The moment it came to a complete stop, a jet-black shadow of light suddenly burst forth from the blade, more dazzling than the stars, more brilliant than the blazing sun!

Boom!

In Henry Dawson's mind, nine images immediately appeared, deeply etched into his memory. Each image was constantly changing, showing a sword slashing and thrusting in all directions, performing the most mysterious and profound techniques!

This was... a nine-form sword technique!

This mysterious black broken sword had actually imparted to him a nine-form sword technique!

Henry Dawson was left utterly dumbfounded, finding it all completely unbelievable! But this broken sword had been residing in his dantian for ten years—perhaps even longer, only he hadn't noticed it before—since such bizarre things had already happened, what was so strange about it teaching him a nine-form sword technique as well?

In just an instant, all the images shattered, turning into countless black specks of light that scattered through his mind, merging into his blood and flesh.

Chapter 3: Beginning Cultivation!

Boom!

Henry Dawson's whole body relaxed, and he immediately fainted.

He had no idea how much time had passed before he slowly woke up, feeling every muscle in his body aching and groaning, yet there was also an indescribable sense of comfort, like taking a cold shower in winter—after enduring the initial chill, a warm and pleasant feeling followed.

Gurgle—his stomach immediately began to protest.

Henry Dawson looked up at the sky and saw that the moon was already high, probably around nine or ten o'clock. Since he had only eaten lunch, it was natural that he was now starving.

He couldn't be bothered to make a fire and cook, so he just grabbed some dry rations to make do.

"Something feels different!"

Henry Dawson sensed that something had changed in his body, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. It was a very strange feeling.

"That's right, cultivation!"

This was where all his hopes lay. At this thought, he sat down on the ground, began practicing the Lieyang Art, and the food in his stomach was immediately refined by the technique, turning into countless streams of free energy, which were then converted into true essence power and circulated throughout his body.

When the true essence power flowed near his dantian, Henry Dawson couldn't help but look nervous.

Success or failure—all depended on this moment!

The true essence power surged past, and the black broken sword showed not the slightest reaction!

It... worked!

A surge of wild joy suddenly rose in Henry Dawson's heart! Although this was what he had always hoped for, now that it had truly happened, he found it hard to believe, afraid it was just a beautiful dream from which he would soon awaken.

"This isn't a dream!" he told himself firmly, his eyes growing sharp.

The Lieyang Art continued to operate, his skin cells greedily absorbing the true essence power, storing it one by one and raising his cultivation.

This feeling was wonderful!

Henry Dawson was so moved he wanted to cry! He could finally cultivate!

What was taken for granted by others had been a dream he had longed for nearly ten years. The excitement, the thrill, the mix of emotions—it was truly hard to put into words.

He tirelessly practiced the Lieyang Art over and over, constantly raising his cultivation. Although the progress was minuscule, even the slightest improvement filled him with excitement.

In less than two hours, Henry Dawson stopped.

It wasn't that he couldn't stand the monotony or didn't want to cultivate, but that all the food he had eaten had been completely refined.

After all, dry rations couldn't compare to meat in terms of energy content.

Henry Dawson wasn't sleepy at all, so he ate another meal and continued his first true cultivation journey.

Time slipped by quietly, and soon the moon was high in the sky—it was deep into the night.

Buzz—a black broken sword that had remained still all this time suddenly trembled!

Henry Dawson was startled. Was this old fellow going to go back on its word and try to steal his true essence power again?

Just then, an immense surge of free energy erupted from the black broken sword, flooding Henry Dawson's entire body!

What!

Henry Dawson was shocked. This super thief had suddenly grown a conscience—not only did it not steal his true essence power, it was actually feeding him a huge amount of free energy to absorb?

Did the sun rise in the west?

Though he was confused, Henry Dawson didn't hesitate for a second. He immediately activated the Lieyang Art, greedily devouring the free energy—after all, this thief had robbed him for ten years, so it was only right to get a little payback.

Such pure free energy!

Henry Dawson was so surprised he almost stopped practicing the Lieyang Art.

On the path of cultivation, what was the hardest part?

Naturally, it was converting the food you ate into free energy. This took up more than ninety percent of the time. The reason people still chose to practice the Lieyang Art despite its pain was that it allowed them to use sunlight to shorten the time needed to convert free energy.

But the black broken sword was releasing free energy that could be directly absorbed—how much time would that save Henry Dawson?

Moreover, this free energy was incredibly pure—each strand was equivalent to ten times what Henry Dawson used to convert!

Henry Dawson was overjoyed, afraid the black sword would change its mind, and hurriedly absorbed the energy like mad, continuously converting it into his own true essence power and storing it in his skin cells.

Half an hour later, all the free energy released from the black broken sword had been completely absorbed by him.