The Programmer Cultivator

”Also, Martial Uncle, if you keep beating around the bush, I might just storm out of here myself!” Zhang Deming replied.

Dang Xiangjun paused, then looked at Song Huidong with an inscrutable expression. ”What do you think?” he asked.

Song Huidong said conflictedly, ”How about I go with Junior Brother Zhang...”

Before Dang Xiangjun could reply, Zhang Deming quickly shook his head. ”Don’t. Senior Brother Gan was just worrying about you. If something happens to you while you’re with me, I won’t know how to answer to him.”

Seeing this, Dang Xiangjun’s brow furrowed. ”In that case, I’ll assign a disaster relief team to go with you!”

”No. If you have people following me, Martial Uncle, it’ll be truly inconvenient for me to act.” With that, Zhang Deming looked at Dang Xiangjun and said pointedly, ”Don’t worry, Martial Uncle. I won’t run into any major trouble. The worst-case scenario is I just have to come back in twenty years.”

The others didn’t understand what Zhang Deming was alluding to, but Dang Xiangjun did.

He fell silent for a moment before nodding. ”Alright. Be careful out there. I’ll dispatch the relief teams as soon as I get back. Just... try to be as careful as possible.”

Zhang Deming nodded and turned to leave. Although Qin Shizhong and Yang Guangfu were anxious, they followed him without hesitation.

Zhang Deming paused, glanced back at Qin Shizhong, then at Yang Guangfu, and said, ”You, go back.”

Yang Guangfu paused, glanced at Qin Shizhong, and began, ”Disciple...”

”Watching over the Flying Spring Waterfall Tower for me is also a way to show your loyalty,” Zhang Deming cut in.

Yang Guangfu froze for another moment, then, with clear understanding, he stopped arguing. He gave Qin Shizhong one last look before turning and leaving.

”Do you want to leave?” Zhang Deming paused, then added, ”Tell me the truth.”

Qin Shizhong smiled. ”Honestly, I don’t really care about those mortals below, and I’m very worried for my own safety. If the choice were mine, I definitely wouldn’t go.

But since you’re going, Martial Uncle, I’ll follow without the slightest hesitation. The cultivation I have today is entirely because of you. Even if I were to die down there, I wouldn’t blame anyone.

You’ve given me so much, Martial Uncle. If I abandoned you now over this, I wouldn’t even be human. So even if you send me away, I’ll just trail behind you.”

Zhang Deming paused and looked deeply at Qin Shizhong. ”It seems you’re no Immortal either. You’re a contrary person, just in a slightly different way than I am.”

Qin Shizhong smiled again. ”Heh, well, you are the one who trained me, Martial Uncle. If the upper beam isn’t straight, the lower ones will naturally be crooked!”

”You... Your bootlicking skills have certainly improved. Now you’re just looking for any opening to use them. Be careful you don’t end up flattering the wrong part of the horse one day,” Zhang Deming replied.

”Heh, that’s fine. If you kick me, Martial Uncle, I’ll just take it,” Qin Shizhong said with a docile smile.

Zhang Deming: ”...”

As they spoke, the two of them reached the edge of the Magical Artifact. A gap had already opened in the Array Screen before them.

Wings shimmered into existence on Zhang Deming’s back. Simultaneously, a Jade Vine grew from his body and wrapped itself around Qin Shizhong’s waist.

And just like that, Zhang Deming carried Qin Shizhong out of the Magical Artifact, hovering in mid-air as they watched the vessel fly away.

Just then, a miniature Jade Disc shot out and, without preamble, branded itself onto the back of Zhang Deming’s hand.

”Be careful. If you run into trouble, come back to the Sect. As for the mortals, the Sect will take care of them once we’ve dealt with the surrounding Noble Families and Minor Sects. After that, everything will be clean and quiet again.”

’Take care of them... Clean and quiet...’ Hearing Dang Xiangjun’s words, Zhang Deming sighed wistfully. ”Ah, the Sect...”

”Truthfully, Martial Uncle, if you live for a few more years and watch your contemporaries’ spirits scatter as they pass on, one after another, your Red Dust Heart will probably begin to fade.

Unless they’re one of the brothers from the Celestial Spirit Secret Realm, that’s how most cultivators sever their Red Dust Heart. A mortal’s life is a brief fifty years—that’s far too short, even for an Apprentice.

A heavy Red Dust Heart is truly unsuited for cultivation. It brings too many attachments, and getting entangled in worldly affairs, even if it doesn’t affect your Dao Heart, will hinder your progress on the Path,” Qin Shizhong said, hearing Zhang Deming’s sigh.

”Heh, perhaps,” Zhang Deming said with a smile, not elaborating further. But inwardly, his thoughts were racing.

’Will it, really?’

’No! It won’t!’

’The fundamental difference between me and them... is that my worldview was forged in the mortal world. It was shaped by mortals, through a complete and normal upbringing.’

’I care about mortals because, at my core, I am one of them. I have a mortal’s sense of right and wrong, and it has nothing to do with some Red Dust Heart.’

’That’s why it won’t fade away just by witnessing more partings and deaths. My concern isn’t for a few specific mortals... it’s because I’ve never once viewed the world from an Immortal’s perspective.’

’Maybe I truly am unsuited for cultivation. But this is just who I am. Some parts of me, no matter how inconvenient, I can never change.’

...

The two of them watched as the Magical Artifact carrying the others turned into a streak of light and vanished over the horizon.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Qin Shizhong looked at Zhang Deming and asked, ”Martial Uncle, where to now? What’s our plan?”

Zhang Deming pondered for a moment. ”The Sect doesn’t seem to care much about the systems used to govern mortals, does it?”

Qin Shizhong nodded. ”That’s right. Ever since the beginning, when the Hongmeng Holy Land ruled all of Hongmeng, the mortal realm has been governed through a system of divided rule. Each Upper Sect manages its own territory.

So, by and large, there aren’t many differences. However, because mortals have a limited range of travel, there are some subtle variations within the scope of each Blessed Land.

All the Upper Sects within our Celestial Spirit region—or to be more precise, the Hundred Spirits Blessed Land—have opted for a city-state system. A single city, or sometimes a few, will have a Disciple assigned to manage the mortal population.”