The Programmer Cultivator

Time was rather tight, and Zhang Deming didn’t want to just dive headfirst into the auction house the moment he arrived in Huayue City without knowing anything.

Therefore, Zhang Deming traveled nonstop through the night, alternating between flying and running. He used Spirit Stones to rapidly recover his spent energy, making him more than twice as fast as an ordinary Tai Chi Cultivator.

By the afternoon of the second day, Zhang Deming had crossed into the territory of Huayue City.

Zhang Deming, looking a bit travel-worn, came to a stop. He glanced at the map in his hand, confirmed he was within Huayue City’s borders, and let out a long sigh of relief.

After advancing for a short while longer, Zhang Deming noticed the number of cultivators he could sense began to increase significantly.

And... so did the chaos.

Because Zhang Deming had his Spiritual Eye active, he could see for several miles around him at full power. In just that short time, he had already witnessed two separate fights.

This sort of thing happened even within the Celestial Spirit Sect, let alone in a border region like this.

Once great power belongs to the individual, and they carry a sharp weapon, the intent to kill arises on its own. The daily gun violence in the United States from his past life was a perfect example.

Such situations were even more common here.

Although Celestial Spirit City was a city of cultivators, its location was chosen no differently than a mortal city. Only its East City district had a mountain range; the other districts had ordinary urban construction.

Huayue City, however, was completely different from Celestial Spirit City. The entire city was nestled amidst towering mountains and precipitous ridges. Beyond its suburbs lay nothing but untamed wilderness and endless primeval forests.

This geographical environment, combined with the large number of Loose Cultivators and a Law Enforcement Team that never patrolled beyond the suburbs, had forged the current atmosphere of Huayue City.

With his Spiritual Eye active and his Hidden Breath Skill running, Zhang Deming moved like a ghost, attracting little attention as he arrived unimpeded outside Huayue City.

Huayue City was built between towering mountains, the massive metropolis encircled by three enormous peaks.

The three peaks formed a triangle around it, with the entire city built in the canyon between them.

Well, its scale was actually too large to be described as a mere canyon.

Only one side—the entrance—was enclosed by a massive city wall.

The moment the tall city wall came into view, one entered the patrol range of the Huayue City guards, and the fighting in the surrounding area began to decrease sharply.

When Zhang Deming arrived outside the city gates, he was slightly taken aback to see two long lines of people waiting to enter.

It was probably because there was only one city wall and two gates that the crowd waiting to enter seemed exceptionally large.

Moreover, it looked like the majority were cultivators; ordinary people were a rare sight.

However, most of these cultivators were at the Apprentice Stage; those at the Tai Chi Stage were few and far between.

Zhang Deming frowned slightly. It had been a long time since he’d become a cultivator, and he hadn’t had to do something like queue up with ordinary people in ages. Seeing cultivators lining up like mortals to enter a city was something he found a little hard to get used to.

Randomly picking a line, Zhang Deming got right in.

After waiting only a moment, the person in front of him suddenly stepped back. A vine sprouted in front of Zhang Deming, gently pressing against the person’s back.

The instant the vine touched their back, the person froze. Zhang Deming clearly felt their entire body tense up for a moment before quickly relaxing again.

Only then did they turn their head to look at Zhang Deming, and then at the vine not far from him.

The person looked like an ordinary middle-aged man. A white rat stood on his shoulder, and around its neck hung a small pouch resembling a miniature Protective Talisman.

After turning around, he said apologetically to Zhang Deming, ”My apologies. I didn’t notice someone was behind me.”

His attitude was calm and polite, but not particularly deferential, as he was one of the few Tai Chi Cultivators present.

Zhang Deming’s brow furrowed slightly at his words. Sensing someone behind him was about to bump into him as well, he sprouted another vine to maintain the distance. The person behind him froze, staring at Zhang Deming in astonishment.

Seeing Zhang Deming frown, the middle-aged man hesitated for a moment before saying, ”Fellow Daoist, your aura-concealing technique is truly impressive, and your mastery of it is particularly refined. But to use it while in line...”

Zhang Deming paused. ’Uh... how could I have forgotten about that?’

The gray mist churning around him slowly began to recede, and Zhang Deming’s presence started to return.

Retracting the vines, he looked up at the middle-aged man and said, ”My apologies, Fellow Daoist. I’ve been on the road for a while and forgot for a moment.”

The corner of the middle-aged man’s mouth twitched slightly upon hearing this. ’Just how cautious, how sneaky, and how proficient with the Hidden Breath Skill do you have to be to forget you’re even using the magic?’

’Doesn’t maintaining a technique require one’s Heart Spirit to be focused on it?’

’Or does the Hidden Breath Skill affect the user himself, making him capable of ignoring his own existence?’

Just as the middle-aged man was about to make a sarcastic remark, the small white rat on his shoulder twitched a few times.

The man paused, then smiled and said, ”We all understand, it’s tough traveling. Fellow Daoist, you must also be here for the Huayue United Auction, yes?”

Zhang Deming nodded. ”Yes. This is my first time in Huayue City.”

The middle-aged man chuckled. ”What a coincidence, it’s my first time too. The auction doesn’t start for a few more days. How about we explore the city together after we get in? We could keep each other company.”

Zhang Deming glanced at the man skeptically, his gaze shifting to the white rat on his shoulder before he replied coolly, ”Hm, we’ll see when the time comes.”

The middle-aged man looked at Zhang Deming with considerable eagerness and said, ”Judging by your robes, Fellow Daoist, could it be that you’re a disciple of the Celestial Spirit Sect?”