The Programmer Cultivator

Upon hearing this, Li Shifan’s brow furrowed slightly. ”Then before...”

Li Cheng, however, seized on a key point. ”Official?” he asked, puzzled.

Zhang Deming glanced at Li Cheng. ”Yes. Once you meet this region’s Steward, Zhang Wu, he’ll give you a means of contact. That’s when you become an official member.”

Li Cheng’s brow twitched. ”His surname is Zhang?”

Zhang Deming paused, then fixed his gaze on Li Cheng and chuckled. ”You have quite an imagination, Elder. I wish my surname was from his family, too.”

”Unfortunately, while we share the same surname, we’re not related. Steward Zhang isn’t an elder in my family.”

”If I’m not mistaken, you’ve probably looked into my family’s background, haven’t you?”

Neither Li Shifan nor Li Cheng responded to that. Instead, Li Shifan looked at Zhang Deming and asked, ”Senior Brother Zhang, how did you get to meet the Steward?”

Zhang Deming replied, ”I was recruited into the Alliance after doing some work for them, so I guess you could say I was lucky. From the sounds of it, Junior Brother Li, you joined through some sort of hidden trial?”

Li Shifan said, ”I don’t know, either. I only just joined the Alliance, and then I was sent into the Secret Realm, so I’m not too clear on the details myself.”

”As for this Steward Zhang Wu you mentioned, Senior Brother Zhang, I only heard Elder Huang bring him up when I was signing my contract. I’ve never met him. I was wondering if you could ask about my situation for me?”

Zhang Deming’s expression cleared with understanding. ”I see. But you don’t need to worry about that.”

”I heard the Steward mention a while back that he might organize a gathering soon, so the members in our new region can get to know one another.”

Hearing this, Li Shifan’s expression shifted slightly. ”Really? I’d actually be looking forward to that.”

Zhang Deming smiled. ”I’m looking forward to it, too.”

”Senior Brother Zhang, do you know how many Alliance members there are within the Celestial Spirit Sect’s territory?” Li Shifan asked.

Zhang Deming shook his head. ”I’m not sure about that. However, I was the second member Steward Zhang recruited for this new region, so I imagine there aren’t many of us.”

”The second?” Li Shifan questioned.

Zhang Deming nodded. ”That was about a year ago. I’m not sure how many members there are now.”

”As for official members with the means of contact, I only know of three: myself and a grandparent-grandchild pair.”

”And as for what Elder Li has been beating around the bush about—the arrival of Elder Huang—that’s what the ’means of contact’ is for.”

Li Cheng’s expression flickered. ”You’re saying that official, recognized members of the Alliance can use this so-called ’means of contact’ to summon Elder Huang for assistance?”

Zhang Deming nodded. ”Yes. I had my doubts about it before, but now I’m convinced.”

”However, there are some restrictions on using it. The Steward told me it’s a perk for new regions. After the grace period ends, it will not only have restrictions but will also cost Contribution.”

”But to this day, I still don’t know how to earn Contribution. I’m guessing it’s because Steward Zhang hasn’t finished setting up our region yet.”

Having received a definitive answer, Li Shifan and Li Cheng exchanged a look. Li Shifan’s expression grew eager; having unexpectedly entered the Inner Sect, he desperately needed a powerful backer.

Zhang Deming looked at Li Shifan. ”You’ve entered the Inner Sect?”

At the question, Li Shifan’s expression darkened. ”I did. I’d originally thought that with my transfer from the Close Combat Department, I’d be assigned to the Law Enforcement Team’s White Rock Peak.”

”But in the end, I was assigned to Nine Rainbow Peak instead.”

Zhang Deming studied Li Shifan’s face. ”Nine Rainbow Peak? Isn’t that the Miscellaneous Affairs Department’s territory?”

Li Shifan nodded. Zhang Deming pressed, ”So, the enemy your family made... is someone from the Miscellaneous Affairs Department?”

Li Shifan nodded again but remained silent, clearly not wanting to involve Zhang Deming.

Seeing his reluctance, Zhang Deming didn’t press the matter. Instead, he said, ”The first reason I asked you here today was to see if you’d like to transfer to Spirit Nurturing Peak.”

Li Shifan froze. He gave Zhang Deming a long, hard look, his voice turning a little hoarse. ”Senior Brother Zhang, are you trying to make me owe you for the rest of my life?”

Zhang Deming didn’t want the atmosphere to get too heavy, and besides, his motives weren’t entirely pure. He chuckled. ”Relax. I’m not going to ask you to repay me with your body. After all, you’ve already got two men in there. That’s a complicated enough situation as it is. If I got involved, that’d make three. A three-man pile-up? Let’s not go there!”

”You’d be covered in men. So don’t worry, you can just let the Elder here have all the fun of exploiting you.”

After speaking, Zhang Deming even shot Li Cheng a knowing look.

Li Cheng’s ethereal face twitched, and his entire form vanished on the spot.

Li Shifan: ”...”

”If you have no objections, I’ll take that as a yes. The transfer order should come through tomorrow.”

”As for your family’s feud, since you’re not willing to talk about it, I won’t meddle. With Spirit Nurturing Peak backing you, you can at least choose for yourself whether to lay low or fight back.”

”By the way, do you have any preference for your position?”

”We still need a few people at the cliff entrance. I hear it’s a pretty sweet gig—comes with a Two-Star High-Grade Cave Mansion. The only catch is that it might feel a bit like you’re my personal gatekeeper,” Zhang Deming said.

Li Shifan paused for a moment. ”If it’s possible, Senior Brother, please arrange for me to join the Law Enforcement Team’s patrol division.”

”You still plan on going into the back mountains?” Zhang Deming asked in surprise.

Li Shifan nodded. ”My aptitude isn’t great. Trying to climb the ranks slowly based on seniority won’t get me much of a future. If I take my chances in the back mountains, I’ll have a much better shot at success.”

”Because of the strange Karma mutations from the Secret Realm, the outer regions of the back mountains are deserted now. You’d have to go into the mid-regions. Are you sure about this?” Zhang Deming asked.

Li Shifan nodded. ”I’m sure. With my aptitude, just laying low would mean wasting several hundred years of my life.”