DS 02

Chapter – 02

Demonic Undercover Agent

Deep in the night, alone with a man and a woman.

The unfamiliar woman in the room left Li Yu momentarily stunned.

He did not recognize her.

He had already digested a fair amount of the original body’s memories, at least enough to know everyone at Baiyun Temple. But there was no impression of this woman. Here, Li Yu had few friends, and the only one who would come to his room was Jiang Li.

Seeing his blank expression, before Li Yu could speak, the black-clad woman asked with mild interest, “What, after two years, you don’t recognize me?”

Li Yu blurted out, “You…”

Looking at her face—strange yet faintly familiar—he got no further than one word before his body jolted. More fragments of memory flashed before his eyes.

It was a cliff.

A young boy had fallen while gathering herbs. At the critical moment, a streak of light shot across the sky, and a fair, jade-like hand grabbed his shoulder, pulling him to the cliff top.

On the precipice, the wind howled. The boy stood before the woman, his expression respectful and fearful, and asked in a trembling voice, “Are you… an immortal?”

The woman did not answer. She merely looked at him and said coolly, “I saved you. From now on, your life belongs to me. Since you have the aptitude for cultivation, I want you to enter Baiyun Temple as a disciple, ideally joining Kunlun. I may have use for you in the future. If you hear any important news, you can come find me at the Xuan Yin Sect…”

The sudden surge of memories made Li Yu’s brain freeze.

The original Li Yu of this world had been an orphan, making a living by gathering herbs.

Two years ago, while collecting herbs on a mountain, he had accidentally fallen off a cliff and was saved by this demonic woman. Discovering that he had cultivation potential, she arranged for him to enter Baiyun Temple as a mole for the demonic cult. And so, a lowly herb-gathering boy was forced onto the path of cultivation…

Li Yu was utterly shocked.

*Xuan Yin Sect…*

In the original body’s memories, this was a major demonic sect—comparable in strength to Kunlun. But that wasn’t the most important part. The most important part was that he… was a spy planted by the demonic path into the orthodox sects?

Li Yu couldn’t accept it.

In his previous life, he’d also been an undercover agent for five years, but he’d been on the side of good. Even if he died in the line of duty, he’d be a martyr, laid to rest in a martyr’s cemetery, honored by others…

And now, after being reborn, he not only ended up in the same old line of work, but as a pawn for the villain’s side…

The black-clad woman glanced at him and asked, “What, remembered now?”

Years of professional habit allowed Li Yu to regain his composure quickly after a brief moment of panic. He got down from the bed and replied, “I dare not forget your life-saving grace for a moment, miss. May I ask why you’ve come to Baiyun Temple—is there something important?”

The woman said indifferently, “Nothing important. I happened to pass by, remembered you, and thought I’d check in. It’s been almost two years—why haven’t you succeeded in condensing qi yet?”

She could see through his cultivation level at a glance, which meant she was far stronger than him.

Li Yu grew even more cautious, but put on an embarrassed look and said, “I’ve let you down, miss…”

The woman’s expression remained calm; disappointment was hardly the word. She had acted on a whim back then, planting this piece on a lark without expecting much from him. Passing by White Cloud Mountain this time, she’d happened to recall him and decided to look in. Since he hadn’t even condensed qi, he wouldn’t be selected by Kunlun. She had no expectations left for the boy she’d saved all those years ago…

She cast one last glance at Li Yu, said nothing, and moved toward the door.

Just then, a voice came from behind her: “Miss, please wait!”

The black-clad woman turned to look at Li Yu. “What else?”

Li Yu rubbed his hands together and said sheepishly, “Miss, do you have any Qi-Gathering Pills? Could you give me a few? If I can successfully condense qi, I’ll have more strength to do more for you in the future…”

Years of undercover work had forged Li Yu’s formidable mental resilience.

In an instant, many thoughts raced through his mind.

Undercover work was a high-risk profession—and high risk often came with high rewards.

Since he was a demonic spy, it was only reasonable for him to make a small request from the demonic path, right?

Why would you want the horse to run without feeding it grass?

The woman hadn’t expected Li Yu to beg her for Qi-Gathering Pills. But on reflection, his logic made sense. If he could successfully join Kunlun, he might become an important asset for the demonic path, a deep-cover agent in the orthodox camp. A bit of upfront investment would be worthwhile.

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Besides, Li Yu was her planted agent, her only piece on the board. It was only right to treat her own people well.

She flipped her hand, and a small jade bottle appeared in her palm.

At her current level of cultivation, she had long since outgrown Qi-Gathering Pills. This bottle had been used during her Qi Refining stage to restore her magical power.

This sight left Li Yu astonished again—producing objects from thin air. She must have a spatial treasure. In the cultivation world, spatial treasures were top-tier gear, beyond even the Kunlun Foundation-Building elder stationed at Baiyun Temple.

The woman took out a milky-white pill the size of a pinky nail from the jade bottle and tossed it to Li Yu. She was about to leave when he called out to her again.

A little impatient, she asked, “What now?”

Li Yu said, “Miss, could I have one more Qi-Gathering Pill?”

The woman snapped, “One Qi-Gathering Pill is enough. Taking more won’t do you any good. Why do you need so many?”

Li Yu explained, “I have a friend. I think he has great potential, and I want to win him over. He might become another helper for you in the future. Besides, at your level of cultivation, you probably don’t need Qi-Gathering Pills anymore anyway…”

The woman thought for a moment and tossed him another pill.

After catching it, Li Yu continued, “If possible, could you give me another one? I think another friend could also be developed into a potential asset…”

Qi-Gathering Pills—the more, the better. Even if he couldn’t use them all himself, selling them would be nice. Qi-Gathering Pills were very popular among cultivators at the Qi-Refining stage.

The spirit coins earned could be exchanged for protective artifacts or talismans.

Opportunity knocks but once—if he missed this chance, who knew when he’d see her again.

After a brief silence, a jade bottle flew over and smacked Li Yu on the head. He was about to ask for a suitable magical implement, hoping to squeeze a little more, but the black-clad woman had already vanished from the room.

He picked up the bottle from the floor, opened it, and peeked inside. Only one pill remained—plus the previous two, that made just three in total.

Li Yu put the two pills into the bottle, pursed his lips, and muttered, “So stingy. I thought there’d be more…”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a tremendous force hit his backside, sending him flying face-down onto the bed like a frog. He scrambled up immediately, stood at the head of the bed, and said respectfully, “Thank you, miss…”

A long silence followed; this time, she must have truly left.

Li Yu closed the door securely and dared not grumble anymore. Above Baiyun Temple, the black-clad woman hovered in midair, cast one last look below, and then disappeared into the dark horizon…

Inside the room, Li Yu did not resume cultivating. He sat at the table, expression somewhat grave.

Double agents die badly—that was the bloody lesson he’d learned with his life in his previous world.

If he had a choice, he wouldn’t want to be a spy for anyone.

Unfortunately, he had no choice.

In the cultivation world, power rules. Without enough strength, you’re meat on the chopping block. If the orthodox side discovered his identity as a spy, his fate would be grim. If he betrayed the demonic path, it would be even worse…

Anyone else would be panicking right now.

But Li Yu wasn’t the least bit panicked.

With his pitiful Qi-Refining level, he could hardly do anything at all.

As long as I’m a good-for-nothing, no one can use me.

What could a useless Qi-Refining nobody possibly do?

Future matters could be dealt with in the future. Entanglement between the orthodox and demonic paths was a problem for the Li Yu of tomorrow to worry about. The current Li Yu could think about it all he wanted—it wouldn’t do any good.

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