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"Da Bao, over here!"
Not long after stepping off the plane, he spotted a beautiful woman at the arrivals area—short hair, red skirt, dressed in a mature and slightly seductive style.
She was none other than the older sister of his current avatar: Jin Yuanyuan.
Jin Yuanyuan, twenty-six years old, a graduate of Tsinghua University, was currently managing the family business alongside their mother. She was an ordinary person with both high IQ and EQ.
In this world, whether one was a wizard or a Qi Refiner, talent was essential.
Wizards referred to this as a "wizard bloodline." Without it, there was no magical power, and without magic, studying spells was pointless.
It was the same for Qi Refiners—without the talent for refining Qi, no matter what techniques you practiced, you couldn't produce Qi. In this world, Qi and magic were essentially the same type of energy, just different in name.
Among their family, only he possessed the gift. The rest, including his mother and sister, were ordinary people. Aside from his father, no one else even knew he was a wizard or that he could use magic.
His parents barely communicated after their divorce. If it weren't for his return to China this time, they probably wouldn't have spoken at all.
The original Jin Baobao rarely saw his mother and sister, and he had never felt the need to let them know about things unrelated to ordinary life. He also feared they might be afraid of him if they found out he was a wizard.
So, he always kept up the act of being a regular person when interacting with them.
"Hey, sis."
George walked over with his suitcase, offering just the right kind of smile.
Jin Yuanyuan gave her little brother a once-over, patted his shoulder, and laughed:
"It's been two years, and now you're taller than me!"
The last time she saw him, he had still been a shy fifteen-year-old boy.
Now, looking at him, it was hard to connect this tall, composed young man to the boy from back then. Just two years had passed, and yet the change was dramatic.
Height aside, the youthful softness in his features was still there—but it was his aura that stood out the most.
Having worked with their mother in the business world for years, she had met all kinds of people. The feeling George gave off as he walked over made it hard to believe he was only seventeen.
"You've gotten even more beautiful too," George replied with a grin.
In the world of ordinary people, Jin Yuanyuan was undeniably stunning.
Generations of wealthy families married good-looking partners, so naturally their offspring didn't lack in appearance either.
Raised in privilege, she was a proper young lady—well-educated, elegant in manner and speech, and extremely knowledgeable. Among normal people, she stood out like a crane among chickens.
Of course, that was only by mortal standards. Compared to elves in the Middle-earth world or someone like Lucienne, she couldn't compete.
But maybe it was precisely because he had seen too many elves that he had become somewhat immune to female beauty in general.
"You've got quite the sweet mouth—must've spent your school years charming all the girls."
Jin Yuanyuan giggled upon hearing her brother compliment her appearance.
"Mom's away on a business trip and won't be back for a few days. I'll take you around in the meantime, show you some great places to eat. I bet you didn't get much good food over there in London."
"It wasn't that bad. Don't forget—Dad hired a private chef to cook Chinese dishes at home."
"You mean Old Wang? His cooking's just average by local standards. The places I'm taking you? Now that's real food."
As the two of them walked and chatted, they quickly grew comfortable with each other.
Jin Yuanyuan clearly had a knack for socializing—her mouth ran like a machine gun with endless topics, while George responded smoothly, keeping the atmosphere light and natural.
"Oh right—tonight I'm introducing you to a few friends. Since Dad plans to shift his business operations back to China, you'll need to interact with these people eventually."
The pink luxury sports car sped down the elevated highway. Hearing her words, George shook his head.
"No thanks. I'm not interested in all that networking stuff, and I don't plan to inherit the family business."
"I heard there's a place nearby called Baiyun Temple. I want to check it out tomorrow—I'm quite interested in Taoist sects here in China."
The original Jin Baobao was a wizard, and after graduation, his dream had been to join the national Quidditch team—not to inherit the family business.
So when George said as much, it didn't come off as strange at all.
As for his interest in visiting Baiyun Temple—
From what he'd read in the magical texts, there was very little information about China's cultivation world. All it mentioned was that most Qi Refiners came from Taoist temples.
Among the Taoist temples in Beijing, Baiyun Temple was the most renowned. It was the ancestral home of the Quanzhen Longmen Sect and was hailed as "the foremost forest of Quanzhen Taoism."
Perhaps by visiting, he could encounter some real Qi Refiners and gain insight into the domestic cultivation system.
"A Taoist temple? Bro, please don't end up like one of my classmates. If you become a monk, Dad's gonna blow a gasket—he's still hoping you'll take over the company one day!"
The moment George mentioned the temple, Jin Yuanyuan shuddered.
George replied bluntly, "That's what you're here for, isn't it? I'm really not interested in business, and I've said since two years ago that I won't inherit the family business."
"Please. Just handling Mom's company is enough of a headache for me."
Jin Yuanyuan waved her hand dismissively.
Although wealthier families often had internal power struggles, she had never set her sights on her father's company. She had her pride.
As someone who had earned her way into Tsinghua University purely on merit, she was different from those spoiled second-generation elites who coasted through life.
She had her own ambitions—to build wealth with her own skills rather than rely solely on inheritance.
"So, what's the story with that classmate of yours who went off to become a monk?"
George's eyes glinted as he followed up on her earlier comment, clearly intrigued.
Jin Yuanyuan's lips curled into a smirk.
"His name's Wang Ye. He's the third son of Wang Weiguo, head of the Zhonghai Group. I guess you could say we were childhood friends. He's super smart and very capable—he's good at everything, but seems like he doesn't care about anything."
"He got into Tsinghua just like I did, through his own effort. I'll admit it—he had it a lot easier than me."
"But for some reason—maybe he got kicked in the head by a donkey—he dropped out in his third year and ran off to Wudang Mountain to become a Taoist priest. He hasn't come back since."
"You like him, don't you?" George asked with a knowing smile.
Even without using his psychic abilities, he could easily guess based on her expression.
Jin Yuanyuan's face flushed instantly.
"Don't talk nonsense! Me? A future career woman with goals and ambition? Like him—that lazy, aimless guy? Not a chance."
As if afraid George might continue teasing her, she quickly changed the subject:
"Baiyun Temple, right? I'll take you there tomorrow. Actually, I know one of the priests—Daoist Liu. A while back, Mom donated a bunch of money to that temple to win over a big client who was into Taoism."
"Is there any interesting lore or legend about Baiyun Temple?" George asked casually.
"Like what?" she replied.
"Like… magic or supernatural stuff?"
George pressed on.
"Seriously, bro? It's the modern era. You still believe in that? Even Daoist Liu says we should trust in science."
"I'm just curious, that's all."
After a few casual probes, George came to a conclusion—Jin Yuanyuan, like most upper-class socialites, really didn't know anything about Qi Refiners.
Which said a lot.
It meant that, in China, the existence of cultivators was extremely well-hidden—even among the wealthy and influential, the vast majority had no idea they existed.
(End of Chapter)