The Programmer Cultivator

Dang Ketao hadn’t even finished speaking when he froze on the spot.

Duan Fangchun, who was charging over, had only taken a few steps. Because he had abandoned his healing, the flesh all over his body was being seared by the residual heat, rapidly approaching the state of a medium-well filet mignon.

Of course, for a Cultivator at the Tier Three Divine Power Realm like him, his body could regrow a severed arm. These injuries were hardly fatal.

The real reason for his outburst was that the earlier explosion had embedded numerous vines in his body. At this moment, these inconspicuous vines became the source of his agonizing screams.

The vines, as if stained by his blood, turned a ghastly red. A powerful Devouring force emanated from them, exacerbating his already severe injuries.

Worse yet, as his Vitality was suddenly drained, his body’s automatic defenses failed. As he ran, the flesh on his abdomen, now completely cooked, began to fall apart. Chunks of it sloughed off his belly, allowing his intestines to spill out.

As his stomach ruptured, he staggered and let out a blood-curdling scream.

Witnessing this exceptionally gruesome scene, Dang Ketao frowned. Guan Yu, who had just stiffly gotten to his feet, also stared at Duan Fangchun in astonishment, his eyes darting around, desperately searching for the one responsible.

Duan Fangchun stopped screaming and ripped the blood-red vines from his body. But an instant later, his expression changed drastically. Before he could do anything else, countless more blood-red Vines began to sprout from within his ravaged body.

From his ruptured abdomen in particular, all sorts of Vines and countless tendrils squirmed out.

”AHH...”

He went rigid and let out a piercing shriek. True Essence surged from his body as if it were free, desperately trying to prevent further harm.

But caught between the residual heat on his skin and the Vines within his body, he completely lost the ability to resist. Amidst his screams, his Vitality rapidly drained away as he was reduced to a cooked corpse.

A moment later, he breathed his last. Vines writhed all over his body, and wisps of smoke rose from his flesh, which was now cooked through.

But even after the man died, the other two couldn’t find a trace of anyone else. Guan Yu looked on in shock, while Dang Ketao frowned slightly.

He stared at the Vines on the corpse, his brow furrowed. With a subtle shift in his expression, he sent a trickle of his own searing Vitality into the Vines, riding along with the last dregs of Duan Fangchun’s Vitality.

The Vines, which had been rapidly absorbing all of Duan Fangchun’s Vitality, suddenly went rigid. As if they had tasted something foul, they spat out the foreign substance that had followed.

Dang Ketao, who had been probing, paused. His expression grew even more grave. ’The fact that they detected me on contact proves they’re no simple character.’

Not knowing if this person was friend or foe made the situation tense, but for now, it didn’t seem too bad. After all, they had attacked an enemy.

······

”I’ve got to say, Senior Brother, that was a low blow. I help you kill the guy, and the moment it’s over, you try to pull a fast one on me? Watch out. When we get back, I’m telling Master Dang on you!”

As Zhang Deming’s voice echoed, a single Vine slithered up from the bottom of the tunnel Duan Fangchun had carved out earlier. It rapidly wove itself into the shape of Zhang Deming.

Hearing the voice and seeing the figure, Dang Ketao paused. He asked with a mixture of confusion and hesitation, ”You’re...”

Zhang Deming looked at Dang Ketao and said, ”What’s the matter? We parted ways outside the Cyan Wood Secret Realm. It’s only been a little over a year. Is your memory that bad, Senior Brother?”

Dang Ketao stared at Zhang Deming in astonishment. It wasn’t that his memory was bad; it was that the last time he’d seen him, he had just reached the Tai Chi realm. And now...

Hearing Zhang Deming’s words, he said in amazement, ”You’re really Old Man Yue’s famous gigolo—ahem! When did you break through to the Three Talents realm? Hmm? Who empowered this avatar of yours?”

Zhang Deming, who had been calmly striding forward, froze. He shot Dang Ketao a look and said in a peculiar tone, ”Senior Brother, it seems you’re not tired enough. Perhaps I stepped in a bit too early?”

”Er... heh... haha... The old man is usually in seclusion and doesn’t pay much attention to Sect affairs. Don’t take it to heart,” Dang Ketao said with an awkward laugh.

’Is that so? Do you not care about official business, or do you not care about gossip? If you’re so unconcerned, what were you about to say just now?’

Zhang Deming couldn’t help but scoff internally. He gave Dang Ketao a speechless look, then tilted his head toward the Puppet, whose expression had turned incredibly grim. ”You or me, Senior Brother?”

Dang Ketao shook his head. ”I’ve never been able to find his Main Body. If he gets serious about tying us down with his unit-based Group Summoning, the two of us might not be able to deal with him quickly.”

Zhang Deming smiled, turned to the Puppet, and asked, ”Is that so?”

The Puppet’s expression was grim and tense. It didn’t answer.

But Zhang Deming continued with a smile, speaking as if to himself, ”This area has a Dao Mark Sealing effect. Regardless of what kind of Summoning you use, with the exception of the One Qi Transformed into the Three Pristine Ones technique, your Main Body must be nearby to summon a Substitute this powerful, wouldn’t you say?

Hmm, a Three Talents Earth Realm Cultivation, and I haven’t seen you use any abilities related to the Dao of Space... that means your Main Body must be very close indeed.”

Hearing this, the Puppet, Guan Yu, stared at Zhang Deming, his expression a mixture of shock and uncertainty.

”While I was hiding just now and discovered your little traps on the ground, I also noticed something interesting,” Zhang Deming said with a smile, pointing to an area on the battlefield near a Space Gate. ”You’d think there’s nothing over there, so why is a patch of your trap-laced soil still sitting there, unused?”