The Programmer Cultivator

A great fireball hung in the sky, scorching the earth below. The weather was incredibly hot.

Not a speck of green could be seen, nor could a hint of moisture be felt.

The only thing that allowed Zhang Deming to relax slightly was that the concentration of Spiritual Qi in the environment hadn’t changed significantly; it was still at the level of a One-Star Spirit Vein.

After surveying his surroundings, Zhang Deming’s brow furrowed slightly. He had now learned the Entry-Level Technique for Arrays—Heart Eye Numerology—and it had even mutated a little.

Zhang Deming was certain this wasn’t some kind of Array-generated environment, but a genuine, real desert.

He looked down at the storage pouch at his waist. To his senses, it was as if it didn’t exist; he had completely lost his connection to it.

Zhang Deming tentatively channeled a bit of Spiritual Power into it, but the storage pouch didn’t react at all.

’Looks like it’s really been sealed.’

Thinking back on the options from before, he realized they were both choices and clues.

’Survival wisdom, huh!’

’Am I supposed to walk out of this desert, or deal with things while I’m in here?’

’Or is the initial choice also part of the test?’

Setting those thoughts aside for now, survival wisdom was, first and foremost, about survival. As a Tai Chi Cultivator, he hadn’t yet reached the stage of complete Fasting.

At his current level of Cultivation, he would grow weak after five or six days without food. After ten to fifteen days, his body’s functions would start to fail.

At his current Cultivation, Spiritual Power couldn’t solve every problem.

His only saving grace was that he knew Water Element Techniques—and quite a few of them at that.

Therefore, to survive in this environment, he had already solved one of the two most critical problems: water and food.

Zhang Deming contemplated for a long while. He scanned his surroundings again, looked up at the great fireball in the sky, chose a direction, and tentatively began to move forward.

Light Wings appeared at his heels, and Zhang Deming shot forward.

Using the Fireball to fix his bearing, Zhang Deming began to run at full speed.

As Zhang Deming advanced, the desert remained unchanged, its breadth unknown.

Half an hour later, Zhang Deming’s brow furrowed slightly.

At his current speed, he had run at least a hundred kilometers, but there was still no change whatsoever.

’Just how big is this desert?’

’Wait, am I even running in a straight line?’

Zhang Deming looked up at the Fireball in the sky again. ’As the only directional marker, could this thing be a trap?’

Zhang Deming considered this and thought it was highly likely.

He reached into his pocket and took out the small, book-like map Magical Artifact. Tapping open the Light Screen, he saw that the recording function was completely useless. ’Looks like I won’t be able to take that shortcut,’ he thought.

’So here’s the problem: in a desert with no reliable celestial bodies and the high probability of being disoriented, how am I supposed to find my way?’

Zhang Deming pondered for a moment, searched himself, and then reached up to remove the hairpin from his hair.

’This thing should be metal, right?’

Zhang Deming wasn’t entirely sure. In any case, it wasn’t wood. It was part of the ordinary clothes issued by the Sect.

He took down the hairpin and examined it. ’It’s a bit big for a needle, but it should work.’

”Technique: Spirit Water Technique.”

His hands flew through the signs for the Spell, and a lively stream of water materialized and floated before Zhang Deming.

As Zhang Deming channeled his Spiritual Power, the stream of water before him gathered into a sphere and slowly expanded.

Eventually, it grew to the size of a fishbowl.

Zhang Deming controlled the water, shaping it into a hemisphere.

It was flat on top with a spherical bottom.

Looking at the hemispherical ball of water, Zhang Deming gently dropped the hairpin into it.

The moment Zhang Deming let go, the hairpin passed straight through the ball of water and fell onto the sand.

Zhang Deming: ”...”

’Judging by the weight, it must be metal. The problem is, it’s a bit too heavy...’

He picked up the hairpin again as Spiritual Power surged.

”Technique: Feather Fall Technique!”

The entire hairpin instantly became incredibly light, like a feather. Other than that, there was nothing special about it.

Once again, Zhang Deming gently placed the hairpin onto the surface of the water ball in front of him.

This time, the hairpin didn’t sink but floated directly on the surface of the hemispherical ball of water.

Just like that, Zhang Deming had fashioned an extremely crude, retro, and primitive Sinan.

But...

The hairpin floating on the water’s surface didn’t move at all.

Refusing to believe it, Zhang Deming reached out and nudged it. The result was the same: whatever position he pushed the hairpin into, it stayed in.

’So, I just used middle school knowledge I forgot over a decade ago, and now you’re telling me there’s magnetic interference here, or there’s no goddamn magnetic field at all?’

Staring at the ball of water, Zhang Deming was at a complete loss.

’I can’t even make a Sinan, and the only celestial body is probably a trap. So how am I supposed to find my direction?’

After thinking for a long time, Zhang Deming still couldn’t come up with a good solution. Gazing at the endless golden sand and the ceaseless wind, he felt a growing sense of frustration.

He dispelled the ball of water and stuck the hairpin back in his hair.

A pair of half-sized Light Wings appeared on his back and began to vibrate rapidly. Zhang Deming took a deep breath and crouched into a deep squat.

Then, he pushed off with his legs, shooting toward the sky.

The Light Wings on his back vibrated at high speed. Propelled by the initial burst of force, Zhang Deming soared into the air as if taking flight.

He shot up dozens of meters before his upward momentum slowly ceased. With his Light Wings vibrating rapidly, Zhang Deming chose a direction and began to glide.

Under the effect of the Feather Fall Technique, Zhang Deming glided forward for several kilometers.

After landing, Zhang Deming repeated the process. For a long time, his surroundings remained unchanged.

Zhang Deming paused. ’Uh, this doesn’t seem any different from just walking, does it?’

’Gliding also relies on my sense of direction. I can’t be sure if I’m moving in a straight line, so I still haven’t truly found my bearing.’

Besides the issue with direction, the most serious problem was the complete lack of food.

’If this goes on, I won’t be able to find my way, I can’t be sure I’m traveling straight, and I won’t even be able to solve my most basic problems.’

Hm?

Wait...

A straight line?

A sharp glint flashed in Zhang Deming’s eyes, and a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face.

He opened his hand, and an emerald-green Vine emerged from his palm.

Looking at the Vine, Zhang Deming smiled.

’Just because I have no sense of direction, and it might even be getting manipulated, I can’t find my way or walk in a straight line?’

’Who says?’

With a smile, Zhang Deming caused an emerald-green Spiritual Power Vine to sprout from beneath his feet. It extended and hardened rapidly, reaching its maximum length in an instant.

At regular intervals, a pair of spikes sprouted from the Vine, forming a ninety-degree angle with it and creating a cross-shaped, perpendicular structure.

As the Vine completely hardened, it looked like a vine ladder made of conjoined, emerald crosses.

Watching the vine harden as it grew dozens of meters long, Zhang Deming had a thought, and the vine fell straight to the ground.

Zhang Deming followed the direction of the vine and walked forward.

With every few steps he took, a section at the tail end of the vine would vanish, while the tip extended by the same amount.

With the hardened, straight vine as a guide and the perpendicular spikes as a reference, Zhang Deming had finally found his direction, and he was certain it wouldn’t be affected.

Unless, of course, the very Space of this desert was affected, forming some bizarre, looping dimension.

If that were the case, this would be no trial of survival wisdom.

Having found his direction, Zhang Deming moved forward quickly.

Slowly, his surroundings began to change. The differences were subtle, but Zhang Deming still noticed them.

His spirits lifted. At least he had solved the problem of direction.

And so, Zhang Deming calmed his mind and continued forward at a steady pace.

Of course, since he had to rely on the Growth Technique to move forward, Zhang Deming couldn’t run at full speed.

Fortunately, he had a script for automatic Spiritual Power recovery, plus the rich Spiritual Qi from the surrounding One-Star Spirit Vein.

Zhang Deming didn’t need to travel for a while and then stop for half a day to recover his Spiritual Power.

Zhang Deming maintained a speed that balanced his Spiritual Power consumption and recovery, allowing him to advance quickly.

In an environment like this, which truly tested a person’s patience, time itself seemed to lose all meaning.