The Programmer Cultivator

”Uh, Master, what... happened to you?”

Although Yang Guangfu and Qin Shizhong sensed the movements of their unsupportive martial brothers behind them, the two of them were too close to do the same. Yang Guangfu had no choice but to brace himself and ask.

In their eyes, Zhang Deming’s current look was exceptionally unique—so unique it was an eyesore.

The hair on the back of his head was standing on end as if from an explosion... No... ”standing on end” wasn’t the right word. It was more like it had been blown wide open.

After all, ”standing on end” implies a single direction, whereas his hair had blasted outwards in every direction. And that was the least striking part of his current appearance.

The most striking part was everything below his neck. His upper and lower body were covered by nothing more than two dangling scraps of cloth, with the pale skin of his back faintly visible. The entire ensemble was utterly bizarre and painful to look at.

At Yang Guangfu’s words, the dazed Zhang Deming finally snapped back to his senses.

”HOLY SHIT!!!”

With the Spiritual Power in his Dantian now fully recovered thanks to the Dark Pawn, he let out a roar and vanished from before Yang Guangfu and Qin Shizhong in a flash of lightning.

Yang Guangfu: ”...”

Qin Shizhong: ”...”

The two stared at each other in stunned silence for a long moment before Yang Guangfu asked hesitantly, ”Should we leave?”

Qin Shizhong replied with equal hesitation, ”Should we wait?”

After speaking, they both paused. They exchanged a quick glance, then, with a silent understanding, turned to leave as if nothing had ever happened.

They had only taken a few steps when they saw Senior Brother Zhou Li of the Law Enforcement Team approaching with a group of disciples.

Seeing this, Qin Shizhong immediately said, ”Quick, stop them! Otherwise, we’re definitely going to be the ones taking the heat for this!”

Yang Guangfu paused, his mind racing. ’On our own territory, behind closed doors, it’s not really a loss of face as long as outsiders don’t find out. But if word of this gets out, our Master will get furious, and we’ll really be in for it!’

As Guardian Cliff Disciples, although they weren’t Zhang Deming’s personal disciples, they belonged to the Flying Spring Waterfall Tower from the moment they were assigned here.

Regardless of Zhang Deming’s cultivation or status, this was one of the seven towers of Spirit Nurturing Peak. Even if it had the least prestige, there were still appearances to maintain.

Yang Guangfu immediately stepped forward to block the Law Enforcement Team, saying with a smile, ”Senior Brother Zhou Li, what brings you here?”

Zhou Li looked at the two of them. ”We just detected a burst of Spiritual Power from your Flying Spring Waterfall Tower, with an intensity approaching that of a Three Talents Technique,” he said. ”So we hurried over to investigate.”

”Oh, well you’ve taken a look, and as you can see, everything is fine here. Thank you for your trouble, Senior Brother,” Yang Guangfu said, flashing a kind smile. Being slightly chubby, his grin appeared quite affable.

Zhou Li’s brow furrowed. ”I should still take a look. I need to at least see what caused the commotion and inspect the site. Otherwise, it’ll be difficult for me to file my report.”

Yang Guangfu paused slightly. ”How about this,” he offered. ”If Master Song asks about it, I will personally go and explain everything to him. How does that sound, Senior Brother?”

Zhou Li looked at Yang Guangfu, deliberated for a moment, and nodded. ”Alright. But I won’t change what I put in my report.”

Yang Guangfu beamed. ”No problem. Senior Brother Zhou, you can go ahead and report exactly what I just said.”

With that, Zhou Li turned and left with his subordinates in tow.

Watching Zhou Li’s back as he departed, Yang Guangfu and Qin Shizhong both heaved a sigh of relief. Yang Guangfu then asked, ”Do you think the Master will summon us later?”

”I don’t know. Probably not, right?” Qin Shizhong replied. ”What would he call us in for? It’s not like we saw anything.”

Yang Guangfu blinked, then glanced at Qin Shizhong and burst out laughing. ”Haha! Junior Brother Qin has a point. What exactly did we see?”

After laughing, Yang Guangfu paused and added, ”Still, we need to warn the others to keep quiet. If this gets out, we’ll be the ones to suffer.”

Qin Shizhong nodded. ”I was thinking the same thing, Senior Brother Yang.”

With that, they exchanged another knowing glance, shared a smile, and walked into the residential area at the Guardian Cliff’s entrance.

...

After rushing back to his room, Zhang Deming produced a Daoist Robe, put it on, and finally let out a long sigh of relief.

He then hesitated. ’Should I go out and explain things to those two?’

’Forget it. This is way too humiliating. Better not see them right now. I’m too ashamed to face them!’

’In terms of sheer energy fluctuation, that explosion just now was quite intense, nearly on par with an ordinary Three Talents Cultivator.’

’But in terms of destructive power, it wasn’t that impressive. After all, it wasn’t an actual Technique, just a failed Array simulation. It was nothing more than a ball of Spiritual Power blowing up.’

The Flying Spring Waterfall Tower was, after all, a residence designed for Three Talents Cultivators. The Magic Room was more than capable of withstanding the initial blast from an attack at the Three Talents Stage, so it hadn’t sustained any damage.

Zhang Deming returned to the third floor. In the Magic Room, he found the Celestial Heart Treasure Box lying on the ground, completely unscathed.

He looked at the damn thing. ’A moment ago, my mind was clouded by greed and speculation,’ he thought. ’This just goes to show, you can’t get carried away with research, especially not without taking the proper safety precautions first.’

After calming down, it finally dawned on him. ’How could I ever have thought I could single-handedly construct such a complex altar with just my Tier Three Array Dao and Duality Cultivation?’

’Even just physically simulating its Arrays and Runes would have been impossible!’

’I must have been out of my mind.’

’But... if this thing really is the Celestial Heart Treasure Box, and if it really contains what I think it does...’

Heh heh... hahaha...

His excitement inexplicably surged once more, and he was tempted to try again!