Devouring Furnace

The moment the Blood-Devouring Banner flew out of his hand, Lu Chen had already swept over like a phantom, his blade hooking the banner pole as he spun and retreated.

"You dare..."

The Blood Owl's eyes split with rage. He formed a hand seal to detonate the remaining Blood Puppets.

Hundreds of blood-red lights streaked like meteors. Upon reaching within three Zhang of Lu Chen, they were crushed into bloody foam by the suddenly deployed Qi and Blood Domain.

The Myriad Manifestations Furnace's ethereal glow swept across the battlefield, absorbing all the wreckage into itself.

Lu Chen toyed with the dulled Blood-Devouring Banner. "Let me see what good things you can refine."

"Damn it!" The Blood Owl's furious roar faded into the distance, his heart filled with despair.

He had encountered Lu Chen before and returned to the camp due to important matters. He never expected this brat to be so powerful.

The Blood-Devouring Banner, a mid-grade spirit artifact, had fallen into the opponent's hands just like that. Utterly infuriating.

The Myriad Manifestations Furnace trembled violently, and the wails of the vengeful spirits within the banner gradually subsided.

What finally emerged was not the expected Blood Jade, but a pitch-black fragment.

Lu Chen blinked.

A Law Fragment.

He took out an external furnace and merged it with the fragment.

The furnace vibrated, and the surrounding spiritual energy surged like a torrent into it.

"Holy crap, it's auto-devouring!" Lu Chen was dumbfounded.

This external furnace had not only evolved into a mid-grade spirit artifact but also gained the ability to auto-devour.

Lu Chen moved his mind, and the external furnace was retracted into his body.

Instantly, he was enveloped in a thick fog.

Lu Chen's eyes flickered.

He could use this to replenish his energy normally.

This meant he wouldn't need to fight specifically or kill monsters to replenish his energy.

It would save a lot of time.

"Let's name it the Devouring Furnace!"

So far, two of the three external furnaces he had refined had developed their own unique characteristics.

One was the Asura Furnace, and the other was the Devouring Furnace.

Furthermore, the stored energy could be shared between them.

After resting for half a day and adjusting himself to peak condition, Lu Chen continued deeper into the Blood Fiend Battlefield.

As he passed a low hill piled with white bones, he suddenly stopped.

Seven black shadows emerged from the void. The two leading figures wore black robes embroidered with gold, and a Golden Core pressure like an overturned mountain emanated from them.

"Kid?" the cultivator on the left sneered, a spectral blue flame igniting on the bone staff in his hand. "Hand over the Ancient Demon Remnant Limb, and we'll leave your corpse intact!"

It was clear that the escaped Blood Owl had already shared the information.

"I really don't know where you get your confidence from!" Lu Chen was almost amused to the point of anger.

The Ancient Demon Remnant Limb had been here for years, and they were incapable of obtaining it, yet they came to snatch what he had acquired.

Were their brains filled with shit?

Before his words could even fall, the cultivator on the right formed a hand seal and summoned three Corrupted Bone Vultures.

The vultures' wings stirred up a foul wind, and their venom condensed into an arrow rain that poured down.

Lu Chen tapped his toes lightly, pushing the Wind and Thunder Steps to their extreme. His figure turned into an afterimage, weaving through the arrow rain.

The Soul Severing Saber drew an arc in the air, its blade energy like a blood-colored crescent moon sweeping across. Three vulture heads were severed and sent flying.

"You're seeking death!" The two Golden Core cultivators were enraged. Their bone staffs and long halberds clashed, emitting dazzling spiritual light.

The array patterns on the ground suddenly lit up, and thousands of blood thorns burst from the earth, trapping Lu Chen in the center.

They had actually made arrangements here in advance.

"Is this all you've got?" Lu Chen sneered. The Devouring Furnace suddenly inverted.

The furnace's opening glowed like a black hole vortex. The blood thorns disintegrated inch by inch, transforming into pure energy that surged into the furnace.

He used the momentum to spin, his right fist, imbued with the power of the Earth Shattering Collapse Fist, smashing towards the cultivator on the left.

As the fist wind passed, the air crackled.

The cultivator hastily raised his bone staff to block, but the moment it made contact, his expression changed drastically.

Cracks spread across the staff like a spiderweb, and it exploded on the spot.

The remaining force of the punch continued, blasting the cultivator into the rock wall.

As rubble cascaded down, the Asura Furnace had already swept his corpse into its flames.

"Your turn." Lu Chen turned his head to look at the cultivator holding the halberd. Three clones emerged from the furnace, forming a triangular encirclement.

The opponent was horrified and wanted to retreat, but was suppressed by the Qi and Blood Domain, unable to move an inch.

Four streaks of saber light crisscrossed and slashed down, shredding the Golden Core cultivators and their spirit artifacts into pieces.

The remaining five Foundation Establishment cultivators' livers and gallbladders split from terror. They crushed their escape talismans and turned into streams of light, fleeing.

Lu Chen did not pursue. He backhanded two Golden Core cultivators into the Myriad Manifestations Furnace, melting them together.

The divine soul energy of both individuals surged into his sea of consciousness, significantly boosting his soul power. His soul fire burned steadily.

Two days passed in peace.

Lu Chen killed many Blood Fiend demons, even including some third-tier demonic beasts.

He collected several third-tier demon cores.

As for Golden Core fragments, he had a lot.

Before coming here, he had killed ten Golden Core experts at Tianyu Academy and collected ten fragments.

Adding those killed here, he now had eighteen.

"Hm?" He suddenly frowned.

He had stopped in a swamp.

The rotten leaves were soft like a carpet, and the surroundings were quiet, hiding hidden dangers.

Suddenly, a woman's sobbing drifted over with the wind, mournful and sorrowful.

Lu Chen's gaze sharpened. He swept the Soul Severing Saber horizontally, and the saber energy cleaved open the mist.

A woman in a blood-stained dress knelt under a withered tree, holding the remains of an infant in her arms.

She looked up, revealing Han Qingxue's face, tears of blood streaming from her eyes: "Why did you kill my child..."

Illusion!

Lu Chen's mind trembled violently, memories surging like a tide:

In the Lu Family's dungeon in Chixiao City, Lu Ran grinned as he gouged out his heart's essence blood;

In the Cangwu City beast-fighting arena, the sharp teeth of a demonic beast tore through his chest, causing excruciating pain...

"Break!" he roared, and the furnace in his sea of qi erupted with flames.

The illusion shattered like glass, and thousands of resentful spirits shrieked, forming a giant palm that slapped down.

Lu Chen did not evade or dodge. The Devouring Furnace opened its maw wide and swallowed the giant palm whole.

Pure divine soul energy flowed into his sea of consciousness.

His soul fire suddenly surged, completely ignited.

Qi Surge Realm, ninth level peak.

Lu Chen sensed carefully. He could clearly feel that the heavenly tribulation for his breakthrough would arrive very soon.

He scanned his surroundings and suddenly looked up.

A Nascent Soul's pressure descended from above.

Ji Wujue arrived, stepping on a bronze war chariot, breaking through the clouds.

A hunched old man followed beside him, his withered hand clutching a string of white bone prayer beads.

"Old Monster Feng'an, capture him alive," Ji Wujue said, his face filled with greed. "This young prince wants his furnace!"

The old man grinned, revealing black and yellow rotten teeth. The prayer beads exploded with eerie white ghost fire.

The ground cracked open, and nine Golden Core Corpse Puppets emerged from the earth, their eye sockets burning with ghostly green soul fire.

Lu Chen sneered. He stepped into the air with the Wind and Thunder Steps, deliberately luring the Corpse Puppets towards the fierce demons deep in the swamp.

The Devouring Furnace inverted, spewing flames. The demon horde instantly became agitated and began fighting the Corpse Puppets.

Old Monster Feng'an chanted a spell, intending to control the Corpse Puppets, but Lu Chen seized an opening.

The Soul Severing Saber, imbued with soul fire, descended. Ji Wujue raised his halberd to block, but a large portion of flesh was shaved off his left shoulder by the residual saber energy.

"Little brat!" Old Monster Feng'an was furious. He flipped his hand and threw a skull.

The skull suddenly enlarged and opened its mouth to swallow Lu Chen.

"Good timing!" Lu Chen laughed heartily. His soul fire condensed into a giant net that covered the ghost face.

While it struggled, he turned into a stream of light and fled into the depths of the demon horde, leaving only a long howl echoing in the sky:

"Want the furnace? Catch up to me first!"

"Chase!" Ji Wujue's eyes turned red, filled with murderous intent.

To be almost disarmed as a peak Golden Core cultivator was a humiliation!

The bronze war chariot turned into a rainbow and pursued.

With Lu Chen's current supreme combat power, he could fight Old Monster Feng'an.

But he vaguely felt that the old guy had a killing move.

And there was a peak Golden Core cultivator watching them from the side.

The opponent was very likely King Yanbei's second son, Ji Wujue.

But were there only two of them?

It was better to retreat first.

But he had truly underestimated their greed for his furnace, as they were hot on his heels, pursuing him relentlessly.