The Programmer Cultivator

Zhang Deming said, "Please, go on."

Jiang Hongbin began, "Normally, this is basic knowledge for Inner Sect Disciples. We don’t teach it in the Outer Sect. It’s not because the information is valuable, but because there’s usually no need.

However, with these two, you’ll have a total of seven Techniques registered under your name in the Sect’s official records.

Regardless of how many you’ve actually mastered, I’m required to tell you this. It’s the rule."

Zhang Deming’s expression grew serious as he listened intently.

Jiang Hongbin paused, then continued, "Do you know why Techniques are also known as Spells?

Cultivation Techniques and standard Techniques are divided into four grades: Scripture, Classic, Magic, and Secret. These are then subdivided into a total of twelve tiers.

Techniques are also known as Spells. On the other hand, Cultivation Techniques are mostly called Scriptures or Classics, but rarely Secrets. Do you know why that is?"

Zhang Deming shook his head, and Jiang Hongbin continued:

"That’s because for the first Immortals who walked the path of cultivation, Cultivation Techniques were derived from the top down, deduced from Scriptures.

Techniques, however, were the exact opposite. They were developed from the bottom up.

Legend says that the very first Cultivation Technique between Heaven and Earth was called the Yellow Court Scripture. This technique was a gift from the heavens.

It was an incredible technique, but being a Scripture, how could it be anything but incredibly difficult to learn?

Back then, even someone with a legendary hundred-point Immortal Spirit Root, personally blessed by the heavens, would have found it exceedingly difficult to master the basics.

Through the efforts of countless generations, Classics and Magic-level texts were gradually developed.

This continued until we arrived at today’s Basic Cultivation Technique, a Secret Level text that someone with even a fifteen-point Spirit Root can barely begin to grasp. This is how Cultivation Techniques evolved.

As for Techniques, they didn’t exist in the beginning. By quietly reciting the Yellow Court Scripture, Immortals began to comprehend the most fundamental rules and paths of Heaven and Earth, and from that, Spells slowly came into being.

From those first Spells, they eventually developed world-shattering Scripture Skills.

This is also why most Tier One and Tier Two Secret Level Techniques are more like fundamental principles—like a ’Way’—rather than a distinct Skill.

For example, the Tier One Fire Control Technique and the Tier Two Hundred Fire Technique are essentially just the entry points to the Way of Fire.

It’s only at Tier Three, with something like the Firebird Skill, that you start to see a distinct Technique truly created upon that Way of Fire.

This is also why for Foundation Establishment, a cultivator can choose a Tier Two Technique at most as their foundation.

The formation of a Rune Core is the choice of one’s path.

Tier One Techniques are mostly pure principles, the ’Way’ itself. Tier Two Techniques, despite having evolved slightly, can still serve as a foundation.

But anything Tier Three or higher is too specialized. It’s unsuitable as the foundation for a Way. It’s not that these techniques aren’t powerful enough; it’s that their scope is too narrow to support the path you will walk later on.

For this reason, you shouldn’t learn too many Techniques in the early stages, no matter how talented you are. Your path in learning techniques should be like an oval: narrow at the beginning and the end, but broad in the middle.

Some geniuses with incredible learning Talent start with just a single Technique. They cultivate it to its absolute limit, developing all sorts of their own variations and creations from it.

For instance, a genius cultivating the Fire Control Technique might, as their cultivation increases, slowly develop the Tier Two Fireball Technique, the Tier Three Firebird Skill, and the Tier Four Fire Dragon Skill all by themselves.

This is how the first Tier Three, Tier Four, and even High-Tier Techniques came to be in ancient times.

Of course, now that a vast library of Techniques exists, very few people walk that path anymore.

So, in the beginning, you shouldn’t learn too many Techniques.

Once your Tai Chi has determined your path, you either develop your own specializations or you learn the Techniques of that path, progressing step-by-step. This makes learning High-Tier Techniques much easier.

Otherwise, if even a Tier One Technique is this difficult to get started with, can you imagine how hard it would be to comprehend a Tier Three or Tier Four Technique out of thin air?

This also explains why Spirit Nurturing Masters are so precious.

The Spirit Nurturing Technique is a Tier One technique, but it has the difficulty of a Tier Four. Plus, you can’t progress through it step-by-step. You can imagine how difficult that makes it.

I’m telling you all this because you’ve already selected too many Techniques. I have an obligation to warn you about these things ahead of time."

’So that’s why Spirit Nurturing Beads, which come from a Tier One technique, don’t have different grades externally? They all just manifest as the Mastery state of the Runes... is that it?’

Zhang Deming was silent for a moment after hearing this. He then nodded seriously and said, "I understand."

Seeing his reaction, Jiang Hongbin said, "Alright. As long as I’ve done my part and can have a clear conscience."

He then had Zhang Deming present his token to deduct three Contribution points. Afterward, he tossed the books into a transcription alcove behind the counter.

Without paying any more attention to Zhang Deming, he went back to his own work.

A moment later, two thread-bound magic scriptures appeared on the counter. Zhang Deming picked them up and left without another word.

...

「A few days later.」

For the past few days, Zhang Deming had been working around the clock to produce Spirit Nurturing Beads.

He needed to make sure that the shop in Celestial Spirit City wouldn’t face a drastic shortage of Spirit Nurturing Beads while he was away in the back mountains.

Over the past ten-odd days, the Spirit Nurturing Beads had been selling at a steady rate of three to five per day.

This was with Qu Qizhong already restricting sales. Even so, the batch of Spirit Nurturing Beads that Zhang Deming had painstakingly ground out last time was already running low.

After making another delivery, Zhang Deming placed a stricter limit on how quickly Qu Qizhong could sell them.

First, his normal schedule only allowed for making two a day.

Second, he was planning to enter the back mountains soon and would have even less time.

And third, it wasn’t wise to attract too much attention right now.

That said, the shop’s reputation in Celestial Spirit City was already growing to a point where it couldn’t be held back.

After all, within the entire sphere of influence of the Celestial Spirit Sect, an area spanning more than a dozen prefectures, there were only three Spirit Nurturing Masters.

How could a shop that suddenly appeared and began consistently selling a stable supply of Spirit Nurturing Beads not attract attention?

If it were a large chain store, one might assume they were sourcing their goods from another region. But for a shop like Qu Qizhong’s, there was really only one explanation.

Therefore, various interested parties were likely making very discreet inquiries, trying to be the first to make contact with the Spirit Nurturing Master behind the operation.