Elder Harris was a little old man, his hair grizzled and his face full of wrinkles, looking to be in his sixties or seventies. However, Emily Thompson knew that he was far older than that—he was already over two hundred years old, truly an old monster who had lived for two centuries.

Elder Harris's cultivation, though already at the late Foundation Establishment stage, had little hope of ever forming a Golden Core in this lifetime. So he came to Baiyun Temple to serve as a steward, contributing his remaining energy to the sect, nurturing reserve talents, and waiting for his final days.

Emily Thompson had never seen him cultivate on a daily basis. What Elder Harris did most often was lie on a rocking chair basking in the sun, sometimes for an entire day without moving. Those who didn't know better might think he had already passed away in meditation.

“A female ghost at the peak of the first level of Qi Refining?”

Elder Harris lay on the rocking chair, listening to Emily Thompson and the others recount the details of their mission. His closed eyes opened slightly, and he said indifferently, “To have cultivated to that extent, that female ghost must have decades of cultivation. Fortunately, she was just a wild ghost who only knew how to possess people and didn’t understand ghost arts. Otherwise, at least two of you would have died there…”

Elder Harris's emotionless words made the group shudder with lingering fear.

He glanced at them again and said, “You were lucky this time. The world of cultivation is full of dangers. You’re just a bunch of greenhorns—when you’re out and about, always keep your wits about you. Don’t die without even knowing how it happened. Every year, the disciples who fall during missions from all the major sects number at least eight hundred, if not a thousand…”

After admonishing the four of them, Elder Harris put his hands behind his back and turned to walk into a grand hall. A moment later, he strolled back out, swaying as he walked, and handed a few coin-like objects to David Brooks.

David Brooks hesitated for a moment, then handed all ten spirit coins to Sophia Carter, saying, “Junior Sister Carter, I don’t want any reward for this mission. You all can split these spirit coins.”

Then he looked at Emily Thompson and William Clark, lowered his head, and said, “About what happened before, I was in the wrong. I apologize to you both here and hope you won’t hold it against me.”

At this moment, David Brooks's attitude toward Emily Thompson and William Clark had completely changed.

On the path of cultivation, who isn’t seeking immortality?

If not for Emily Thompson, his life would likely have ended yesterday. Let alone the pursuit of immortality, compared to this immense favor, those previous minor grudges were nothing.

William Clark waved his hand generously and said, “Forget it, forget it…”

After all, in the two years of enmity with David Brooks, neither he nor Emily Thompson had really suffered any physical harm.

Sophia Carter, holding the spirit coins, didn’t hesitate long before handing them all to Emily Thompson, saying, “Junior Brother Thompson, you take these spirit coins. I didn’t really help you much with this mission…”

Emily Thompson wanted to decline, but Sophia Carter was very insistent, so he could only accept them helplessly.

There were ten spirit coins, each worth ten spirit coins. Emily Thompson tried to give half to William Clark, but William Clark refused decisively, “I don’t want them either. Spirit coins are useless to me. You keep them all…”

Emily Thompson understood William Clark; this guy had no interest in cultivation at all. If he said he didn’t want them, he definitely wouldn’t take them.

Suddenly coming into possession of a hundred spirit coins, Emily Thompson didn’t know how to spend them for a moment. With a hundred spirit coins, he could buy a few low-grade talismans for protection or some mana-replenishing pills from Elder Harris…

These things were all useful during the Qi Refining stage. Last night, if David Brooks had had a Qi Recovery Pill, he wouldn’t have been possessed by that female ghost.

However, Elder Harris said that if, three months from now, they could become official disciples of the Kunlun Sect, the sect would provide these things. Buying them now would be a waste. He suggested that Emily Thompson save the spirit coins for now; they would be very useful after joining the sect, and if he didn’t get in, he could still exchange them for these items later.

Emily Thompson felt that Elder Harris's advice was very reasonable. For now, the entrance selection in three months was more important.

The selection criteria for entry weren’t fixed; it mainly depended on the personal preferences of the sect’s selecting elders. However, reaching the Qi Refining stage was a hard requirement. Those at the second level or above could enter directly, but at the first level, there was still a lot of uncertainty, depending on how many acupoints had been opened.

Although Emily Thompson had already advanced to the first level of Qi Refining, he couldn’t guarantee he’d be chosen. There were still others in the temple who had been eliminated last time at the first level of Qi Refining.

In these final three months, he had to work hard and improve his cultivation further.

At dawn, as the sky was just beginning to lighten, Emily Thompson got up, washed, and left Baiyun Temple.

The concentration of spiritual energy in the world would, to some extent, affect cultivation speed. With over a hundred people at Baiyun Temple all cultivating on the same mountain, competing with each other, the results weren’t great.

There was another reason: Emily Thompson wanted to pet that little tiger again.

He had to admit, it felt really nice.

Before long, Emily Thompson arrived at the stream where he had gathered energy last time.

This place was in a valley, not only with beautiful scenery and abundant spiritual energy, but also with no one to compete with him. Facing the rising morning sun, Emily Thompson sat cross-legged on a huge rock by the stream, guiding the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to begin breaking through the second acupoint in his right hand.

This acupoint was called “Shaofu,” the second of the seventy-two fire spiritual meridian acupoints.