The Programmer Cultivator

Zhang Deming saw his nervous reaction and waved a hand. ”Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t call you here to investigate your background.”

Yang Guangfu breathed a slight sigh of relief. While it was true he had received Zhang Deming’s approval to enter the Flying Spring Waterfall Cliff, it was an ”approval” he had obtained through certain means.

He had been on edge for the first few days. After all, if anyone actually looked into it, the truth would come out as soon as Zhang Deming and Song Huidong compared notes.

The only reason he’d dared to pull it off was because he had bet that for such a trivial matter, neither of the two would bother to ask the other about it.

But he was afraid they might bring it up to each other by chance, and then it would all blow up in his face.

”Then, Senior Brother Zhang, may I ask why you’ve summoned me?” Yang Guangfu asked.

Zhang Deming smiled and asked, ”Since you’re from the Resources Department, can you allocate resources?”

Yang Guangfu was momentarily taken aback. ”I can, Senior Brother Zhang,” he said. ”The basic authority of every disciple in the Resources Department is resource allocation. It’s our most fundamental duty.”

”The scope of that authority just varies depending on one’s position. Although I’m part of the Secret Group, I still have the basic permissions, and... they’re quite decent.”

Zhang Deming said, ”In that case, you should be able to allocate promotion resources, correct?”

Yang Guangfu paused again, looking Zhang Deming up and down. He asked hesitantly, ”Promotion resources for the Duality stage?”

Zhang Deming shook his head. ”For the Tai Chi stage.”

”Oh, I see,” Yang Guangfu said, realization dawning on him. ”That’s not too difficult. As long as it’s not a top-tier, universal main ingredient for promotion, you just need to have the Contribution points, Senior Brother Zhang.”

”If you were using a top-tier main ingredient for yourself, Senior Brother Zhang, that would be fine. But if you want to sponsor a junior, you’ll need to go through certain procedures.”

Zhang Deming said, ”I don’t need the main ingredients. I just want a basic recipe and some of the supplementary materials.”

Yang Guangfu smiled. ”That’s simple. The Inner Sect is never short on common recipes and supplementary materials; we can requisition them at any time. What path did you need, Senior Brother Zhang?”

Zhang Deming replied calmly, ”The Yin Yang Chess Dao.”

Yang Guangfu had to have an excellent foundation of knowledge to get into the Secret Group, but even he was confused for a moment. Then, as if remembering something, he asked, stunned, ”You mean the Trapped Path from the Extreme Dao—the Yin Yang Extreme Chess Dao?”

Zhang Deming nodded. Yang Guangfu gave him a strange look. ’In all the years he’d known of such a bizarre path, this was the first time he’d ever seen anyone actually request materials for it. Is he running some kind of experiment, or is he really planning to sponsor a junior?’

After a moment of astonishment, Yang Guangfu took out his Identity Card and activated a Light Screen.

”This is the basic recipe for the Yin Yang Extreme Chess Dao. It’s an extremely obscure path, so there isn’t much market demand for the materials.”

”However, because it’s an Extreme Dao, the materials are still generally quite expensive.”

”So, excluding the main ingredients, the recipe plus the supplementary materials will cost a total of three hundred and twenty Contribution points.”

Zhang Deming examined it carefully, then nodded. ”Alright. Place the order.”

As he spoke, he took out his own Identity Card.

Once the payment was complete, Yang Guangfu and Zhang Deming found they had nothing in common to talk about. Aware of the difference in their status from the start, they couldn’t find much to say to each other.

So, after their business was concluded, Yang Guangfu excused himself and left.

Zhang Deming waited for a short while before the materials were delivered to the entrance of the cliff and brought inside by Yang Guangfu.

After receiving the materials, Zhang Deming gave them a quick look and nodded in satisfaction.

Next, Zhang Deming began to compile a list of materials for the Spirit Nurturing Bead he planned to make. After two months of cramming, his knowledge in related fields, particularly those of a Spirit Nurturing Master and Arrays, was at least no longer a liability; he had filled in many of the gaps.

Once he had organized everything, Zhang Deming once again called for Qin Shizhong.

When Qin Shizhong came in, he asked respectfully, ”Master Zhang, what are your instructions?”

Zhang Deming nodded. ”Go and get these things for me.”

With that, Zhang Deming handed him a list of required items. Qin Shizhong glanced at it and left with the list without another word.

Ever since being assigned to his post at the entrance to the Flying Spring Waterfall Cliff, Qin Shizhong had begun familiarizing himself with the small stall markets on Spirit Nurturing Peak. He knew, after all, exactly why he had been able to enter the Inner Sect—he understood how this golden opportunity had fallen into his lap.

Thus, he had already begun his career in the Spirit Nurturing Peak markets during this time.

Every peak in the Celestial Spirit Sect had a considerable population, so each had its own small market. But while they were all called small markets, the ones in the Inner Sect looked far more formal than those in the Outer Sect.

It was no longer a chaotic scene of stalls spread all over the place. And you rarely saw goods being sold by the bundle or the dozen for a single Spirit Stone.

As a result, Qin Shizhong managed to acquire the materials Zhang Deming needed in just half a day. After all, the items Zhang Deming wanted weren’t particularly precious.

Only the Two-Star material for the Tier Three Technique was slightly difficult to find; the other One-Star materials were fairly common.

Before nightfall, Qin Shizhong returned to the Flying Spring Waterfall Tower with the procured materials to report the completion of his task.

”Master Zhang, the total comes to one hundred ninety-three Spirit Stones,” Qin Shizhong said.

Zhang Deming glanced at him. ”That was fast. Have you set up shop on Spirit Nurturing Peak again?”

Hearing this, Qin Shizhong broke into a genuine smile. ”Yes, Master Zhang. And I have you to thank for it.”

Zhang Deming gave a slight smile. ”Why thank me? That’s your own ability. By the way, are you sure you don’t want to do business here with me? You’re content to just run errands?”

”You should know, this is a huge amount of Spirit Stones we’re talking about. If you handle this properly, you could build quite a network for yourself in the Inner Sect.”