The beam of light flickered uncertainly, radiating an incomparably mysterious glow.

However, compared to the short-needle beam released earlier by the middle-aged man, the beam that Chad Brooks now produced was clearly far inferior.

If the middle-aged man's beam was a raging pillar of fire, then his was but the faint glow of a tiny candle, wavering in the wind, as if it might be extinguished at any moment.

Yet at this moment, Chad Brooks's expression was grave. In his eyes, this sliver of light had already become his entire world.

He gently let the beam fall onto the longsword. Although no sound was made, in his heart he could clearly sense the subtle changes caused by the friction between the light and the blade.

These changes were minor, barely affecting the quality of the sword. If one were to observe with the naked eye alone, it would be difficult to notice any alteration. Only by probing carefully with true qi could one uncover the mysteries within.

The true qi within his body flowed out like running water, leaving behind mysterious spirit patterns on the blade.

Although it was Chad Brooks's first time carving spirit patterns onto a sword, his movements were extremely smooth. The short needle rose and fell without the slightest hesitation, as if he had practiced countless times beforehand, completing the process in one fluid motion.

If the middle-aged man and the others were watching at this moment, they would surely be dumbfounded, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Because Chad Brooks was practically copying all of his actions directly. If not for the great difference in their physiques and the varying lengths of the beams on their short needles, they would have seemed almost like the same person.

Suddenly, all of Chad Brooks's movements came to a halt.

This was the first pause since the short needle had begun emitting light, and the moment he stopped, the beam on the needle vanished completely.

A trace of regret flashed in Chad Brooks's eyes. He let out a long sigh, shook his head, and thought to himself, "Emily Brooks, is my true qi depleted?"

"Yes, your true qi is already on the verge of exhaustion." Emily Brooks's calm voice sounded in his mind. "If you continue, it will have a severely adverse effect on your body."

Chad Brooks stroked his chin, making a thoughtful gesture.

After a moment, he said in a deep voice, "I remember reading in a book that if you repeatedly exhaust your true qi, subjecting your body to intense stimulation, it can yield twice the results with half the effort during cultivation."

"That is indeed the case, but there is a prerequisite," Emily Brooks mercilessly shattered his fantasy. "If you had potent medicinal supplements on hand to ensure your body wouldn't deteriorate from the sudden depletion of true qi, I wouldn't object to you using this method to stimulate your body and enhance your strength. But as things stand... the only result will be that your body collapses under the strain before your strength can improve."

Chad Brooks sighed helplessly. Looking at the longsword in his hand, which was not even a tenth finished with spirit patterns, he felt a deep sense of frustration.

He looked up at the sky, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly, filled with endless emotion.

He—or rather, the soul now inhabiting this body—did not originally belong to this world.

He had once been an explorer. When humanity left Earth and began venturing en masse into the vast universe, he signed up to join a group of companions on a micro spaceship for an adventure.

It was a gamble—a high-stakes bet with his life on the line.

If he and his companions could find the coordinates of a wormhole or discover a rare mineral planet in the universe, it would bring them more wealth than they could spend in a lifetime.

But luck was not on their side. Lady Luck did not favor them enough.

In this gamble, they lost, even forfeiting their lives.

When the spaceship passed through a certain dark region of space, it was suddenly torn apart by some powerful force. He and his companions died instantly, without any chance to resist.

Yet, at that moment, the goddess of fate played a monumental joke on him.

When he regained consciousness, he had become this fifteen-year-old boy. What shocked and delighted him even more was that the ship's AI program had, in some incomprehensible way, entered his mind and formed an incredible symbiotic relationship with him.

Not only that, but while he retained the memories of his previous life, he also possessed the memories of this body's original owner.

However, the intense conflict between the two sets of memories left him dazed and muddled for a time, almost indistinguishable from a living corpse.

But after several months of living, he finally integrated the chaotic memories and sorted out all the relationships.

Such a soul-transference event had clearly never occurred in this village, so although his behavior was somewhat odd during those months, no one ever suspected anything.

This was a magical world. Although he had occupied this body for several months, he had only scratched the surface of understanding this world.