Tian Chen opened his eyes after cultivating. The threads of lightning curling around his fingertips quietly dispersed, a trace of confusion lingering between his brows.
The soul power within him still grew like a trickling stream. The energy he absorbed was astonishingly pure, yet whenever it converted into soul power, an invisible sieve seemed to filter out more than half of it.
His law power, on the other hand, quietly strengthened every time he refined lightning energy. Its appetite rose with the tide, however. Now, even absorbing ten thunder soul crystals could barely thicken his threads of law power by a fraction.
"My body seems to have become a vessel for laws. Could it be... because the blood emperor body contains heaven and earth?"
"The body of a Dou Di encompasses heaven, earth, and laws. They spring from the same root, so why does the latter's appetite keep growing?"
As he pondered, that indistinct voice slipped into his mind again without warning.
"Save... save the Douluo Plane..."
The voice was as faint as a candle guttering in the wind. He could not tell whether it belonged to a man or woman, young or old, but its despair pierced his soul.
Tian Chen abruptly raised his head and scanned his surroundings. The breeze in the Star Dou Great Forest carried the fresh scent of vegetation, and the low calls of distant soul beasts were clearly audible. Where was there even a trace of a human voice?
"That voice again." Frowning, he stood and walked beneath the Lightning Rod, brushing his fingertips over the lightning scars remaining on the black iron pillar.
"The previous times, I thought I was hearing things. But this time..."
The urgency in that voice felt so real, as though countless pairs of eyes were watching him through