"Y-yes..." Rose Smith looked at Ryan Cooper, trembling in fear at the anger on his face.

Ryan Cooper was furious at first, but then he let it go. These friends of his, though not exactly upright, were at least sincere in their friendship with him. Their bond had been forged through countless fights since childhood. They must have seen how troubled he had been lately and wanted him to "relax" a bit, though they had gone a little too far.

"Your name is Rose Smith?"

"Yes."

"Besides sleeping with guests, what other services do you offer here?"

"Drinking with guests, playing music and singing for them."

"Alright, then play and sing a song for me."

Rose Smith cradled the pipa, playing and singing:

"Longing, in Chang'an.

The katydids cry in autumn by the golden well's rail,

A faint frost, bleak and cold in hue.

A lonely lamp, dim, thoughts nearly breaking,

Rolling up the curtain, gazing at the moon, sighing in vain.

The beauty, like a flower, is separated by clouds.

Above, the blue and boundless sky;

Below, the rippling green waters.

The road is long, the soul flies in pain,

Dreams cannot reach the distant frontier.

Longing, breaks the heart."

The song was mournful and touching. Ryan Cooper was overwhelmed with grief; it stirred the sorrow in his heart. After listening to the song, he felt a sense of relief, as if the song had sung directly to his soul.

From then on, Changfeng Town gained a new drifter, who often lingered at the Lichun Courtyard. Those who knew him understood that Ryan Cooper only drank and listened to music there; those who didn't thought he had completely become the king of the town's ruffians.

Eventually, word reached his family, and his father gave him a harsh scolding. Olivia Brooks gently touched the wounds on Ryan Cooper's body, her heart aching with sorrow.

"Child, only after you have loved and been loved, and learned how to love, will you know what you truly need, and only then will you find the person most suitable for you, the one you can spend a lifetime with. But sadly, in real life, these three people are usually not the same person: the one you love most often doesn't choose you; the one who loves you most is often not the one you love most; and the one who stays with you the longest is neither the one you love most nor the one who loves you most, but simply the one who appears at the most suitable time.

Ideals and reality rarely coincide. You are too emotional; you need to learn to change. You are not an ordinary person. Don't forget what your grandfather told you: you may have to walk a difficult and unreturnable path in this life. Or perhaps a bright road that no one has ever walked before. You are destined for greatness, but may have to endure many hardships. How can you let yourself be consumed by trivial matters of love and sorrow all day long?"

These words stirred up a storm in Ryan Cooper's heart. It was a long time before he finally came to his senses. "Mother, I understand."

"Go on, your grandfather has returned from visiting an old friend. He's waiting for you in the backyard."

Ryan Cooper's grandfather, Ethan Cooper, was nearly seventy years old, with white hair and a youthful face, ethereal and almost immortal in bearing.

"Grandpa, you wanted to see me?"

"Hehe, my good grandson. I hear you've become quite the expert in eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling lately. Truly, the student surpasses the master—you rival me in my younger days!"

Ryan Cooper couldn't help but blush.

"I just wanted to tell you one thing. When you were born, a dazzling blood-red light shot straight into the sky, and you were born clutching congealed blood in your hands—your left hand 'defeat', your right hand 'heaven', your name was destined from birth. What does this mean? Many things may happen to you in the future... Don't let a little heartbreak make you lose your spirit!"

Chapter 7: Martial Arts Maniac

He had once overheard his grandfather muttering to himself that he was some kind of defiant battle soul, destined for a life of conflict. At the time, he had been deeply shocked, but now, realizing that such a strange phenomenon had occurred at his birth, the shock in his heart was a hundred times greater than before.

"So Grandpa was just guessing before. What kind of life will I have? No one knows." Ryan Cooper pondered silently.

"Clutching congealed blood, Defeat Heaven... Ryan Smith."

He discovered that every time he uttered the words "Ryan Smith", the blood in his body would flow faster.

"Ryan Smith, Ryan Smith, Ryan Smith, Ryan Smith..."

He kept shouting the words aloud.

He felt his blood boiling, a boundless fighting spirit rising from his heart, as if even gods and buddhas standing before him would be swept away.

He quickly shut his mouth, and it took a long time for his pounding heart to calm down.

That night, he slept especially well. The heartbreak caused by Emily Carter seemed to have healed a great deal overnight, and at the same time, a powerful longing for "martial arts" surged within him.

Early the next morning, Ryan Cooper ran to the backyard to find Ethan Cooper, who was practicing martial arts, and said, "Grandpa, I want to learn real martial arts. I want to become strong."

"Child, you finally want to study martial arts seriously. You have finally awakened. Before I teach you martial arts, let me briefly introduce our family and our family's martial arts.

We are a declining martial arts family. A thousand years ago, the martial sage David Cooper swept the world, but that glory has long since faded. The brilliance of a thousand years ago is now just a memory, and no one in the martial world remembers the Dugu family anymore. If anyone does remember, it's only the name David Cooper."