The Programmer Cultivator

Moreover, Zhang Deming discovered that the beings living here—’Well, let’s call them people for now,’ he thought—seemed to have extremely limited intelligence, perhaps comparable to those from the primordial era.

The root cause was a massive Heart Spirit Guiding Array that permeated the entire domed space. Its intensity was very low; it was useless against those with Cultivation and had little effect even on Apprentices.

But for ordinary people who lived in this environment from birth, they would undoubtedly grow up to be a mob of fanatical cultists.

The kind of fanatical cultists who lacked any free will, their minds completely consumed by their church.

A church’s power to brainwash ordinary people was already potent. Add to that the Heart Spirit Guiding Array influencing them from the womb, and the constant indoctrination from their social structure...

The people who came from here would have incredibly pure minds. ’Hmm, a different kind of purity... or perhaps it’s better to call it madness,’ he mused.

This wasn’t a city at all. It was a farm—a twisted, perverse kind of farm. As this realization dawned on him, Zhang Deming’s entire demeanor grew grim.

Connecting the dots between the Martial Artists, the Karma in the Secret Realm, and all the little clues from the past two years, a suspicion slowly began to form in his mind.

’Could it be that these so-called Five Elements Remnants aren’t even considered human? If they’re really farming the Human Race... that isn’t just committing an atrocity; their very existence is a sin!’

As he thought of this, sensing the lingering presence of life that hadn’t yet completely faded from the area, Zhang Deming’s mood grew exceptionally foul.

He was no compassionate Saint, nor could his personal philosophy even be considered that of a moralist who cared for all of humanity.

But as someone who leaned toward order, this kind of act was unacceptable, regardless of one’s worldview.

Even most Demon Path Cultivators would find this unacceptable, surely. Anyone who could accept something like this couldn’t be called human at all! They deserved to be put to death by a thousand cuts.

As this suspicion solidified based on numerous clues, Zhang Deming’s expression grew incomparably grim, and he began to meticulously search for more evidence.

’If this all happened recently, the mass movement of so many people must have left a trail,’ he thought.

Because the area was so empty and devoid of people, there was very little activity under the dome. In fact, if not for the puppets that occasionally emerged from the tunnel entrances, the place would be a complete ghost town.

This made Zhang Deming’s search exceptionally easy, as he didn’t need to hide from anything.

After just a few moments, Zhang Deming pieced together the clues and found a lead, heading towards a large tunnel.

Zhang Deming cautiously made his way through the tunnel. After traveling a great distance, he arrived in another vast, domed space.

This space was slightly different from the last one. While the floor of the previous chamber had been circular, this one was a vast, empty pentagon.

There were no clusters of dense caves around the perimeter. Instead, there were just five openings, one at each corner of the pentagon. Zhang Deming currently stood at one of these corners.

The opening was a great distance from the ground. Looking down, he could see that the entire pentagonal platform below was a single, colossal altar.

Countless blood-red Runes covered the altar’s surface, and at each of its five corners sat a massive pool filled with some kind of solution.

Directly below Zhang Deming was one of these pools. A metallic liquid churned within it, and he could clearly see numerous severed limbs rapidly dissolving inside.

As the liquid churned, a profoundly evil aura emanated from the pool. It was as if countless Vengeful Spirits and Resentful Souls were trapped within, tearing at one another and shrieking in agony.

In the very center of the pool, a head-sized metal sphere hovered. Parts of its surface were missing, as if they had been hacked away by a Sword.

As the viscous fluid in the pool churned, silvery tendrils, fine as needles, would occasionally rise from the surface. A few of them would stretch upward, touch the sphere, and instantly merge into it.

The sphere itself was completely still, as if in a deep slumber, while everything around it operated automatically.

A main channel ran from the front of the pool toward the center of the pentagonal altar. At the very heart of the main altar sat a miniature one, its somewhat sacred appearance forming a stark contrast with the surrounding evil.

Something should have been inlaid in the miniature altar, but it was now empty.

Because of this, the liquid from the pool would creep down the channel, fail to converge with the liquids from the other four pools, and then flow back.

The other four pools at the corners of the altar operated similarly. The only difference was that the pool to Zhang Deming’s left was filled with magma. Its aura was also strange, but it was a different kind of strangeness from that of the silvery liquid.

The pool on his right contained an emerald-green liquid, while the two pools on the opposite side of the altar also held bizarre fluids.

The liquids in the five pools had their own purposes: one devoured flesh and dissolved bone, while the others specialized in Vitality Devouring, Bloodline Devouring, Spirituality Devouring, and Spirit Wisdom Devouring, respectively.

If a living person were to fall in here, they would have their marrow sucked from their bones and their soul torn from their skin. They would be utterly devoured, in every conceivable way.

Each of the five pools had a channel leading to the altar’s center. As the five evil liquids circulated, they only served to make the small, pure altar at the heart of it all appear exceptionally sacred by contrast.