I Can Merge Techniques

Chapter 588: Chapter 169: Who’s Crazier? Receiving a Body Tempering Holy Medicine

A rare, unnatural expression flickered across Princess Zhaohua’s usually icy face, as if she had something difficult to say.

She turned her head slightly and said in a low voice, "About last time... I apologize."

"Huh?"

Chu Fan jerked his head up, his eyes filled with surprise.

Just then, Qin Fang and Zhao Qingyan walked over.

Qin Fang moved to Chu Fan’s side and whispered urgently, "After the Commandery Princess struck you with her sword, Lord Leng personally informed Prince Zhennan’s Mansion."

"That’s how the Commandery Princess found out her sword strike nearly killed an innocent Demon Suppression Guard."

There was one more thing he didn’t say...

After Prince Zhennan learned of the matter, he had already given Princess Zhaohua a harsh reprimand!

Otherwise, with Princess Zhaohua’s temperament, how could she have apologized so easily?

...

’So that’s what happened.’

Chu Fan’s mind raced, and he instantly understood the situation.

This was Lord Leng’s way of both backing him up and preventing any future trouble from cropping up unprovoked.

His eyes flickered slightly, and he was just about to respond.

Princess Zhaohua’s clear gaze slowly swept over him. Her tone was solemn, without a trace of condescension, as she said, "That sword strike in Lingyou Valley... You weren’t injured, were you?"

The moment he heard this, it was as if Chu Fan’s back had been struck by an invisible sledgehammer. He abruptly hunched over, his body swaying as if about to collapse.

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH!"

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH, COUGH!!"

The sound of violent, heart-wrenching coughs suddenly shattered the surrounding silence.

Chu Fan clutched his chest tightly with one hand. His face flushed beet-red, then instantly turned as pale as a sheet.

He looked as though he was about to cough his guts out.

He was the spitting image of an old man at death’s door, a candle flickering in the wind, who looked as if he might fail to draw his next breath and simply pass away at any moment.

"..."

Qin Fang and Zhao Qingyan’s eyes both went wide. They stared intently at Chu Fan, their faces filled with a horrified expression, as if they had just seen a ghost.

They were the ones who had been truly and seriously injured in the earlier, vicious battle!

Chu Fan was clearly full of life, dismantling the Ghost Bone Elder’s Demon Puppets as if they were rotten wood. He had even publicly performed a shocking, jaw-dropping "spider crawl" escape maneuver that left everyone stunned.

How could he possibly look seriously injured or weak?

"Hahh... Hahh..."

Chu Fan gasped for breath, his gaze unfocused and dull, as if he barely had the strength to keep his eyes open.

He gave a weak wave of his hand, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "Commandery Princess... you needn’t worry."

"Cough, cough... It’s just that after taking your sword strike the other day, an old wound has flared up."

"Just now... was I acting strangely? For example... crawling like a spider?"

His face was a mask of confusion and pain, his brow deeply furrowed. "To be honest, I don’t really remember..."

"Ever since I was struck by your earth-shattering and unstoppable sword, Commandery Princess, my mind has often been muddled."

"My qi and blood flow often reverse without warning, my meridians ache as if being pierced by steel needles, and I occasionally find myself doing mad things."

"But it’s no matter!"

His tone suddenly changed as he forced a resolute expression onto his face. "For the Demon Suppression Bureau’s mission of suppressing demons and exorcising evil, a few hardships are nothing!"

With that, he even braced himself and puffed out his chest, as if to prove his tenacity.

But the moment he exerted himself, another fit of violent "COUGH, COUGH, COUGH"ing seized him, and he nearly collapsed.

"..." Zhao Qingyan and Qin Fang exchanged a look, then gazed helplessly toward the sky.

’This acting is a little too crude!’

’On the way here, he was running faster than the carriage horses, his breathing perfectly steady. How could he possibly be injured?’

’Does he really think such a crude disguise could fool the famously sharp and perceptive Princess Zhaohua?’

Unexpectedly, however, after hearing Chu Fan’s speech, the tension on Princess Zhaohua’s beautiful face eased slightly. The imperceptible shadow deep in her eyes also quietly dissipated.

She watched Chu Fan quietly and nodded seriously, seemingly accepting his explanation completely.

Then, she asked, "What compensation do you want? Feel free to say."

"!!!"

Zhao Qingyan and Qin Fang were once again dumbfounded, their jaws nearly dropping to the floor in shock.

In their memory, this Princess Zhaohua had a cold temperament, was exceptionally intelligent, and was absolutely not someone who could be so easily fooled!

’Why today...’

But on second thought, the two seemed to have a realization.

’Perhaps this was the only explanation that fit the Commandery Princess’s own worldview?’

Princess Zhaohua had always been extremely confident in her own strength.

Her sword strike in Lingyou Valley that day was intended to slay a Demon. Although she hadn’t used her full power, its might was by no means something a mere Divine Power Realm Cultivator could easily withstand.

Anyone would assume that even if Chu Fan had been lucky enough to survive, he must have been grievously wounded, left with a dao injury that would be impossible to heal in a lifetime.

Chu Fan’s frank admission that he was "still seriously injured" and that his "mind was often muddled" actually confirmed the terrifying power of her sword strike. It also gave her guilt-ridden heart—which ached from nearly killing an innocent person by mistake—a sense of resolution.

If Chu Fan were jumping around right now, claiming to be completely unharmed...

...that would be a public slap in the face. It might even make her wonder if her Swordsmanship had regressed!

Having figured this out, Zhao Qingyan and Qin Fang looked at Chu Fan with a newfound, indescribable admiration. ’This kid... he first dared to secretly blackmail Lord Leng of the Demon Suppression Bureau, and now he has the audacity to run the same scam on Princess Zhaohua...’

’And he actually succeeded!’

Seeing that the iron was hot, Chu Fan stopped immersing himself so deeply in his role of the "tormented" victim.

He struggled to straighten his hunched back. With a look of being "overwhelmed by the favor," he asked tentatively, "Your Highness is righteous and magnanimous. Since you have made the offer, I dare not be coy."

"I was wondering if Your Highness, or perhaps Prince Zhennan’s Mansion, has any ore that contains immense Wind Spirit Power, or any related Magical Treasures?"

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