Lu Chen charged into the gorge wedged between two sheer cliffs, using Wind and Thunder Steps.
The rock walls on both sides were riddled with honeycomb-like holes. Killing Intent slithered through them like living creatures, letting out shrill cries like wailing infants.
A wound torn open by Old Monster Feng'an's ghostly face on his shoulder was still seeping black blood. Each drop raised a plume of foul-smelling green smoke when it struck the ground.
"Lifeless Ravine..." Lu Chen wiped the blood from his lips as the Devouring Furnace trembled faintly.
The density of Killing Intent here was actually more than ten times that of the outside world.
Behind him, the roar of the Bronze Chariot clung to him like a disease gnawing at the bone.
At the bottom of the ravine, Gale Force carried the piercing wails of savage souls, scraping his protective aura until it flickered unsteadily.
"You little beast, you run quite fast!"
Old Monster Feng'an's dry laughter came from overhead.
Nine skull prayer beads abruptly exploded, transforming into a massive white-bone wheel that crushed apart the blood mist. Ghostly green flames burned around its rim, and even rocks were corroded into powder wherever it passed.
Lu Chen flung out the Devouring Furnace behind him. Black light surged from its mouth, actually biting down on the giant wheel for half a breath.
Taking advantage of that opening, he leaped into a natural cave at the bottom of the ravine.
Boom!
The white-bone wheel crushed the entrance, and shattered stones poured down like a torrential rain.
Lu Chen pressed his back against the stone wall as three clones silently climbed onto the roof of the cave.
"Raise the formation!"
Old Monster Feng'an grabbed with his withered hand. The bones on the ground wriggled like living creatures, condensing into nine Corpse Puppets three zhang tall.
Every step those Corpse Puppets took made the ground tremble.
Ji Wujue stood atop the chariot, forming seals with a savage grin. Dense incantations surfaced over the Bronze Chariot's surface, sealing the entire cave into a prison.
Lu Chen closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The power of his bloodline surged like molten lava.
The next instant, the three clones erupted with their furnaces!
The clone on the left drove the Asura Furnace into the Corpse Puppets. A three-headed, six-armed Asura phantom clashed head-on with their skeletal claws, sending sparks scattering like rain;
The clone on the right activated the Devouring Furnace. Dim light transformed into a vortex that wrapped around two Corpse Puppets and forcibly tore them into fragments;
The central clone, meanwhile, hugged the furnace outside his body and detonated without hesitation!
Bang!
Within the blinding white light, five Corpse Puppets exploded with a thunderous crash.
Enduring the backlash from his clone's self-destruction, Lu Chen passed through the chaotic energy currents like a ghost. The Soul Severing Saber, wreathed in soul fire, slashed straight at Old Monster Feng'an's brow.
"Trifling tricks!"
The skull in Old Monster Feng'an's hand suddenly swelled as large as a small mountain, and two purple-black beams shot from its hollow eye sockets.
Lu Chen raised his saber to block. As the blade collided with the beams, he spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying backward.
"The furnace is mine!"
Ji Wujue seized the opportunity and thrust his halberd toward the clone holding the Devouring Furnace. Blood patterns on the weapon's tip flashed fiercely.
Unfortunately, he struck nothing but air. Lu Chen had recalled the clone.
A cold gleam flashed through his eyes. The Myriad Manifestations Furnace emerged from his body, and the blood energy gushing from its mouth condensed into chains that dragged the chariot down and smashed it toward Ji Wujue.
At the same time, the Asura Furnace abruptly overturned, and the energy within became a torrential flood that blasted toward Old Monster Feng'an's back!
Pfft!
His withered body was sent staggering forward by the blow. Old Monster Feng'an turned around in fury, and the skull suddenly burst forth with countless bone spikes.
Lu Chen neither dodged nor evaded. The Devouring Furnace blocked before him. The instant the bone spikes plunged into the furnace's mouth, his mind stirred, and the Myriad Manifestations Furnace suddenly appeared behind Old Monster Feng'an.
"Explode!"
The surging blood-red chains detonated behind Old Monster Feng'an, ripping even the bottom of the ravine into a vacuum with terrifying energy.
Old Monster Feng'an's protective Spiritual Light shattered inch by inch. He crushed a jade talisman with his withered hand, trying to flee, only to be stopped by the blood-red chains extending from the Myriad Manifestations Furnace once more.
"It's over."
Lu Chen shouted lowly. The Soul Severing Saber pierced through his chest, and saber energy ground his dantian to pieces.
Old Monster Feng'an's eyes flew wide open. The instant his Nascent Soul left his body, it was swept into the Myriad Manifestations Furnace.
Ji Wujue was horrified. He drove the chariot away in a streak of light.
Lu Chen paid him no heed and drew the skull artifact over with a backhand gesture.
The Myriad Manifestations Furnace trembled, and a grayish-white Law Fragment floated out. Mysterious white patterns covered its surface, resembling a skeleton.
Looking at the corpses and bones scattered across the ground, he busied himself for half a day, reforging another furnace before crafting another clone.
He fused the Law Fragment refined from Old Monster Feng'an's skull artifact into the new furnace.
As a wave of energy spread outward, the new furnace advanced, skipping low-grade entirely and reaching the peak of middle-grade.
Skeleton inscriptions appeared on its body. As the furnace shook, a Bone Warrior stepped out from the void.
Bone Furnace, capable of summoning a Bone Warrior to aid in battle.
It gave Lu Chen quite a pleasant surprise.
Though it was limited by the main body's cultivation and was only at the Qi Surge Realm, its rank would continue to rise alongside his breakthroughs, just like his clones. By then, it would be terrifying.
Those days of suffering had not been for nothing.
He had truly been chased into a miserable state by those two.
Lu Chen stroked the furnace's body and refined Old Monster Feng'an's corpse into a Nascent Soul Fragment.
Considering that he was on the verge of a breakthrough, he did not dare use it and stored it away for the time being.
"Strike while he's sick and take his life!" Lu Chen looked beyond the ravine, his expression turning cold.
Besides, having been chased like a dog, he had to kill his way back.
Half a day later, he saw the blood-red pillar of light soaring into the sky above the camp again.
Lu Chen lay concealed at the edge of the cliff, his brows knitting slightly as cold light flickered in his eyes.
Below the cliff, a thousand cultivators were bound to bronze pillars by iron chains. Their Essence Blood flowed through grooves into the central blood pool.
Boom!
The blood pool suddenly boiled, and half a demonic face covered in scales emerged from its depths.
Ji Wujue stood in the air atop the Bronze Chariot, the Blood Devouring Banner stirring up a foul wind. "It should be almost time, right?"
"Almost time for what?" Lu Chen crushed the cliff wall beneath his toes. Three figures shot toward the altar like arrows released from the bowstring.
The left clone threw out the Asura Furnace. Baleful flames condensed at its mouth into an Asura fist that blasted toward the chariot.
The right clone activated the Devouring Furnace, its dim light spreading like a net over the blood pool;
The central clone blocked Ji Wujue.
The main body charged straight toward the eastern side of the altar, the Soul Severing Saber descending in a blaze of saber light.
"Been waiting for you!"
Blood Owl suddenly emerged from the blood mist, and nine blood pythons flew out from beneath his cloak.
The venom spewed by the python heads condensed into a cage in midair, trapping Lu Chen within.
Ji Wujue took the chance to sweep his halberd across. The blood patterns on its tip flashed fiercely, forcing two clones back more than ten zhang.
Lu Chen spun aside to evade the blood pythons' bites as the Bone Furnace suddenly inverted overhead.
The warrior clad in bone armor stomped the ground apart. Purple flames surged within its eye sockets, and its giant axe split three blood pythons apart.
Taking advantage of the opening, Lu Chen drove his blade into the altar, only to discover that the broken inscriptions healed on their own like living creatures.
"This formation uses Ancient Demon Essence Blood as its catalyst. How could brute force possibly break it?"
Blood Owl formed seals with a savage smile, and the remaining blood pythons suddenly self-destructed.
Corrosive blood condensed into poison arrows that pierced through Lu Chen's protective aura, eroding his left shoulder until white bone was exposed.
At the same time, Ji Wujue came killing toward him, cold light surging from his halberd's tip.
There was nowhere to dodge!
At the critical moment, a clear sword cry rang out from the heavens.
Han Qingxue broke through the clouds, and three hundred Crimson Bone City cultivators behind her formed a formation and fired a streak of sword light.
It shot straight toward Ji Wujue's back.
Ji Wujue withdrew his halberd and spun around, colliding explosively with the sword light.
Ji Wujue was forced back dozens of meters.
"Han Qingxue, you're courting death!"
Ji Wujue roared in fury. Seeing the blood pool about to be frozen by the frost energy of the Myriad Bone City cultivators, he threw out a Blood Devouring Banner and slammed it into the formation's core. The frozen blood plasma began boiling again.
The Ancient Demon face broke free with half its body. Its claw tore open a spatial rift, and Gale Force swept the Myriad Bone City cultivators from the sky like falling leaves.
Lu Chen leaped into the air with the momentum, and the Myriad Manifestations Furnace emerged from his dantian.
The energy sealed within the furnace formed intertwined chains that shot directly toward Blood Owl.
Blood Owl's expression changed, and he rapidly retreated.
Ji Wujue tried to provide support, only to be blocked by the three clones.
Han Qingxue, meanwhile, drove the Ice Soul Sword, drawing down frost that filled the sky and pouring it into the spatial rift.
The Ancient Demon's pained roar shook the heavens, and its demonic claw that had torn open space rapidly withdrew.
A savage gleam flashed in Lu Chen's eyes. The muscles of his right arm suddenly bulged like coiling dragons, boundless power surging in and gathering in his fist.
Earth Shattering Collapse Fist!
Before you continue