The Programmer Cultivator

Instantly, a shadow in the shape of a plus sign appeared on the Light Wings at his heels. With a thought, Zhang Deming took off at a sprint.

The distinct increase in speed confirmed Zhang Deming’s theory.

The `Shadow: Mastery of Hundred Close Combat Techniques` was originally meant to fuse, refine, and enhance all Close Combat Techniques.

However, Zhang Deming had a wild idea. He tried to reverse-engineer the Technique, hoping that mastering it would grant him insights into all basic Close Combat Techniques.

It was a nice dream, but it never came true.

As a result, after he edited the Technique, he didn’t have a single Close Combat Technique to his name, leaving nothing for it to refine, fuse, or enhance. He shouldn’t have gained any benefit at all.

But his editor had kneaded all the broken Runes together, producing an ultimate mutation. It had become a Technique that acted like an Enhancement Skill for all other Techniques.

Zhang Deming’s face lit up with joy as he looked at the "+" Rune Light Ball.

This thing now had absolutely nothing to do with `Shadow: Mastery of Hundred Close Combat Techniques`.

Its effect was now somewhat similar to the Scheming Demoness’s ultimate ability.

Except instead of creating a Mirror Image, it directly enhanced the original Technique, currently boosting its power by about fifty to sixty percent.

Zhang Deming then spent a long time happily testing it and discovered that almost every Technique he used could be enhanced.

’What a great Technique!’

’From now on, I won’t call it `Shadow: Mastery of Hundred Close Combat Techniques`. Your new name is `Shadow: Enhancement Technique`.’

After testing the Technique, Zhang Deming checked the sky and packed up his things.

Early the next morning, he left Little Hui Peak.

「Outer Sect Headquarters, Task Department, Resources Acquisition Task Partition.」

"Junior Brother, are you here to accept a task or make an inquiry?" an Outer Sect senior sister asked with a smile as Zhang Deming approached her counter.

Zhang Deming returned the smile and replied, "Could you please look up information on a primary advancement material for the Summoning Class, the Innate Fetal Stone?"

The senior sister was briefly taken aback when she saw that Zhang Deming’s Cultivation was only at the Intermediate Apprentice level.

But she had seen plenty of strange things working at the Task Department. Her surprise lasted only a moment before she recovered and quickly began operating the Light Screen in front of her.

"Currently, there are five procurement tasks, with Spirit Stone rewards ranging from one hundred fifty to three hundred.

However, according to the Sect’s latest intelligence, no newborn Source Mountain Stone Demon offspring have been found in the back mountains recently.

Also, Junior Brother, Source Mountain Stone Demons are not to be trifled with."

Zhang Deming nodded with a smile. "I understand, Senior Sister. Could you please send me the information? Oh, and include the information on the Soul-Nourishing Fruit as well."

She paused, then made a grasping motion at her Light Screen, flicking the data directly over to the screen Zhang Deming had opened.

"Um..."

Zhang Deming paused his turn to leave. "Is there anything else, Senior Sister?" he asked, confused.

She smiled. "If—and this is just a hypothetical—you really do go after an Innate Fetal Stone and manage to get one...

...and you’re looking to sell, you should come back and find me. I can assure you, my connections will make it well worth your while."

"Of course, if you’re desperate for Contribution and need to exchange it for Contribution Points, then just forget I said anything."

’So this is how those private networks in the Resources Department are built, through senior brothers and sisters like her making deals on the side.’

Zhang Deming smiled and nodded. "Alright, Senior Sister."

With that, Zhang Deming turned and left. The woman said no more; she had clearly just made the token offer on the off-chance it might lead somewhere, unwilling to let any potential opportunity slip by.

Of the advancement materials Zhang Deming needed, aside from a few he still had to purchase, he was now only missing the Innate Fetal Stone and the Soul-Nourishing Fruit. He didn’t need a Demon Soul.

After all, he was advancing his Spirit Nurturing Summoning Technique, not a true Demon Soul Summoning.

The Soul-Nourishing Fruit was in stock; he could exchange other resources for Contribution Points and then trade for it at the Resources Department.

Only the primary material, the Innate Fetal Stone, was out of stock. Judging by the situation at the Task Department, it was in very short supply.

After all, Demon Spirit Summoning was an extremely niche path, yet there were already several people posting tasks for the material.

One could only imagine how scarce the Innate Fetal Stone was in the Outer Sect.

Afterwards, Zhang Deming went to the street stalls, where he bought a few Array Cards for Concealment and a special Disguise Array Card that was nearly One-Star in power.

After buying a few other miscellaneous items, Zhang Deming shouldered a small pack and headed for the back mountains.

Carrying the small pack, Zhang Deming thought to himself for the umpteenth time, ’If only this were a storage pouch.’

Unfortunately, even the lowest-grade one-cubic-meter storage pouch was considered a Two-Star Magical Artifact—something not even a Duality Ancestor was guaranteed to possess.

Besides being prohibitively expensive, there was no guarantee one could even be bought.

Forget a storage pouch; Zhang Deming couldn’t even afford a Ten Directions Ruyi Backpack, which was known for its large capacity.

Lost in his rambling thoughts, he reached the back mountains and passed through the outer region.

Zhang Deming gazed at the boundless primeval forest before him, tightened the straps of his backpack, and shot forward as the Light Wings materialized at his heels.

...

Zhang Deming sped through the primeval forest.

He had two main objectives for this trip into the back mountains. The first was the Soul-Nourishing Fruit. Since the Resources Department had it in stock, this wasn’t an absolute necessity; he could just gather other materials to exchange for Contribution Points instead.

The second objective, and his most important one, was to find a primary material: the Innate Fetal Stone.

Zhang Deming considered his plan. According to the Sect’s data, the Soul-Nourishing Fruit grew in the shallower regions of the back mountains, so he decided to head there first.

Of course, this "shallow region" did not refer to the outer periphery.

It referred to the areas just inside the deeper part of the mountains.

After leaving the outer region and venturing deeper into the mountains, he leaped through the trees for a long time. Once he felt that he had depleted about twenty percent of his Spiritual Power, he stopped to rest.

He found a spot halfway up a large tree and began his Qi Replenishing.

After a while, Zhang Deming set off again, repeating this cycle of travel and rest.

Afternoon gradually arrived. As Zhang Deming was running, his expression suddenly shifted, and he carefully came to a halt.

’I forgot, I still need a proper reconnaissance or perception-type Technique. I really should get a specialized one.’

Sensing a faint aura ahead, he stopped and carefully crept forward.

A moment later, Zhang Deming reached the source of the aura. Peering from a distance, he saw a clearing in the woods.

The clearing was overgrown with bushes and weeds, but there were no trees.

In the center of the clearing, a massive tree, several times larger than any of the surrounding ones, stood tall.

Its massive branches spread out like a canopy, completely covering the area. From the sky, it would look like an unbroken stretch of dense forest, with no clearing visible.

A group of very short creatures lived around the base of the great tree, looking like some kind of cross between monkeys and foxes.

They stood just over a foot tall, possessing the intelligence and agility of macaques but with the pointed ears and faces of foxes.

They were a type of Apprentice Middle Level Demon Beast known as the Fox Monkey.

They made their home in the great tree and were not considered particularly ferocious Demon Beasts. They were typically solitary, so it was extremely rare to find them living in a group.

They only gathered in groups for one reason, a rare occurrence at that: a collective mating season.