It glanced at Dante and felt that he was more… vivid. It was as if it had been looking at a very realistic painting of him and was now watching a video of him; he was much more ‘high resolution.’

It also felt like Dante was more… vulnerable. It was like if it killed him before, it would only be like taking out a mirage, but if it attacked and won now, it would actually take out this fellow for good.

However, despite this, the Golden Ape trembled even more. It was simply unable to even fathom the idea of making a move, because even if Dante was technically more ‘vulnerable’ now, he also felt far more dangerous in equal measure.

Dante glanced at the ape askance and shook a hand. “You can leave and do whatever you want, but make sure to come back here 29 days later.”

The Golden Ape was surprised and nodded profusely before bolting away like thunder. Every moment it spent near Dante was another moment that death could come for its monkey life, and it really did not want to die.

Dante watched it leave and then focused on his own matters. He had brought his real body down here for one obvious reason, to continue training his physical methods until they broke through!

After all, he nominally couldn’t leave this place for 30 days and only a day had passed. What was worse was that this would continue until December. 30 days in this first round which was a solo instance, then one week in Black Land, 30 days in the second round, and one week in the Black Land, and then another 30 days in the third round and one week in the Black Land.

Today was July 16th, so starting from today, they would come out of this world on the 15th of August. One week in the Black Land would make it August 22nd, and they would start a new round on that date.

That would be September 21st, and then one week in the Black Land would be September 28th. The third round would begin from there and end on the 28th of October. Their final week in the Black Land would lead to November 4th, and the rest of the time would be spent preparing physically.

Dante wanted to make sure that not only did he reach the pinnacle of his two Physical Methods as a Grand Knight and a Martial God, but he would also reach the peak of his magical methods as a Grand Sage Wizard and a Paradise Awakening Inferno Ascender before he entered the actual Zero Gate.

He would be playing with his life if he didn’t increase his strength by any means necessary when he still had time. As such, Dante took out an Enhanced Energy Elixir and consumed it on the spot before beginning the Martial Blood Realm Raging Inferno Halberd practice.

He began with the first move of the new realm, known as ‘Blood Awakening’.

With a graceful swing of his halberd, he channeled his blood Qi, awakening its dormant power. His movements were deliberate and fluid, as he focused on the feeling of the energy coursing through his veins.

The second move was called ‘Crimson Surge’.

This one required him to move the halberd in a circular motion, drawing energy from his core and infusing it into the weapon. As he executed the technique, he felt his blood Qi surging, becoming denser and more potent.

Dante moved on to the third move, ‘Scarlet Torrent’.

This was a stance that involved quick and precise strikes with the halberd. Each strike released a burst of blood Qi, creating a dazzling display of red energy. He repeated the sequence, his body moving in perfect harmony with the weapon.

The fourth move, ‘Inferno Whirl’, was a more complex technique.

Dante spun the halberd around him in a mesmerizing dance, drawing in energy from his momentum. It was a test of his ability to control the flow of blood Qi, and he executed it with finesse.

Next was the fifth move ‘Sanguine Embrace’, a move that required Dante to hold the halberd close to his chest, focusing on drawing blood Qi inward. It was a moment of meditation in the midst of action, as he felt his sea-like blood Qi converging within him.

The sixth move, ‘Eclipsing Shadows’, was more of a defensive technique.

Dante extended the halberd in front of him, forming a barrier of swirling blood Qi. It was a shield that could deflect attacks and absorb enemy energy, and its cycle was important for the refinement of blood Qi when done actively like this.

As for ‘Verdant Surge’, the seventh move, it involved grounding the blood Qi into the earth. Dante thrust the halberd into the ground, channeling his energy downward. It was an exercise in balance and stability, connecting him to the earth’s vitality.

Finally, he concluded his training with the final move, ‘Crimson Resonance’.

This move combined all the techniques he had practiced, allowing him to unleash a devastating wave of blood Qi. The ground trembled beneath him as he executed the technique, and the air was filled with the resonance of power.

Dante repeated this sequence for 36 cycles and then stopped, which took him about an hour and a half. He felt much more powerful and accomplished, his entire body crying out in joy. The Enhanced Energy Elixir he had consumed was fully digested and turned into Blood Qi that increased the quantity.

That was it, that was basically the modus operandi of the Martial Blood Realm. This was the realm where you unlocked Blood Qi after converting all your Blood Energy from the previous Martial Warrior realm, and your focus was now to increase its quantity while also increasing its purity.

So this realm was where resources mattered the most. If one probably consumed like one or two bowls of blood energy soup of the lower levels at the Body Tempering and Martial Warrior realms, then one would become a voracious beast in the Martial Blood realm.

Here, ironically, the less you drank, the more talented you were. This was because those with lower talents wasted a lot of blood energy in the conversion upwards to blood Qi. Those with better talents obviously wasted a lot less or even none, so they would achieve the same amount of progress with fewer bowls.

This was a change from the previous two realms where the more you could drink, the better your talent. Naturally, the Enhanced Energy Elixir ignored all of that and worked the same regardless of peak talent or ** talent.

It was the kind of overpowered resource that guaranteed perfect success and efficiency at all tiers and ranks.

Dante checked his progress for this session.

Physical Powers: Raging Blood Halberd Technique (Martial Blood, Entry level 50%).

Dante nodded with satisfaction. Making a whole 50% progress in the entry level in just one and a half hours was absolutely amazing and was more thanks to the Enhanced Energy Elixir than his high stats or any talent he might have.

After all, the universal rules were set. No matter how high your stats or OP you were, those things could only benefit one in the lower realms. The higher the realm, regardless of physical or magical method, the harder it was to progress.

Dante still had some advantage, naturally, but his practice would have entered the stage of months while requiring quite a few resources to continue on. Now that it could still be squeezed to within a week thanks to the OP resource called the Enhanced Energy Elixir, Dante had no reason to be impatient or complain.

Since he had started, there was no reason to stop. He consumed another Enhanced Energy Elixir and began working again. After another hour and a half, he was at the peak of the Entry level.

Dante did not stop and spent another 3 hours of two 36 cycles of practice to reach the peak of Minor Accomplishment. Unfortunately, while the spirit was willing, the body needed rest. It wasn’t necessarily strenuous on him and his stamina was more than enough, but rather that his Blood Qi was surging and needed time to settle.

As such, he naturally switched to the practice of the Primal Ape technique. He had hit the Advanced Knight realm, which was the 3rd level. If he wanted to reach the 4th level, which was the rank of a Peak Knight, he would naturally need to use his alternative to the 4th Rank Vitality potion, the Quantum Vitality Serum.

Taking one out from his inventory, Dante looked up to the now darkening sky as more than 6 hours had passed in his training and decided to try one round of practice before sleeping. He injected the serum into his body and felt the sheer life energy course through him, itching to become life essence unique to him.

Dante did not see the need to pretend or hold back as he immediately began the practice of the Primal Ape Technique’s Advanced Knight level.