“Doesn’t it hurt?” To keep herself from actually laughing, Lucas Clark could only open her mouth and find something to say.

“It does.” Ethan Brooks answered honestly, “But with a beautiful woman in front of me, even if it hurts, I can’t cry out.”

A blush rose again on Lucas Clark’s cheeks. She quickly shut her mouth, thinking this shameless man really gets carried away the moment you give him an inch.

Ethan Brooks found it amusing. Every time he complimented her, she would blush, and she looked especially pretty when she did.

The treatment process was very brief—less than a quarter of an hour—and the wound on his chest had already completely healed, leaving only a faint scar.

Lucas Clark gave a few words of advice, told Ethan Brooks to rest and recuperate for the next few days, and then turned to leave. This left Ethan Brooks feeling a bit depressed, secretly blaming the poor popularity of this body.

He had only been lying down for a short while when Ethan Wood returned, comforting Ethan Brooks with deep concern and then said with great regret, “If Aunt hadn’t joked back then that you and Little Grace were destined, you wouldn’t have clung to her all the time, and you wouldn’t have suffered like this today. In the end, it’s all my fault.”

Seeing Ethan Wood blaming herself, Ethan Brooks quickly offered a few words of comfort.

After Ethan Wood left, Ethan Brooks finally had time to calm down and, through the memories of this body, get a better understanding of this world. So much had just happened, and Ethan Brooks only half understood it all. The main reason was that he hadn’t fully integrated the memories of this body.

He spent half the night sorting things out, and finally, Ethan Brooks made sense of it all.

The reason the previous owner of this body was so unpopular really wasn’t anyone else’s fault; if anyone was to blame, it was himself.

Ethan Brooks had grown up in Tianxiu, and everyone in Tianxiu—from the sect leader down to the ordinary disciples—were all women; there wasn’t a single man. On top of that, Ethan Wood had no experience raising children. Seeing that Ethan Brooks was an adorable, delicate child, she raised him as a girl.

As time went on, Ethan Brooks’s personality became more and more feminine, and by the time Ethan Wood realized it, it was too late to correct.

Just imagine—a teenage boy, always dressed up flamboyantly, with delicate makeup and pretty eyebrows—anyone who saw him would feel uncomfortable. It was fine when he was little; after all, young children dressed up prettily are always liked. But now Ethan Brooks was already fifteen, and he spoke in a coy, affected voice, so none of the third-generation disciples of Tianxiu liked him.

The more others disliked and rejected him, the more Ethan Brooks clung to them like sticky candy. This only created a vicious cycle: the third-generation disciples of Tianxiu went from simply disliking Ethan Brooks, to gradually hating him, and finally to outright loathing!

That third-generation disciple named Grace Foster had grown up with Ethan Brooks. When Ethan Brooks was ten, Ethan Wood noticed their close relationship and, jokingly, said that since Ethan Brooks and Little Grace were about the same age, they were destined, and who knew if they might become husband and wife.

It was just a joke, but Ethan Brooks took it seriously. From then on, he paid special attention to Grace Foster. A few days ago, he heard that Grace Foster had met a man outside and was very close to him. In a fit of anger, Ethan Brooks went to confront the man. Although the man was wary of Ethan Brooks’s background in Tianxiu and didn’t do anything to him, after Ethan Brooks returned to Tianxiu, he inexplicably fainted.

So, the disciples of Tianxiu disliking Ethan Brooks wasn’t entirely their fault. Ethan Brooks himself bore a significant part of the responsibility, and Ethan Wood was also to blame, since she was the one who raised him.

As for Lucas Clark’s external release of inner force, Ethan Brooks finally understood the mystery behind it.

It wasn’t inner force at all—it was Gang Qi!

Across the entire Tiangang Continent, those who could cultivate Gang Qi were called Gangshi! Gangshi were divided into several ranks, the lowest being the Gang Refining Stage! The Gang Refining Stage was divided into nine grades: Grace Foster was at the sixth grade of Gang Refining, while Lucas Clark, as the top third-generation disciple of Tianxiu, had already reached the ninth grade. Beyond that were the four great realms: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow! Each of these realms was divided into upper, middle, and lower grades. Advancing even one grade required tremendous effort. Those without talent couldn’t even glimpse the mysteries of the Yellow Realm, let alone the Profound, Earth, or Heaven Realms.

There were even legends that above the Heaven Realm, there were even more powerful beings.

Chapter Six: Love Turns to Sorrow, Soul Returns a Thousand Miles

Anyone who refines Gang Qi has a chance to form a Gang Heart in their dantian.

The Gang Heart is a direct reflection of a Gangshi’s personality and cultivation method. Often, a person’s character and the Gang Qi technique they practice are the key factors in shaping their Gang Heart.

Gang Hearts come in all shapes and forms—they might be a stone, a sword, or even flowers and plants. Each Gang Heart has its own function, allowing the Gangshi to use its power for better defense, attack, or escape.

If a person’s talent accounts for half of their cultivation success, then the Gang Heart accounts for thirty percent, and the remaining twenty percent depends entirely on personal effort.

Gang Hearts can be good or bad, and the time it takes to form one can be long or short.

A good Gang Heart can greatly enhance a person’s strength; a bad one might cause their progress to stall. The formation of a Gang Heart cannot be controlled by human will—it all depends on individual fate.

And the time when a Gang Heart forms is during the Gang Refining Stage, which is why the Gang Refining Stage is foundational.