Jia Susu didn't really understand, but she didn't want to seem dumb, so she said "oh." Dante chuckled and told her to monitor him from the side in case he needed anything while he thought about the details of the Raging Blood Halberd Technique.
To begin, he didn't actually have to start swinging a halberd from the get-go, but rather had to practice various forms and postures in order to activate his blood energy to temper those parts of the body. This was the method of the Body Tempering Realm of External Martial Arts that formed the foundation.
In the heart of the martial training grounds, beneath the open sky, Dante immediately began his rigorous regimen.
With the Raging Blood Halberd Technique manual replaying in his mind, his focus was honed to a razor's edge. He stood in a wide stance, emulating the first posture, feeling the earth beneath his feet and the Qi coursing through his body like a dormant storm.
His body became a canvas for the first form, the Awakening Stance.
This stance was meant to open the channels and meridians. His arms curved in front of him, fingers interlaced, palms pressed together. His breath came slow and deep, each inhale drawing the energy of the surroundings, each exhale releasing it into his core.
As he transitioned to the second form, the Flowing River, his movements became fluid and unbroken.
His arms swept out in a serpentine motion that mimicked the winding of a river. He visualized the coursing rivers of his own body, the meridians and energy pathways. Every step he took echoed the steady current of life energy within.
He then moved to the third form, the Ascending Phoenix.
Dante's body seemed to lift effortlessly, his arms extending skyward like the wings of a majestic bird. He felt the blood energy rise, flowing along the pathways he had awakened, reaching the tips of his fingers. His skin tingled, alive with the surge of power.
With the fourth form, the Eternal Tree, Dante rooted himself like a mighty oak.
His legs bore the weight of his stance, his arms extended outward like branches. He imagined his bones growing stronger, like the unyielding wood of the tree, unbreakable and unbending.
As the fifth form, the Harmonious Breath, was unfolded, Dante's movements slowed significantly.
He inhaled and exhaled with deliberate control, synchronizing his breath with the rhythm of the world around him. Each inhalation drew in the essence of the earth, and each exhalation released his own energy, harmonizing the inner and outer.
The sixth form, the Roaring Flame, ignited Dante's limbs with a fiery intensity.
His arms swept down, fingers splayed, as if casting flames downward. He focused on his blood energy, visualizing it as a roaring inferno that consumed obstacles in its path. His muscles pulsed with newfound strength.
Now came the seventh form, the Halberd's Embrace.
Dante mimicked the motion of wielding a halberd, his body flowing with a newfound grace. He imagined the weapon as an extension of himself, each swing a dance of deadly precision. The blood energy surged in his arms, infusing the movements with power.
Transitioning to the eighth form, the Crimson Tempest, Dante's movements grew explosive.
His body spun and twisted, his hands becoming a blur as they carved through the air. He felt his blood energy churn like a storm, every strike a lightning bolt of power that coursed through his veins.
Here came the ninth form, the Endless Spiral.
Now, Dante moved his body in a spiral pattern, a continuous cycle of motion that mirrored the eternal cycle of life and death. He envisioned his blood energy as a vortex, drawing in the qi of the surroundings, amplifying it within himself.
Finally, the tenth form, the Heavenly Convergence.
This one brought Dante to a triumphant culmination as his movements slowed sequentially, his body radiating an aura of power. He stood tall, arms raised, palms facing upward. He felt his blood energy converge, pooling at his core like a blazing sun.
BOOM!
An explosion audible to the ear sounded as Dante's body, which had become redder and redder despite his dark skin, finally reached climax and released a palpable shockwave of power that sent dust flying and even damaged some of the stone tiles below his feet.
Jia Susu, by the side, yelped in fear and covered herself as the strong wind pushed her against the wall. She could only look on with shock as the strong wave of air was continually released from Dante in a cycle, as if he was a powerful fan or engine.
Dante's face was full of ferocity as his veins and muscles bulged all over his body. Internally, his blood was currently flowing like a speedster, moving so fast that this was the source of the wind that came from him.
The faster it moved, the more his blood boiled, and the more his blood boiled, the more his blood energy was activated. It coursed throughout his body and touched everything within him, from his organs to his viscera, his nerves, his bones, and even his marrow.
As it churned, it continually imbued these fragile things with the power of blood energy, making them stronger and stronger as they began to glow with a red light. With every cycle, they absorbed a little bit more blood energy equally and became slightly stronger than before.
This continued for hours as Dante continually released intense winds and maintained that final posture while Jia Susu had long run out and informed Hao Donglei in case something bad happened. Hao Donglei had come over, taken a long look, smiled, and then left, saying that Jia Susu only needed to collect 50 bowls of level 4 Demon Beast blood and then wait for Dante to come out of his trance.
Jia Susu was shocked and filled with fear, as level 4 Demon beasts were Martial Masters! Even if she took a drop of such blood and diluted it, she would still melt like a burning candle and die from the sheer potency of the energy within.
Yet the Vice Hall Master thought Dante could drink it without dilution, and even 50 of them???
As the sun began to dip below the horizon, Dante finally came out of his trance as the winds subsided and his skin began to release smoke slightly.
He had concluded his training, his body glistening with sweat while his heart pounded with power. Breathing heavily, Dante closed his eyes, feeling the residual energy thrumming within him.
The training had been grueling, the hours passing like days, but Dante knew that this was only the beginning. The Raging Blood Halberd Technique was now etched into his very being, a part of his essence.
Still, the benefits were monstrous, as he had broken through to the first sub-stage of the Body Tempering Realm, the Entry level. The sub-stages for External Martial Arts were split into 5; Entry, Minor Accomplishment, Greater Accomplishment, Mastery, and Perfection.
Once he passed through all stages and reached the pinnacle of perfection, he could attempt to break through to the next realm, which was split into the same sub-stages, even up to the Martial God realm.
What filled him with excitement was the fact that by entering the first level, he had stabilized his genes and
even broken through the limit! In other words, Dante could continue farming stats once again, something he greatly looked forward to!
His eyes flickered with passion and just as he was about to celebrate, his face changed greatly into one of horror and fear. His body began to shrivel up rapidly as if someone was directly draining his vitality, and his life force was slowly dissipating.
He fell to his knees and was about to pass out when Jia Susu ran over with a bowl of blood energy soup and quickly poured it down his throat. Immediately, the rapid draining of his vitality seemed to slow down, and Dante saw a chance to survive.
He weakly mouthed "more," and Jia Susu quickly poured more and more bowls down his throat, her hair matted with sweat and her chubby face flushed. Just being near this potent blood energy soup made her feel like her body was full of power, so how much more would Dante feel it?
Yet even as she poured 20 bowls down, he was still shriveled and his consumption of his body's life force had only barely balanced out. It wasn't until he had swallowed 40 bowls that he began to recover and fill out like a balloon.
When the 50th bowl was consumed, Dante was finally back to normal, and the man's skin was flushed with power and energy. He stood up and patted Jia Susu on the head while thanking her for her thoughtfulness and help sincerely.
Dante sighed and understood that he had been foolish. He knew that energy would be consumed for the practice of External Martial Arts, which was why blood energy soup even existed, but he thought that his energy bars from outside, which were still active in his body, could account for it.
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