The Programmer Cultivator

In other words, regardless of the path, the Tai Chi stage required one to pass through the Three Lives Stage, condensing a Rune Core and three Rune Branches.

The reason Tai Chi was also known as Foundation Establishment was because this entire stage was dedicated to forging one’s Dao Foundation.

In the Tai Chi Three Lives stage, four specific Techniques became the foundation of one’s cultivation.

The Rune Core served as the main trunk, and the Three Lives Rune Branches were the sprouts, together forming the seedling of a basic ’Skill Tree’.

As for advancing to Duality, the first step required selecting one of the Three Lives Runes to undergo the First Transition.

In layman’s terms, it was like choosing a ”sprout” to make the Skill Tree grow and sprout branches. This was why the Three Lives Runes were also called Branch Runes.

The chosen Technique would then deeply entangle with the Rune Core during the breakthrough. The Rune Core would undergo a unique transformation, giving birth to a Rune that was exclusively yours. This was the beginning of one’s own Dao.

Simultaneously, both the Rune Core and this Branch Rune’s Technique would be significantly enhanced, possibly even advancing in tier—for instance, from a Tier Two Technique to a Tier Three Technique.

From this moment on, one’s Rune Core would become highly personalized. This was the breakthrough into Duality, also known as the First Transition.

The subsequent Second and Third Transitions involved sequentially choosing the other ”sprouts” to develop the Skill Tree’s branches. This was why the Duality stage was also known as the Three Transitions of the Dao Foundation.

The Duality stage was when the Dao Foundation, established during the Tai Chi stage, began to develop and take shape. It was the very beginning of one’s personal path.

For many cultivation paths, one’s direction was more or less set after completing the three transitions of the Duality stage. Changing paths after that would be incredibly difficult.

Zhang Deming’s Three Lives Runes were: the Enhancement Skill, Oratory, and Sleeve Qiankun.

In terms of compatibility, there wasn’t much difference between the three Techniques. The Enhancement Skill and Oratory were compatible with anything. ’God only knows what profound changes would occur after they entangled with the Spirit Nurturing Technique.’

But their ”compatible-with-anything” nature meant the results definitely wouldn’t be bad!

Sleeve Qiankun, on the other hand, was more predictable. Due to its inherent compatibility with his core technique, Zhang Deming could guess that any changes would likely involve his Spirit Nurturing Space.

Given the current situation, his choice for the Duality First Transition breakthrough came down to two options. Oratory was the first to be eliminated, leaving Sleeve Qiankun and the Enhancement Skill.

’Should I choose Sleeve Qiankun, the safe bet with a clear outcome, or the Enhancement Skill, which is like opening a treasure chest?’

Zhang Deming pondered for a long while before his gaze settled on the Enhancement Skill.

The main reason was its requirement of several hundred points of Qi Fortune. Despite accumulating for a full year, Zhang Deming was still a long way off.

The first transition of the Duality stage provided the greatest boost to a Technique, which meant Zhang Deming could essentially get a large amount of Qi Fortune for free.

Once he factored in this chunk of Qi Fortune, it didn’t matter what new functions the Enhancement Skill developed from the entanglement. For Zhang Deming, opening this ”treasure chest” was a guaranteed win.

With his mind made up, Zhang Deming hesitated no longer. He began circulating his Cultivation Technique once more and started forming the hand signs for the breakthrough.

A moment later, the Rune Core emerged from between Zhang Deming’s eyebrows and hovered in the air.

Three miniature Runes circled the Rune Core, spinning rapidly.

As Zhang Deming’s hands formed the signs, two of the three Runes slowly faded away, leaving only the Rune for the Enhancement Skill.

Following Zhang Deming’s movements, the Rune Light Ball began to vibrate and intertwine deeply with the Rune Core. However, the fusion of the two Runes proved exceptionally difficult.

Zhang Deming’s face paled as the pressure on him suddenly skyrocketed. The two Runes nearly flew apart as a result.

Seeing this, Zhang Deming judged that the time was right. He quickly took out various formula ingredients, transforming them into countless motes of Spiritual Light and fusing them into the process.

Instantly, the two violently vibrating Runes stabilized somewhat, and the pressure on Zhang Deming lessened dramatically.

However, the fusion remained difficult, devolving into a tug-of-war.

Gritting his teeth, Zhang Deming managed to preliminarily meld the two Runes together. Once they had just begun to merge, he decisively took out the Infant Spirit Hollow Jade. Guiding it with both hands, he submerged the freshly bonded Runes into the jade.

The instant the Runes touched the Infant Spirit Hollow Jade, they strangely merged into it.

Inside the blood-red jade, an infant-shaped current of air was instantly absorbed by the Runes the moment they entered.

Then, inside the jade, the two Runes began to pulse rhythmically, like a heartbeat.

The Infant Spirit Hollow Jade rotated gently. As the Runes pulsed, the blood-red color within the jade began to flow into them.

Under this influence, the Runes also began to undergo a profound fusion and transformation.

By the time the blood-red jade had become completely transparent, the two Runes had already fused by more than half—about ninety percent complete.

Normally, the advancement would be considered complete at this point. One would only need to spend a few dozen to a hundred years slowly refining it to complete the final fusion and achieve the ultimate sublimation.

But Zhang Deming didn’t stop. With a flip of his hand, he produced a pile of optional Auxiliary Materials, the most notable of which was the Heart-Connected Lotus Root.

As the optional materials were turned into Spiritual Light and absorbed one by one, the Runes edged closer and closer to their final fusion.

When the last item, the Heart-Connected Lotus Root, was finally integrated, the Runes gave a final, powerful tremor. The now-transparent Infant Spirit Hollow Jade instantly dissolved into Spiritual Light and vanished.

The newly formed Rune, nurtured within, pulsed once before shooting back between Zhang Deming’s eyebrows.

Zhang Deming’s entire body went rigid. He tilted his head back and began to float upward, as if being pulled by a rope tied around his waist.

As the Rune between his eyebrows flickered, Dantian Spiritual Power surged through his entire body, disappearing into his very cells.

The moment his Dantian was completely depleted, a single, incredibly pure strand of Spiritual Power was born from its depths. At that same instant, Zhang Deming’s aura began to surge.