He decided to try out other wonderful uses of the purple qi.

For safety’s sake, he first found a young servant to test the waters, summoning a wisp of purple qi to float above the servant’s head.

The purple qi entered the servant’s body, but in the next instant, it was as if the purple qi rejected him and forced itself back out.

Helpless.

Ethan Brooks could only try directly on Jason Brooks. A wisp of purple qi entered his body; this time, it didn’t resist or escape, but also showed no reaction, as if it had sunk into the sea.

Was it too little?

Ethan Brooks frowned and tried again, increasing the output of purple qi—two wisps, five wisps... until he reached the tenth wisp, when something marvelous finally happened.

A mysterious aura began to circulate within his great-grandson Jason Brooks’s body, then gathered at the center of his brow, where a small cluster of purple light appeared.

It worked!

Ethan Brooks was slightly delighted. As expected, the effect of the purple qi was related to his own bloodline descendants.

However, the specific effect was still unclear and would require observation and verification.

Just at that moment—

Another young servant rushed up to Jason Brooks, a suggestive look on his face: “Young Master Jingyun, Miss Emily asked the gatekeeper to pass you a message, inviting you to meet her at the back mountain.”

“Who?” Jason Brooks looked puzzled.

“Miss Emily, the pretty female cultivator who greeted you a few days ago and kept exchanging glances with you.”

“Oh, that rogue cultivator who came for free food and drink. She is indeed quite pretty.” Jason Brooks recalled briefly. “What does she want with me?”

“What else could it be?” The servant grinned even more lewdly. “She must have been moved by Young Master Jingyun’s noble family background and handsome looks, and now she’s fallen for you.”

Good grief!

Ethan Brooks couldn’t help but exclaim in his heart!

His usually well-behaved and sensible great-grandson was actually flirting with a rogue cultivator girl at his own funeral.

This great-grandson—should I just give up on him?

Chapter 3: I, Ethan Brooks, have actually become a golden finger.

“Absurd.” Jason Brooks kicked at him. “Maybe the young lady has something urgent to discuss. Don’t go slandering her reputation for no reason.”

The servant didn’t dodge, took the kick head-on, then patted his butt as if nothing had happened, grinning cheekily:

“Right, right, right, Fairy Emily must be in some kind of trouble and is asking Young Master for help to uphold justice.”

The young servants and attendants in the Chen family, though lacking the spiritual roots needed for cultivation, were all strictly selected and trained from a young age to be elite.

Their martial arts skills were enough to be considered top experts in the mundane world.

However, compared to cultivators, these so-called martial arts experts were far inferior.

The very first level of the Qi Refining stage for cultivators required drawing qi into the body, opening the Ren and Du meridians, connecting the two bridges of heaven and earth, and refining a breath of innate spiritual energy.

Meanwhile, the highest realm in mundane martial arts—the Innate Realm—was, in the eyes of cultivators, merely the entry-level first stage.

Even more cruelly, even if some mortals had exceptional talent, without spiritual roots, the hard-earned breath of innate spiritual energy they managed to cultivate was as rootless as duckweed, hard to sustain.

Taking even one step further was as difficult as reaching the heavens.

This was the true cruelty of the divide between mortals and immortals.

Jason Brooks ignored the servant and walked straight out of the mountain gate.

Only after leaving the range of the clan’s protective formation did he casually make a gesture.

A leaf-shaped magical artifact flew out from his storage pouch.

This artifact circled around him, flashing with green spiritual light, then steadily hovered beneath his feet.

This was a common flying artifact—the Spirit Leaf—very suitable for Qi Refining cultivators.

However, it was quite expensive, not something an ordinary rogue cultivator could afford.

Even among the younger generation of the Chen family, not everyone could be equipped with a Spirit Leaf.

Jason Brooks lightly leapt onto the Spirit Leaf. With a thought, the Spirit Leaf immediately soared into the air, speeding forward.

Although its speed wasn’t particularly fast, nor could it fly very high, it was extremely agile when maneuvering, weaving along the mountain paths and side roads, carrying its master toward the back mountain.

During this process, Ethan Brooks was so angry he was practically fuming, almost wanting to climb out of his coffin.

He followed behind his great-grandson with his hands clasped behind his back, determined to see what was going on.

However, he soon discovered that in his heroic spirit state, the farther he got from the ancestral hall, the more sluggish and slow his movements became.

Fortunately, the back mountain wasn’t far from the Chen family’s main residence, so Ethan Brooks could just barely make it and move around.

Back mountain.

A young girl sat lightly atop a paper kite, her dress fluttering in the wind, looking as ethereal as a fairy.

However, her delicate face was clouded with worry. She muttered to herself, trying to psych herself up.

“Emily, you can do this.”

“That Jason Brooks looks so simple and honest, he must be easy to talk to.”

When she saw Jason Brooks flying over on his Spirit Leaf, her pretty face forced out a smile—one that was earnest, but not very genuine.

She maneuvered her paper kite to meet him.

Unlike the smooth flight of the Spirit Leaf, the paper kite creaked and groaned as if protesting its heavy burden, giving the impression it might fall apart at any moment.

“Greetings, Young Master Brooks.” Emily greeted him sweetly, her voice crisp and pleasant.