The Programmer Cultivator

Huixin paused for a moment, then said, ”I just contacted my master. He said he has already reached the territory of the Spirit Nurturing Holy Land and should be here in less than half a day.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Deming and Bai Zhixin both stiffened, their brows furrowing slightly.

”Don’t tell me something’s gone wrong at the Sect too!” a disciple voiced the unspoken fear of both groups.

Zhang Deming’s expression flickered, but he said nothing more. He sat down and closed his eyes.

His Heart Spirit passed through the Subprogram’s entrance, carrying the splintered path, and returned to the Spirit Nurturing Space. With another step, it left the Spirit Nurturing Space.

...

In the Cultivation Room on the third floor of the Flying Spring Waterfall Tower on Spirit Nurturing Peak.

Zhang Deming’s main body, lying on the bed, slowly opened its eyes.

After waking, he waved his hand. A Spirit Species transformed into a palm-sized figure and flew to the third-floor window. The Bean Soldier’s wings spread slightly, and it leaped out of the window.

As he flew out of the Flying Spring Waterfall Tower, Zhang Deming was taken aback. The Celestial Spirit Sect’s Sect Protection Array was in a semi-active state.

Well, it was normally semi-active, but usually in a low-power mode. Now, it was operating at full power. The reason it was still only semi-active... was because some key nodes had been destroyed...

After a slight pause, Zhang Deming flew to the cliff’s edge. Most of the disciples had already left, likely reassigned by the Sect. Only a single disciple remained on guard.

”What happened to the Sect? Why is the Sect Protection Array like this?” Zhang Deming asked as he flew in, looking at the disciple.

The lone Guardian Cliff Disciple heard the voice and was stunned to see the palm-sized Zhang Deming. He quickly bowed and said, ”Greetings, Master Zhang.”

”What happened at the Sect? Where is everyone else?” Zhang Deming asked again, frowning.

”I’m not sure either. It seems there was some kind of rebellion, a serious one. All the other senior and junior brothers were temporarily reassigned,” the disciple replied quickly.

Hearing this, Zhang Deming’s expression changed slightly. He didn’t ask any more questions. The wings on his back vibrated faintly, and his palm-sized body shot straight up into the sky, heading toward the Mountain Peak Cloud Pool.

A moment later, Zhang Deming arrived at the entrance to the backyard array and found the Gate Guard Disciples. He asked, ”Where are the three Peak Masters?”

The disciples guarding the gate were all from the Secret Group and held considerable authority. They were among those quite familiar with Zhang Deming.

Hearing him, they stared at the palm-sized Zhang Deming for a stunned moment before bowing and saying, ”Replying to Master Zhang, Peak Master Yuee has gone to Celestial Spirit Peak, Peak Master Gan is coordinating from Celestial Spirit Hall, and Peak Master Guk is providing support at various locations on the peak.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Deming headed directly for the Spirit Nurturing Hall.

Passing through several buildings, Zhang Deming arrived at the Spirit Nurturing Hall. Many disciples were rushing in and out. They all did a double-take when they saw him.

Zhang Deming paid them no mind. Most of the Gate Guard Disciples at the Cloud Pool also recognized him, so no one rashly tried to stop him.

Just as Zhang Deming entered the main hall, the busy Gan Zili paused, stunned. His expression then changed as he looked at the palm-sized Zhang Deming and said:

”Junior Brother Zhang, why didn’t you return to the Sect with the ceremonial escort? Why send an avatar back first? The Sect has run into some trouble, but it hasn’t reached such a critical point yet!”

Zhang Deming looked at Gan Zili and said, ”Has the Sect Protection Array’s Communication Control Room been destroyed?”

Gan Zili nodded. ”Yes. Some disciples from certain families suddenly staged an uprising today. Because they’re from established Inner Sect families, deeply embedded throughout the Sect, and given their disciples’ usual conduct, they caught the Sect completely off guard.”

”But you don’t need to worry too much, Junior Brother Zhang. It’s just some low-level disciples. It looks like a big deal, but it won’t cause any major problems. We’ve already gotten the situation mostly under control in the last few hours.”

Zhang Deming’s expression faltered. ”The Guan Family?”

”Junior Brother Zhang, how did you...” Halfway through his sentence, Gan Zili suddenly remembered something. His expression changed drastically as he said, ”Guan Shouxin rebelled too? Did something happen to your ceremonial escort team?”

Zhang Deming nodded, then shook his head. Gan Zili asked in confusion, ”Junior Brother Zhang, what do you mean by that?”

”After we set out, Senior Brother Guan... Guan Shouxin, kept his eyes closed in meditation. Given his usual temperament, we didn’t think anything of it.”

”After we picked up the others midway, Guan Shouxin left everyone on the vessel waiting while he continued to meditate. That’s when we realized something was wrong.”

”After that, we were suddenly ambushed, and Guan Shouxin disappeared. Now it seems our ’encountering’ an ambush was likely related to him.”

”Ambushed? Is the escort team alright?” Gan Zili asked nervously.

Zhang Deming shook his head. ”Not really. We ran into the Five Elements Remnants—their main force, at that. If I hadn’t asked Elder Huang to intervene, and if Xuande Temple hadn’t sent a Bodhisattva, you probably wouldn’t be seeing me right now, Senior Brother.”

”Although they’ve been repelled and the situation is under control, the casualties were not light. We waited half a day for a rescue team, but no one came. That’s why I rushed back to see what was going on.”

The main issue was that there were many Tai Chi Disciples and the journey was long. They couldn’t possibly run all the way back.

Zhang Deming paused, then added, ”Um... Nephew Song is fine.”

Only then did Gan Zili let out a small sigh of relief, though it was unclear if it was for the team or for his disciple.

”Senior Brother, from your reaction... does this mean the Sect hasn’t sent a rescue team? Or that the Sect doesn’t even know what happened to us?” Zhang Deming asked with a frown.

Gan Zili nodded. ”Yes. If the Sect knew, with something this major, it’s impossible that I wouldn’t have been informed.”