A Win-Win

In the image, a black-robed youth stands atop a mountain of corpses, with swarms of Blood Puppets kneeling behind him, each with the same blood-colored eyeball embedded in their forehead.

The furnace trembles slightly, refining the foul blood into pure spiritual energy.

Lu Chen looks towards the core area. The blood-red clouds in the sky are condensing into a vortex, like the gaping maw of a colossal beast.

Along the way, skeletal fingers occasionally protrude from the decaying earth, only to be crushed into dust by the protective qi circulating around him.

Three clones, arranged in a triangular formation, patrol the perimeter. The phantom image of the furnace swallows and exhales malevolent energy, drawing in all the scattered remnant souls along the path.

Suddenly, the gully ahead explodes, and seven Blood Fiend Demon Lizards burst from the earth.

These demonic beasts have serrated spines and barbed tails. The moment their crimson vertical pupils lock onto Lu Chen, they spew foul, poisonous mist from their throats.

Lu Chen chuckles. He's encountered this situation many times on his journey and is used to it.

He points the Soul Severing Saber, and the three clones, carrying the furnace, charge into the beast pack.

The clone on the left raises a palm and presses down, inverting the furnace like a bell to trap two demon lizards within.

The clone on the right forms a sword with two fingers. The malevolent fire erupting from the furnace's mouth condenses into chains, entangling the tails of three demonic beasts.

His main body leaps into the air, utilizing the Wind and Thunder Steps. His saber blade, wreathed in blood-colored saber energy, descends.

The most robust demon lizard king rears its head and roars, a blood-red light shooting from the gem on its forehead.

It melts like snow upon contact with the saber.

The instant the blade pierces its skull, Lu Chen spins and flicks his wrist. Potent Blood Essence surges along the saber into the demonic beast's body, shattering it into fragments.

On the other side, the third clone, cooperating with the other two, also strikes down the remaining demon lizards.

The Asura Furnace hums loudly, wisps of blood-red smoke rising from within.

The seven demon lizard carcasses are refined into ash-grey residue in the blink of an eye, leaving only five prism-shaped fragments suspended in the furnace, their surfaces etched with mysterious patterns.

"Blood Jade Shards?" Lu Chen pulls one over to examine it closely.

The pure energy of the shard touches the Blood Essence in his palm, transforming into a warm current that permeates his limbs and bones.

His muscles and bones emit faint cracking sounds. He casually throws a punch, and the resulting gust of wind carves cracks into the rock wall five meters away.

Just as he is refining the Blood Jade Shards, a hoarse, low chuckle emanates from the depths of the furnace.

The voice sounds like a stone door unopened for millennia being pushed open, carrying a scent of decay:

"A little fellow with a deficient bloodline... Heh heh..."

"Who's there?" Lu Chen's hair stands on end.

Someone is in the Asura Furnace?

He focuses his gaze and indeed sees a blurry shadow.

It wasn't refined.

"Just a remnant soul!" The other party's eyes are grey and white, emanating a chilling aura.

Lu Chen raises an eyebrow. "You know a lot about the Blood Fiend Battlefield?"

"What else?"

"How did you see my bloodline is deficient?"

"Your Blood Essence is severely depleted, anyone can see that!"

Lu Chen's face darkens.

"Where can I restore my bloodline?"

"Northwest. Just follow my guidance!"

Lu Chen falls silent.

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in you. I'll restore your bloodline, and you'll help me bring out my physical body. Consider it a trade!"

"You have many remnant souls?"

The shadow is silent for two breaths, then simply smiles faintly.

A smile curves Lu Chen's lips. The Myriad Manifestations Furnace trembles, transferring the entity inside.

"What..."

The condensed black shadow is instantly scattered, transforming into pure energy that merges into his sea of consciousness.

His qi surges through the nine heavens, taking a small step forward.

The ninth level is the unification of the divine soul with the sea of qi and furnace. Igniting the divine soul's flame allows one to step into the third realm of Martial Dao Cultivators, the True Martial Realm.

"Remnant souls..."

Lu Chen's eyes flash.

Are there many?

Just as he is about to continue, a cyan-grey whirlwind suddenly sweeps down from the sky.

The pillar of wind is wrapped with countless distorted human faces, their wails piercing through eardrums and striking directly at the soul.

"Soul Devouring Wind Demon!" The furnace trembled violently as if giving a warning.

Lu Chen retreated three steps, and his three clones formed a formation to erect a Blood Essence barrier.

The moment the wind pillar struck the light screen, myriad human faces opened their mouths to tear and bite, the corrosive sound of Soul Power erosion grating on the teeth.

"A divine soul attack?"

Lu Chen's eyes narrowed.

Most cultivators would be helpless against such an invisible attack.

But for him...

The Myriad Manifestations Furnace spun violently, and boundless Blood Essence surged like a tide, washing over his entire body.

The invading vengeful souls, upon touching the aura of the furnace, dissolved rapidly like snow meeting a scorching sun.

The wind demon let out a piercing shriek, and the wind pillar suddenly condensed into a human figure in a green robe.

Its face was covered by a crying mask, and what extended from its sleeves were not palms, but two chains twisted from remnant souls.

As the chains swung, the scattered bones on the ground floated up, coalescing into nine Bone Demons, each thirty feet tall.

"You want to compete in numbers?" Lu Chen's lips curved slightly.

His three clones simultaneously formed hand seals, and the furnace expanded like a small mountain.

The Blood Essence gushing from the furnace mouth condensed into three giant beasts – a wolf, an eagle, and a python – which collided with the Bone Demons.

Bone fragments rained down like a storm as Lu Chen's main body, treading the Wind and Thunder Steps, closed in on the wind demon's true form.

The crying mask suddenly cracked open, and the soul-devouring sonic wave condensed into a tangible sharp cone.

Lu Chen neither dodged nor yielded, holding the Soul Severing Saber horizontally in front of his chest. The moment the saber energy flared, the energy fed back by the furnace poured into his arms.

The shockwave generated by the collision of the saber energy and the sonic cone sent the rotten soil within a ten-zhang radius flying three feet into the air.

Before the wind demon's retreating figure could solidify, Lu Chen's saber technique changed.

The blade traced an arcane trajectory, and a fragmented saber intent mixed with blood energy struck the wind demon.

Half of its body fell from the air.

The remaining half attempted to reassemble, but was suppressed by the furnace thrown by the three clones.

"Refine!"

The Myriad Manifestations Furnace enveloped the struggling remnant souls, and the shrill screams continued for half an hour before subsiding.

The pure divine soul energy merged into his sea of consciousness, making Lu Chen feel refreshed.

At the same time, a Blood Jade Shard appeared in his palm.

"Not bad, killing two birds with one stone!"

He tried to refine the Blood Jade Shard, but after a moment, he spat out a piece of black blood.

It was foul and dark.

It was the residual dark injury from the deprivation of his bloodline, and a part of it had been restored.

A faint warmth surged from deep within his body, as if stimulating his potential, actually increasing his Bull Strength by a hundred.

Lu Chen was overjoyed.

After his physical strength reached five hundred Bull Strength at the fifth level of Qi Surge, no amount of bone marrow could further increase it.

Now that a portion of his dark injuries had been healed, and his strength had increased so much, what about a complete recovery?

He refined and absorbed another Blood Jade Shard. His bloodline's dark injuries healed slightly, and his Bull Strength increased by another hundred.

"Awesome!" Lu Chen clenched his fist tightly.

If this trend continued, increasing his strength by over a thousand Bull Strength wouldn't be a problem.

"Northwest direction, a corpse, could it be..." A sharp glint flashed in Lu Chen's eyes.

Following the direction, he could vaguely see a pillar of bloody light connecting the heavens and earth a hundred miles away.

He recalled his clones and was about to move when dozens of blood vines suddenly shot out from the pile of bones on the ground.

The moment the vines intertwined to form a cage, a hoarse laugh echoed from afar: "Such fierce Blood Essence... it would make a top-grade Blood Puppet."

A Black Robed Figure stepped out from the void, a dense fog churning behind him, vaguely revealing over a hundred Blood Puppets.

A red light flickered on the chest of each puppet.

The blood-red pillar in the northwest suddenly surged, dyeing half the sky purple-red.

The Black Robed Figure waved his sleeve, glanced at Lu Chen, and ten Blood Puppets stepped forward.

These puppets had sword-like arms, shimmering with a faint light, extremely sharp.

"Capture him quickly and bring him back!" the Black Robed Figure commanded. He then glanced towards the northwest and disappeared into a mist of blood with the other Blood Puppets.

Something big might be happening, and he had to leave first.