Two Birds with One Stone

In the scene, a black-robed youth stood atop a mountain of corpses, while swarms of Blood Puppets knelt behind him, each with the same blood-red eyeball embedded in its brow.

The furnace trembled lightly, refining the tainted blood into pure spiritual energy.

Lu Chen looked toward the core region. Blood clouds at the horizon were gathering into a vortex, like the gaping maw of some colossal beast.

Along the way, ghostly white finger bones occasionally thrust up from the rotten earth, only to be crushed into powder by the flowing astral energy around him.

Three clones roamed outside in a triangular formation. The phantom of the furnace inhaled and exhaled Killing Intent, sweeping every stray remnant soul along the way into the furnace.

Suddenly, the ravine ahead exploded in a spray of dirt as seven Blood Fiend Demon Lizards burst from the ground.

The beasts' spinal bones protruded like sawteeth, hooks grew from their tails, and the instant their scarlet vertical pupils locked onto Lu Chen, foul-smelling poisonous mist spewed from their throats.

Lu Chen chuckled. He had encountered this sort of situation many times along the way and had long since grown accustomed to it.

With a point of the Soul Severing Saber, the three clones charged into the beast horde with their furnaces.

The clone on the left raised a hand and pressed down through the air. The furnace inverted like a bell, trapping two demon lizards within;

The clone on the right formed a sword seal with two fingers. Baleful flames pouring from the furnace mouth condensed into chains, wrapping around the bone tails of three beasts.

The main body used Wind and Thunder Steps to leap into the air, his blade descending wrapped in blood-red saber energy.

The largest lizard king threw back its head and roared as the blood pearl on its forehead shot out crimson light.

The light melted away like snow upon touching the blade.

The instant the blade pierced its skull, Lu Chen spun and flicked his wrist. Surging vital blood flooded into the beast through the blade, violently blasting it into fragments.

Meanwhile, the third clone worked with the other two clones to kill the remaining demon lizards on the spot.

The Asura Furnace suddenly let out a loud hum, and wisps of blood mist rose within it.

The seven demon lizard carcasses were refined into gray-white residue in the blink of an eye. Only five diamond-shaped fragments remained floating in the furnace, mysterious patterns flowing across their surfaces.

"Blood Jade Shards?" Lu Chen drew one over for closer inspection.

When the fragment's pure energy touched the vital blood in his palm, it transformed into a warm current that soaked into his limbs and bones.

His muscles and bones gave faint cracking sounds. With a casual punch, his fist wind blasted crack after crack into the rock wall five meters away.

Just as he was refining the Blood Jade Shard, a hoarse, low chuckle suddenly came from deep within the furnace.

The voice was like an ancient stone gate, sealed for ten thousand years, being pushed open, carrying the stench of decay:

"A little one with incomplete bloodline... Hehe..."

"Who?" Lu Chen's hairs stood on end.

Someone was inside the Asura Furnace?

Focusing his gaze, he indeed saw a blurry shadow.

It had actually not been refined away.

"Only a remnant soul!" The other party's eyes were gray-white, and an icy aura radiated from its entire body.

Lu Chen raised a brow. "You know the Blood Fiend Battlefield very well?"

"Why else would I?"

"How could you tell that my bloodline is incomplete?"

"Your vital blood is severely depleted. Who wouldn't be able to see that?"

Lu Chen's face darkened.

"Where can I restore my bloodline?"

"To the northwest. Just follow my guidance!"

Lu Chen fell silent.

"Rest assured, I have no interest in a little one like you. Once I restore your bloodline, help me retrieve my corpse. Consider it a transaction!"

"You have many remnant souls?"

The shadow was silent for two breaths, merely smiling faintly.

The corner of Lu Chen's mouth curved upward. The Myriad Manifestations Furnace trembled, transferring the other party inside.

"What..."

The condensed shadow was instantly shattered, transforming into pure energy that merged into his sea of consciousness.

His Ninth Layer of Qi Surge actually advanced a small step.

At the Ninth Layer, the divine soul and the furnace of the qi sea became one. By igniting the flame of the divine soul, one could step into the third realm of Martial Dao Cultivators—the True Martial Realm.

"Remnant souls..."

Lu Chen's eyes flashed brightly.

Were there many of them?

Just as he was about to continue, a blue-gray whirlwind suddenly swept down from the horizon.

Countless twisted human faces were wrapped within the wind pillar, their cries piercing his eardrums and stabbing straight into his divine soul.

"Soul Devouring Wind Demon!" The furnace shook violently as if issuing a warning.

Lu Chen hurriedly retreated three steps. His three clones formed a formation and spread a vital-blood barrier.

The instant the wind pillar struck the light curtain, countless faces opened their mouths and bit down. The sizzling sound of soul power corroding the barrier made his teeth ache.

"A divine soul attack?"

Lu Chen narrowed his eyes.

Ordinary cultivators would likely be helpless against such formless attacks.

But for him...

The Myriad Manifestations Furnace began turning with a thunderous roar, and immense vital blood transformed into waves that washed over his entire body.

The invading resentful souls rapidly melted away upon touching the furnace's aura, like snow meeting the blazing sun.

The wind demon released a piercing shriek, and the wind pillar abruptly contracted into the form of a man in blue robes.

Its face was covered by a crying-face mask. What emerged from its sleeves were not palms, but two chains twisted from remnant souls.

As the chains swung, skeletal remains on the ground rose into the air, condensing into nine Bone Demons ten meters tall.

"Competing in numbers?" Lu Chen's lips curled slightly.

The three clones formed seals at the same time, and the furnaces expanded violently until they were like small mountains.

Vital blood pouring from the furnace mouths condensed into three giant beasts—a wolf, an eagle, and a python—which crashed into the Bone Demons.

Shattered bones poured down like a rainstorm as the main body used Wind and Thunder Steps to close in on the wind demon's true body.

The crying-face mask suddenly split open, and soul-devouring sound waves condensed into tangible sharp cones.

Lu Chen neither dodged nor yielded. He held the Soul Severing Saber across his chest, and the instant saber energy lit up, energy fed back by the furnace flooded into both arms.

The shockwave from the collision between saber energy and the sound cones blasted away three feet of rotten soil within a radius of thirty meters.

Before the wind demon's retreating form could even solidify, Lu Chen's saber stance had already changed.

The blade traced a profound trajectory, and incomplete saber intent mixed with vital blood blasted into the wind demon.

Half of its mangled body fell from the air.

The remaining half tried to reform, but the furnaces thrown by the three clones pinned it down.

"Refine!"

The Myriad Manifestations Furnace enveloped the struggling remnant soul. Its miserable howls continued for half an incense stick before finally ceasing.

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

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

"Not bad, two birds with one stone!"

He tried refining the Blood Jade Shard. A moment later, he spat out a lump of blood with a puff.

It was foul-smelling and black.

It was an old hidden injury left behind by his stolen bloodline, and it had recovered somewhat.

Threads of heat emerged from deep within his body, as though his physical potential had been stimulated. His strength actually increased by one hundred Bull Strength.

Lu Chen was overjoyed.

After his physical strength had reached five hundred Bull Strength at the Fifth Layer of Qi Surge, no amount of marrow he consumed had brought further improvement.

Now that part of his hidden injury had recovered, his strength had increased so much. What if he fully recovered?

He refined and absorbed the other Blood Jade Shard as well. His hidden bloodline injury recovered another trace, and his strength increased by another hundred Bull Strength.

"Awesome!" Lu Chen clenched his fist fiercely.

At this rate, gaining over a thousand Bull Strength would not be a problem.

"To the northwest, the corpse... Could it be..." A sharp glint flashed in Lu Chen's eyes.

Looking in that direction, he could vaguely see a blood-red pillar of light connecting heaven and earth a hundred miles away.

He withdrew his clones and was about to set off when dozens of blood vines suddenly stabbed out from the pile of bones beneath him.

The instant the vines wove themselves into a cage, a hoarse laugh came from afar. "Such ferocious vital blood... Refined into a Blood Puppet, it would surely be top grade."

A Black Robed Figure stepped out of the void. Dense fog surged behind him, and over a hundred Blood Puppets could vaguely be seen within it.

A red light flickered in the chest of every puppet.

The blood-red pillar of light to the northwest suddenly surged, dyeing half the sky purplish-red.

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

The puppets had arms shaped like swords, gleaming with dim light and incomparably sharp.

"Capture him quickly and bring him back!" After speaking, the Black Robed Figure glanced toward the northwest, then transformed into blood mist with the other Blood Puppets and vanished.

Perhaps some great event was about to occur, forcing him to leave first.