The Programmer Cultivator

He held a chessboard in his left hand and a chess piece in his right. His pupils had turned one black and one white.

"Chess Dao: Basic Ladder!"

As the chessboard in the man’s hand vanished, Zhang Deming’s path forward was abruptly cut off. His routes to the left and right were no exception; only the way back remained open.

Encircled on three sides, leaving one open. This was the ladder of the Chess Dao!

Zhang Deming stopped in his tracks, his expression turning grim.

"Junior Brother, I had no other choice. I will reward you handsomely for this afterward." As the man finished speaking, the surrounding Spiritual Power barrier vanished.

But just then, the berserk aura Zhang Deming had been sensing caught up to them.

"I assume you recognize this Qiu Ape, Junior Brother. This creature is utterly vengeful, holding a grudge over the slightest offense, and it’s an expert tracker.

Now it’s tracking you as well. We’re in the same boat, so why don’t we team up?

Just buy me fifteen minutes to recover, and I can get my strength back quickly.

Then we can team up and take it down for sure. I promise, I’ll reward you handsomely afterward!" the man said hurriedly.

His face was deathly pale; he had clearly reached his limit. That was precisely why he had so decisively acted to drag Zhang Deming down with him.

If he hadn’t, he would have surely died.

BOOM...

The man had just finished speaking when a giant ape, roughly five meters tall with the nose and ears of a dog, leaped down in front of the two of them.

The giant ape’s eyes glinted menacingly as it fixed its vicious gaze on the two men before it.

The beast’s nose twitched twice, and Zhang Deming clearly felt a strange aura lock onto him.

This was one of the creature’s Bloodline abilities, and it was incredibly difficult to dispel.

Zhang Deming’s expression darkened. He glanced at the other man and said, "What I hate most is being forced to do things."

As Zhang Deming spoke, a Vine shot out, catching the man completely off guard. It wrapped tightly around his ankle, preventing him from running or dodging.

"You..."

ROAR...

The young man’s expression changed drastically, but before he could say a word, the Qiu Ape had already raised its massive paws, clenched them into fists, and brought them crashing down on him from above its head.

Spiritual Light surged as an illusory chessboard materialized in front of the man to block the attack.

In a mere instant, the chessboard shattered into motes of Spiritual Light and disintegrated.

No wonder he’d taken such a desperate risk to stop Zhang Deming. The man was completely and utterly spent.

If he hadn’t stopped Zhang Deming, he would have had no chance of survival. It was better to take a gamble and hope for a miracle. Unfortunately for him, his gamble failed.

He had even provoked Zhang Deming, whose interference left him with no choice but to face the attack head-on in his utterly exhausted state.

The young man coughed up blood as he was sent flying. The sickening crunch of breaking bones was clearly audible. His eyes were wide open as his body, twisted into an unnatural shape, shot through the air.

The immense force of the blow, combined with his already grievous injuries, meant the young man was dead before he even hit the ground.

Zhang Deming glanced at the corpse and said coldly, "Courtesy demands reciprocity. Now we’re even.

I might have lost out on this deal, but you didn’t exactly profit either, so I’ll just let it go."

After smashing the young man to death, the giant ape leaped over to the corpse, scooped it up, and its mouth suddenly gaped open like a snake’s. It tossed the entire body into its maw.

Only then did it turn to face the wary Zhang Deming. Man and beast were now in a standoff.

After a moment’s standoff, Zhang Deming sensed that the creature had no intention of leaving. Coupled with the intense aura still locked onto him, he decided to speak.

"Hah. Are you planning to digest your meal and recover before you make a move, you beast?"

ROAR...

The Qiu Ape roared at Zhang Deming but didn’t attack. Its berserk aura, at the level of a Peak Apprentice, billowed out as it seemed intent on continuing the standoff.

’So that’s how it is. It seems I have to make the first move.’

Zhang Deming’s expression turned cold, and he immediately began to form hand seals.

The instant Zhang Deming’s Spiritual Power flared, the Qiu Ape abandoned its patient act and charged straight for him.

Several Vines erupted from the ground around Zhang Deming, instantly swelling in size and lashing out at the charging Qiu Ape.

The Qiu Ape’s five-meter frame granted it immense power, and it wasn’t slow either, but this came at the cost of agility.

Though it reacted quickly and dodged several of the attacks, a few Vines still whipped across its body.

CRACK...

The tremendous force of the blows made the creature pause for a moment.

But Zhang Deming frowned. Despite the immense force, the blows hadn’t even drawn blood; its fur wasn’t even red.

Seeing its condition, Zhang Deming knew this was going to be troublesome. ’This thing isn’t just strong; its defense is formidable too.’

With a grim expression, Zhang Deming summoned Light Wings to his heels. In a few quick leaps, he dodged the creature’s attack.

In the spot where he had just stood, several Vines erupted from the ground, forming a gaping maw that engulfed the Qiu Ape.

Within the Vines, the Qiu Ape began to struggle furiously.

The moment the Vines enveloped the creature, Zhang Deming poured a massive amount of Spiritual Power into them.

The Vines wrapped around its body rapidly coiled and constricted, attempting to restrain and strangle it to death.

As the Vines tightened their grip, the Qiu Ape’s struggles grew weaker, its movements becoming more and more constrained.

ROAR...

Just as the Vines completely encased the Qiu Ape, it let out a furious roar.

SNAP...

The sound of countless things snapping filled the air as the Vine Ball exploded, scattering severed lengths of Vine all over the ground.

Amidst the wreckage of the Vines, the Qiu Ape threw its head back and roared.

The muscles all over its body bulged high, and a shockwave of air blasted outwards with its roar.

Its already massive body swelled, growing even larger still.