The Programmer Cultivator

And all of this was the fault of the Spirit Nurturing Holy Land.

A single Spirit Nurturing Master had not only created a Spirit Nurturing Holy Land but had also turned the wheel of an entire era.

But these seemingly negative developments had actually led to Hongmeng becoming increasingly prosperous. In the past, it was considered good for an Upper Sect to have even one Supreme Elder.

Often, there were even transitional periods where no one was ready to take up the mantle.

But now, in the span of a few short millennia—less than ten thousand years—after the Spirit Nurturing Holy Land became the Third Holy Land, every major Upper Sect had several Supreme Elders.

In the past, the Celestial Spirit Sect’s current strength would have certainly placed it in the upper echelons of the Upper Sects. Now, however, it was merely in the middle-to-lower ranks.

Therefore, this era of resources was actually one of progress, not regression.

The drawbacks of this resource blockade were an inevitable consequence of the era’s advancement.

As a modern person, Zhang Deming understood this very well. After all, there was no real difference between the Noble Families of this world and the capitalists of his.

The major Holy Lands understood this even more clearly. They had more than a few ancient entities who were thousands or even tens of thousands of years old, and their powers were built on Inheritances stretching back hundreds of thousands of years. It was impossible for them not to be aware of these things.

Furthermore, the Holy Lands were not blind to the future stratification of Hongmeng’s classes, the consolidation of the resource network, and the dead end facing those from Humble Families. Hadn’t the Celestial Secret Grotto Heaven already calculated this ten thousand years in advance? Wasn’t that why they had introduced the Outer Realm?

Many people only saw the downsides, believing that Hongmeng was regressing and heading down the wrong path.

Some extremist Cultivators, in their attempts to halt the march of progress, had even turned to the Demon Path. They fought for this cause their entire lives, yet achieved little, instead harming countless other Cultivators in the process.

Such situations and people were not uncommon in his previous life. It could only be said that, due to their perspective, they could only see the negative aspects of progress.

...

Zhang Deming and Fanx Yunfei then went over several more matters. After a long while, their discussion finally concluded.

Then, Zhang Deming and Fanx Yunfei stood up and returned to the field outside the small courtyard.

Fanx Yunfei cautiously deactivated the layers of protection one by one. Watching the endless series of different Arrays, Zhang Deming was a little speechless.

The surrounding Four-Star Medicinal Herbs only had three to five layers of necessary defenses. This Nine-Turn Profound Spirit Grass, however, was protected by at least ten to twenty layers of Defense Arrays, none of which were low-level, and each served a different function.

’Do you have to be this careful? If the Arrays aren’t breathable or something, you’ll suffocate the person—er, the grass to death!’

’And this is inside a Secret Realm, for crying out loud!’

Zhang Deming’s face twitched as he watched the other man continuously deactivating the Arrays, his thoughts wandering.

After a long time, Fanx Yunfei finally finished cautiously deactivating all the Arrays. Then, with a wave of his hand, a massive protective shield immediately enveloped the area.

Zhang Deming: ”...”

At that moment, he felt a sense of familiarity. It was the same kind of cautious stance he took when he went out. ’Hm, except his is about three to five times more extreme than mine.’

”Are you done?” Zhang Deming asked uncertainly when the other man stopped.

Fanx Yunfei nodded seriously and said, ”I’m done. But you should hurry, Junior Brother Zhang. That way, I can put the protections back up sooner.”

Zhang Deming: ”...”

’I thought you were some kind of old pervert, but then you turned out to be the male lead in a sappy romance. Just when I think I have you figured out, you pull this? Are you trying to be one of those guys who’s just full of surprises?’

Zhang Deming took a deep breath and said, ”Senior Brother Fanx, you’d better be sure about this. Once I begin, there’s no changing course.

If you commit to this path, the road ahead will be quite difficult.

After all, you’ll become a Four Symbols Cultivator, but without being able to use Senior Sister’s power, your strength will only be that of half a Four Symbols Cultivator. Meanwhile, the materials you’ve spent will be more than double what a normal Four Symbols Cultivator would use.

From the Sect’s perspective, this is a huge loss. If the Sect and the various clans find out, things won’t be easy for you, Senior Brother.”

Fanx Yunfei smiled. ”It’s fine. Although my Cultivation isn’t much to speak of, I haven’t just been wasting my years away. Matters within the Sect aren’t too much trouble for me.”

”Alright then. As long as you understand the stakes,” Zhang Deming said with a nod.

With that, his hands began to emit the Spiritual Power Light Points unique to a Spirit Nurturing Master. A dynamic stream of water appeared in his hands.

As the water swirled, countless more Spiritual Power Light Points emerged from all around Zhang Deming, flying into the stream like swallow chicks returning to their nest.

Only when the entire lively stream of water had become crystal clear did Zhang Deming stop, looking somewhat strained.

The script ran quickly, restoring his spent energy. Using a Tier Four Technique with Duality Cultivation was already draining, and the Spirit Nurturing Technique was especially demanding among them.

This promotion had once again left Zhang Deming feeling the strain on his power reserves.

Zhang Deming looked at the exceptionally vibrant stream of water in his hand and projected it into the withered Spirit Plant before him.

The stream of water vanished into the Nine-Turn Profound Spirit Grass without any resistance. The withered grass swayed slightly, and then... there was no further movement?

”Is it... done?” Fanx Yunfei asked after a moment of stunned silence, staring at the unchanged Nine-Turn Profound Spirit Grass.

Zhang Deming spread his hands and rolled his eyes. ”If you wanted me to gamble on a single, risky attempt that either works instantly or causes the plant to explode into a burst of Spiritual Light, then sure, we wouldn’t be ’done’ yet!”

”That...” Fanx Yunfei choked on his words, at a loss. It was clear that whenever Zhou Qiaoru was involved, he couldn’t maintain his usual composure.

Zhang Deming shook his head. ”From now on, I’ll come back periodically. We’ll nurture it slowly and perform the Spirit Awakening little by little.