The Programmer Cultivator

And anyone who could burn out the keyboard and display areas separately was truly in a league of their own!

...

In the Flying Spring Waterfall Tower, Zhang Deming took a deep breath and slowly shut down the device. ’Spies... not a single one of them is honest,’ he thought. ’Even allies are always looking to pull a fast one, to keep an ace up their sleeve.’

He glanced at the watch-like notebook. Given the significant energy fluctuations from the communication just now, Zhang Deming tossed it directly into a corner of the secret chamber. He then activated the chamber’s various protective measures, sealing it away for the time being.

Having witnessed the capabilities of the Celestial Spirit Sect’s Secret Group, Zhang Deming felt there was no harm in being cautious. ’Spies are an even bigger deal than sect traitors. If I get dragged into this... my status as a Law-Level Spirit Nurturer won’t be worth a damn.’

Zhang Deming then returned to the Cultivation Room, where he took out two specially made Array Cards. With a casual wave of his hand, space billowed like a sleeve and whisked the two cards away.

With a thought, Zhang Deming re-entered the Spirit Nurturing Space.

Upon entering the Spirit Nurturing Space, Zhang Deming clearly felt a difference. The space now felt as if it were divided into two parts. One part was the same as before: a virtual space for Techniques that could be infinitely vast or infinitely small.

The other part was a physical space without any specific rules. It could be shaped at will, but its actual volume was only one cubic meter. Several precious items were already stored inside it.

After a brief inspection, Zhang Deming beckoned to the chaotic sky, and an Enlightenment Light Point flew down. He raised his hand, tapped the point of light, and a Light Curtain materialized.

The figure of Meng Wenyu appeared on the Light Curtain. At that moment, the ordinary Inner Sect Disciple was bustling about, looking busy.

Zhang Deming didn’t disturb her. As long as she remained in Yuanlai Tower to serve as his anchor, he had no need to make any contact with her whatsoever.

He lightly touched the Light Curtain, and the viewpoint slowly panned up. It didn’t extend to its ten-kilometer limit, stopping once the entire Yuanlai Tower was in view.

Zhang Deming checked the surroundings. Finding nothing that required special attention, he did nothing more and simply waited.

Over half an hour later, just as the appointed time arrived, Shang Tingjie’s figure appeared by a flowerbed. He glanced around, saw no one, and then looked down at his watch.

He frowned slightly. ’The time they gave was very precise. They shouldn’t be late.’

But before he could speculate further, space billowed like a sleeve from within a flower patch he hadn’t noticed, spitting out a Spirit Species and an Array Card.

After the Spirit Species hit the ground, a vine shot out from it. The vine wrapped around the Array Card and presented it to Shang Tingjie. Only then did he notice the vine. He stared for a second, stunned, then took the Array Card in astonishment.

The instant his hand touched the Array Card, the entire vine dissolved into countless Spiritual Power Light Points and vanished, leaving only a shimmering Array Card in his hand.

”Are you always this paranoid?” Shang Tingjie paused, his expression twitching. After a long moment, he muttered, ”No wonder you’ve lived the longest out of the Celestial Spirit Sect’s seven mysterious men.”

Grumbling to himself, he turned, went back to his building, and activated the Array Card.

A Light Curtain appeared before him. A concise message materialized on it: ”What requires a face-to-face meeting?”

”And you call this a face-to-face meeting?” Shang Tingjie asked, dumbfounded.

”This is direct contact, just online. Why wouldn’t it count as a face-to-face meeting? Did you really think I meant I’d come see you in person? You’re dreaming. Have you forgotten the times we’re in?

Don’t you know how many eyes are on your location? The moment I set foot there, I’d be investigated down to my bones!” Zhang Deming’s message returned.

’In truth, there’s no difference to me between meeting in person and just sending the card,’ Zhang Deming thought. ’Pulling off a flawless, undetectable Disguise is also incredibly simple for me.’

’But Mysterious Man Number Three is supposed to be an expert in the Array Dao. If I send an Incarnation made of Wood Vine Dao Spiritual Power, my identity would become highly suspect to the ’Nest.’’

’After all, not everyone is a genius who has achieved Mastery in multiple Daos, especially not the people from the Celestial Universe.’

’And if I sent a physical clone, I’d be afraid the Secret Group would find a trail leading back to me. Who the hell knows what kind of methods those Secret Group Cultivators—specialists in Reconnaissance and tracking—would use to dig into my background.’

’In that case, a perfect Disguise might not be enough to solve the problem. Besides, meeting in person would mean direct contact with people from the Celestial Universe, and I can’t guarantee they wouldn’t spot something off about me.’

Shang Tingjie stared at the message, utterly speechless. He was starting to get a clear picture of this Mysterious Man Number Three: the man was paranoid on a whole other level.

’A person like that is actually... a perfect fit for a spy!’ he thought as his mind wandered. He replied, ”Is this Array Card secure, then?”

”Relax. It’s much more secure than that piece-of-crap quantum communicator from headquarters,” came the reply. ”This is a special Array Card I created. It doesn’t need to pass through the Sect’s core Information Room.

The two Array Cards achieve a direct Array frequency synchronization... hmm... basically, it’s direct quantum entanglement. In other words, the information isn’t being relayed through any third party.”

”Good to hear,” Shang Tingjie replied.

”You requested a face-to-face meeting with headquarters. What’s the matter?” the next message read.

”There’s a lot to discuss. Firstly, meeting you is secondary. My main goal is to meet the ’tool’ you’ve selected for the Enlightenment Dao ahead of schedule,” Shang Tingjie replied, his tone grave.

”Impossible!” came the decisive refusal.