“Qing, come with me, don’t disturb your Brother Ethan.” Brian Baker said to Emily Baker, but saw Emily Baker stick out her tongue: “Why isn’t father forcing me to call him brother-in-law today? I’ll just chat with Brother Ethan here, you and sister go ahead and take care of your business.”

Brian Baker glanced at Emily Baker, then nodded and left together with Ashley Baker.

“Big sister’s first star soul connected with a star of the third heaven. Father will definitely go gather the family elders for a meeting again. I don’t want to go.” Seeing Brian Baker leave, Emily Baker grinned: “Brother Ethan, I didn’t believe it before, but you really did it. You didn’t let sister absorb the world’s vital energy, nor let her condense her star soul early—was it all for today?”

“Once you absorb the world’s vital energy, it will exist in your meridians and acupoints, which will weaken your sensitivity to the power of the stars, and reduce your chances of condensing a star soul.” Ethan Carter lay on the ground, gazing at the star-filled sky.

“Most people absorb the world’s vital energy while comprehending the stars. That way, even if they can’t become a martial fate cultivator, it won’t delay their martial cultivation. But your method, Brother Ethan, is to insist on condensing a star soul and becoming a martial fate cultivator. Isn’t that risky? If you can’t become a martial fate cultivator, your cultivation will be delayed.” Emily Baker said, sitting beside Ethan Carter.

“Qing’er, how many types of star souls have you heard of?” Ethan Carter asked.

“Very few. Not many people in Tianyong City have condensed star souls, so I haven’t heard of many. What about you, Brother Ethan?”

“The Milky Way stretches across the nine heavens, with endless martial fate stars. Each martial fate star corresponds to a type of star soul.”

“There’s the lion star soul—after condensing it, you gain the strength of a fierce beast, able to tear tigers and leopards apart with ease; there’s the heavenly eye star soul, which enhances your vision and perception, letting you see farther and sense more keenly in battle; there’s the forging star soul, making you a powerful forger; there’s the great dream star soul, which lets you cultivate in your dreams and even trap others in dream realms, and so on!”

“Cultivating in dreams, making people dream—that’s amazing.” Emily Baker murmured.

“The continent is vast. I’ve heard that in the outside world, many powerful people possess multiple star souls. They can fly and burrow, nothing is impossible for them. Only martial fate cultivators are the rulers of this land. Ordinary martial artists are like ants—if you can’t become a martial fate cultivator, it’s better not to cultivate at all.” A burning determination shone in Ethan Carter’s eyes. He was determined to become a powerful martial fate cultivator, to condense all kinds of star souls, and to go out and see the world.

Henry Black once said, Tianyong City is too small—compared to the continent, it’s just an ant.

“But, I heard…” Emily Baker hesitated.

“You heard I was born with broken meridians and can’t cultivate, right?” Ethan Carter said with a smile, then sat up: “Who says those born with broken meridians can’t cultivate? I will definitely become a martial fate cultivator.”

Seeing Ethan Carter’s confident smile, Emily Baker also smiled sweetly: “I believe in you too, Brother Ethan. I’ll go now, so I don’t disturb you becoming a martial fate cultivator.”

“Mm, go ahead. Remember to rest early, and don’t absorb the world’s vital energy.” Ethan Carter reminded her.

“Got it.” Emily Baker stuck out her tongue at Ethan Carter, then ran off. Watching Emily Baker’s graceful figure, Ethan Carter suddenly realized that, without noticing, this girl had already grown up. At fifteen, she was already tall and elegant, no longer the little girl he’d met three years ago. A pure smile appeared on Ethan Carter’s face.

After Emily Baker left, Ethan Carter began his cultivation. He closed his eyes and entered a meditative state. Inside Ethan Carter’s body, his meridians were almost completely shattered—far more than just being born with broken meridians. Yet he seemed unconcerned, drawing starlight into his body, letting it flow through his broken meridians. The violent power of the stars surged endlessly, crashing into his fragile meridians as if to shatter them completely.

In an instant, Ethan Carter’s face was filled with pain. This pain was more than ten times what Ashley Baker had endured, yet he still gritted his teeth.

The meridians are distributed throughout the human body, connecting the body’s structure. Broken meridians are equivalent to being crippled, an incomplete body. Martial artists must constantly widen their meridians in cultivation, and after the body-forging stage, even remold them, forging the nine great meridians, connecting the seven main acupoints, five viscera, six bowels, and all four limbs and bones, so that human potential can be continuously tapped and developed.

When Ethan Carter’s meridians were first destroyed, he nearly became a cripple. But Henry Black used medicine to temper his body, preventing him from being disabled. Plus, Ethan Carter exercised daily without interruption, giving him the physique of a normal person.

However, shattered meridians were not Ethan Carter’s goal. According to the records of star-forged meridians, only broken meridians can be reshaped into the most perfect star wheel meridians. This is called destruction before rebirth!

Chapter 2: Repaying Kindness with Enmity

The morning air was especially fresh. After a night of meditation, Ethan Carter felt clear-headed and invigorated. He got up early to go running. He didn’t absorb the world’s vital energy to cultivate, so his physique was somewhat weak. Thus, he used this most primitive method to temper his body. The The Baker Family servants would see Ethan Carter every morning. At first, they found it strange, but gradually they got used to it.