There are nine ranks in the Tempering Qi stage. The earlier a Qi Core is formed, the better the talent of the practitioner! The greater their future achievements will be. Lucas Clark, with her extraordinary gifts, was the number one of her generation in Tianxiu, yet she only formed her Qi Core at the third rank of Tempering Qi. That was already an incredible feat—when her Qi Core first appeared, the entire Tianxiu was shocked. Lily White even invited all the allied sects of the Li Tang Empire to Tianxiu for a grand and unprecedented gathering.

Lucas Clark's Qi Core took the form of an evergreen vine. With the power of her Qi Core, although Lucas Clark could not bring the dead back to life or regrow flesh and bone, her Qi was extremely effective for healing injuries. In the entire Tianxiu Sect, no matter who was hurt, as long as Lucas Clark arrived, she could guarantee the injury would be cured.

When treating Ethan Brooks, the green light Ethan Brooks saw was exactly the effect of Lucas Clark channeling her Qi Core.

Grace Foster's talent was a bit inferior; she formed her Qi Core just half a year ago, barely meeting the standard to become a core disciple of Tianxiu's inner sect.

There are several hundred inner sect disciples in Tianxiu. To become a core disciple, one must form their Qi Core before reaching the fifth rank of Tempering Qi. Only then is there a chance to enter the Heaven Stage. Any later, and it means their talent is lacking.

All of Tianxiu has only twelve core disciples. Someone like Grace Foster would be considered above average in talent across the entire Tiangang Continent.

Since the founding of Tianxiu, legend has it that only one person ever formed their Qi Core at the second rank of Tempering Qi. Even across the whole Tiangang Continent, that is extremely rare.

Those with slightly worse talent might form their Qi Core at the sixth or seventh rank, and still have a good chance of reaching the Earth Stage in the future. Those with even less talent form it at the eighth rank. The worst are those who only form their Qi Core at the ninth rank of Tempering Qi—no matter how hard they work later, their strength will always be quite limited.

Even though Lucas Clark's Qi Core appeared at the third rank, the Tianxiu leadership still felt some regret. With Lucas Clark's talent, if her Qi Core had not been an evergreen vine but a sword, her future achievements would have been even greater.

As for Ethan Brooks himself... this was rather embarrassing. Grace Foster, who grew up with him, had already reached the sixth rank of Tempering Qi, while he was still a nobody. To say he had the strength of the first rank of Tempering Qi would be flattering him, since Ethan Brooks only knew some basic cultivation methods before.

But it wasn't really his fault. Tianxiu was full of women, and there were no cultivation techniques or methods suitable for him. Ethan Wood had finally found a decent set for him, but over the years, Ethan Brooks had been too busy trying to please the girls of Tianxiu to bother with cultivation.

But now, this Ethan Brooks was no longer the same as before! He'd already had a sword pointed at his chest—if he didn't gain some strength, how could he survive in the future? If it happened once, it could happen again. Ethan Brooks didn't want to wake up one day and see those two underworld messengers again.

Grace Foster had said something before trying to kill him, and after a whole night of pondering, Ethan Brooks finally figured some things out.

Some time ago, Ethan Brooks heard that Grace Foster had been getting close to a man surnamed Liu. In a fit of jealousy, he rushed to confront the man. This happened just yesterday. That Liu man only tugged at him a little, but after returning to Tianxiu, Ethan Brooks fainted.

Rolling up his sleeve, Ethan Brooks carefully examined his arm and thought, as expected!

On the lower part of his arm, where he had been grabbed, there was a tiny pinprick—almost impossible to notice without close inspection. Recalling his symptoms before fainting, Ethan Brooks could almost be certain that the Liu man had poisoned him without his knowledge.

Sorrow-Penetrating Intestines!

Although it wasn't a deadly poison that killed on contact, its strength lay in its subtlety, and it was extremely potent. If the victim experienced no emotional fluctuations, the poison might never activate. But once they became anxious or upset, the toxin would spread rapidly, colorless and silent, causing the victim to fall into a coma and die within a few hours!

When sorrow enters the intestines, the soul travels a thousand miles!

In his previous life, Ethan Brooks had been the most outstanding disciple of the Tang Sect in a hundred years. After becoming paralyzed and bedridden for fifteen years, he had studied all the medical classics under heaven, and his knowledge of poisons was second to none. So after a moment's thought, he understood what had happened.

With that Liu man's skills, it would have been all too easy to tamper with the original Ethan Brooks without being discovered. He must have known Ethan Brooks's personality well—timid and weak, but with a repressed stubbornness. After suffering a loss, he would only brood and become more agitated, which would trigger the poison.

As for Grace Foster... she was probably a pitiful, abandoned pawn.

Tianxiu's rules were strict. For a core disciple to have an illicit affair and even become pregnant—if this was discovered, the Liu man would not escape death! Who knows what sweet words he used to trick Grace Foster into coming at night to assassinate him.

Pitiful people always have something detestable about them!

If he died, Grace Foster would not only take the blame for the Liu man, but if the Tianxiu leadership became enraged, they might even kill her. Wouldn't the Liu man then be free and unburdened?

Thinking of this, Ethan Brooks let out a cold laugh. Poisoning, was it? That's like showing off your sword skills in front of Guan Yu, or trying to act coquettish in front of a brothel madam!

There was a saying among the people of the jianghu in his previous life.