For a full hour, the subterranean chamber remained silent save for the deep, resonant rhythm of his breathing.
Finally, with a slow, grinding hiss of escaping steam, the excessive beast fur began to recede back into his pores.
His massive 7-foot frame condensed slightly, the brutal musculature shifting and smoothing out as he transformed back into a human guise.
However, he no longer looked like the haggard, broken beggar who had been scavenging in the dirt.
The successful breakthrough and the integration of the demonic beast blood had completely restored his vitality.
His features aligned once more, making him look exactly like the original Patriarch of the Peng Clan, but with a far more menacing, predatory edge.
A thick, midnight-black beard now framed his sharp, rejuvenated jawline, and his eyes, completely devoid of their original human color, burned with a permanent, glowing crimson light.
