Continuing the hunt, Henry Dawson caught seven wild rabbits and a mountain goat, then chopped a large pile of firewood, bringing it back to the secluded valley in batches—he planned to stay in the valley for a while.

After a whole day of hard work, Henry Dawson finally had a moment to rest, then began pondering the Lingyun Nine Swords and the mysterious footwork he had seen the previous night.

Although the sword technique and the footwork seemed completely unrelated, Henry Dawson felt there was a subtle connection between them. By comparing and verifying them against each other, he kept experiencing sudden moments of enlightenment.

“This footwork is incredibly agile. If I could perform the Lingyun Nine Swords while using this footwork, who in the world could possibly dodge it?”

Henry Dawson was filled with anticipation.

As the moon rose, he grew restless. If the shadow on the cliff didn’t appear again, all his hopes would be dashed.

At midnight, the black broken sword released a surge of energy right on time. Henry Dawson quickly sat cross-legged to absorb the benefit. Nearly twenty minutes later, he stopped, and the moment he opened his eyes, he saw the moving shadow appear on the cliff once more.

It’s here!

He was overjoyed but forced himself to calm down, focusing intently on memorizing the marvelous footwork.

Complex, profound, and ever-changing!

Henry Dawson couldn’t help but feel secretly grateful. If he hadn’t spent the past month diligently practicing the Lingtian Nine Forms, he probably wouldn’t have been able to remember this intricate footwork, since the shadow wasn’t actively teaching him, and moved so quickly that a single blink could make him miss a crucial change.

Without Henry Dawson even realizing it, dawn broke in the east again. Soon sunlight poured in, and the shadow instantly vanished.

Exhausted! Utterly exhausted!

Henry Dawson plopped down on the ground, his eyelids heavy as mountains, and immediately fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke up, it was already afternoon. He hurriedly ate something, then once again spent his time pondering the Lingtian Nine Forms and the footwork, constantly gaining new insights and surprises.

By midnight, after refining the benefits granted by the black sword, sure enough, he saw the shadow on the cliff again.

His life became monotonous once more: sleeping in the morning, studying sword techniques and footwork in the afternoon and evening, cultivating late at night, then observing the mysterious figure’s enigmatic footwork—only leaving the valley when he ran out of food.

Fortunately, he now spent less time cultivating, so his food consumption had greatly decreased; otherwise, he would have eaten through ten days’ worth of supplies in just one day!

Although he didn’t spend much time cultivating, the benefits granted by the black broken sword each time were astonishingly great, so his cultivation still increased rapidly every day. After a dozen or so days, he reached the peak of the fourth level of Body Refinement.

In just over two hours, Henry Dawson completed a minor breakthrough and stepped into the fifth level of Body Refinement!

He had become almost numb to his own monstrous rate of improvement. After a brief moment of joy, he threw himself back into the study of sword techniques and footwork, nearly obsessed to the point of madness.

Another twenty days passed, and he broke through again, reaching the sixth level of Body Refinement, catching up to—or even surpassing—most of the younger generation of the Zhou family. What surprised him even more was that the black broken sword had been subtly transforming his body all along. Though the changes were minute, after two months, he could still feel them.

His mind had become sharper, his eyesight keener, his memory even better!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

In the valley, Henry Dawson moved gracefully, his feet following an indescribable footwork, as if he had merged with the entire world. Though he was right there, he always gave the illusion of being invisible.

“After more than a month, I’ve finally mastered the entire set of footwork!”

“However, any movement technique requires the corresponding true essence circulation route to fully unleash its power, and that’s beyond my ability! Even so, this footwork is still incredibly profound and has greatly increased my ability to protect myself!”

“Although I learned it by secretly observing, I should still give it a name—let’s call it... Feiyun Step!”

Now, when he performed the Feiyun Step, Henry Dawson no longer felt the backaches and soreness he had at the beginning, as if every bone in his body was about to fall apart.

Just like with the Lingtian Nine Forms, at first it felt as if he was fighting against the world itself, making every step extremely difficult. But now, he had merged with the natural world, moving as he wished, without the slightest hindrance.

“I’ve fully mastered the form of the Feiyun Step, but to grasp its true essence, I’d need the corresponding secret manual, which I don’t have!”

“There’s no longer any reason to stay here. It’s already December, only twenty-two days left until the end of the year. It’s about time to head back!”

“It’s already late today, so I’ll stay one more night and leave first thing in the morning!”

Having made up his mind, Henry Dawson ate dinner and, instead of practicing the Feiyun Step, switched to training the Lingtian Nine Forms—over the past month, he had spent most of his time on the Feiyun Step.

His longsword danced, casting out streaks of silvery light like flying dragons in the sky, full of profound mystery.

But Henry Dawson was never satisfied. Up to now, his mastery of the first form of Lingtian remained at the level of form only, and he still couldn’t grasp its true essence.

This left him feeling quite frustrated.