’t help but be taken aback.
"It is a bit sudden..." Zhou Tianci smiled. "Actually, the two gangs have been discussing this for a while now."
"It’s just that the candidates on our side hadn’t been decided."
"With you fighting, I can rest easy."
As he spoke, he picked up a hand-copied booklet and passed it to Chu Fan. "You’ve only recently become a Seven Stars Gang disciple, so you might not be familiar with the Iron Armor Sect’s Martial Arts. This booklet contains some information on their ’Iron Armor Skills.’ Take a good look."
"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated!"
Chu Fan took the booklet and started flipping through it.
’It felt a bit like being rushed into something unprepared.’
’Anyone else, with no preparation at all, would probably be panicking.’
...
「Half an hour later.」
Chu Fan followed Zhou Tianci and the others to a clearing in a valley outside North City.
The valley was nestled between two barren hills. The ground was relatively flat, clearly having been hastily cleared out by someone.
Severed tree roots and scattered rubble still littered the ground.
The smell of freshly turned earth mixed with a faint, murderous aura in the air, creating a heart-pounding atmosphere.
On either side of the valley, two groups of people stood apart, clearly divided.
It was as if an invisible line cut the entire space into two worlds about to collide.
On the east side were the members of the Seven Stars Gang.
Hall Master Qin hadn’t come. Presiding over the situation was Zhou Tianci, the Incense Master of Cyan Wood Hall.
Today, he had changed into sharp-looking combat attire. His expression was calm, but his eyes were as sharp as a falcon’s as he scanned the opposing side.
A dozen or so gang members stood solemnly behind him, most of them in blue or gray short robes. They were full of vigor, their eyes holding the fierce air of the rugged martial world.
Their weapons were mostly sabers and staves. Though not as uniform as the group opposite them, they possessed a fierce energy of their own.
Surprisingly, Li Qingxue and Li Xingxuan were also in the crowd... They were purely there to watch the excitement, so they seemed out of place among the others.
Chu Fan also stood behind Zhou Tianci, calmly observing the situation and paying special attention to the few figures from the Iron Armor Sect whose auras felt particularly powerful.
The west side was the Iron Armor Sect’s territory.
Unlike the rugged air of the Seven Stars Gang, most of the Iron Armor Sect disciples wore uniform brown combat attire. A simple mountain pattern was embroidered on their chests with iron thread—the symbol of their foundation, "Iron Mountain."
The Iron Armor Sect had about the same number of people as the Seven Stars Gang, but their stances were more orderly. They were faintly formed into a formation, exuding a sense of discipline unique to disciples of a major sect.
Many carried Long Sabers on their backs, their scabbards simple and unadorned, glinting with a cold, hard metallic light under the sun.
If Chu Fan didn’t know that the Iron Armor Sect controlled the brothels and casinos, seeing this display, he might have actually mistaken them for some righteous and prestigious sect.
The one leading the Iron Armor Sect was a burly, middle-aged man with a dark-red complexion.
That was an Incense Master of the Iron Armor Sect, with the surname Lei.
The man’s aura was profound. Just standing there, he was like an iron tower, exuding an intense sense of pressure.
...
To the north and south were spectators from other gangs and Noble Families, and there were quite a few of them.
Between the two groups, a clearing roughly two hundred feet square served as today’s dueling arena.
At this moment, the clearing felt like the eye of a storm.
Invisible pressure squeezed in from both sides, making even the air seem to thicken.
No one made a sound. There was only the howl of the mountain wind blowing through the valley, occasionally mixed with the faint scrape of weapons against clothing and armor.
Every gaze fixed on the clearing was filled with vigilance, hostility, and a determination to win.
...
The Seven Stars Gang, the Iron Armor Sect, and the Blood Saber Sect had long been fighting, both openly and in secret, for control of Xingning Street. The constant friction had led to repeated clashes and losses on all sides.
A while ago, both the Seven Stars Gang and the Iron Armor Sect had tried to seize the opportunity presented by the Blood Saber Sect’s weakness, only to be met with a desperate counterattack that cost them many skilled fighters and caused rivers of blood to flow.
Today’s best-two-out-of-three duel was the solution decided upon by the upper echelons of both gangs to reduce losses from continuous open warfare, now that the Blood Saber Sect had withdrawn.
The losing side would have to unconditionally withdraw from Xingning Street and never meddle in its affairs again.
The stakes were high enough to make both sides see red.
Just then, the Incense Master surnamed Lei from the west side stepped forward. His voice, like a great bell, shattered the valley’s silence. "Master Zhou, the hour has come. I trust there’s no need to repeat the rules? Best two out of three. Fists and feet have no eyes—life and death are decided by fate!"
"The loser gets out of Xingning Street!"
Zhou Tianci’s expression remained unchanged as he replied coolly, "Master Lei, enough with the nonsense. Let’s see what you’ve got!"
As his voice fell, the atmosphere in the valley instantly grew taut to the extreme. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
It was like a fully drawn bowstring, an arrow poised to fly at any moment.
And the first match was the battle of the ordinary disciples!
Chu Fan took a deep breath and, under a sea of complicated gazes, walked steadily into the center of the arena.
On the Iron Armor Sect’s side, a murmur immediately broke out...
"Who is that kid? Why have I never seen him before?"
"The Seven Stars Gang sent a greenhorn over? What’s the meaning of this?"
"Are they trying for a surprise victory?"
From the crowd, a young woman about Chu Fan’s age, dressed in blue combat attire, slowly stepped forward.
Her face was as still as water as she looked toward Master Lei.
Master Lei gave a slight nod. "Yuhen, the opponent seems to be a newcomer, but you must not let your guard down!"
"For them to send a rookie into this first match, they must have absolute confidence in him!"
"Yes, I understand!" Liang Yuhen replied, then slowly walked to stand opposite Chu Fan!
