The Programmer Cultivator

Even after being raised in the Sect for nearly two years and looking like a fairy on the outside, once you got to know her, you could still unintentionally discover a trace of her deep-seated country roots.

The kind of country-bumpkin vibe that, if she wasn’t careful, could be so jarring it would completely shatter her ethereal aura.

”Wait a minute,” Zhang Deming asked, suddenly remembering something. ”You’re saying you inexplicably jumped up in cultivation again, just like with your Enlightenment Introduction?”

He had originally thought she had used some sort of technique.

Pei Xiaoxiao nodded. ”Yep, that’s right. It was just like that. I just took a nap, and when I woke up, I was like this.

”Master Yuee, Master Gan, and Master Guk even called me in for questioning. I told them the truth, but they didn’t believe me. Master Guk especially. He said I wasn’t even trying with my answers and was treating him like an idiot.

”I felt so wronged! I went over it again and again, breaking down the whole experience for them, but they just sent me away. They told me to wait until you got back, and once I had your permission, we could give them a proper explanation together.

”Master Gan also said that if I really possessed such a technique, the Sect would reward me handsomely. He said the commotion it caused wasn’t small, so the Sect was bound to investigate. It would be better for everyone if they were the ones to ask first.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Deming looked at Pei Xiaoxiao, completely speechless. ’She’s been in the Sect for two years, and she’s still so clueless.’

’If she hadn’t become his Child, she’d probably be stuck playing with mud in some forgotten corner by now!’

’But how on earth did such a clueless girl always manage to make such absurdly huge jumps in her cultivation?’

’What was that supposed to make all those people feel, the ones who struggled desperately to advance for decades without making an inch of progress?’

’Wait, that’s not quite right either!’

’Even if she weren’t his Child, with her current level of cultivation, Pei Xiaoxiao could probably thrive in the Inner Sect, right?’

’After all, the Celestial Spirit Sect only had a few hundred Duality Great Cultivators. In a sect of a million cultivators, that already put her in the upper echelon.’

’However, if she weren’t his Child, that sudden surge in her cultivation wouldn’t have left her merely clueless—she would have been subjected to all sorts of probes and interrogations until her head spun.’

”Master, why are you looking at me like that?” Pei Xiaoxiao asked, feeling a little uneasy as Zhang Deming sized her up. She lowered her head and fidgeted with the hem of her clothes, still looking just like a little girl.

Zhang Deming shook his head. ’She’s seventeen now. Maybe it’s time to let her out and attend more of the daily Sect lessons? If I keep sheltering her like this, she’ll be completely useless!’

”It’s nothing. I understand the situation with the three masters. Has anything been happening in the Flower Sea recently?” Zhang Deming asked. With a slight flutter of his feathered wings, he began flying toward the wooden house in the Flower Sea.

The two pairs of cicada-like wings on Pei Xiaoxiao’s back also vibrated faintly, and she followed, easily keeping pace with Zhang Deming. Even in appearance, the two pairs of transparent wings were no less impressive than the feathered ones on Zhang Deming’s back.

Flying beside Zhang Deming, she shook her head and said, ”Nothing much. A lot of disciples have arrived, though. I think they were sent by the higher-ups to take care of the Flower Demon Elves.”

”How many is ’a lot’?” Zhang Deming asked. ”How many people do you need for just over a hundred Elves?”

”Over a hundred disciples!” Pei Xiaoxiao replied.

Zhang Deming paused, looking at Pei Xiaoxiao in astonishment. ”One disciple for each Flower Demon Elf?”

Pei Xiaoxiao nodded. ”Yes, that’s right.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Deming pondered for a moment before he largely understood the situation. ’This must be a form of early assignment,’ he figured.

”What about Yi Huaihai?” Zhang Deming asked.

”Junior Brother Yi has been practicing his cultivation very seriously lately. I think I might have motivated him!” Pei Xiaoxiao said cheerfully.

’I’m surprised you even noticed you motivated someone.’

Zhang Deming glanced at Pei Xiaoxiao, then asked about a few other routine matters. A short while later, the two of them arrived at the wooden house in the Flower Sea.

The wooden house hadn’t changed much. Qing Xiaolu was in its usual slumber, and Yi Huaihai was taking advantage of the Secret Realm’s Spiritual Qi to cultivate diligently. He was a kid who knew the value of hard work.

’It’s a shame he has a senior sister like her,’ Zhang Deming thought. ’Some gaps can’t be closed with hard work alone. In fact, if he keeps running into situations like this, it might even crush his motivation to cultivate.’

Since the quota of Flower Demon Elves had already been delivered, Zhang Deming was free to raise the remaining ones at his leisure. Coupled with the fact that there were now many other disciples in the Flower Sea, he simply took a look around without personally cultivating any Flower Demon Elves and then left the Secret Realm.

······

After looking around the Cyan Wood Flower Sea and finding nothing else amiss, Zhang Deming concluded that the matter Gan Zili had mentioned must have been Pei Xiaoxiao’s promotion.

Now that he understood what Gan Zili had been talking about, he was no longer in a hurry. After all, he genuinely hadn’t known what happened.

Therefore, after leaving the Secret Realm, Zhang Deming got busy with his daily affairs, even stopping by Xu Weihai’s place to check in.

After finishing his tasks, Zhang Deming went to the Cultivation Room on the third floor early the next morning.

After composing himself, Zhang Deming opened his editing panel and looked at the inventory first.

Merit: 10.9, Qi Fortune: 37.5, Karma: 7.5

Looking at the Energy in his inventory, he knew the white Qi Fortune and golden Merit weren’t the main event. The most critical items were the seven and a half red orbs of light.

They sat quietly in a corner of the inventory, the blood-red orbs radiating all sorts of ominous, sinister, treacherous, and maddening auras.

Karma was something cultivators would normally avoid like the plague. Even those with special techniques rarely dared to touch it with their consciousness the way Zhang Deming was.

Looking at the seven and a half orbs, Zhang Deming carefully withdrew one and turned his attention back to the function bar on the editing panel’s main page.