The Programmer Cultivator

Upon hearing Qin Shizhong’s words, Wang Qian paused. After a flicker in her eyes, she set two of the beads down and swallowed one.

As she swallowed it, a faint Spiritual Light emanated from her body. A sparse, hollow sphere of light points surrounded her.

”This is... a Top-Grade Spirit Root Talent of at least 75 points?”

Qin Shizhong said in astonishment, watching Wang Qian. She’d had no Qi Sensing at all, yet after swallowing a single Spirit Nurturing Bead, she had actually formed a sparse, hollow sphere instead of wasting all the energy.

Zhang Deming smiled. ”I had a feeling she had some Talent, but I never imagined she’d be such a promising prospect.”

As they spoke, the sparse, hollow sphere lasted only for a moment before shattering.

Of course, Wang Qian hadn’t successfully completed the Enlightenment Introduction, but she now had a hint of Qi Sensing, which meant she had taken her first step into the circle of Cultivators.

When she opened her eyes, she understood what the bead was—or at least, what it did.

She didn’t immediately swallow another bead. Instead, she closed her eyes to process the information in her mind.

A moment later, she took out another bead. Surprisingly, she didn’t swallow it. Instead, as if self-taught, she held the bead and tentatively used the tiny bit of Spiritual Power in her body to activate it.

This time, dense Spiritual Power Light Points enveloped her, forming a bright, hollow circle. A pair of miniature wings flew into her mind. A moment later, she opened her eyes, and a Spirit Wind flashed under her feet before vanishing.

Zhang Deming watched with mild surprise. He had thought that even with her considerable Talent, as someone who hadn’t yet begun cultivating, her chances of success with all three beads combined would be thirty to fifty percent at best.

He never imagined she would succeed with just two.

Just then, Zhang Deming’s expression shifted. Following the Subprogram’s entry point, he entered the Spirit Nurturing Space.

His consciousness swept through the warehouse. Energy was surging within it as both Merit and Qi Fortune rapidly coalesced.

A moment later, everything stabilized. Zhang Deming discovered that he had gained five points of Merit and seventeen points of Qi Fortune.

Zhang Deming was pleasantly surprised by this enormous gain.

After all, aside from the few individuals he was regularly ’shearing’ for resources, no one else’s advancement to the Tai Chi realm had ever yielded as much Energy as her single Enlightenment Introduction.

’So, are the test results in? Is the greatest reward gained from using Destiny Alteration on a mortal with absolutely no chance to cultivate? Or is this a special case, and she’s just one of those rare ”mongrel sheep” that naturally shed a lot of wool?’

’Or maybe it’s both?’ As his thoughts flickered, Zhang Deming exited the Spirit Nurturing Space.

...

”Hm, not bad. You can follow me from now on.” Zhang Deming nodded and said, ”I don’t have a page, anyway. You’re a bit old for it, but you should just make the cut.”

Wang Qian didn’t understand the rest, but she understood that she could follow Zhang Deming. She immediately bowed and said, ”This servant thanks the Immortal Envoy...”

”Stop. From now on, address yourself as ’Disciple’ or ’Junior.’ Just don’t use that. As for me, you can call me Martial Uncle or Young Master,” Zhang Deming immediately interrupted.

Wang Qian paused for a moment before replying, ”This Disciple understands, Young Master.”

Hearing her form of address, Qin Shizhong gave Wang Qian another serious look. His eyes flickered as he began to wonder if he had offered his favor to the right person.

”Alright, I still have other places to be in the city. Go say your goodbyes. The next time you come back... who knows how many of these people will still be alive,” Zhang Deming said bluntly.

Wang Qian looked back. She felt no affection for her clan sisters. Although she understood their previous actions and didn’t hate them, any feelings she once had were now gone.

Her gaze, however, fell on a teary-eyed eight-year-old girl in the crowd. An aunt, afraid the girl might ruin this monumental opportunity for the Wang Family, held her firmly by the shoulders, preventing her from stepping forward. This was the same aunt who had shielded her own younger sister but had failed to appear during Wang Qian’s torment.

”Second Aunt, my sister will have to rely on you from now on,” the usually cold and detached Wang Qian said, her voice suddenly choked with emotion.

Before the woman could reply, the old matriarch holding the red Spiritual Tablet spoke up. ”Go with the Immortal Master and serve him well. As long as you are with him for a single day, the Wang Family won’t dare to mistreat her.”

Zhang Deming watched quietly, saying nothing about taking the sister along as well.

’Given the situation before, saving her was my undeniable duty. But bringing more people along... I was only doing this because I needed a mortal to guide onto the path of cultivation. I’m not about to start taking on entire families.’

’Even my martial brothers wouldn’t do this. At most, they’d test the little girl’s Spirit Root. But I’m not on a recruitment mission, so I’ll let it be.’

’Besides, whether she chose for her ”chickens and dogs to ascend to heaven with her” or to leave the vast Red Dust behind was a decision for her to make in the future.’

”Let’s go!”

Seeing that she was about done with her goodbyes, Zhang Deming extended two Vines from his waist that wrapped around Wang Qian and Qin Shizhong. Wings unfurled from his back, and with a slight vibration, he flew out of the Wang Family estate and toward the chaos of Jing City.

...

The three of them arrived in the city. In just the short distance of half a city district, they witnessed countless tragedies unfolding. Goaded on by Martial Artists, the populace was beginning to break down. Compounded by the Array’s influence, the situation was quickly snowballing.

”Martial Uncle, let this Disciple go down!” Although Qin Shizhong cared little for mortals, he spoke up after seeing the dark expression on Zhang Deming’s face.

Zhang Deming said flatly, ”There’s no need.”

He led Qin Shizhong and Wang Qian to the largest square in Jing City—the Disciple Recruitment Plaza—and landed. Qin Shizhong looked at Zhang Deming in confusion, wondering what he was planning.

”This must be the place,” Zhang Deming said with conviction after a moment of sensing.

As he finished speaking, Spiritual Power surged in his hands. Beneath the plaza, lines of Spiritual Power began to converge and emerge.

”Is that... the Array Heart affecting the city?” Qin Shizhong asked.