The Programmer Cultivator

Zhang Deming shook his head and said, "No, I came alone.

I picked this up from the bodies of those people who were being chased by the Qiu Apes."

Then, Zhang Deming recalled the message he had received earlier and said, "Want to go take a look?"

Li Shifan looked confused, not understanding what Zhang Deming meant.

Zhang Deming said, "It seems they were here for some kind of ruins."

Li Shifan’s expression shifted. He nodded and said, "So we sneak over and check out the situation from a distance first?"

Zhang Deming nodded. The two quickly reached an agreement and carefully snuck forward, following the location coordinates.

After advancing for only about ten minutes, they could faintly hear the sound of water.

As they moved forward, the sound grew louder until it became a deafening roar by the time they stopped.

At this moment, Zhang Deming was completely enveloped by the Hidden Breath Skill. If not for being seen with the naked eye, he would seem completely nonexistent.

Li Shifan was entirely different from Zhang Deming. He had completely merged with the sword on his back.

Whether through Perception or investigation, it was as if he were just an ordinary sword.

As long as one didn’t see his physical form and pay special attention, he was completely unnoticeable.

The two stopped at the edge of the forest and looked into the distance. Ahead was a massive waterfall.

A powerful current of water cascaded down the falls, emptying into a rather large lake.

"Judging by the location, this should be Falling Turtle Lake, right?" Li Shifan said.

Zhang Deming nodded. "Given the depth of this area, it could only be Falling Turtle Lake."

Clearly, both were just guessing based on information they had read; neither had ever been here before.

"Does this mean the legends about Falling Turtle Lake are true?" Li Shifan asked.

Zhang Deming paused, puzzled. "What legends?"

"They say a giant turtle fell here, I don’t know how long ago.

Others say it wasn’t a turtle that fell, but a special Secret Realm.

No one knows the specifics. The legends are all over the place," Li Shifan said.

Zhang Deming looked at Li Shifan and said pointedly, "You really know your history, don’t you!"

Li Shifan replied calmly, "I’ve had to look into these things a lot for certain reasons."

"So, you really just stumbled upon these people by chance and got lucky?

For your lucky find to match your specialized knowledge so perfectly... your luck is really something else!" Zhang Deming asked, seemingly at random.

Li Shifan glanced at Zhang Deming. "Didn’t Senior Brother Zhang also get lucky by chance?"

They exchanged a look, leaving it at that, and tacitly agreed not to press the matter further.

...

By the lakeside, six people were already waiting quietly.

The two observed them carefully for a while and discovered that the six were not very familiar with each other.

Li Shifan hesitated before saying, "Are they waiting for someone?"

Hearing this, Zhang Deming’s expression flickered.

He once again took out a Command Token from his bag. As he did, he noticed that the token’s surface was faintly rippling like water—whether due to the surroundings or the sound of the waterfall, he couldn’t tell.

Looking at the change in the Command Token, Zhang Deming said, "I got this along with the watch. It looks like they might be waiting for this?"

Li Shifan glanced at the Command Token in Zhang Deming’s hand. "So, should we go?"

Zhang Deming studied the six people in the distance for a moment and said, "From the looks of it, they don’t all seem to know each other."

Hearing this, Li Shifan seemed very hesitant.

Zhang Deming knew what he was hesitating about. If he hadn’t read the information in the notebook and seen the mission details, which allowed him to guess what was going on, he would be even more hesitant than Li Shifan. No, with his personality, the thought of joining the crowd wouldn’t have even crossed his mind.

Zhang Deming paused, then added, "Besides, this is probably their first time meeting."

Li Shifan looked back at Zhang Deming thoughtfully. "Senior Brother Zhang, if you think we can try to blend in, then we can give it a shot."

’Heh, what a clever way of putting it. He avoids testing me directly, but still manages to probe me all the same.’

Zhang Deming didn’t reply immediately, instead carefully observing the six people across the lake.

A moment later, just as Zhang Deming and Li Shifan were about to move, someone emerged from the lake.

Both Zhang Deming and Li Shifan froze, their gazes fixed on the person.

Zhang Deming’s expression shifted.

’Is that?’

’Xue Su?’

Zhang Deming stared at the person who had emerged and realized he actually knew him.

Moreover, if the watch’s display was correct, he should be one of the dots on the screen.

’Interesting. So this ordinary-looking Xue Su is actually an undercover agent?’

Zhang Deming hesitated for a moment, then he and Li Shifan slowly retreated some distance.

"I want to hide my face before we go over. What about you?" Zhang Deming asked.

Li Shifan shook his head. "I haven’t practiced any transformation skills or specialized Hidden Breath Techniques, nor did I prepare any relevant Array Cards.

Besides, I don’t know any of them, so I’ll be fine as I am."

Hearing this, Zhang Deming nodded, took out a card he had prepared earlier, and quickly activated the Runes.

A moment later, Zhang Deming’s face became hazy.

The invisible gray mist from his Hidden Breath Skill enveloped his entire body, instantly blurring his face.

Li Shifan checked it and nodded. "That should do it. Even an Apprentice who has cultivated the Spiritual Eye Technique wouldn’t necessarily be able to see your face clearly if they looked closely."

Zhang Deming nodded. "Alright, let’s go and meet these people."

Upon hearing this, Li Shifan immediately took half a step back to fall in behind Zhang Deming. He took the greatsword from his back and cradled it in his arms.

At the same time, the aura around him changed rapidly.

He went from being a sharp, cold, and imposing ice-prince type to a tough, slightly wild, follower-bodyguard persona.

Zhang Deming watched his aura shift, the corner of his mouth twitching. ’This guy is a total drama king, no doubt about it. Anyone who can control such an intangible change in their presence is the real deal. In my past life, winning Best Actor at the Golden Bull or Golden Horse Awards would have been a piece of cake for him.’

After finishing his preparations, Li Shifan quietly followed Zhang Deming, fully embracing his new persona.

This made the two of them appear exceedingly mysterious.

Zhang Deming fiddled with his watch for a moment, turning its positioning function back on. Then, the two of them headed toward the lake at a leisurely pace.

"They’re here," Xue Su and another person among the seven waiting suddenly said.

It was clear the seven were strangers to each other, split into four separate groups. At the announcement, the others also sensed Zhang Deming and Li Shifan’s approach and turned to look.

When Zhang Deming and Li Shifan appeared, the others let out a slight sigh of relief.

The last of the five Command Tokens for the ruins had arrived.