For his absence, all those younger members of the The Dawson Family were convinced that he knew he couldn’t reach the Flesh Refining Realm before the end of the year, and had finally given up his futile struggle, inevitably becoming the target of another round of ridicule and sarcasm.

Henry Dawson naturally didn’t care about others’ opinions; he simply lay low in silence, waiting for the day he would break out of his cocoon and become a butterfly.

Another ten days passed, and he advanced his cultivation to the late stage of Body Refining Level Two. In just another two or three days, he would reach the peak and be able to break through to Body Refining Level Three! What delighted him even more was that he had finally made a breakthrough in his study of the first move of Ling Tian, and could barely execute half of the move.

Henry Dawson had no sparring partner, so he couldn’t know how powerful this half-move sword technique was. And he couldn’t just casually find someone in the The Dawson Family to practice with, so he could only keep practicing alone.

“At least another half a month before I can fully perform this sword move!” Henry Dawson couldn’t help but shake his head. It took a whole month just to barely perform a single sword move—was it because he was too stupid, or was the Ling Tian Nine Forms simply too profound?

“If I can’t spar with family members, then I’ll go to Pingtian Mountain and practice on wild beasts! Only real life-and-death combat can improve my swordsmanship! That’s experience—no one can teach you that!”

“But I must wait until I reach the Flesh Refining Realm, otherwise it’s far too dangerous!”

“Calm down!”

Henry Dawson stopped thinking about those things and focused on diligently practicing his sword technique. In contrast, his cultivation progress became very easy; he only needed to spend half an hour each day refining the free energy released by the black broken sword.

If others knew that half an hour of his daily cultivation equaled a month of hard work for ordinary people, anyone would be green with envy!

After ten years of enduring contempt, Henry Dawson finally reaped a heavy harvest.

Another two days passed, and he reached the peak of Body Refining Level Two. In just over an hour, he broke through again and entered Body Refining Level Three.

Counting the time, from start to finish, it was only nineteen days!

Such speed was astonishing!

Henry Dawson didn’t get carried away. Although his cultivation was advancing rapidly, his starting point was simply too low. Body Refining Level Three was nothing to be proud of.

According to the The Dawson Family clan rules, if you haven’t reached the Flesh Refining Realm by eighteen, you’re removed from the family register. This showed just how pitifully low Henry Dawson’s cultivation still was—he was far from meeting even the minimum requirement.

In the blink of an eye, the lingering heat of September had already passed, and the crisp October was halfway over. Henry Dawson’s cultivation continued to soar, and he had already reached the peak of Body Refining Level Three, facing the first real challenge since he began cultivating.

Breaking through to a major realm!

Henry Dawson originally thought this would trap him for at least ten days, maybe even longer, since his incredibly talented father had taken a full nine days. But unexpectedly, he crossed this threshold in just half a day!

He was stunned for a while before accepting this fact. Looking back, Henry Dawson realized there was a reason for this.

It was because he had been constantly studying the Ling Tian Nine Forms for the past month. Even the slightest insight made him feel as if he had grasped the most profound truths of the world—nothing held any secrets before him.

The black sword was definitely a treasure of the highest order!

In martial cultivation, the first difficulty is the accumulation of true essence. But rather than a difficulty, it’s more a matter of time—if you’re willing to put in the time, you’ll eventually reach the peak of a certain realm—except for special cases like Henry Dawson’s previous situation, where his true essence was being consumed.

The second difficulty, of course, is breaking through to a major realm, and this is the truly deadly one!

Accumulating true essence only takes time, but breaking through a major realm requires comprehension. If you can’t comprehend it, you just can’t—you’ll be stuck there for life!

In this sense, comprehension is actually more important than diligence!

So on the path of martial arts, those who reach the peak are basically geniuses. Occasionally, a hardworking type might climb high, but only if they encounter a great opportunity—otherwise, no amount of hard work will help.

But the black sword solved both problems at once!

All the suffering and humiliation he endured over the past ten years was not in vain!

It was time to head to the Pingtian Mountain Range!

A martial artist without real combat experience is just an armchair strategist. Once faced with a life-and-death struggle, they might not even be able to use a tenth of their strength before dying under the enemy’s blade.

The strong are not trained—they are forged in battle!

Henry Dawson packed his things, slung an iron sword over his back, and quietly left the The Dawson Family, walked out of Yuanshi Town, and entered the vast, dense forests of the Pingtian Mountain Range.

When was the last time he left Yuanshi Town?

Henry Dawson recalled that it was when he was very young—his father had once taken him into the Pingtian Mountains to hunt demon beasts. But ever since his “problem” of being unable to cultivate appeared, David Dawson had been searching the world for spiritual medicines for him, and naturally had no time to accompany him anymore.

He wondered where his father was now. Henry Dawson couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of longing.

The Pingtian Mountain Range was huge, but exactly how big, Henry Dawson didn’t know. He only knew that the mountains were filled not only with countless wild beasts, but also with the presence of demon beasts!