The Programmer Cultivator

Li Shifan paused for a moment, then said, ”My advancement came from absorbing his Life Artifact, creating a deep connection. This will be quite beneficial for me down the line, so I won’t stand on ceremony with you, Senior Brother.”

Zhang Deming nodded. ”Alright. If you’re taking the sword hilt, I’ll take the vine puppet.”

Hearing this, Li Shifan nodded as well. ”Okay, no problem.”

”Then what about this Spirit Summoning Essence Soul Jade?” Zhang Deming asked, hesitating.

Li Shifan replied, ”If you hadn’t acted so decisively this time, Senior Brother Zhang, I doubt my ancestor and I would have fared well.

Ancestor’s Life Artifact shattered and dissipated into the ether, and I would have likely ended up under Soul Control.

You’re the one who did the most, Senior Brother. I may have covered the expense of calling for reinforcements, but that doesn’t cancel out your contribution.

But now, I’ve advanced directly to the Duality realm, and Ancestor has a chance to switch cultivation paths. We’ve actually become the biggest beneficiaries. So, Senior Brother, you should take this Spirit Summoning Essence Soul Jade.

Besides, it’s one of the main ingredients for advancing to the Three Talents realm on the Summoning Path. It’s useless to me.”

Zhang Deming paused at his words. After a moment of thought, he said, ”Alright. I’ll take the Spirit Summoning Essence Soul Jade. In exchange, the Sword Spirit Beads from before, plus any more we find when we clear this place out, will all be yours, no matter how many there are. We won’t factor them into the final split.

The difference in value is significant, I know, but you really did gain a great deal this time. All things considered, I’m not taking too much advantage of you. And if we’re dividing based on contribution, this should make us more or less even.”

’Of course, if I were to factor in my identity as Elder Huang, Li Shifan would owe me big time. But that’s not how these things can be calculated. Besides, we’ve faced life and death together several times now; there’s no need to be so pedantic.’

The reason Zhang Deming insisted on settling things so clearly on the surface was, as he’d said before, that it was the only way for things to last in the long run.

Having lived through a past life in an era of rampant materialism, he knew full well that no matter how good a relationship was, cracks would slowly appear if accounts weren’t kept clear.

Once they had settled the matter, Li Cheng’s scroll slowly unfurled. It emitted a faint suction force, which pulled the floating sword hilt inside.

Although he hadn’t completely switched paths, and his Lifebound Painting had yet to form a complete, independent space, that only applied to an ordinary storage space.

A special Magic Space had always existed within it, similar in principle to Zhang Deming’s warehouse, though their applications were definitely different.

The opportunity he’d just had to switch paths arose because he had absorbed a tenth of the Life Artifact’s Broken Sword Spiritual Light. This created a deep connection with the Broken Sword, making it easy for him to collect the hilt. To him, this hilt wasn’t just some Artifact; it felt more like a part of his Sword Spirit.

Seeing this, Zhang Deming gestured with his hand, and the head-sized Spirit Summoning Essence Soul Jade, along with the broken puppet resting on it, flew over to him.

Holding the two items, Zhang Deming inspected them carefully. After confirming there were no hidden traps, he took out a bottle of precious aura-cleansing potion.

He summoned a ball of water and poured more than half the potion into it. The water inside the sphere churned, giving the two items a thorough cleaning. Only then did he carefully put them away in his storage bag.

Throughout this process, Li Shifan watched Zhang Deming with a bizarre expression.

After stowing his things, Zhang Deming noticed their stares and said with a smile, ”When you’re away from home, it pays to be cautious.”

Li Cheng’s expression twitched. ’This is what he calls being cautious?’

’Three old fiends: one was subjected to Soul Control, one was forced into a deep slumber, and as for the third, the puppet... well, the two of us didn’t see its final moments, but I imagine its fate wasn’t a good one.’

’They all met such miserable ends, yet he’s still this meticulous with their belongings. Truly worthy of being my grandson’s Senior Brother!’

Li Cheng paused, then turned to Li Shifan. ”Did you see that?”

Li Shifan, who had been watching Zhang Deming with an odd expression, paused. He turned his head in confusion and nodded at Li Cheng. ”Huh? Oh. Ancestor, you mean what Senior Brother just did? I saw it. What about it?”

Li Cheng said, ”You should learn from that. When you’re away from home, you can never be too careful. Look at your Senior Brother. That’s how he’s managed to make it this far so safely.

Now look at you. Does a single trip into the mountains or a venture outside ever go by without some incident? That’s all trouble born from a lack of caution.”

Li Shifan was taken aback. He replied blankly, ”But Ancestor, didn’t you used to say it’s because of my Blessed Source and Qi Fortune? That fortune and calamity are two sides of the same coin?”

Li Cheng faltered, his expression darkening. ”What’s this? Now that your cultivation has surpassed your ancestor’s, your wings have hardened? You’re starting to talk back to me?”

Li Shifan’s face fell. ”Okay, okay, I’ll remember. I’ll prepare some of those potions when we get back.”

Zhang Deming watched the ancestor and grandson, shook his head, and decided not to bother with them.

’The two of them might be on different paths, but they’re both Sword Cultivators at heart. They look so cold and aloof, but that’s just an act they put on for strangers. Once you get to know them, you realize one is a gem, and the other... well, he’s a crafty old fox.’

’What ice mountain? What aloof Sword Cultivators? The two of them are a pair of secretly wild characters!’

’Aloof? Stoic?’

’That’s just a misunderstanding people have when they don’t know them!’

After they had collected the items, they turned their attention to the corpse. Li Shifan asked hesitantly, ”There isn’t another old monster hiding in there, is there?”

Zhang Deming shook his head with a smile. ”No, this corpse was the puppet’s Main Body. It’s really dead now.”

Li Cheng noticed the Protective Talisman hanging around its neck, which still had a faint, eerie aura. He spoke up, ”We shouldn’t touch that, should we?”

Zhang Deming replied, ”Mm, it does carry some bad luck, but that’s no issue for me. I have the protection of Elder Huang’s Blessed Fortune. A little residual bad luck like this isn’t enough to shake my Luck Dao. Besides, the corpse is useless to you two, so I’ll take it.”