The Programmer Cultivator

Hmm... originally, this was just some bullshit from a storybook, but Jian Cheng was a man with a pure Dao Heart, and he actually did it before his promotion to Saint Heir.

What’s even more ridiculous is that he actually managed to defeat everyone across the Hongmeng Realm, suppressing his entire generation. The younger cultivators of his time couldn’t hold their heads high; not a single one could compete with him.

This wouldn’t have been a big deal on its own, but as he kept fighting, he developed an invincible confidence. Then, within his pure Dao Heart, he came to believe this was truly the momentum of invincibility.

On top of that, he walked the Extreme Dao—specifically, the Extreme Weapon Sword Dao—cultivating a single Flying Sword to the very end. It was the pure extreme of one man, one Sword, and nothing else.

Riding that momentum, he founded his Invincible Sword Domain, became a top-tier Saint Heir, and forged a life of invincibility.

And just like that, a storybook created the custom of Traveling the World in the Hongmeng Realm. For the author of that storybook, it was something to brag about for a lifetime.

In truth, after Jian Cheng, through the changing eras, a few other geniuses appeared who could genuinely defeat everyone across Hongmeng. But aside from gaining a great deal of fame, it didn’t really serve any special purpose.

Jian Cheng’s success was entirely due to who he was.

However, the custom was preserved. After all, if one could successfully complete this grand slam of challenges, the publicity for their Sect was undeniable.

Because of this, whenever a Saint Heir was promoted, there would always be discussion conferences. Of course, a journey Traveling the World wasn’t always a given.

Among them, those belonging to the Spirit Mountain Holy Land were the most enthusiastic.

Because those bald-headed monks seemed to have found another path within this tradition: not fighting, but traveling, holding discussions, and experiencing the sufferings of the Human World to trigger the formation of their Original Vow.

They make a foundational great vow, and starting from that point, they repeatedly ”take out loans” and ”cash out,” ultimately achieving a glorious life.

Hmm... of course, after succeeding, they have to repay their debts. That’s a given.

This model is very similar to the real estate investors from my previous life: buy a house, take out a mortgage, buy another house, take out another mortgage, and use one original property to leverage a whole portfolio of assets.

In reality, their net worth is negative, but once they succeed, they can always repay it slowly and do so in grand style. Of course, if they fail and one link in the chain breaks, the outcome is also tragic.

And at the Spirit Mountain Holy Land, more than one of these bald-headed Saint Heirs has made a great vow from their true heart while traveling, thus forging their foundation.

In Hongmeng, a hundred years marks a minor ’round’ of discussions. In the current hundred-year round, it’s a monk from Xuande Temple who is Traveling the World.

When he’s finished, another Saint Heir of the Spirit Mountain Holy Land will be born—well, a figure they call the Buddha’s Son will be born.

He has already completed most of his journey. Because the Celestial Spirit Sect is a mid-tier Upper Sect, our discussion conference is scheduled for later.

This is the origin of these discussion tours. Originally, Hongmeng only had this one World Discussion Conference.

But twenty or thirty years ago, the Three Holy Lands of Hongmeng created an ”Outer Realm Study Group Exchange Conference,” which also followed the format of a world-traveling discussion tour.

The appearance of this event was what marked the official start of comprehensive contact between Hongmeng officials, the Outer Realm, and the Celestial Universe Federation.

So now, there are two exchange conferences about to arrive at the Celestial Spirit Sect: one is the Traveling the World discussion tour, and the other is essentially for the purpose of ”stealing techniques” from each other.

The Celestial Spirit Sect is used to the Traveling the World discussion tour and will probably just go through the motions. After all, if it were a tour from the other Holy Lands, we could at least try to see if we could win a fight.

But when it comes to the Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s tour, the Celestial Spirit Sect is at a disadvantage. No one here is likely to win a debate against them.

They often don’t fight, but actually debate, and the cultivation of Oratory is not well-developed in the Celestial Spirit Sect. Even the Calligraphy Dao—one of the four arts of the Elegant Sect—doesn’t have many cultivators.

As for the Outer Realm Study Group Exchange Conference, however, several departments in the Sect are eager to steal their techniques, and enthusiasm is running quite high.

There’s a story behind this as well.

Originally, this study group was not well-received by the extremely xenophobic Sects of Hongmeng. After all, Hongmeng’s tens of thousands of years of culture were deep-rooted, making communication difficult. For a time, the group was severely ostracized.

But after the ”Oratory: Words” incident, the tides completely turned. After all, the prospect of opening a new Dao was extremely tempting to the major Sects.

On top of that, after the incident, all sorts of rumors started flying around: things like how cheap and convenient the Outer Realm’s pseudo-Artifact Spirits were, or how low-level yet powerful their Artifact Cultivators were, and so on...

Moreover, there was actual evidence to back up these rumors, so one can imagine how public opinion shifted after that.

Before, they were given a hard time wherever they went. At an exchange conference, they wouldn’t even be offered a cup of tea.

During the time stipulated by the Holy Lands, the Sects would just call out two servants to chat with the big shots from the Outer Realm, and that would be it. It was a completely humiliating exchange.

They only did that much out of respect for the Three Great Holy Lands, begrudgingly going through the motions.

Even after going through these motions, the major Sects probably still felt that receiving these Outer Realm barbarians was a disgrace to their ancestors.

’After all, we’re being forced to host them; our ancestors would surely be displeased!’

Then, the Outer Realm Study Group’s luck suddenly took a turn for the worse.

They were often hit by wind and rain on their journeys, even thunderstorms. And the damn lightning would only ever strike their flying ship.

’Well, what do you expect when your ship is made of ordinary metal? In our Hongmeng Realm, that’s just asking to be struck by lightning.’

During that period, the Outer Realm Study Group’s suffering was indescribable, and they could barely make any progress.

They would even run into all sorts of ”Loose Cultivators” on the road, getting robbed, caught in the crossfire of Magical Combat, and facing all kinds of other misfortunes. The most ridiculous time, they even got dragged into a Thunder Tribulation. You could write an enhanced version of the eighty-one tribulations about their plight.

Despite all this, because no one was physically harmed, the Outer Realm group was surprisingly silent. They endured it all passively, never even complaining to the Hongmeng officials or snitching!

Then, during one exchange, a servant disciple suddenly had an epiphany and comprehended ”Oratory: Words,” opening another new Dao for Hongmeng. Although it was just a branch of Oratory, this was a mere servant! An Apprentice servant!

After that, rumors erupted like a geyser, and the previous hostile sentiment miraculously vanished overnight.

The small Outer Realm Study Group suddenly became a hot commodity. They were warmly welcomed wherever they went, and some Sects even dispatched Disciples to welcome and escort them along their journey.

This complete reversal took only a year. Moreover, this trend has now lasted for more than twenty years and still shows no sign of fading; in fact, it remains exceptionally strong.

The Outer Realm Study Group, for its part, maintained its stance of quietly focusing on its ”technology.” Ignoring the storms raging outside, they silently shouldered their burdens and pressed on, as low-key and as silent as ever.

But seeing all this, Zhang Deming smelled the strong scent of modern tactics—the distinct stench of public opinion manipulation.

’Isn’t this a classic playbook? You find a poster child, use them for propaganda, ride the resulting wave of public opinion, and then roll out a series of pre-planned moves. And just like that, the PR campaign is complete!’

’In my previous life, this was an overused, classic tactic. Even internet marketers wouldn’t dare use a strategy this transparent anymore.’

’It’s too easy for rival astroturfers to expose the setup and launch a counter-attack. You’d even have random bystanders jump in, bashing you to promote themselves, bandwagoning, and chasing clout.’

...

Of course, these two exchange conferences weren’t arriving at the same time. And, well, ”about to arrive” meant sometime in the next few years.

For the Advanced Cultivators of the Hongmeng Realm, a single session of secluded cultivation starts at three to five years, and a century can pass in the blink of an eye. A year or two really is ”imminent.”

Although the Outer Realm Study Group’s tour had been going on for twenty or thirty years, because of their slow travel speed, the Holy Lands had already started several new rounds and were in their middle or late stages, while the study group had only just finished the majority of their first tour.

These are the two types of exchange conferences currently prevalent in the Hongmeng Realm, the two so-called ”journeys.”

As Zhang Deming read through a great deal of such information, his brows slowly began to furrow.

He discovered that in the last twenty or thirty years, after the Holy Lands had opened up contact with the Outer Realm, the cultivation trends in Hongmeng—especially in the hundred paths of the Miscellaneous Arts—had seemingly flourished. However, there was a clear and overarching trend of cultural invasion.

This wasn’t yet apparent in a mid-tier Sect like the Celestial Spirit Sect, and it was likely difficult for even the people from the Outer Realm to detect. After all, it was a matter of ancient culture.