The Programmer Cultivator

After leaving, Zhang Deming went to the Magic Pavilion on Hundred Arts Street. Having disguised himself, he stepped inside.

He expertly made his way to the second floor, where a female Cultivator in the Apprentice Stage approached him.

Zhang Deming got straight to the point. ”Do you have any Techniques related to Oratory?”

”Yes, Senior. Are you looking for a book or a Jade...”

”A book. For me to learn myself, not a Dao Lineage inheritance,” Zhang Deming cut in smoothly before the female Cultivator could finish.

The female Cultivator paused for a moment, then smiled. ”This way, Senior.”

She then led Zhang Deming through a large section of the floor to a corner. ”Senior, this bookshelf area is for Oratory-type Techniques.”

Hearing this, Zhang Deming looked up at the bookshelf in front of him. After just a brief glance, he said with surprise:

”That’s it? And why are there Tier One Techniques here? Isn’t the second floor for Tier Two and Tier Three Techniques?”

The area in front of Zhang Deming contained only a single bookshelf, and unlike the other sections, it wasn’t densely packed with books.

While it still held a good number of books, it looked sparse compared to its surroundings.

The female Cultivator smiled. ”Senior, although Oratory rarely appears in conventional combat, its special nature still makes it a very precious type of Technique.

Therefore, we only have a very small number of Tier One Oratory books, which are kept on the first floor, but we have identical copies of them up here as well.

In other words, all Oratory Techniques are considered premium items sold on the second floor.

So, nearly all of the Secret Level Oratory Techniques our pavilion offers are displayed right here.”

Hearing this, Zhang Deming nodded and turned his attention to the Techniques. Seeing this, the female Cultivator stood quietly to the side, ready to assist.

Oratory held a rather special position in the Hongmeng Realm.

Regardless of the starting Oratory Skill, the ultimate destinations were generally one of three: Words Accompanied by Law, Great Prophecy, or Making a Great Vow.

Among the three, Making a Great Vow was by far the most prosperous path, because those bald donkeys from the Buddhist Sect had already developed it to dazzling heights.

They were absolute masters of buying on credit!

Furthermore, Oratory was especially beloved by certain... ah... Cultivators with unique tastes.

Some even dedicated massive effort to specializing in Oratory, to the point of turning it into their primary method of combat.

The kind of people who could take down an opponent in a fight using nothing but their words.

All these factors, combined with the unique nature of Oratory Techniques, contributed to Oratory’s current standing.

Zhang Deming stepped up to the bookshelf and saw that the Techniques were categorized.

There seemed to be many, but a lot of them actually belonged to the same category, just with different paths of development.

After browsing through them, Zhang Deming found there were only a few main categories in total.

*Oratory: Rumors*, *Oratory: Lies*, *Oratory: Decree*.

These three categories took up most of the space on the entire bookshelf. Just based on *Rumors* alone, there were a full twenty-seven different Tier Two Techniques developed from it.

And that wasn’t even the largest category. *Decree*, being the most fundamental Oratory Technique, had the most variations.

Its developed Tier Two variations numbered as high as fifty-two.

Of the three major categories, *Lies* had the fewest.

’These three categories probably correspond to the ultimate paths of Words Accompanied by Law, Great Prophecy, and Making a Great Vow.’

Looking at these three foundational types, Zhang Deming couldn’t help but think, ’So prophecies are just spun from lies?’

’And Words Accompanied by Law... what the hell? You just rely on spreading rumors and nonsense, and if you keep at it long enough, your words just become law?’

’Oratory really is something else...’

’Only *Decree*, the foundation for Making a Great Vow, seemed somewhat normal. At least you could see a faint connection there.’

Besides these, there were a few other Tier One Techniques. Some were variations developed from these three core types that hadn’t advanced to Tier Two.

Others were simply obscure Oratory Skills.

He picked up a book titled *Oratory: Sweet Talk*. ’What the hell? The title page even has an inscription. Well, a bizarre inscription... it should be called a warning.’

It read: ’Note for cultivating this Skill: This is one of the most unique Oratory Skills to cast, as it belongs to the non-formatted category and primarily assails the Heart Spirit.’

’However, it has extremely specific Talent requirements. Those without the Talent will find it difficult to even reach the Entry Level, regardless of their Cultivation.’

’Furthermore, cultivating paths such as the Body Charm Technique, Music Dao, Dance Dao, and so on provides a certain bonus to this Skill.’

Looking at this Technique, Zhang Deming’s eyelid twitched.

’What the hell? Did I stumble into some kind of shady section? Are you sure this thing isn’t just the Seventy-Two Divine Arts of Seducing Women?’

”Is Senior interested in this Skill?” the female Cultivator at his side asked, noticing him staring blankly at *Oratory: Sweet Talk*.

Zhang Deming replied without batting an eye, ”Why not? It looks quite interesting.”

The female Cultivator glanced at Zhang Deming. ”Of course. At the very least, Senior’s appearance won’t be an obstacle to cultivating this Skill.”

”It’s just...”

”What is it? Is there a problem with this Technique?” Zhang Deming asked, seeing her hesitate.

”There’s nothing wrong with the Technique itself, but if Senior intends to cultivate it, it would be best to do so in private.”

”Don’t let too many people find out, and especially don’t let too many female Cultivators know.”

”Because the Yin Yang Extreme Dao Ancestor has already developed this Skill to the Scripture level, embarking on a bizarre version of the Replenishing Path.”

”He’s caused countless female Cultivators to fall for him completely, willingly and devotedly offering themselves up to him.”

”In the eyes of many female Cultivators now... well... this Skill is considered an Evil Skill.”

”If Senior were to cultivate it openly, well, you’d probably find yourself quite unpopular,” the female Cultivator warned.

Zhang Deming could also detect a faint trace of disgust in her tone—disgust for this Technique.

She concealed it extremely well, but Zhang Deming still picked up on it.

Zhang Deming was stunned. ’Huh? The Replenishing Path? With *Sweet Talk*?’

’That’s really...’

’There are no useless Techniques, only useless Cultivators!’

’In the Hongmeng Cultivation Realm, anyone who walks an Extreme Dao and succeeds is never a simple character.’

’Of course, far more of them fail.’

He casually flipped through it a few more times, nodded, and tucked the book under his arm before continuing to browse.

Having given her warning, the female Cultivator returned to waiting on him quietly, saying no more.

Just as he was about to finish browsing the Oratory section, Zhang Deming spotted another interesting Technique.

*Oratory: Words*

This one also had an inscription on the title page. It wasn’t a famous quote, but rather notes on how to cultivate the Technique.

’Cultivation of this Skill is highly dependent on Talent. It has no specific casting format and no specific function. The actual effect depends entirely on one’s inner thoughts.’

Zhang Deming flipped through it, confused. He found the style of this Technique a bit strange.

He turned to the female Cultivator and asked, ”The style of this Technique...?”

Hearing this, the female Cultivator smiled. ”You find the style quite novel, don’t you, Senior?”

”It’s not a native Technique of the Hongmeng Realm. It’s said to have been inspired by an Outer Realm Technique called *Divine Words*. A Hongmeng Disciple gained enlightenment during an ’Outer Realm Study Group Exchange’ and adapted it.”

”After being developed and localized by several Cultivators, the Skill no longer requires the specific ’God says’ format to be cast.”

”Although this made it more free-form, it also made it highly unpredictable. The effect produced depends entirely on the caster’s will.”

”It feels a bit like an advanced version of the *Rumors* Oratory Skill. Coupled with the fact that it’s a Tier One Technique with limited effects, it’s not very popular.”

”Of course, the Technique was originally developed as a variation by a user of the *Rumors* Oratory Skill, so it’s only natural for it to have such a tendency.”

Zhang Deming thought for a moment before asking, ”So, does that mean whatever I say becomes the Technique’s effect?”

The female Cultivator’s expression stiffened slightly. ”Senior, you have a sense of humor. That would be Words Accompanied by Law, wouldn’t it? This is just a Spell, not some grand Scripture Skill or Scripture.”

”In practice, however, it is somewhat similar to Words Accompanied by Law.”

”After all, *Oratory: Words* doesn’t require a specific format, so in terms of freedom, it does approach Words Accompanied by Law.”

”Therefore, this Skill has a huge advantage when it comes to stealth and surprise.”

”Of course, all Oratory Skills have that advantage, just to varying degrees.”

”Those with a specific format are just slightly weaker in terms of stealth and surprise.”

Zhang Deming nodded thoughtfully and tucked this book under his arm too.

The female Cultivator glanced at Zhang Deming again. His handsome, resolute face exuded an air of maturity and world-weariness.

’This Senior seems to be choosing some rather strange Techniques. Is he a collector?’

Zhang Deming paid her no mind. Holding the two Oratory books, he finished browsing the rest of the section but didn’t find any other Techniques that caught his eye.

Zhang Deming then picked up a standard Tier Two advancement for the *Rumors* Technique. After that, he went to the Concealment section, selected an advanced version of the Hidden Breath Technique, and headed to the counter to check out.

Reaching the counter, Zhang Deming said, ”I’m ready to pay.”

He then tossed the four Technique books in his hand onto the counter.

The attendant counted them. ”Senior, since three of the books you selected are Oratory, they’re considered rare Techniques.”

”Our price for those is four Spirit Stones for Tier One and sixty for Tier Two.”

”As for this Tier Two Hidden Breath Technique, it’s one of the most basic, so it’s forty Spirit Stones. Your total comes to one hundred and eight Spirit Stones.”

Zhang Deming nodded. As usual, he first read the contents of the Jade Scroll they handed him before paying. After stowing the books away, he turned and left the Magic Pavilion.

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After returning to his Cave Mansion, Zhang Deming opened his editor and looked at his inventory.

Over the past month, he had given Qu Qizhong one hundred and fifty Spirit Nurturing Beads to sell. Because Zhang Deming had instructed him to slightly favor selling them to Loose Cultivators, most of the beads sold had already been used.

This had brought Zhang Deming fifty to sixty ”comprehensions,” and he had received a great haul of both golden and white light orbs.

In addition, while the loot from the Secret Realm expedition didn’t seem like much, that was just in terms of physical items. In any case, his Merit and Qi Fortune had both increased.

The current Energy in his inventory was: Merit: 3.8, Qi Fortune: 16.2, Karma: 1.0.

’It seems I have enough Merit to open one or two more plugin slots. As for the Qi Fortune, it’s enough to learn the Techniques I just bought.’

He pondered for a moment. ’I won’t edit them right away. I’ll wait a few days and do it all at once.’

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