Restoring His Body

"This is... the dungeon where Bibi Dong was once imprisoned by Qian Xunji!"

Ling Chen looked around. There was only one skylight, too high to reach, letting in a glimmer of light. He couldn't tell whether it was day or night.

As for whether he could get out, Ling Chen wasn't worried. These rusty scraps were nothing but mud to his Green Steel Sword.

Though this place also suppressed Martial Souls, the effect was nowhere near a thousandth as strong as in Slaughter City. But to Bibi Dong back then, this place had been hell.

Ling Chen leaped up and lay down on the bed. Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it. The battle today had truly worn him out.

After Ling Chen fell into a deep sleep, a strange chill slowly spread from his heart. As his blood flowed, it seeped into every limb and bone.

By the time Ling Chen noticed, it was too late. In an instant, nearly all the organs in his body stopped working. His heart stopped, and he couldn't breathe.

It felt like... he was kind of dead.

Pain tore through Ling Chen's skin, bones, and internal organs, as if his body were about to burst apart from the inside.

Ling Chen could clearly sense what was happening to him, but that was all he could do.

Under the torment of the pain, Ling Chen's mind could barely manage to think.

"Did I... get poisoned?"

That was all Ling Chen could think of for now. His gaze gradually grew hazy, until he lost consciousness completely.

The next morning, nothing in the dungeon had changed.

Ling Chen suddenly opened his eyes. The Soul Power filling the air made him squint. He seemed to have died yesterday, so where was this?

Ling Chen raised a hand to scratch his head. Suddenly, he realized his head seemed a little bigger. Not only that, his hand did too.

Ling Chen looked at his hands. His originally small hands seemed to have reverted to the large ones he'd had before crossing over.

He looked beneath the covers. His clothes had also turned into strips of cloth.

That was right! Ling Chen had returned to an adult's body.

But how had this happened? Ling Chen hadn't eaten any herbs or obtained any treasures.

He had only killed some Soul Saints from Spirit Hall, then been dragged into this tiny dungeon in Spirit Hall. And now his body had changed like this.

Something was wrong. There was definitely something wrong.

Ling Chen thought it over carefully. Was it because of the Soul Bone? But nothing had happened that night. Or the Peerless Domain infused with killing intent?

Wait, the Soul Power filling the air around him didn't seem to be his.

Ling Chen recalled that when he had severed Yan's arm, the Green Steel Sword had drawn some of his Soul Power. Before that, Ling Chen had also hunted some local Soul Beasts, but it hadn't had this effect.

"So the Green Steel Sword can only draw Soul Power from people. And that Soul Power turned me back into how I used to look!"

Ling Chen wasn't sure. That explanation was a little far-fetched, so he entered the Dragon Pillar Space, intending to ask the Golden Dragon.

"Golden Dragon, what's happening to me? Do you know?"

Ling Chen stroked the Golden Dragon Pillar and activated the sleeping Golden Dragon.

The Golden Dragon didn't move. It simply spoke.

"The three Thunder Tribulations you suffered earlier shattered the restraints on your body. Your Martial Soul absorbed too much Soul Power. The excess Soul Power enlarged your body along with your Martial Soul, which is why you ended up like this."

"I see!"

Ling Chen pondered this, then asked another question.

"Will the excess Soul Power make me grow old later?"

"No! It will only extend your lifespan!"

The Golden Dragon answered firmly.

Ling Chen's face lit up at that. If that was the case, could he live long enough to see Douluo II, or even Douluo V?

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, Beast God Di Tian, the Demon Empress, the Golden Dragon King... Wouldn't these million-year Soul Beasts let him break through his limit on stacked rings?

Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were already scarce, let alone million-year ones. Before, Ling Chen had wondered whether he could even live to see Douluo II. But now, it seemed there was no problem at all.

In the end, he still had to loot corpses. Only now, he'd first use the Green Steel Sword to loot Soul Power, then loot the Martial Soul Origin.

"Sigh!"

Ling Chen thought of Slaughter City. He should've known better than to let Tang San destroy it. In his current state, if he awakened the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul first, then went in and racked up kills, wouldn't that be wonderful?

But Slaughter City no longer existed. Now, only a large-scale human war would let Ling Chen feast to his heart's content.

Ling Chen left the Dragon Pillar Space and pulled a few pieces of clothing from his Soul Tool.

After his last transformation, Ling Chen had already prepared clothes in all sorts of sizes. He hadn't expected to need them again so soon.

"Tap, tap, tap!"

Footsteps sounded. Ling Chen immediately grew alert. His size and appearance had changed dramatically—more than Tang San's had.

Whoever came would see Ling Chen as he was now and suspect that Li Tianyi had escaped.

As luck would have it, the visitor was Hu Liena. She seemed distracted, probably because Tang San had dealt her such a heavy blow.

There was nowhere to hide in the dungeon, so Ling Chen could only crawl under the covers. Hu Liena had come to bring him food. She left it by the door and then departed without even looking at him.

"Tang Yin is Tang San!"

Hu Liena was still muttering to herself. Ling Chen stayed under the covers without making a sound. Only after her footsteps had faded did he climb back out.

"That was close! I hope Hu Liena stays like this."

Ling Chen got out of bed and looked at the food she'd brought. It was a bowl of steaming porridge with a few leaves of greens floating on top.

"Damn, they're so stingy! A bowl of porridge to fob off a beggar?"

Ling Chen knocked on the cell door. He wasn't having this. At the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, he'd eaten delicacies from land and sea. When had he ever had to drink porridge?

If Limit Douluo Qian Daoliu weren't on the verge of dying, would Ling Chen have come knocking at Spirit Hall's door himself?

Even if he was a hostage now, he shouldn't have to settle for a mere bowl of porridge.

Ling Chen picked up the bowl and threw it to the ground. He'd rather starve to death here, even jump out of this place, than eat a single thing from them.

"Crash!"

The sound of the bowl shattering echoed again and again through the dark dungeon. Then all that remained was silence.

Ling Chen felt cut off from the world. No one paid him any attention. He was left all alone in the dungeon.

In that case, Ling Chen would continue his training.

His 60-pound iron sword had broken, so he switched to a 70-pound one. It still felt a little light, but it was better to take things one step at a time.

Ling Chen could slowly get used to the strength his body now required. No one would bother him for a while anyway, and in her current state, he wasn't worried about startling Hu Liena.

As for food, Ling Chen still had a little in his Soul Tool. It would be enough to last him for a while.