Leveling the Prison of Heaven Cave

The blood skull wailed and twisted, the formation collapsed, and the Foundation Establishment cultivator bled from all seven orifices, kneeling on the ground.

"Furnace, refine!" The clones simultaneously threw the furnace, and energy surged from the furnace's opening, instantly turning the blood skull and cultivator's corpses into ashes.

Pure energy poured in like a river, causing Lu Chen's sea of qi and furnace to tremble, his cultivation subtly rising.

"Insolent!"

Three Golden Core pressures surged from within the stronghold, and three Golden Core experts appeared in the sky.

The one in the center wore the standard golden armor of Yan Bei, his face as sinister as an eagle's;

The old woman on the left held a serpent-headed staff, and the burly man on the right carried a giant axe on his shoulder.

The third leader of Prison of Heaven Cave had perished in the Barren Wind Plain. They suspected a Nascent Soul old monster might be targeting them.

They were still trying to figure things out when someone attacked Prison of Heaven Cave.

Seeing it was merely a Qi Surge Realm Martial Dao Cultivator, they were furious.

They were even more intrigued by Lu Chen's clones.

A Martial Dao Cultivator at this level shouldn't be able to create clones.

"Junior, I ask you, were my two Golden Core cultivators killed by you?" the old woman on the left asked sternly.

"They were just trash, their deaths were well-deserved!" Lu Chen was not intimidated at all, and even felt a hint of excitement.

Three Golden Core experts, all veteran Golden Core experts, had definitely comprehended some laws.

He could get three spirit artifacts out of this.

The Golden Armored Commander's eyes widened in fury, and he roared, flicking his finger into a claw.

A hundred-zhang blood hand materialized in the void, carrying a foul wind as it grabbed towards Lu Chen.

"You overestimating dog, die!"

"Detonate!" Lu Chen directly unleashed his ultimate move.

Three clones suddenly pounced, and the newly refined furnace was sent flying like a cannonball, detonating directly.

Boom...

The fireshade and qi and blood energy intertwined into a terrifying storm. The Golden Armored Commander's blood hand shattered, and his protective spiritual light cracked instantly.

The old woman's serpent staff broke in two, and the burly man's giant axe melted into iron. The three staggered back, their bodies charred black like charcoal.

All three were severely injured, spitting blood simultaneously, their auras instantly weakening.

The three turned to retreat, but Lu Chen's main body instantly arrived using Wind and Thunder Steps.

His blade energy transformed into a thousand illusions, sealing off all directions. "Qi and Blood Domain, suppress!"

Combined with the three clones, the four domains superimposed and pressed down, making the three Golden Core experts feel like they were trapped in a swamp.

The Golden Armored Commander roared, "I am under King Yanbei..."

"Go talk to them in hell!" Lu Chen's blade turned, and blood lines appeared on their necks. Their heads rolled onto the sandy ground.

The furnace swept over, and the Golden Cores and remains were respectively drawn into furnaces.

He feared the Myriad Manifestations Furnace would go berserk if it swallowed everything, causing him to suffer backlash and potentially waste the energy.

Because the external furnace's level was low, the three remains taken in were intact and couldn't be refined yet.

He would digest them slowly.

The remaining bandits, seeing this, fled in all directions.

The three clones, carrying the external furnace, went on a killing spree, ending after eliminating eighty to ninety percent of them.

Lu Chen approached an iron cage, smashed open the door, and a stench of decay and dampness wafted towards him.

Over three hundred slaves were huddled in the dark cell, all wearing shackles and chains.

A disheveled old man's cloudy eyes suddenly flashed with brilliance.

He was actually a Golden Core expert.

"Fellow Daoist..." the old man rasped.

Lu Chen swung his saber, cutting off the shackles, and asked, "How did you end up a slave?"

"My name is Zhong Yan, the deputy general of Skyfire Pass. I was ambushed by bandits and became a slave!"

Lu Chen nodded, "Senior Zhong Yan, I'll entrust them to you. Take them back to Skyfire Pass and settle them!"

Saying that, he threw him two bags of pills, "Although they are ordinary, they are enough for you to recover. The bandits here have all been dealt with. Rest up before you depart!"

After speaking, Lu Chen flickered and left.

"My name is Lu Chen!"

His voice echoed faintly, and Zhong Yan couldn't help but give a wry smile.

He was truly impatient.

Of course, he was in a hurry.

A bandit lair this big, how could it not have a warehouse?

By the time they found it, the warehouse door was already open, with three guys frantically kicking things into their pockets.

They were three minor bandit leaders.

The three great clones attacked, taking them down directly.

Lu Chen, meanwhile, began his revelry.

Spirit stones and ancient texts flowed like a torrent into the Universe Ring.

All four were filled.

Three of them were obtained just now.

Spoils of war from defeating three Golden Core masters.

As for mortal-grade weapons, armor, grain, and other supplies, they were thrown into the Myriad Manifestations Furnace, refined into pure energy to nourish himself.

As the sun set in the west, Lu Chen stepped out of the Prison of Heaven Cave's gate.

Behind him, the slaves helped each other up and departed, casting long shadows in the setting sun.

Three days later, they arrived at Skyfire Pass.

The guarding general naturally recognized Zhong Yan.

Lu Chen didn't bother with introductions either, passing through Skyfire Pass and entering Great Yan territory.

Only now did the anxiety in his heart truly subside.

A fish returning to the sea.

This time, when they cleared out the Black Collar Prison Heaven Cave, not all items were absorbed into the Myriad Manifestations Furnace.

Three thousand low-grade spirit stones were left behind, along with many pills, spirit plants, high-tier equipment and martial skills, and fragments of formation-breaking maps, among other things.

The four furnaces were also fully charged with energy, and there were even the corpses of three Golden Core masters.

He didn't rush his journey either, absorbing and refining energy as he walked, taking bone marrow to temper his physical body.

Unknowingly, he broke through to the sixth level of the Qi Surge Realm.

This realm itself allowed for short-distance instant movement with the enhancement of qi and blood. Now, with the addition of Wind and Thunder Steps, the instant movement distance doubled, reaching twenty meters.

It greatly expanded his movement range.

But, correspondingly, the consumption also increased.

After finally escaping the limitations of three uses, he was back to that state.

If the number of uses exceeded the energy supply, he would suffer backlash.

Of course, this was under extreme movement conditions.

His strength also unknowingly broke through two thousand jin.

On the south street of Chixiao City, the bluestone slabs were stained blood-red by the sunlight.

Lu Chen dragged his saber, the tip of the Soul Severing Saber scraping sparks off the stone slabs, as he appeared before the Lu Family mansion.

This time, he would forcefully confront the Lu Family.

To avenge the humiliation of his bloodline being stolen.

Furthermore, his sudden appearance on the street, after being declared dead by the Lu Family, was something that would cause immense confusion and excitement.

The vermilion-lacquered main gate of the Lu Family mansion boomed open, and twenty guards in black armor emerged in an orderly fashion.

The one leading them sneered, "Lu Chen, you cripple dare to return to die?"

"Die?" Lu Chen raised his eyes, a flash of blood-red light in his pupils.

Wind and thunder erupted beneath his feet, his figure charging into the crowd like a phantom.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Fist shadows rained down like a torrential downpour. The guards' armor cracked inch by inch, the sound of breaking bones and screams rising one after another.

In less than ten breaths, all twenty guards lay sprawled on the ground, none dead, but all with broken bones and shattered limbs.

"Lu Chen! You, how dare you..."

A sallow-faced servant in grey clothes, with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks, cowered behind the door. He was Wang San, the most loyal lackey to Lu Ran in the past.

"Noisy." Lu Chen's saber flashed, and Wang San's head flew off. Before the blood mist could even spray from the severed neck, his corpse was already swallowed by the Myriad Manifestations Furnace.

The remaining servants screamed and fled, and the area in front of the Lu Family mansion instantly became empty.

Seven Lu Family elders descended from the sky, followed by a contingent of Lu Family guards.

The white-bearded old man leading them, Lu Changqing, looked complicated and said, "Lu Chen, stop. What happened back then..."

"Third Elder..." Lu Chen interrupted him, pointing his saber tip at the crowd. "I only ask one thing, were you involved in stripping my bloodline back then?"

Lu Changqing shook his head, "This old man was in seclusion and did not come out."

"Good, step aside." Lu Chen's gaze shifted to the hook-nosed old man on the right, filled with murderous intent:

"Fourth Elder, when you personally took my bloodline, did you ever consider this day?"