Chen Shi transmigrates into the body of a menial worker in the Demon Cult’s alchemy chamber. They forcibly plant a Heart-Eating Gu in him and send him undercover to the world’s foremost sword sect, the Lingxiao Sword Sect. Neglect his mission, and the Gu will kill him. To stay alive, he diligently carries out every task: he poisons the Sword-Washing Pool, only for the pool to recover its spiritual energy, earning him a promotion to steward; he goes to destroy the medicine storehouse at Pill Peak, but accidentally cooks up a miraculous medicine that cures an elder’s twenty-year-old ailment; he tries to come in last at the tournament and get himself expelled, but winds up fighting his way into the top three with “defensive qi”; he even poisons himself, only for the poison to turn into a tonic, and the whole sect starts whispering that “a hidden senior is secretly protecting the sect.” Even worse, he never lies; every word he says is true. He says, “I came to the sword sect with ulterior motives,” and the cold-faced senior sister blushes to the tips of her ears. “I understand. You don’t have to say anything.” He reports, “This cultivation technique must not be practiced lightly,” and the Left Envoy applauds. “How far-sighted!” His evaluations shoot up three ranks in a row. He keeps rising through the ranks in the Demon Cult, while earning merit after merit in the sword sect. Then, at the Sword-Bearing Ceremony, his ultimate mission arrives: assist “that lord” within the sect in destroying the Lingxiao Sword Sect. Since he’s doomed either way, he might as well go all in! He leaps into the Sword-Washing Pool, and one strike awakens the sword spirit of the founder, dormant for four hundred years. The Demon Cult’s top undercover agent, who has been hidden for twenty years, is exposed on the spot, while the sect leader publicly appoints him the new senior brother. A message arrives from the Demon Cult: “Used the sword sect to eliminate an insider. The cult leader is delighted. You’re promoted to candidate Left Envoy!” Holding the jade talisman, Chen Shi is left reeling. “How did I, an undercover agent, end up as the senior brother of the world’s foremost sword sect?”
