A whole day was wasted as the young girl gradually became accustomed with her new physique.
An Fei lounged around within the Sanctum, completing various odd-tasks to waste as much time as possible, and to discern the grasp of her abilities to the maximum.
At the end, the young girl could only give a single appraisal as she sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes glazed over in thought.
…the differences between her physique when she was in the Body Tempering Realm compared to her current cultivation…
was as immeasurable as the vast ocean.
Her strength had not changed significantly compared to before, but An Fei had noticed that faint threads of spiritual essence had removed themselves from her heart to coil around her muscles whenever she found it necessary to expend copious amounts of effort.
Her agility similarly had not improved beyond physical limits, having merely obtained an automatic assistance of spiritual essence.
The young girl had carried a stack of books taller than herself throughout the entire platform of sky-blue crystal at a brisk pace for several laps, and had not even broken a sweat.
The sheer facilitation of her abilities endowed by spiritual essence coursing through her muscles practically ensured that she would remain physically fit and brimming with vitality… was a little too much to accept.
Her vision, hearing, sense of smell and taste had similarly improved from her advancement into the Foundation Establishment Realm.
An Fei could discern the faint labels on the spine of the shelved books from a distance of several dozen meters away, and her mind was abuzz with the constant slew of information transmitted from her senses.
The world had become more vibrant and excitatory regardless of where she found herself, for her consciousness had immersed itself into a sea of limitless information.
“It’s quite the pity that my sense of touch hasn’t changed…” An Fei murmured to herself, craftily munching on the last piece of diced celery as she stared at a book laid on the ground before her.
“Then again… I don’t think it would be a good idea, since the Sanctum seems to enjoy torturing my body each night…”
The young girl shivered at the thought, unwilling to dwell on the topic of the nightly excursion dealt onto her body when she stayed within the Sanctum for a prolonged period.
The storm of warmth and comfort ravaging her cells to no end… was not necessarily a pleasant experience.
Especially when it occurred each passing night.
“Hah…”
An Fei placed the book onto the ground, rising from her seated position to roll her neck and relax her strained muscles. The girl glanced at the opened pages, a tinge of excitement evident in her fervent gaze.
“The <Steps of Underlying Shadows>… can I finally be able to practice it?”
The young girl took a few tentative steps to clear herself a wide berth, and shook her arms to relax her limbs to the maximum.
An Fei took a deep breath and closed her eyes, imagining the motionless surface of a tranquil lake as she stepped forward with her left foot.
As she stepped forward, the young girl distributed the weight of her body backwards by leaning her back, and sweeping her arms to her sides.
Relying on the destabilized center of gravity, An Fei allowed her body to slide backwards towards the ground, before drawing her left arm towards her chest.
The limb bent at the elbow to further disbalance her body and distort her motion, and the young girl pivoted on her right heel to spin in a counterclockwise half-moon turn.
The instant her right arm had completed its arc, An Fei released the rotational momentum in a single burst, spiraling back to her original position by an extended turn in the opposite direction.
Her limbs swept and danced through the air, supporting each other as she alternated between inverse movements to create a bizarre dance that possessed a constant flow.
The young girl displaced her center of gravity to forcibly alter her direction of movement, utilizing the generated momentum to return herself to her original position.
Full moon turn, followed by a reverse half-moon and a cyclic step balanced on the tip of her toes in the proper direction to restore her position.
A swift lunge and retreat, before withdrawing to fall into a cycle of twisting turns and sweeps of her arms.
The young girl gradually accelerated the pace of her unceasing dance, her motions blurring into the distinct swaying of her loose sleeves and dress.
As she danced, An Fei couldn’t help but nurse a tinge of satisfaction and joy within her heart, before withdrawing her right arm to her chest to initiate another set of motions.
The <Steps of Underlying Shadows> was truly the exquisite technique.
Since the beginning of the dance in which An Fei had taken a step forward, the young girl had not expended a single thread of strength.
As her movements were facilitated solely due to the laws of motion, the young girl had only to exert herself when she needed to switch between the different sequences of movements within the technique.
Other than suffering from a blurred vision and rustling in her ears due to her ever-accelerating movements, An Fei noticed that her balance and sense of rhythm remained stable regardless of the dance.
Her motions remained unbound within the constraints of the <Steps of Underlying Shadows>, and the experience appeared no different than a casual walk in a garden.
Her heels rapidly pivoted and rose from the ground to complete the turn with the toes acting as the fulcrum, taking numerous steps backwards and extending her arms to decelerate her rotation.
The young girl quickly allowed her limbs to extend to their fullest length, her right palm facing the sky, and her left gracing the ground.
As she spun to a halt, An Fei dropped her center of gravity to her left knee, before suddenly twisting her waist in the opposite direction.
Her feet swiftly shifted in an elliptical path to guide her body in the reverse direction, relying on the abruptly shifted momentum and altered center of gravity to accelerate her turn.
With the completion of a full moon sweep, the young girl strode to her original position with lightened steps, a dazzling smile on her countenance.
The <Steps of Underlying Shadows>… was a masterpiece regarding the human movements.
When she engaged herself in the dance, An Fei could not detach herself from the mysterious sensation that overtook her body.
She had felt as if her body was not attached to the ground, and could easily traverse through the environment without any hinderance.
Any expenditure of energy was limited to the absolute minimum, and if she perceived her target with a clear mind, the blurred vision and disrupted hearing served no issue.
The technique relied not on physical exertion nor spiritual essence, which eased the majority of the young girl’s worries.
With a sense of excitement tinged within her gaze, the young girl set herself upon the task of engraining each property of the dance into her body, until her bones could perform its movements without issue.
Half-moon turn, reverse full moon sweep, forward crane step followed by an downward spiral, then a series of alternating cyclidic turns in an elliptical pattern to restore herself to her original position…
The young girl had stepped onto the gold mine that would preserve her life, but also present to her one of her greatest troubles.
