Wind and Thunder Steps

The waterfall roared like thunder. Within the mist-filled cave, Lu Chen sat cross-legged.

Before him lay spirit stones and pills looted from the Luo family treasury.

The milky-white spirit stones gave off a faint glow. The stoppers of dozens of pill bottles were slightly loosened, and their medicinal fragrance mingled with the damp vapor permeating the cave.

Lu Chen took a deep breath. The phantom of the Myriad Manifestations Furnace emerged in his palm. As its mouth spun, hundreds of spirit stones seemed drawn by an invisible force, flying into the furnace one after another.

"Refine!" Lu Chen shouted in a low voice. The furnace body trembled, and the spirit stones instantly turned to powder. Boundless spiritual energy condensed into a silver stream and surged through his meridians into his dantian.

The Qi and Blood Furnace hummed as it spun. Blood qi and spiritual energy sprayed from its mouth, intertwining into a vortex that raised towering waves within his sea of qi.

A qi and blood vortex reappeared in his sea of qi and dantian, expanding step by step, growing ever more vast.

Lu Chen closed his eyes and focused. Following the cultivation method of the Myriad Manifestations Furnace Art, the Qi and Blood Furnace produced immense pressure, compressing the qi and blood within it over and over again.

Then endless qi and blood poured in once more, only to be compressed again, time after time.

Without pause.

With every compression, he gave it everything he had.

Gradually, the originally dense gaseous qi and blood within the Qi and Blood Furnace began transforming toward a liquid state.

With every transformation, large amounts of qi and blood outside the furnace vanished.

Thirty times, fifty times, one hundred times...

This cultivation session lasted nearly half a month.

"The one hundred and eighth time... success!" With his low shout, his sea of qi shook violently. The vortex abruptly contracted and vanished, while a mung-bean-sized sphere of qi and blood condensed within the Qi and Blood Furnace.

Nine purple lines surfaced across the sphere's surface. Vast power burst forth from it, washing through his entire body along his meridians.

Lu Chen suddenly opened his eyes and punched the cave wall—

Boom!

The stone wall split apart in response. Spiderweb-like cracks spread for several yards, and shattered rocks pattered down.

"Second level of the Qi Surge Realm—achieved!"

He spread his palm, feeling the surging power within him, his face filled with excitement.

"My strength has increased by one hundred and forty-four Bull Strength!"

"Adding the power of my tempered body, one punch now carries nine hundred and ninety-two Bull Strength... Too bad all the spirit stones have been used up."

Glancing at the empty ground, he sighed softly.

The daylight outside the cave gradually dimmed. Lu Chen rose and stretched his limbs, then took out a roll of beast hide from his robes.

Written across the hide in strokes like silver hooks and iron lines were the three words: Wind and Thunder Steps. It was a spirit-grade movement technique obtained from the Luo family treasury.

"Wind has no form, thunder leaves no trace. Step upon the nine heavens, move like a startled swan..."

He silently recited the incantation. Qi and blood surged beneath his feet, and his figure sometimes skimmed the ground like a breeze, sometimes flashed like lightning, leaving afterimages throughout the narrow cave.

At first, his movements were exceedingly awkward, and he repeatedly found himself in danger while practicing inside the cave.

He either crashed into the rock walls or fell into the pool. The force was extremely difficult to control.

But after ten days, his footwork gradually became smooth and natural.

"Let's try it at full strength!" A thought crossed his mind, and he sprang from the cave.

His toes lightly touched the pool beneath the waterfall. Before even a ripple rose, he had already shot toward an ancient tree on the opposite bank like an arrow released from a bowstring.

The trunk snapped with a crack, yet his afterimage still hung in midair while his true body had already retreated to the bluestone beside the pool.

"My speed is more than three times faster than before. Combined with nine hundred Bull Strength, even if I encounter a cultivator at the peak of Foundation Establishment, I'd dare fight them head-on."

Lu Chen silently assessed his strength. Just as he was about to continue comprehending the technique, a faint crack of breaking deadwood suddenly reached his ears.

Five Luo family guards pushed aside the bushes. The scar-faced man at their head held a compass, its needle trembling incessantly toward the waterfall.

"Boss, that brat really is hiding here!"

A skinny guard shrank back. "I heard he emptied our family treasury a few days ago. With just the few of us, I'm afraid..."

"Shut up!" The scar-faced man shot him a glare. "No matter how strong he is, he's only in the Qi Surge Realm. We brought the Spirit-Locking Crossbow. As long as we catch his trail, one arrow will cripple him!"

As he spoke, he raised a hand toward the waterfall. "Spread out and search!"

Before they could approach the pool, a black shadow flashed out from behind the waterfall.

Lu Chen stepped upon wind and thunder, sweeping over their heads like a ghost. By the time he landed, he was already at the rear of their formation.

"He's here!" The skinny guard had barely cried out when an iron-pincer-like hand clamped around his throat.

Lu Chen shook his arm and swung the man's entire body into the companion on his left.

Bang!

Their heads collided, and both fainted on the spot.

The remaining three recoiled in horror. The scar-faced man immediately raised his crossbow and fired.

The bolt streaked through the air wrapped in black light, yet the instant it touched Lu Chen's chest, it was deflected by Blood Qi.

"Second level of the Qi Surge Realm?! How is that possible?" The scar-faced man went deathly pale. He turned to flee, but Lu Chen caught up to him in a single step.

"Since you came, don't leave."

With a cold sneer, Lu Chen's fists became hammers as they smashed down upon the man's back.

Nine hundred Bull Strength erupted. The scar-faced man's spine shattered, and he flew into the pool like a torn sack.

One of the remaining men collapsed to the ground in terror, tears and snot streaming down his face. "Spare me! Spare my life! I'm willing to offer intelligence on the Luo family's pursuit order!"

Lu Chen halted. "Speak."

"The Luo family joined forces with King Yanbei and sent three Golden Core experts. They'll search the mountain tonight! They brought a Trace Seeking Crane. If you don't leave..."

Crack!

Before he could finish, Lu Chen had already twisted his neck.

The phantom of the Myriad Manifestations Furnace swept out, refining the five corpses into ash.

A moment later, Lu Chen stood with his hands behind his back atop the waterfall.

The mountain wind whipped up his robes. He gazed toward Cangwu City, his eyes filled with biting cold.

"They still haven't given up. Perfect... Let's see who the true prey is."

His words faded into the thunderous roar of water, while his figure vanished into the depths of the forest like a wisp of smoke.

The moonlight was grim and cold. Within Ghost Cry Forest in the northern outskirts of Cangwu City, Lu Chen leaned against a thousand-year-old banyan tree, his fingertips stroking the hilt of a bone blade.

This bone blade had fused with refined bone marrow, causing its quality to undergo a transformation. This was the second great function of the Myriad Manifestations Furnace that he had discovered.

Certain refined divine weapons and fragments of Corpse Bone essence could be fused into weapons to improve their quality.

In other words, the Myriad Manifestations Furnace could not only support his cultivation, but also strengthen divine weapons and sharp artifacts.

The hardness of this bone blade rivaled a peak ordinary-grade divine weapon. With the added support of Qi and Blood Protective Aura, its power was no weaker than a spirit artifact. It was absolutely razor-sharp.

The forest was filled with the foul stench of rotting leaves mixed with blood. In the distance came the faint sound of robes slicing through the air.

Three groups of black-clothed cultivators closed in from different directions in a fan-shaped formation. The three leaders wore black robes embroidered with gold. They were the Foundation Establishment experts sent by the Luo family.

"The Trace Seeking Crane truly is troublesome..." Lu Chen narrowed his eyes and looked toward the sky.

A bronze crane the size of a palm hovered among the treetops. Its eyes glimmered with a sinister green light, illuminating his hiding place so thoroughly that there was nowhere to hide.

This spirit artifact had been created specifically for tracking. Even though he had raced dozens of miles with the Wind and Thunder Steps, they had still bitten down on his trail without letting go.

"Surround that tree!" A fierce shout exploded through the forest. More than twenty cultivators simultaneously unleashed talismans. Fireballs and ice spikes crashed toward the ancient banyan like a torrential rain.

Lu Chen tapped the trunk with his toes and flipped into the air like a kite turning over. His bone blade swept out, its blood-red blade aura shattering the spells filling the sky. Its remaining force did not fade, and it cleaved straight toward the crowd!

Puff, puff, puff—

Three cultivators were severed at the waist. Amid spraying blood mist, Lu Chen had already plunged into the crowd like a tiger among sheep.

Blade light carried wind and thunder. Wherever it passed, severed limbs flew and screams rose one after another.

A cultivator at the third level of Foundation Establishment raised his sword to block, but the force of nine hundred Bull Strength split his tiger's mouth and sent his sword flying from his hand. In the next instant, his head was flung high into the air.

"Form the formation! Wear him down!" a Luo family expert roared. The remaining cultivators swiftly gathered, forming a triangular battle formation.