Before he could finish speaking, a middle-aged man nearby had already strode over and shouted sternly, “Silence! Matters concerning the masters are not for the likes of you mere servants to discuss. If the steward hears of this, beware of being flogged dozens of times and thrown out of the prince’s residence together! Get back to work at once!”

The servants, seeing the middle-aged man’s harsh words, dared not say another word. Each of them responded a few times and hurried back to their posts to resume their work.

Volume One: The Meteor Festival

Chapter Two: Night Talk

“Seventh Young Master…”

“Hmm?” Hearing the call, Ethan Brooks snapped out of the problem he couldn’t solve for the time being.

Looking up, he realized that at some point, night had completely fallen. Throughout the entire prince’s residence, except for this secluded courtyard, every place was brightly lit, with all kinds of lighting illuminating the residence as if it were broad daylight!

Judging by the usual time, it should now be between eight and nine in the evening.

Between eight and nine o’clock, by this time, dinner in the marquis’s residence was long over. Yet, from start to finish, not a single servant had entered this courtyard to invite the Seventh Young Master to dine. The remoteness of the northern courtyard was one reason, but it also indirectly reflected just how insignificant he was in the entire residence.

However, Ethan Brooks himself seemed unconcerned about all this. His gaze followed the clear voice and landed on the girl who had spoken. When he saw that it was the young lady who had destroyed all the formulas and diagrams he had drawn earlier today, he smiled lightly and nodded to her.

“Xiao Lin, is something the matter?”

“Uh… Seventh Young Master… the young lady, she…”

A faint smile still lingered on Ethan Brooks’s face. “If there’s something, just say it.”

Seeing the smile on the Seventh Young Master’s face, Lily Foster couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy. Still, for the sake of her young lady and this future son-in-law, she patiently finished what she had to say: “Seventh Young Master… you… when you have time, could you practice swordsmanship more often? Look at the eldest young master—he’s already a master at the eighth level of the Qi Path. Even the second young master, who plans to become a civil official, reportedly began working on opening all his meridians a month ago, preparing to break through to the seventh level of the Qi Path. Our Great Qi is a nation founded on martial strength. Seventh Young Master, you spend all day scribbling nonsense and don’t focus on cultivation. That’s why the young lady…”

Ethan Brooks chuckled softly and nodded slightly.

Seeing her young master always so indifferent, Lily Foster couldn’t help but feel a bit frustrated. “Seventh Young Master, did you even hear what I just said?”

“Of course I did.”

“Then what did I just say?”

“To cultivate diligently and reach the eighth level of the Qi Path as soon as possible, so your young lady will look at me with new eyes.”

“So you plan to start working hard tomorrow?”

“I’ve always been working hard.”

Hearing this, Lily Foster immediately rolled her eyes. “I’ve never seen you practice even once.”

“Every day, every night, day and night without rest!”

“Day and night? During the day, you’re always scribbling on the ground, and at night, you sleep on the rooftop counting stars and the moon like a child. You call that cultivation?” At this, her tone paused slightly, as if she’d thought of something. A slightly exasperated expression appeared on her cute little face. “Don’t tell me that the soft, awkward set of moves you do every morning—the one even old folks can perform with ease—is what you call cultivation?”

Ethan Brooks smiled and nodded.

Seeing him so impervious to reason, Lily Foster was even more exasperated than at her own lack of progress. “You call that a martial art? You call that cultivation? Any old man off the street could easily defeat someone using that set of moves. Seventh Young Master, you’re at least the young lord of our marquis’s residence. With all the sword techniques, boxing arts, and internal skill manuals collected by the marquis, any one of them could help you achieve something in your training!”

“Those techniques? And what use would it be to master them?”

“No use? How could they be useless!” Hearing the Seventh Young Master, a complete layman, say that the cultivation techniques collected in the marquis’s residence were useless, Lily Foster immediately began to analyze: “I won’t even mention the techniques that require high aptitude and comprehension, like the Qi King’s Sword Art, Five Tigers Heaven-Breaking Fist, Glazed Golden Finger, Dragon Coiling Elephant Power, and the Heavenly River Manual. Just take the Vajra Jade Hand and the Harmonious Qi Absorption Method, which don’t require much talent—if you have perseverance and use spiritual medicine to condition your body, you can master them. The Harmonious Qi Absorption Method may be an ordinary cultivation method, but if you train it to the extreme, not only can you generate powerful true qi within your body, but opening all your meridians is no problem. With a bit of luck, you could even break through to the eighth level of the Qi Path, where your true qi is thick and powerful, able to extend and take form. Even in our Great Qi Dynasty, you’d be considered a top expert, and in the military, you could easily become a great general. As for the Vajra Jade Hand, it’s even more impressive as an offensive technique. When mastered, your hands become like refined iron, smashing gold and jade as easily as cutting tofu. Against anyone below the fifth level of the Qi Path who hasn’t cultivated true qi, you could defeat them with a single touch—how impressive is that!”