The Programmer Cultivator

Chapter 47: Chapter 45: Spirit Nurturing Bead

As Zhang Deming issued the command, two rings appeared in the core of the vortex-like Cultivation Technique Script.

One of them contained a small, cross-legged figure, which was clearly the already-mounted Cultivation Technique Rune.

The other ring slowly materialized. It was still hollow.

Zhang Deming tossed the captured rune for the Spirit Nurturing Technique into it.

”Aside from the core slot for the Cultivation Technique, other mounted techniques cannot be removed. Please confirm.”

The prompt made Zhang Deming frown slightly, but he still chose to confirm.

He watched as the embryonic, spherical rune of the Spirit Nurturing Technique rapidly shrank, finally embedding itself into the hollow ring at the vortex core of the Cultivation Technique Script.

Mounting successful!

Cultivation Technique: Cyan Wood Divine Refining Technique (Tier Two)

Cultivation: Apprentice Lv2 (107/9000)

Skill: Spirit Nurturing Skill Lv1 (0/2)

Note: As the Spirit Nurturing Technique involves the birth of Spiritual Wisdom, it is a probabilistic technique. When cast, there is only a certain probability that the Spirit Nurturing Bead will successfully form.

Seeing the first skill with Experience Points on his script, it was clear that the Spirit Nurturing Technique would become one of his core techniques.

Originally, Zhang Deming had planned to choose a primary combat technique as his first core technique, once he had accumulated more golden orbs of Merit.

But he was just so damn poor!

Even with his penny-pinching, he still didn’t have enough Spirit Stones to spend.

Forced by his circumstances, if he wanted to raise his Cultivation quickly, making money was the only choice.

Therefore, making a professional skill his first core technique was an inevitable choice born of desperation.

What was even more surprising was that, thanks to the script, Zhang Deming had actually received an annotated note.

No wonder the information he had gathered said that even if you learned the Spirit Nurturing Technique, you weren’t guaranteed to cast it successfully.

’So it wasn’t that the casting failed, but that there was a probabilistic failure in forming the light ball.’

After finishing everything, Zhang Deming closed the panel, rushed to the kitchen, and took a grain of Spirit Rice to use as a Casting Material.

Instinctively, he raised his hands, and they began to fly through the air, executing the Spirit Nurturing Technique’s extremely complex Hand Technique as if it were second nature.

But just as he was halfway through, Zhang Deming suddenly stopped.

He could feel the technique still running. ’It seems I don’t need to perform the hand seals for the casting wind-up anymore?’

’It seems the mounted technique has been turned into something like a skill? Or maybe a Bloodline ability?’

’This is an ability you’re only supposed to get when you’re Promoted to Tai Chi, after choosing a core technique, forming a Rune Core, and obtaining a Lifebound Technique!’

Although Zhang Deming stopped the hand seal movements, the Spirit Nurturing Technique didn’t fail.

A massive amount of Spiritual Power surged into the Spirit Rice in his hand. Instantly, the Spirit Rice dissolved into countless motes of light, which swirled around Zhang Deming to form a huge, hollow, spherical space.

At the center of this space, a small ball of light flickered faintly between his eyebrows.

After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Deming threw in his comprehension of the Growth Technique, the technique most compatible with the Spirit Rice material.

As he threw in his comprehension, the entire hollow sphere of light motes began to flash rapidly.

”POP...”

Just as the flashing light ball was about to take form, it let out a crisp sound and dissipated into countless motes of light.

’Were the materials too low-grade, or was this just a probabilistic failure?’

Feeling his depleted Spiritual Power, Zhang Deming gave a wry smile. It seemed another attempt was impossible.

With his Mid-Term of Apprenticeship cultivation, a single attempt had consumed sixty percent of his Magical Power. This technique was truly a mana-guzzler.

His mana pool was already small, and his daily work always left his reserves stretched thin. Now, things were even more of a pain in the ass.

He shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it.

By now, he had learned five techniques: the Growth Technique, Agility Technique, Spiritual Shield, Little Cloud Rain Skill, and Spirit Nurturing Technique.

For combat, he had the Growth Technique, Agility Technique, and Spiritual Shield.

For survival, he had the Growth Technique, Little Cloud Rain Skill, and Spirit Nurturing Technique.

For an Outer Disciple, this was a luxurious lineup. In terms of techniques alone, he had surpassed ninety-nine percent of the Sect’s Advanced Apprentices.

Now, all he needed to do was make money and raise his cultivation.

...

Several days later, Zhang Deming had attempted the Spirit Nurturing Technique seventeen times, and not once had he succeeded.

After the tenth failure, Zhang Deming was more or less certain that Spirit Rice was too low-grade a material. It simply couldn’t be used as a Casting Material, as it was unable to sustain the birth of Spirit Wisdom required by the Spirit Nurturing Technique.

For the past few days, aside from eating and clocking in for his farming duties, Zhang Deming had spent all his time recovering Spiritual Qi. Even his sleep was spent in meditative cultivation.

Ever since he had died from overworking in his past life, he had never grinded this hard in all these years.

Looking at the two stalks of Spirit-Binding Grass before him, Zhang Deming took a deep breath. These were his last two attempts.

If this didn’t work, Zhang Deming would really have to take out a loan to buy the Casting Materials that the seniors had compiled lists of.

He had already secretly plucked seven or eight stalks of Spirit-Binding Medicinal Herbs from the herb field, and that was his limit.

Although they were low-grade Medicinal Herbs, ten mature stalks were worth one Spirit Stone. Misappropriating such a large amount would be easily discovered.

This was a completely different matter from being rewarded after a harvest.

If he weren’t so desperately poor and lacking the capital to buy Casting Materials for the Spirit Nurturing Technique, Zhang Deming would never have done such a thing.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Deming picked up a stalk of Spirit-Binding Grass and began to cast the Spirit Nurturing Technique.

As Zhang Deming’s Spiritual Power surged forth, the Spirit-Binding Grass dissolved into motes of light and condensed into a light ball slightly smaller than a pigeon’s egg.

Inside the ball of light, a Vine trembled and swayed gently.

Damn!

’I finally made one! It was so damn hard!’

’After grinding day and night for eight days, I finally succeeded in creating the first Spirit Nurturing Light Ball.’

’With just this one, I’ll have my start-up capital!’

As the light ball finished condensing, it finally transformed into something resembling a transparent glass marble.

Aside from the faintly swaying Vine inside, which represented the Growth Technique, there was nothing remarkable about it.

But this little glass marble was worth at least six Spirit Stones, if not more.

The base price for a Spirit Nurturing Ball started at double the price of a technique of the same tier, and it was even higher for special techniques.

The main reason for such a high price was that, besides being used for the Spirit Nurturing of plants and animals, it could also be used by people as a skill bead.

When used by a person, although they wouldn’t have their Spirit Wisdom nurtured, they would gain the comprehension contained within.

There was a certain chance they would comprehend and learn the technique within it.

Although using a Spirit Nurturing Bead only offered a twenty percent chance of Enlightenment, the key was that it could be used repeatedly.

As long as you had enough Spirit Nurturing Beads, it wasn’t difficult to learn a new technique in half a day by using several in succession.

If it wasn’t for the mere twenty percent chance, this thing would be even more expensive.

Therefore, to people, Spirit Nurturing Beads were also known as Technique Inheritance Light Balls, which was one of the reasons why Spirit Nurturing Masters were so important.

Every Spirit Nurturing Master in the Sect represented a part of its foundation, enabling countless disciples to rapidly increase their strength.

Putting away the glass marble, Zhang Deming fell onto his bed and went straight to sleep.

These past few days of using meditation to restore his Magical Power instead of sleeping had left Zhang Deming utterly exhausted.

He slept until dawn the next day before hurriedly getting up to cast his spells, his eyes drawn to the eight missing stalks of Spirit-Binding Grass in the herb field.

Perhaps it was his guilty conscience, but Zhang Deming felt that the theft was too easy to spot; the missing Medicinal Herbs seemed glaringly obvious.