The Programmer Cultivator

Chapter 45: Chapter 43: Re-entering the Scripture Pavilion

The sleepy-eyed youth froze for a moment. His drowsiness vanished instantly, and he was wide awake.

’An Entry Order?’

He turned to look at Zhang Deming in astonishment. When he saw that Zhang Deming was only an Intermediate Apprentice, a look of shock appeared on his face.

You had to understand, when an Outer Disciple needed to spend Contribution Points to learn a technique, it usually meant they had already mastered the four free magic skills.

The three basic magic skills, plus the one chosen from the free token they first received.

If they hadn’t mastered them, what normal person would come and spend extra money to learn other magic?

Were they crazy, or were their Spirit Stones chafing their balls?

That made this terrifying, because the basic requirement for promotion to the Inner Sect was reaching Advanced Apprentice Cultivation and mastering at least three magic skills.

And this fundamental threshold held back the vast majority of Outer Disciples.

This showed just how difficult the three-technique requirement was.

Yet this junior brother before him, at only the Intermediate Apprentice Cultivation level, was already exchanging his token.

’Is this for a special reason, or is he truly a super-hidden genius who has already mastered four techniques?’

The youth’s mind raced, his thoughts in turmoil.

”What’s wrong? Can’t I exchange it?” Zhang Deming asked, confused.

”Ah, oh, it’s all done.” The youth snapped back to reality and handed the token to Zhang Deming with a warm, somewhat eager smile.

Zhang Deming gave him a quizzical look, took the token, and turned to leave.

The youth watched Zhang Deming’s departing figure, his hands flying as he began to operate something.

A moment later, most of Zhang Deming’s file from the registration office, including some recent conflicts, appeared before the youth.

’Ha, in this file, the phrase ”offline allocation” is specifically bolded?’

’He went through a special allocation channel in the Resources Department, but there are no specific details left in the database. How interesting!’

’Looks like I’ve accidentally stumbled upon a hidden big shot!’

’Ha, and there’s an order?’

’Heh heh... I’ll hitch a ride. Even if it’s just a possibility, I have to latch onto a big shot like this who has connections to the Inner Sect’s upper echelons.’

’If I manage to latch onto a golden thigh, heh heh...’

With that, he continued to work at a frantic pace.

In a Sect plagued by infighting between several major departments, the power structure was intricate and complex.

And as an Advanced Apprentice who had struggled to reach his current position in the Resources Department, the youth understood this better than anyone.

In the low-level cultivation stages, talent wasn’t actually the dominant factor for most people—resources were.

As a disciple in the Resources Department with a certain degree of authority, he understood this crucial point better than anyone.

Without talent, becoming a Duality Ancestor might be nigh impossible.

But ascending to the Inner Sect, or even reaching the Tai Chi realm, wasn’t so difficult. With enough resources, one could be brute-forced there.

And in the Resources Department, connections were a major resource. Discovering a hidden big shot was an even greater one.

The youth’s hands flew. In the Resources Department’s internal system, the level of Zhang Deming’s file shot up rapidly.

Because the youth had initiated the request, he and Zuo Jiagu—the fat disciple from the Resources Department who was the only one to have had prior contact with Zhang Deming—became Zhang Deming’s primary contacts.

As the youth worked, Zuo Jiagu, who was busy distributing the monthly interest, suddenly froze when he received a notification that a client’s clearance level had been rapidly elevated.

’To make someone from the Outer Sect Headquarters personally raise his clearance level... given those guys’ ”won’t-release-the-hawk-without-spotting-the-rabbit” personalities, it seems this person from Qingyou Pool is truly someone not to be messed with.’

Staring at the message for a long time, Zuo Jiagu’s two wavering theories were instantly solidified by this single notification.

Zuo Jiagu shook his head, cleared his mind of stray thoughts, and honestly went back to distributing the monthly interest.

These few days each month were the busiest time for most people in the Resources Department.

...

After getting the token, Zhang Deming didn’t linger and went straight to the Scripture Pavilion.

He entered the Scripture Pavilion with practiced ease. As fate would have it, the senior brother guarding the door was the same one as before.

At the moment, the man was engrossed in studying something. Zhang Deming glanced over.

Since this wasn’t his first time, the senior brother didn’t even lift his head.

Zhang Deming walked in confidently and stopped at the fork in the entranceway.

’Last time, I was so excited about harvesting energy that I forgot the Jade Scroll side might also have golden specks of energy.’

’Since I’m here this time, I don’t want to miss it again.’

Although he didn’t have even half a Spirit Stone on him and couldn’t actually read the Jade Scrolls...

...that didn’t stop him from browsing the Jade Scroll Area, right? There was no rule saying you had to buy a Jade Scroll just to look around.

Zhang Deming entered the Jade Scroll Area. Unlike the book area, which always had a decent flow of people, the Jade Scroll Area seemed deserted.

The tidy Jade Scroll Area, combined with the desolate atmosphere, felt a little strange.

Zhang Deming observed for a moment, then picked up a Jade Scroll and placed it against his forehead, which only allowed him to browse the summary on it.

As he did this, a golden speck of light flew into his repository, beginning to form a new golden orb.

’It worked!’

Seeing this, Zhang Deming couldn’t help but smile.

As Zhang Deming browsed the Jade Scrolls one by one, the golden orb continued to grow.

After he had browsed all the Jade Scrolls, he discovered a problem: the Jade Scrolls provided much less energy than the books.

The book area and the Jade Scroll Area had the exact same number of techniques.

But from the book area, Zhang Deming had obtained one and a half, or about 1.45 units of energy, whereas the Jade Scroll Area only yielded about 0.85, not even a full orb.

He thought about it for a moment and understood the reason. As this was a beginner’s area, most people would likely choose the free book section.

Therefore, it was normal for the Jade Scrolls to offer less merit.

Having collected all the energy, Zhang Deming left the Jade Scroll Area and went to the book area.

The atmosphere immediately became more lively, no longer so eerily quiet.

This time, Zhang Deming didn’t wander. He went directly to a corner, following the catalog, and found the legendary Spirit Nurturing Technique.

Zhang Deming opened the book for the Spirit Nurturing Technique and discovered that, unlike other techniques, this one had a message on the title page.

’The Spirit Nurturing Technique has extremely high requirements for talent and requires an accumulation of mastered techniques. Practitioners who choose this skill are urged to be cautious.’

’Ha, I thought it would be some famous quote, but it’s just a warning at the beginning?’

’Why not just write, ”To master this art, you must first castrate yourself”?’

’If they wrote that, the warning effect would be off the charts.’

’Forget about cultivating it; the number of Outer Disciples who’d even keep reading wouldn’t be more than you could count on one hand.’

He shook his head, clearing it of his wild thoughts.

After flipping through the Spirit Nurturing Technique for a moment, Zhang Deming took the book directly to the registration desk.

He placed the Spirit Nurturing Technique on the counter and said, ”Senior Brother, I’d like this transcribed.”

The youth kept his head down, not even looking up. He reached out, felt for the book on the counter, and pulled it toward him.

As it passed by his side, he caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye and froze.

He stared at the three large words on the book’s cover—*Spirit Nurturing Technique*—for a few moments before asking in surprise, ”The Spirit Nurturing Technique? You’re choosing this one?”

Zhang Deming nodded and replied, ”Yes, Senior Brother. Is there a problem?”