This feeling was very subtle, but Ethan Brooks didn’t feel the slightest discomfort. On the contrary, he felt a refreshing clarity, as if a sudden enlightenment had washed over him.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when a faint sound suddenly came from his dantian. If Ethan Brooks’s consciousness had still been there, he would have noticed that at the very moment this sound appeared, the little skeleton radiated a ripple-like multicolored light, rapidly spreading outward.

Thump... thump... thump...

At first, Ethan Brooks’s heartbeat and these sounds were not in harmony, but gradually, the two sounds miraculously merged into one, indistinguishable from each other. Each time Ethan Brooks’s heart beat, the little skeleton would emit a ring of light, and then a surge of spiritual energy would arise from the little skeleton, flowing into his meridians.

The circulation of the Wuchang Art no longer required Ethan Brooks’s conscious effort. This kind of cultivation only required Ethan Brooks to maintain a calm mind; the rest was as simple as breathing in and out—something every human was born knowing how to do.

He circulated his energy for a full thirty-six cycles before dawn finally broke. When the ox-headed ghost god cultivated within his body, a single cycle was completed in the blink of an eye. But when Ethan Brooks cultivated on his own, it took a long time to complete just one cycle. After all, he was nowhere near the same level as the ox-headed ghost god, but Ethan Brooks wasn’t too disappointed by this. Once his strength improved in the future, the time needed for a single cycle would surely decrease.

Outside, the sound of shuffling footsteps could be heard, and soon two girls, about fourteen or fifteen years old, pushed the door open and walked in. Neither of the two maids spared Ethan Brooks a glance, both wearing expressions of grief as if someone owed them millions, and called out helplessly, “Young Master Feng, it’s time to get up.”

Strictly speaking, the two girls weren’t disciples of Tianxiu. One was named Megan, the other Bella. Ethan Wood had once encountered them during a trip, saving them during a chance encounter with a vendetta.

Ethan Wood, with a bit of personal motive, didn’t let them join Tianxiu, but instead had them directly serve Ethan Brooks, and had even privately taught them some cultivation techniques.

Usually, Ethan Brooks made things difficult for these two maids, sometimes even teasing them. Although he never went so far as to touch them, his words were often quite inappropriate. So both girls disliked him quite a bit.

That was the kind of person the original Ethan Brooks was! Bullying the weak and fearing the strong—if a Tianxiu disciple was stronger than him, he’d try to curry favor; if he was upset, he’d come back and take it out on these two maids, who were just ordinary people.

At night, the two girls stayed on the other side of Yanliu Pavilion. Although the commotion last night woke them, they didn’t know exactly what had happened.

Hearing the noise, Ethan Brooks glared at them. “Don’t you know to knock before coming in? What if I was changing?”

Megan and Bella blinked their innocent big eyes, thinking, Isn’t this how it always is? You never said anything before. Who upset him so early in the morning?

Ethan Brooks waved his hand in a graceful arc, pointing toward the door. His voice was crisp and resolute: “Out... go! Knock before you come in.”

Megan stuck her tongue out at Bella and muttered softly, “What’s with the young master act all of a sudden?”

Bella pressed her lips together in a smile and quickly reached out to close the door.

It wasn’t that Ethan Brooks was putting on airs. If it were the old Ethan Brooks, he wouldn’t have cared, but the key was that he was no longer the old Ethan Brooks. In the future, he was bound to have secrets. If these two girls happened to walk in on something, was he supposed to silence them? For now, Ethan Brooks could only start training them to knock.

Knock knock—two knocks sounded at the door, and Megan called from outside, “Can we come in now?”

Ethan Brooks sat grandly at the edge of the bed and said in a deep voice, “Come in!”

The two girls found it secretly amusing. Usually, this Young Master Feng spoke in such a coy, affected way that it gave people goosebumps, but today he sounded so mature and full of energy. What was he up to?

The door was pushed open, and Megan strode in, ready to start the day’s work.

But before she even got close to Ethan Brooks, Megan wrinkled her nose, sniffing like a little dog, and muttered, “Why does it smell so bad?”

“It really does.” Bella put her left hand under her nose and fanned the air with her right, looking around in confusion. When she saw Ethan Brooks’s current state, her eyes instantly froze.

Megan also noticed Ethan Brooks’s strange appearance, and a look of utter helplessness flashed in her eyes.

“What are you staring at me for?” Ethan Brooks was puzzled to see the two girls staring at him so intently. “Is there something on my face?”

Following their gaze downward, Ethan Brooks was instantly shocked.

“Hiss... what is this?” His clothes were inexplicably sticky, and not only that, but his exposed skin was also covered in a viscous substance, like thin mud. There were even some damp marks on his bed. He lifted his arm to his nose and sniffed carefully—Ethan Brooks almost suffered internal injuries and couldn’t help but groan, “It stinks!”

Chapter 9 Bath

“Young Master Feng, you’re already fifteen this year, not a child anymore.” Megan was rather straightforward, unlike the more reserved Bella, and often talked back to Ethan Brooks. “Do us a favor and give us sisters a break, will you?”