The woman’s expression was calm; she didn’t even feel disappointed. From the start, it had just been a whim—she’d casually set this chess piece in place, never holding much expectation for him. Passing by Baiyun Mountain this time, she happened to remember there was still such a person, so she came to take a look. Since he hadn’t even succeeded in gathering qi, it was unlikely he’d be chosen by Kunlun. This left her with no expectations at all for the young man she’d once saved…

She gave Emily Thompson one last glance, said nothing, and drifted toward the door.

At that moment, a voice suddenly sounded behind her: “Miss, please wait!”

The woman in black turned to look at Emily Thompson and asked, “Is there something else?”

Emily Thompson rubbed his hands together, embarrassed, and said, “Miss, do you have any Qi Gathering Pills? Could you spare me a few? If I succeed in gathering qi, I’ll have the strength to do more for you in the future…”

Years of undercover work had forged Emily Thompson’s strong mental fortitude.

In an instant, he thought of many things.

Being an undercover agent was a high-risk profession, and high risk often came with high rewards.

Since he was a spy for the demonic sect, wasn’t it reasonable for him to make a small request of them?

How could you expect a horse to run without feeding it grass?

The woman in black hadn’t expected Emily Thompson to ask her for Qi Gathering Pills, but thinking it over, what he said made sense. If he could successfully join Kunlun, he might become an important piece for the demonic sect to plant within the righteous path. Investing a bit more in the early stage was worthwhile.

Besides, Emily Thompson was the one she’d placed here—her only chess piece. It was only right to treat her own people better.

With a flip of her hand, a small jade bottle appeared in her palm.

With her current cultivation, she had long since stopped needing Qi Gathering Pills. This bottle was something she’d used to restore her mana during her Qi Refining stage.

This scene left Emily Thompson stunned again. Producing something out of thin air—she must have a spatial treasure. In the cultivation world, spatial treasures were high-grade items; even the Foundation Establishment elders of the Kunlun Sect stationed at Baiyun Temple didn’t have one.

The woman in black took out a milky-white pill, about the size of a pinky nail, from the jade bottle and tossed it to Emily Thompson. Just as she was about to leave, Emily Thompson called out to her again.

She asked, a bit impatiently, “What else is it?”

Emily Thompson said, “Miss, could you give me one more Qi Gathering Pill?”

The woman in black replied irritably, “One Qi Gathering Pill is enough. Taking more won’t help. Why do you need so many?”

Emily Thompson explained, “I have another friend whom I think has great potential. I want to win him over—maybe he could become another helper for you in the future. Anyway, with your cultivation, you probably don’t need Qi Gathering Pills anymore…”

The woman in black thought for a moment, then tossed over another Qi Gathering Pill.

After Emily Thompson caught it, he continued, “If possible, could you give me one more? I think another friend of mine might also have potential to become an undercover agent…”

The more Qi Gathering Pills, the better. Even if he couldn’t use them himself, he could sell them. Among cultivators in the Qi Induction stage, Qi Gathering Pills were highly sought after.

The spirit coins from selling them could be exchanged for talismans, magical tools, and other items for self-defense.

Opportunities like this were rare—if he missed her this time, who knew when he’d see her again.

After a brief silence, a jade bottle was tossed over, hitting Emily Thompson on the head. Emily Thompson thought of how he still didn’t have a handy magical tool and planned to try his luck again, but the woman in black was no longer in the room.

He picked up the jade bottle from the floor and opened it to look inside. There was only one pill left. Including the two from before, there were only three in total.

Emily Thompson put the two pills into the jade bottle, curled his lip, and said, “So stingy. I thought there’d be a lot more…”

As soon as he finished speaking, a tremendous force struck his backside, sending him flying onto the bed in a frog-like pose. Emily Thompson immediately got up, stood at the head of the bed, and respectfully said, “Thank you, Miss…”

No one responded for a long time. This time, she must have truly left.

Emily Thompson closed the door tightly, not daring to mutter any more. High above Baiyun Temple, the woman in black hovered in midair. She cast one last glance downward, then disappeared into the dark horizon…

Inside the room, Emily Thompson did not cultivate. He sat at the table, his expression somewhat serious.

Traitors never meet a good end—this was a bloody lesson he’d learned with his life in his previous existence.

If he could choose, he wouldn’t want to be an undercover agent for any side.

Unfortunately, he had no choice.

In the cultivation world, strength was everything. Without power, one was at the mercy of others. If the righteous path discovered his identity as a spy, his fate would be miserable. If he betrayed the demonic sect, his fate would be even worse…

If it were anyone else, they’d be panicking by now.

But Emily Thompson wasn’t worried at all.

With his meager strength at the Qi Induction stage, there was almost nothing he could do.

As long as he was a useless nobody, no one could use him.

What could a useless Qi Induction cultivator possibly do?

As for the future, he’d deal with it when the time came. How to navigate between the righteous and demonic paths was something for the future Emily Thompson to worry about. There was no point in thinking about it now.

Emily Thompson glanced down at the pill bottle in his hand. At least for now, being a spy for the demonic sect wasn’t such a bad thing…

Chapter 3: Testing the Pill for a Breakthrough

At dawn, Emily Thompson got up early.