Qin Chuan knelt on one knee in the void. Every breath carried the hot tang of blood.
He forced down the churning blood in his body and the tremors in his Divine Soul, trying to process everything he had learned in that brush with death.
The risk had been enormous, but his gamble had paid off.
Before Qin Chuan could catch his breath, however, another change at the bottom of the valley made his scalp prickle.
Thump... thump... thump...
After its brief stillness and that flicker of confusion, the enormous Heart of Divine Remains began beating with a steady rhythm that carried an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
It was as though Qin Chuan's devouring of that strand of Core Divine Blood had not angered it, but activated some deeper mechanism.
Even more alarming, the Chaos Energy that had been gushing violently from the countless hideous cracks across the heart's surface had vanished completely.
In its place, purer, thicker Divine Blood, scarlet as rubies, flowed out without end.
The Divine Blood no longer formed attacking tendrils. Like streams drawn by an invisible force, it flowed slowly but steadily toward Qin Chuan at the bottom of the valley.
A widening lake of blood began to form beneath him. It radiated a suffocating abundance of life force and ancient pressure, while its scarlet glow bathed the valley floor in an eerie light.
"What's it doing?" Dies Martin asked, watching the changes below in confusion. "Don't tell me this damn thing likes being hurt. You gave it a thorough beating, and now it's trying to... make nice?"
He had seen the heart's brutality and urge to destroy. Its eerily docile behavior now sent an even deeper chill through him.
Alesha stared at the rapidly spreading lake of blood and the Heart of Divine Remains,