Qi and Blood Clone

The black-robed crowd descended into chaos, and the bone whip cultivator roared, ordering them to form a formation.

Lu Chen let out a cold snort, and his Qi and Blood Domain suddenly expanded, suppressing everyone within it.

He unleashed the Wind and Thunder Steps at full power, his blade spinning. Heads, both human and wolf, flew into the sky.

The remaining cultivators' livers and gallbladders split, and they turned to flee.

But where could they escape to?

The sea of qi domain suddenly shook, and they all spat blood. Then, the blade light fell, and humans and wolves alike bowed their heads.

The Myriad Manifestations Furnace trembled, and the wolf corpses and human corpses all disappeared.

During the killing, their minor leader had already sent out the message.

Lu Chen could just break through and wait.

Half a day later, his Qi and Blood surged violently, and he broke through again, reaching the fifth level of the Qi Surge Realm.

At this realm, he could refine three Qi and Blood Clones, possessing 70% of the main body's attack power.

He could also use the externally refined furnace.

Lu Chen polished his realm until it was smooth and began refining the clones.

However, before refining, he had to make some arrangements.

He carved numerous Wind and Thunder Runes around him, all derived from his comprehension of the Myriad Manifestations Furnace Art.

This was the key to refining the clones.

The immense energy of the Myriad Manifestations Furnace erupted like a volcano, flowing through his meridians and pouring into his dantian.

The Qi and Blood Furnace roared and trembled, energy churning within it.

Red mist seeped from Lu Chen's pores, gathering into three swirling masses of blood clouds, suppressed around his body by the Wind and Thunder Runes.

He formed his fingers into a sword, cut his wrist, and three streams of blood shot accurately into the blood clouds.

As the mist churned, it took on human form, its silhouette identical to Lu Chen's.

"With blood as bone, with qi as veins—condense!"

The Myriad Manifestations Furnace flew out from his dantian, its opening pouring out the pure Qi and Blood accumulated from devouring the cultivators and wolf corpses of the Prison of Heaven Cave.

The blood clouds greedily absorbed it, their forms becoming increasingly solid, eventually transforming into three red-robed "Lu Chens."

The clones had stern expressions. Although they lacked sentience, their Qi and Blood were of the same origin as the main body, making them extensions of his will.

With a thought from Lu Chen, the three clones simultaneously threw punches.

BOOM!

The sand waves struck empty air.

Sand dunes ten feet away were leveled.

Three days later, the Prison of Heaven Cave squad reappeared.

There was also a Golden Core expert among them.

He hadn't come specifically, but on his way back, he heard that their people had been hunted and decided to take a slight detour.

He headed straight for Lu Chen in the center of the oasis.

"Take him down for me!" The Golden Core cultivator unleashed a chain and roared.

Whether it was him or not, they would capture him first.

If not, they could sell him as a slave for profit.

But suddenly, the ground exploded, and three figures shot out.

Each wielding a phantom Soul Severing Saber, their blade energy interwove into a net, slicing the three charging figures to death.

Lu Chen's true body instantly appeared behind the enemy formation, the Barren Lizard Furnace descending from above, instantly refining over a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"How are there four of them?!"

Before the exclamation could fade, the clones had already formed a triangular battle formation.

Blade light swept out like a blood-red wheel, and wherever it passed, flesh and blood flew.

The Golden Core cultivator tried to retreat but suddenly felt his body sink, enveloped by four Qi and Blood Domains.

Although his realm didn't drop, his movements were severely restricted.

The three clones simultaneously locked onto his vital energy. Blade energy pierced through his chest. Before his body could even fall, it was absorbed by the furnace.

Lu Chen stood with his hands behind his back, his four figures gradually merging.

He looked towards the eastern sky, which was gradually lightening, and a slight smile touched his lips.

It seemed to be even more effective than he had imagined.

The loss of a Golden Core cultivator by the Prison of Heaven Cave alarmed the higher-ups.

On the fourth day, dark clouds gathered over the oasis.

An elder arrived, treading on clouds, a cage embroidered in golden patterns on his chest.

He looked down at Lu Chen, who was meditating by the pond, and said coldly:

"You killed an elite of my Prison of Heaven Cave, today I will rip out your soul and light your spirit!"

The Golden Core pressure descended like a collapsing mountain, but Lu Chen smiled.

The person he was waiting for had finally arrived; he had even planned to lure a leader over.

The elder flicked his finger, and nine blood spikes sealed Lu Chen's escape routes.

But Lu Chen flashed three times, disappearing and reappearing out of thin air, the blood spikes all missing their mark.

"Teleportation?!" the elder's pupils contracted sharply. Twelve flying swords flew out from his sleeve, forming a killing formation.

As the sword rain poured down, Lu Chen threw the Barren Lizard Furnace over.

"Explode!"

The furnace detonated with a roar, and immense energy erupted.

The tidal wave dispersed the sword formation, and the elder's protective spiritual light fluctuated violently.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Lu Chen teleported close and thrust the Soul Severing Saber, imbued with wind and thunder, into his dantian.

The moment the blade tip touched the Golden Core, the Myriad Manifestations Furnace surged from Lu Chen's body, swallowing the elder, his person and his core, into the furnace.

After half a day of intense refining, the elder was completely refined.

The energy surged, directly pushing Lu Chen to the peak of Qi Surge Realm fifth level.

With a flip of his hand, three drops of gleaming golden bone marrow appeared.

Two great Golden Core experts had contributed a total of six drops.

Lu Chen consumed three drops, honing his physical body and meridians to their limit.

His physical strength alone reached a terrifying five hundred Bull Strength.

His Bloodline Power broke through one thousand three hundred, totaling over one thousand eight hundred.

"Another Law Fragment!"

Lu Chen flipped his hand, and a gleaming silver Law Fragment appeared in his palm.

It was obtained by refining the elder's weapon after killing him.

As for the first Golden Core cultivator, he didn't have one; his Natal Artifact hadn't condensed Law Power yet.

Lu Chen integrated the Law Fragment into the Soul Severing Saber.

The blade vibrated and, to his speechless gaze, remained at the peak of a low-grade spirit artifact.

It didn't break through to mid-grade.

However, it was still quite good.

Next, he moved around, finding and killing three third-tier demonic beasts, refining a total of three furnaces, one for each clone.

He transferred them to the clones, and when the external furnaces detonated, the main body wouldn't suffer any backlash.

During this process, under the impact of the surging energy, he still broke through.

Qi Surge Realm sixth level.

He had intended to consolidate, but the energy was too abundant.

Such rapid advancement could easily lead to an unstable realm.

To consume the excess energy, he forged three more bone blades.

Although not spirit artifacts, they were definitely top-tier mortal artifacts.

Three days later, Lu Chen stood atop a sand dune, his black robe fluttering, three clones standing silently behind him, the Barren Lizard Furnace spinning slowly in his palm.

In the distance, the fortress walls of the Black Collar Prison Heaven Cave lay like a crouching behemoth, the arrow towers glinting coldly, and the faint cries of slaves could be heard.

Lu Chen flicked his finger, and the furnace hummed. The clones transformed into three bloody afterimages, charging straight for the fortress gate.

"Enemy attack!"

The sentries on the arrow towers roared hoarsely, and hundreds of poisoned arrows rained down like a swarm of locusts.

Lu Chen leaped into the air, utilizing the Wind and Thunder Steps, spreading his arms. A ten-meter Qi and Blood Domain boomed outwards.

The arrow rain touched the edge of the domain, instantly froze in mid-air, the arrow shafts cracked with "kaka" sounds, and the venom evaporated into a foul-smelling mist.

"Break!" the clones shouted in unison. The Soul Severing Saber's light surged, and three saber lights, like overlapping bloody moon wheels, slashed down.

The fortress gate exploded with a roar. Splintered wood, carrying saber energy, swept out. More than ten black-robed cultivators were shredded into bloody mist by the saber energy before they could even draw their swords.

Chaos erupted within the fortress as the Prison of Heaven Cave bandits swarmed out of their tents.

Foundation Establishment cultivators formed a formation, activating spells. Fire pythons and ice cones rained down, but they were directly smashed apart by the clones using their external furnaces.

The furnace mouths emitted a faint glow, devouring all the scattered spiritual power and feeding it back as energy into Lu Chen's meridians.

"Form up!" a leader roared. The cultivators bit their tongues, and their vital blood condensed into blinding blood-red array patterns.

The ground trembled, and nine blood-red skulls crawled out of the formation, their fangs dripping poison.

Lu Chen sneered. His main body and clones simultaneously formed hand seals, and four layers of Qi and Blood Domain overlapped, expanding outwards with a boom.