The Programmer Cultivator

She struggled to her feet. The five of them glanced at her coolly, not a single one showing a shred of pity.

”Did the sacrifice you four families initiated run into trouble?” Lu Ya asked, no longer paying attention to Guann Zhenzhen and looking at the other three.

”Yes, we did run into an unexpected issue, but it’s been resolved. However, we don’t have much Sacrificial Power to spare. The supplement we promised your Lu Family... it might be difficult to provide.”

Qu Wenbai paused, glancing back at the pool of lava. ”But looking at the state of things here,” he said, ”it doesn’t seem like you need the supplement anymore. In fact, it looks like you have more than enough Sacrificial Power to begin.”

Lu Ya’s brow furrowed. Ignoring the issue of the Sacrificial Power, he asked, ”What exactly happened? Your last message said you would make your move in two to three years at the earliest, or ten at the latest.

Even if some accident forced you to act early with insufficient preparation, you shouldn’t have had to call for help in the middle of the ritual.

The Celestial Heart Altar was left behind by the Ancestor of the Blessed Land. Within the territory of the Celestial Spirit Sect, who could possibly stop you from leaving while in that state?”

”Sigh...” Qu Wenbai let out a long breath. ”It’s just been a string of bad luck. We ran into a troublesome fellow, our ancestral land was discovered, and our Sacrificial Power was depleted, which nearly caused the Celestial Heart Sacrifice to shut down mid-initiation.

We had no choice but to send messages to your two families for help. If the Guan Family hadn’t lent a hand, the Celestial Heart Altar would have likely collapsed entirely.”

Lu Ya paused, his voice laced with shock. ”The ancestral land was discovered? Doesn’t that mean this place...”

”Don’t worry,” Duan Yuanbing’s virtual image on the metal sphere spoke. ”When I initiated the sacrifice, I completely destroyed the tunnels at the original site of the Celestial Heart Altar. I collapsed the entire area and then contaminated it for good measure.

Barring any surprises, no one should be able to find the old city of the Five Races, let alone trace things back to you here.”

Duan Fangchun had been watching his ancestor closely, feeling that something about his condition was off. He now interjected, ”The ancestral land was discovered? Who was it? And what happened to the clansmen of the main Duan Family branch? And Ancestor... what’s with this state you’re in?”

The barrage of questions cast a silence over the group. No one spoke. Guann Zhenzhen, Guan Shouxin, and Qu Wenbai, who knew the inside story, all looked at Duan Yuanbing, their eyes shifting uneasily.

”As for who it was, that old fossil from the Qu Family should know the details. As for our clansmen... they’re all dead. I used every last one of them for the sacrifice,” Duan Yuanbing said, his expression completely blank.

He didn’t answer the final question about his condition, and no one else dared to speak.

Upon hearing Duan Yuanbing’s words, even someone as cruel as Duan Fangchun felt his aura waver, his pupils shrinking violently.

He asked no more questions, but his attitude toward Duan Yuanbing changed in an instant.

’From this moment on, the Baijie City Duan Family is no longer some branch family.’ He had no desire to follow the main branch of the Duan Family to his doom. After all, there was clearly something very wrong with an ancestor who existed as a metal sphere.

Due to the corruption of artificial intelligence, the Duan Yuanbing on the metal sphere was completely indifferent to human sentiment and social norms, acting purely based on calculated benefit.

If the Fire Separation Altar hadn’t been brimming with Sacrificial Power, he might have resorted to placation or deception before ultimately sacrificing this branch of the Duan Family as well. But that was no longer necessary, which was why he was being so direct.

The shift in dynamic between Duan Yuanbing and Duan Fangchun plunged the room into silence once more.

After a long silence, Qu Wenbai finally spoke. Since Lu Ya was the final link in the ritual’s initiation, they needed to brief him on recent events; after all, the Lu Family had almost no contact with the others.

Therefore, Qu Wenbai began, ”The original plan was...”

...

”Alright, let’s begin the first phase of the Celestial Heart Sacrifice!” Guan Shouxin said after some time, their discussion apparently concluded.

At his words, the others exchanged a glance before all turning to look at Duan Fangchun.

”I’ll go prepare for the next steps,” Duan Fangchun said to Lu Ya.

Lu Ya nodded. ”Alright.”

At that, Duan Fangchun went to a corner of the grand hall. He activated a transportation Array by fitting Spirit Stones into a very primitive-looking inlay and vanished in a flash of Spiritual Light.

Once Duan Fangchun was gone, Lu Ya looked at the others and said, ”Let’s begin.”

The five of them exchanged a look. Though they were all working toward the same goal, none of them were what you would call normal; each harbored their own sinister designs. Yet, it was precisely because of this abnormality that they were, paradoxically, able to ”work together as one.”

Guan Shouxin and the other three transformed into streams of light, shooting back into the miniature altar. They reverted to their respective forms—a garish flower, an ugly puppet, a swirling black mist, and a metal sphere—and hovered above their designated pools.

Lu Ya, the last one remaining, looked at the miniature altar before him and took a deep breath. He walked over to the lava pool, formed his hand into a knife-edge, and sliced it across his other wrist. A stream of crimson blood immediately gushed forth.

”TSSSS...”

As his blood dripped into the lava, it made a sound like oil searing flesh. His blood seemed even more scorching than the entire pool of what was supposedly inert lava.

Stimulated by the blood, the lava pool rippled slightly, causing the Fire-Folding hovering above it to flicker with a faint Spiritual Light.

Next, he took out a Jade Pendant. After staining it red with his blood, he began to clumsily form the hand seals for a Spell.

Despite clearly possessing only True Essence and no Spiritual Power, as Lu Ya formed the hand seals, the Jade Pendant began to flicker with Spiritual Light.

As the Jade Pendant’s Spiritual Light pulsed, the faintly rippling Fire-Folding seemed to be drawn by some unseen force, slowly drifting toward Lu Ya.