In recent years, the annual death toll in the Dark World has surpassed one hundred thousand, exceeding even the number of active inhabitants in the Dark World.

Since then, the relationship between humanity and the Dark World has hit rock bottom, with not a trace of warmth remaining. The shallow diplomacy that once existed between humans and the Dark World has been utterly shattered.

From that point on, humans entered the Dark World purely for naked self-interest...

Although humanity's exploration of the Dark World has grown ever deeper, to this day, humans have yet to explore the entire Dark World and still know little about it. The territory humans can occupy in the Dark World is less than one ten-thousandth of the whole, only a few hundred thousand square kilometers, confined by the forces of the Dark World to a small corner.

Yet even this small occupied area is enough for humanity to gain over two trillion US dollars in wealth from the Dark World every year, even surpassing the GDP of the United States, the most powerful country on Earth.

Those who have gained great power in the Dark World shed their malign transformation and return to their normal human appearance each time they return to the main world. Like the beings of the Dark World, returning to the main world causes a dramatic drop in their strength. Even if they re-enter the Dark World, the lost power does not recover, so unless someone wants to leave the Dark World for good, very few are willing to return.

In the information Julia Carter gave me, there was also a detailed data list of hundreds of known human soul essences and common monsters and natives of the Dark World. Research institutions in various countries have divided soul essences into ten levels, and according to the grade of the main soul essence that forms the phantom, the phantoms are also divided into ten levels.

I spent most of the night reading all the information on my phone, filled with curiosity and longing for that mysterious Dark World—a world that possesses power people dream of.

The more I learned about the Dark World, the more I longed to go there.

I must obtain power strong enough to kill Rocky and avenge his parents. As for whether I might die in that world, that's not something I need to consider.

I even compared the soul essence database in Julia Carter's information, and the final conclusion was rather disappointing.

The white-haired soul essence is incomplete. Because it is so badly damaged, it has lost the most essential characteristics of a soul essence. Simply put, it is just a barely condensed mass of "soul power." By obtaining this soul power, my spiritual strength has greatly increased, but I am still a long way from developing a true soul essence.

"A broken soul essence is already so strange—what must a real soul essence be like?"

I lay in bed, letting my thoughts drift for a long time before murmuring to myself, "No matter how strong Rocky is, one day I will catch up to him and kill him. Rocky, wait for me—wait for me to come for revenge."

Talking to myself like this was almost hypnotic, and before I knew it, I fell into a deep sleep...

On the third day of the Dark Training Camp, I spent the whole morning studying soul essences, barely putting any energy into training.

After absorbing the broken soul essence of the white-haired one, whenever I focused my consciousness, I could briefly break free from the constraints of my body and perceive a higher level of the world. In this state, I could "see" many things beyond the reach of the five senses, and could also control every ounce of my body's potential more perfectly.

After many experiments, I roughly calculated that the maximum limit my body could withstand was to unleash seventy percent of its potential. Any more, and my body would be harmed.

At seventy percent potential, I was already nearly five times stronger than normal. With a single punch, I could knock off a chunk of a wall's health. But I couldn't maintain this state for long—every ten minutes or so, I had to rest, or else devour life force to continue.

Chapter 15: Potential and Combat

Because explosive potential can't be sustained, my efficiency at punching the wall was only about double what it was yesterday. Although this progress was already remarkably fast, compared to the group of killing machines in the training camp, I was still at the bottom. No matter how much potential I could unleash, the innate gap in physical fitness meant I remained the weakest in the camp.

Fortunately, besides tapping into potential, I had another path: increasing my potential.

When I focused my consciousness, I could briefly break free from my body's constraints and observe myself in greater detail.

My body was full of flaws: all kinds of metabolic waste, mutated cells that might become cancerous in the future, dead cells that could no longer provide vitality, tiny muscle tears from injuries, useless fat, bone that wasn't dense enough, slightly inefficient reflex nerves and underdeveloped muscles, as well as various viruses and bacteria eroding my body...

If I could correct all these flaws and expel all the waste and harmful substances from my body, my physical fitness could at least triple, and the increase in potential would be immeasurable.

After finishing a morning of training, during a break, I couldn't help but run to the bathroom, where I coughed violently several times and suddenly spat out a mouthful of thick, black phlegm.