After Han Qingxue explained, Lu Chen finally learned what was more precious than spirit jade.
Blood Marrow, a supreme treasure that enhanced one's bloodline.
No wonder its effects had been so great after he consumed it.
"I regret giving it to you!" Lu Chen's face was full of remorse.
"Too late. I won't give it back even if you beat me to death!" Han Qingxue put away the Blood Marrow. Her sword flashed like a rainbow and blasted open the bronze gate.
The view before them suddenly opened up.
"The ancient demon should be suppressed here!" Lu Chen hurried a few steps to catch up with Han Qingxue.
Han Qingxue nodded. "Be careful!"
The two spread their movements and sped toward a hazy structure in the distance.
Upon arriving, they exchanged a glance.
Before them stood a massive stone platform.
A bronze pillar stood upon the platform.
Half of a demon's scaled body was chained to the stone platform.
Thick black blood was everywhere.
The ancient demon's remnant body slowly raised its head. The vertical eye on its forehead fixed upon Lu Chen as its voice rumbled like thunder:
"Nine-Headed Demon Emperor bloodline. Interesting!"
Lu Chen's heart trembled slightly.
Even he himself did not know what bloodline he possessed, yet this ancient demon had seen through him at a glance.
At the same time, he abruptly came to his senses and asked curiously, "Were the Blood Demons and Fierce Demons outside related to you?"
"Hehe, you could say so. They transformed under the influence of my bloodline!"
"How do you know my bloodline? And what kind of existence is the Nine-Headed Demon Emperor?"
"A trace of resonance from the same origin!"
"The same origin?" Lu Chen's voice involuntarily rose several notches.
"Only our bloodline inheritances share the same origin. Our species are entirely different. Humans, hehe, mere ants!"
Damn it!
Lu Chen did not even know how to respond.
"If you're so formidable, how did you end up imprisoned here? Maybe you're only so-so after all?"
Boom!
As if provoked, the ancient demon abruptly rose, and its movements made the entire high platform tremble.
Yet the bronze pillar behind it suddenly released a terrifying suppressive force, pinning it back down where it stood.
"Your Excellency has been suppressed for many years, hasn't he? What purpose did King Yanbei's heir have in releasing you?"
Seeing the other's anger subside, Lu Chen suddenly asked.
"You wish to know?" The ancient demon abruptly lifted its head.
"Doesn't matter." Lu Chen shrugged.
"I can tell you, but I have one condition!"
Lu Chen merely looked at it without saying a word.
"There is a sword above the bronze pillar. I can give it to you!"
Lu Chen raised an eyebrow and looked above the bronze pillar.
"Watch out!" Han Qingxue suddenly cried out.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
The instant Lu Chen lowered his head to look at the ancient demon, purple light suddenly shot from its vertical eye and pierced straight into his mind.
At the same time, the ancient demon's soul appeared in the center of his sea of consciousness.
"How could ants like King Yanbei ever enter my eyes? When this king was suppressed, Great Yan had not even been established yet!"
"However, this body of yours has been tempered quite well, and you carry supreme treasures. Hehe, they are all mine now!"
The ancient demon laughed loudly and shot toward Lu Chen's hazy soul.
The moment it touched the soul, the Myriad Manifestations Furnace suddenly appeared. Its great mouth opened wide, and before the ancient demon could evade, it plunged headfirst inside.
Rumble...
Boundless flames carrying astonishing power instantly blasted the ancient demon's soul into fragments.
"Impossible!" The ancient demon was both shocked and enraged. Its remnant body turned into a streak of light and smashed against the furnace wall, trying to break free.
But how could that be possible?
It was merely wasting its strength.
Boom!
Terrifying flames wrapped around its soul and swept it into a vortex. Amid shrill, miserable screams, the ancient demon's soul transformed into surging, pure soul energy.
Lu Chen temporarily stored that energy within the Myriad Manifestations Furnace.
"Are... are you alright?" When he opened his eyes, Han Qingxue's beautiful face appeared before him.
Her eyes, deep as secluded pools, carried a trace of concern.
"I'll take that as you caring about me!"
"You might as well die!"
The moment she heard Lu Chen speak, Han Qingxue knew the bastard was fine and could not help snorting coldly.
"You'd be heartbroken."
"Heartbroken? I'll be heartbroken over your big-headed ghost!"
Thud! Thud!
Furious, Han Qingxue smacked his head twice. When she tried to strike him again, Lu Chen seized her little hand.
"Let..." Han Qingxue had barely opened her mouth when her body suddenly became light, and Lu Chen carried her into the air.
Bang!
An immense force pressed down from overhead. The two cried out strangely and fell straight down.
"Are you sick?" Han Qingxue's face had gone pale with anger.
Lu Chen rubbed his nose and said sullenly, "I wanted to take you up there for a look, but there was a restriction. How was I supposed to know?"
"Who needs you to take me?"
"Hey, hey, I meant well!" Lu Chen felt aggrieved.
"I'll tear your mouth apart!"
As she spoke, her longsword pointed toward Lu Chen's mouth.
Lu Chen hurriedly dodged aside, muttered a few words, then looked toward the high platform.
The ancient demon's corpse remained motionless. The bronze pillar moved without wind, and the iron chains around the ancient demon clanged heavily.
Lu Chen threw out the Devouring Furnace, only for it to be knocked back by an immense force.
"I refuse to believe it!" Lu Chen flung out the Myriad Manifestations Furnace.
Boom!
The Myriad Manifestations Furnace shot into the sky, accompanied by astonishing devouring force.
The restriction was broken, and it flew directly above the bronze pillar.
Under Han Qingxue's astonished gaze, the Myriad Manifestations Furnace opened its great mouth downward and pressed down in its entirety.
It swallowed the bronze pillar, the stone platform, and the ancient demon's corpse whole.
"How is that possible?" Han Qingxue's heart shook violently, her face full of disbelief.
This was a treasure capable of suppressing an ancient demon. Its grade absolutely could not be low, yet it had still been taken in by that furnace.
What kind of furnace was this?
Lu Chen stretched out his hand, and the Myriad Manifestations Furnace shrank and landed in his palm.
He tried activating it. The high platform instantly exploded into powder, but the ancient demon's corpse and bronze pillar remained unaffected.
It would take some time to refine them completely. Now was not the time.
Raising his head, he saw Han Qingxue staring at the furnace with envy. Lu Chen suddenly smiled.
"Give your big brother a smile, and I'll refine a furnace for you—one compatible with your attributes!"
"Must your mouth always be so obnoxious?" Han Qingxue replied coldly.
Lu Chen was speechless.
"You can't always keep yourself wound so tight. It's bad for cultivation. You need to loosen up!" Lu Chen said unwillingly.
"I can loosen up, just not around you!"
Damn it!
"Then forget it!" Lu Chen waved a hand.
"How dare you? You said you'd help me, so you have to help!"
"Then give me a smile!"
"I won't!"
"That won't do!"
"It must!"
"You're so shameless!"
"Not as shameless as you!"
"I fucking..."
Lu Chen was completely thrown off. Just as he was about to adjust his mood and have a proper verbal spar with Han Qingxue, his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he sharply looked into the distance.
Xue He surged onward, and thousands upon thousands of white bone lotus thrones floated upon its surface.
The three Blood Disciples sat separately upon three lotus thrones, while Blood Owl was refining a Myriad Souls Banner at the river's center.
Ji Wujue's Bronze Chariot hovered above the river and charged toward them at high speed.
Behind him came even more Blood Spirit Sect disciples and King Yanbei's men.
"Lu Chen! Han Qingxue!"
Ji Wujue roared and was about to attack.
Then, a figure suddenly pounced toward Lu Chen like lightning.
It was Blood Nightmare, one of the three Blood Disciples and Blood Owl's half-brother.
He was in such a rush because he naturally wanted to seize the treasure in Lu Chen's hand at the first possible moment.
The great saber in his hand erupted with soaring saber light as he immediately unleashed a killing move.
Lu Chen was enraged.
Power boiled throughout his body and all converged into his fist. At the same time, a terrifying demonic shadow appeared behind him.
Following his motion, he threw a punch.
Divine Ability: Earth Shattering Collapse Fist.
Boom!
A heaven-shaking explosion rang out.
The saber light shattered. A millstone-sized fist drove straight ahead and slammed into Blood Nightmare.
"What?" Blood Nightmare's face turned pale, and with a boom, he exploded into a sky full of blood mist.
The fist's momentum did not diminish. Amid the terrified screams of the other two Blood Disciples and Ji Wujue, the entire Xue He exploded with a deafening roar.
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