This is the first step of cultivation: drawing qi into the body.

Only when he could gather the spiritual energy from the void into the meridians of his body without it dissipating would he be considered to have truly entered the Qi Refining stage and officially set foot on the path of immortality.

However, the spiritual energy guided by Emily Thompson could only remain in his body for a short while before dissipating moments later.

He tried several more times, but still ended in failure.

Emily Thompson opened his eyes, sighed, and muttered, “If only I had a Qi Gathering Pill…”

The Qi Gathering Pill is an elixir that increases a cultivator’s chance of successfully gathering qi. However, all elixirs require spiritual herbs to refine, are quite expensive, and can only be purchased with spirit coins. A single pill costs five hundred spirit coins, and Emily Thompson didn’t even have fifty on him, so taking elixirs was naturally out of the question.

He remembered the Qi Gathering Pill vividly, because the original owner of this body had always longed to possess one.

Emily Thompson was not discouraged. Those five years spent undercover had made his temperament extremely resilient; he would never give up easily on anything.

Pushing these thoughts aside, he continued to draw in qi, again and again, tirelessly.

Time flew by, and dusk gradually fell. The entire Baiyun Temple was shrouded in night.

During this time, William Clark came by twice. Seeing Emily Thompson cultivating, she didn’t disturb him. She left food for him, lit the candle in his room, then closed the door and left.

Emily Thompson was still cultivating on his bed with his eyes closed when, at a certain moment, a soft sound came from the door.

Then there was a long silence.

Emily Thompson sensed something was off, opened his eyes, and looked toward the center of the room.

By the table in the room sat a figure, quietly drinking tea.

Emily Thompson was slightly taken aback—the visitor was not William Clark.

It was a young woman dressed in black, her waist slender enough to be encircled by a single hand. She was extremely beautiful, with elegant brows and phoenix eyes, her skin fairer than snow. However, her expression was rather cold, and she looked at Emily Thompson with a blank face.

Chapter 2: Demonic Sect Undercover

Late at night, all was quiet; a man and a woman alone.

The unfamiliar woman in the room left Emily Thompson a bit stunned.

He did not know this woman.

He had already digested much of the original body’s memories—at least, he recognized everyone in Baiyun Temple—but had no impression of this woman. Here, Emily Thompson had few friends, and the only one who would come to his room was William Clark.

Seeing his astonished expression, before Emily Thompson could speak, the woman in black asked with interest, “What’s wrong? It’s only been two years—don’t you recognize me?”

Emily Thompson blurted out, “You…”

Looking at the woman’s face, which was both unfamiliar and faintly familiar, he had just uttered a word when his body suddenly trembled, and fragments of memory flashed before his eyes.

It was a cliff.

While gathering herbs as a youth, he slipped and fell off the cliff. At the critical moment, a streak of light shot across the sky, and a fair jade hand grabbed his shoulder, pulling him up to the top.

Atop the cliff, the mountain wind was biting. The youth stood before the woman, his expression respectful yet fearful, and asked in a trembling voice, “Are you an immortal…”

The woman did not answer, only looked at him and said calmly, “I saved you. From now on, your life is mine. Since you have the aptitude for cultivation, I want you to enter Baiyun Temple to cultivate. It would be best if you could join Kunlun. I may have use for you in the future. If you hear any important news, you can also come to Xuanyin Sect to find me…”

The sudden flood of memories left Emily Thompson completely stunned.

In this world, Emily Thompson was originally an orphan, living by gathering herbs.

Two years ago, while gathering herbs in the mountains, he accidentally fell off a cliff and was saved by this demonic woman. She discovered his aptitude for cultivation and arranged for him to enter Baiyun Temple as an undercover agent for the demonic sect. Thus, a humble herb-gathering boy was forced onto the path of cultivation…

Emily Thompson was utterly shocked.

Xuanyin Sect…

In the original body’s memories, this was a major demonic sect. In terms of strength, it was not much weaker than Kunlun. But that wasn’t the most important thing—the most important thing was that he… was actually an undercover agent for the demonic sect, planted among the righteous?

Emily Thompson could not accept this.

In his previous life, he had also spent five years undercover, but back then, he was on the side of justice. Even if he died in the line of duty, he would be a martyr, honored in the Martyrs’ Cemetery, respected by all…

But now, after finally getting a second chance at life, he ended up not only doing his old job, but also becoming a lackey for the villains…

The woman in black glanced at him and asked, “What, you remember now?”

Years of professional habit allowed Emily Thompson to regain his composure quickly after a brief panic. He got out of bed and replied, “Miss, I will never forget your life-saving grace. May I ask if you have important business at Baiyun Temple this time?”

The woman in black said indifferently, “No important business. I just happened to be passing by and thought of you, so I came to take a look. It’s been almost two years—why haven’t you succeeded in gathering qi yet?”

To see through his cultivation level at a glance, the woman in black was clearly far stronger than him.

Emily Thompson became even more cautious, but showed an embarrassed expression and said, “I’ve let you down, Miss…”