The Programmer Cultivator

One after another, ordinary phantoms began to appear within the altar. There were young men, old men, and youths—all different, yet all very much the same.

They were all mortals, all Martial Artists. Every single one of them was circulating the North Nether Firewood Skill, possessing a vile core of Devouring, yet they were each wreathed in the faint aura of mortal life, an outer shell of great benevolence.

They had somehow coalesced the will of the people, for they were the most renowned great heroes of the generation from all corners of the Martial Arts World.

Elder Huang even spotted a familiar face among the hundred or so figures: the old man who had cut off his own arm back at the inn. Now, however, both of his arms were perfectly normal.

The hundred or so figures appeared on the altar, dotting its surface in a strange formation. They bowed in unison toward the smaller altar at its center and declared, ”We who have gathered the hearts of the people and received their will now wish to refine the Celestial Heart!”

As the hundred or so great Martial Artist heroes performed their rite in unison, the entire Celestial Heart Altar shuddered and began to rotate once more.

Between Heaven and Earth, wisps of a strange power began to emerge from the regions of the Celestial Spirit, Hua Shui, and Bai Shu. Emanating from the struggles of the Cultivators, this power was formless and intangible, slowly accumulating as it converged upon the center of the Celestial Heart Altar.

At that moment, the entire massive, illusory altar shattered into a sky full of Spiritual Light, dissipating between Heaven and Earth.

As for the main body of the Celestial Heart Altar and the five people on it—well, four and a half people—they had vanished to parts unknown along with the altar’s dissipation.

This huge commotion attracted countless gazes, most of which belonged to the Monk Wish Cultivators.

······

「After a long time, all fell quiet once more.」

After the altar disappeared, Elder Huang scanned his surroundings. He couldn’t find his target, and his brow furrowed slightly.

After a moment’s hesitation, his body instantly disintegrated into several hundred Spirit Species. One by one, they stretched and transformed, becoming several hundred copies of Elder Huang.

However, each one’s aura was barely at the Tai Chi Stage, and they were all Bean Soldiers capable of using only the basic Vine Technique.

Amidst flashes of Spiritual Light, the hundreds of Elder Huangs charged toward the various Filth Insects surrounding them.

Pu Hua paused upon seeing this. After a moment’s hesitation, he floated into the air, cross-legged, as an illusory lotus flower rose from beneath him.

”I wish: to infuse bodies with power, and for the Buddha Light to shine upon all!”

As he made his wish, Pu Hua pushed his pressed-together palms forward, and an illusory golden sphere of light floated out before him.

After he pushed the golden sphere forward, it emitted numerous dazzling beams of light. Each beam selected either an Elder Huang or a fleeing disciple, sinking into their body.

The auras of the Tai Chi Stage Cultivators struck by the golden light were immediately strengthened by fifty percent, while the auras of the Duality Stage Cultivators were strengthened by about twenty percent.

And so, with Elder Huang split into hundreds of incarnations and Pu Hua’s golden light shining down, the disciples from various sects who had been chased and scattered finally managed to stabilize the situation. Each disciple spontaneously began to rally around the nearest Bean Soldier Huang Lao.

The situation was stabilized, but Elder Huang’s Spiritual Power was draining at an incredible rate.

This wouldn’t have been a problem if he could end the fight quickly. However, the Filth Insects were bizarre and incredibly difficult to kill. Even when hacked into several pieces, they continued to live—each segment even becoming a new Filth Insect.

Although their auras grew weaker, their numbers multiplied. Moreover, everyone had to be extremely careful after wounding a Filth Insect, doing their utmost to prevent the Filthy Power from within its body from invading their own.

The battlefield thus fell into a stalemate, with everyone using the nearest Bean Soldier Huang Lao as an anchor while they were tangled in battle with the Filth Insects.

Elder Huang’s brow furrowed slightly as he sensed the Spiritual Power reserves of the black piece within his Dark Pawn were completely depleted, leaving all the divided Bean Soldier Huang Laos with only about half of their Spiritual Power.

Their movements paused. The hundreds of Elder Huangs looked up in unison at Pu Hua floating in the sky and said, ”Pu Hua Bodhisattva, could you help this old Taoist gather all these disciples and have them float in the air?”

”I can!” Pu Hua floated in the sky, the golden sphere of light flickering before him, lending his seated figure a solemn and majestic air.

After replying, he tapped the golden sphere of light before him. The sphere shattered into hundreds of pieces that shot into the bodies of all the Elder Huangs in unison.

He then stood up and, with a wave of his hand, caused the Lotus Platform beneath his feet to shrink until he could grasp it in his palm.

”I wish: for ten thousand lotuses to bloom and save all living souls!”

As he made his wish, he tossed the Lotus Platform from his hand. It exploded into innumerable motes of Spiritual Light, each one transforming into a lotus flower.

Once the sky was filled with lotus flowers, they paused momentarily in the air before shooting down toward the disciples below, each lotus seeking out a single disciple.

As they descended, they expanded rapidly. By the time they reached the disciples, each one had grown to the size of a meditation cushion.

”I am Pu Hua of Xuande Temple! Those who trust this old monk, let the Lotus Platforms carry you through this peril!”

None of the disciples who had survived this long were fools. Furthermore, since they were nearly all gathered around the Bean Soldier Huang Laos, they had all seen the hundreds of clones move in unison a moment ago.

Therefore, almost before Pu Hua could even speak, the disciples leaped onto the lotuses the very instant they appeared.

Countless Lotus Platforms, each the size of a meditation cushion and carrying a disciple in varying condition, rose into the air. They converged high above, forming a vast Flower Sea.

”Patron, I am done on my end,” Pu Hua said. He floated in the air, surrounded by the rescued disciples from all the sects, who hovered around him like a host of Celestial Soldiers—a truly magnificent sight.

Hearing Pu Hua’s words, everyone present looked down in unison.

With the disciples evacuated, the pressure on Elder Huang increased dramatically.