The only difference from before was with two people.

One was Grace Walker. Without her fiancé, without her beloved, she wept every day, growing more and more haggard.

The other was Henry Walker.

Henry Walker had become more fond of going out.

He wasn’t going out for fun or to listen to music, but instead had found a clearing in a small grove outside the city.

He began practicing the Black Tiger Saber Technique on his own.

……

Heifeng Ridge was located to the southwest of Jiulian City.

The wind howled in the night.

Henry Walker picked up a broadsword from the city’s blacksmith shop and headed toward this place.

He didn’t intend to reach Heifeng Ridge, just planned to find an opportunity to test his blade along the way.

The Black Tiger Saber Technique was something he had obtained using the modifier; he didn’t plan to reveal it, as it could serve as his trump card.

To outsiders, he appeared to be just an ordinary, weak young master from a wealthy family.

With this misconception, if any crisis targeted him, this skill would become his greatest means of turning the tables.

Of course, that was assuming all this experience with the Black Tiger Saber Technique actually worked.

Henry Walker didn’t know the exact location of Heifeng Ridge, or how far it was from Jiulian City.

Jiulian City didn’t have a curfew, and the city gates were open at night. He went out alone, wearing thick clothes, keeping his head down to cover his face, changed into plain attire, and used some women’s powder to slightly alter his appearance.

In an instant, he became an unrecognizable, ordinary traveler.

Taking advantage of the night, Henry Walker looked off into the distance as he left the city.

The pitch-black wild mountains looked like a sleeping giant beast, quietly lurking under the moonlight.

He felt a bit nervous.

But to hide himself, and to test just how powerful the Black Tiger Saber Technique was—

Standing at the city gate, he still mustered his courage and walked toward Heifeng Ridge.

Ding ding ding...

Caravans returning at night were coming into the city along the main road.

The bells hanging from the carriages and horses swayed and jingled in the night wind, the sound drifting far away.

Henry Walker exited through a side gate.

Jiulian City’s gates were strange—not only were they left open at night, but there were quite a few of them. The city walls looked tall and thick, but in reality, they were drafty everywhere and provided little protection.

“Arriving at night again today?”

“Yeah... It’s pitch black at night, and we broke a wheel on the way. What bad luck...”

From the main road at the main gate, the voices of the caravan leader and the city guard drifted over from afar.

Henry Walker stood on a small path heading southwest, much narrower than the main road.

The pitch-black side gate had only two torches burning on the city wall, casting a dim light that illuminated only about half a meter ahead.

“It really is ancient times...” Henry Walker sighed inwardly.

Looking up, all three directions ahead were pitch black; only behind him did Jiulian City glow with light.

“No flashlight, no lamps—ancient wilderness is truly a paradise for wild animal hunting.”

He hesitated a little, but the Black Tiger Saber Technique experience surging in his body kept his fear at bay.

Because the Black Tiger Saber Technique included methods for dealing with such darkness.

Or rather, the black tiger itself was a master hunter in the dark. The Black Tiger Saber Technique required keen hearing and positioning, so it wasn’t afraid of this environment.

Tightening his belt, Henry Walker gripped his broadsword and quickened his pace along the path toward Heifeng Ridge.

After walking a few hundred meters, he took a firestone from the cloth pouch at his waist, then took out a small torch he had prepared earlier from his back.

He placed one piece of firestone at the head of the torch and struck the two stones together hard.

Snap.

Sparks flew onto the torch head.

A tiny red ember appeared, then quickly spread across the torch head.

Finally, there was light in the darkness.

Henry Walker looked back; the lights of Jiulian City were already very faint.

He held the torch and walked forward slowly.

“According to the hunter, there are often wild wolves on this road at night. Let’s see how my luck is.”

He didn’t dare to actually go to Heifeng Ridge. Knowing that this world likely had ghosts and monsters, he naturally didn’t dare stray too far from the city.

If he hadn’t tried all sorts of ways in the city and still couldn’t test his strength, he wouldn’t have come out here alone to try his luck.

After walking a bit further, he soon found traces on the ground.

The wild wolf tracks the old hunter had mentioned.

A few oval, white clay-like droppings.

Henry Walker picked up a stone and poked at the droppings.

They were already dried and hard; when broken open, there were things inside that looked like fingernail fragments.

“This is the place... These droppings must be from a few days ago. According to the old hunter, he saw that old wolf here just yesterday. It should still be nearby.”

Henry Walker held the torch in one hand and slowly drew the broadsword from his lower back with the other.

The broadsword was a type of weapon that evolved from both military and farming tools, with a long handle.

Henry Walker’s broadsword had a handle as long as the blade itself; if you removed the blade, it could be used as a farm pole. It was somewhat like a smaller version of a guandao.

He gripped it with one hand, but it was still a bit unwieldy.

So he simply stuck the torch into a crack between some rocks.

The area was full of rocky outcrops and jagged stones, with few trees, so there was no fear of starting a fire.