The Programmer Cultivator

After the information finished displaying, the invisible wall of light rippled like water once more as Zhang Deming touched it.

Zhang Deming passed straight through without a moment’s hesitation.

After another familiar moment of disorientation, Zhang Deming came to his senses and found himself at the foot of a mountain.

Before him was a moderately sized mountain slope.

A massive cave was clearly visible on the hillside.

Zhang Deming now stood at the foot of the mountain, on a massive arena.

The arena was huge, the size of a sports field, but its layout was unmistakably that of a combat ring.

The perimeter of the arena was sealed off by the same kind of invisible wall of light as before, trapping it like an inverted bowl with no way in or out.

Zhang Deming stood in the center of the arena, where a phantom Light Screen displayed two options before him.

One: Array.

Two: Combat.

’So I have to choose one to clear the final stage?’

’It seems that whether this is an assessment site or a ruin left by a predecessor, it shows some favoritism toward Array Dao Cultivators.’

’Either way, it must have a bias toward Array Cultivators.’

Zhang Deming had never even studied Heart Eye Numerology, so there was no way he could choose to pass via the Array path.

Without a doubt, he could only choose to pass through Combat.

As Zhang Deming confirmed his selection, the Light Screen before him vanished. On one side of the arena, countless motes of light converged, slowly coalescing into a Demon Beast right before his eyes.

It had the head of a lion, the body of a leopard, fish-like scales, the eyes of an eagle, and the tail of a scorpion. On its back was a pair of underdeveloped wings.

Another ancient species—the Demon Beast, Kongyan!

The most valuable part of a Kongyan is its wings. Because of their faint Extreme Wind Attribute, Flying Artifacts crafted from them receive a massive speed boost.

However, the wings were a top-tier, One-Star material of the Tai Chi Stage, because a Kongyan with fully grown wings was already a Tai Chi Demon Beast.

Aside from its wings, its entire body was a treasure trove, just not quite as precious.

The beast radiated a powerful aura. Its Cultivation was at the Half-Step Tai Chi realm, remarkably similar to a Cultivator whose Rune Core was nearly complete and was just one step away from promotion.

The Demon Beast seemed to be just a hair’s breadth away from stepping into the Tai Chi Stage.

’Zhang Deming was even a little afraid that, in the middle of the fight, its wings would suddenly mature and it would complete its advancement.’

While the Demon Beast was still coalescing, dozens of Vines had already sprouted around Zhang Deming.

The very instant his opponent finished materializing, Zhang Deming slammed both hands onto the ground.

"Technique: Thorny Earth Spike!"

Dozens of sharp spikes erupted from the ground, instantly shooting toward the Kongyan’s various vital points.

This was a male Kongyan Beast, and Zhang Deming even made sure to give special attention to the two balls between its legs.

But a faint light flashed across the beast’s body, and a Shield, similar to a Spiritual Shield, materialized.

It effortlessly blocked all of the Thorny Earth Spikes.

Seeing this, Zhang Deming felt a massive headache coming on.

’This is going to be trouble. Its Cultivation is higher than mine, it has a Shield ability, and judging by the scales on its body, they aren’t just for show. Its defense must be incredible.’

’This was the most infuriating kind of situation.’

’High Cultivation combined with powerful defense meant it would be incredibly difficult to break through.’

Zhang Deming’s expression grew grim, but the Kongyan wasn’t about to give him any time to devise a strategy.

It lunged at Zhang Deming. Light Wings materialized at his heels, and with a flicker of movement, he dodged aside.

After its lunge missed, the Kongyan paused for a fraction of a second. Spirit Wind swirled around its four paws, and its speed suddenly accelerated. A faint Spirit Wind also stirred around its underdeveloped wings.

In an instant, its speed surged, making it even a bit faster than Zhang Deming.

’Isn’t this a bit much? Powerful defense is one thing, but to be this fast on top of it all!’

After a few harrowing, last-second dodges, Zhang Deming had the Vines on his body quickly morph into spider legs, hoisting him into the air.

Otherwise, if he kept up such dangerous and thrilling evasions, he’d be dancing on a razor’s edge; a single misstep would mean injury.

The Kongyan was fast, but it couldn’t fly—at least not yet.

Several sharp, spear-like vines, each several meters long, extended from Zhang Deming’s body and lifted him high into the air.

The two-meter-tall Kongyan was instantly left behind on the ground below, giving Zhang Deming the breathing room to control his Vines and send them snaking toward the beast.

A cold glint flashed in the eagle eyes of the Kongyan below. With a single leap, it dodged out of the attack range of the surrounding Vines.

"ROAR..."

It then abruptly opened its mouth and spat out several transparent Wind Blades.

The aura fluctuations from the Wind Blades were extremely subtle. In the heat of Combat, and masked by the beast’s roar, they completely escaped Zhang Deming’s notice.

While controlling the Vines, Zhang Deming felt the hairs on his body stand on end. Before he could even see what was wrong, he was already plummeting downward.

The Wind Blades had directly severed the sharp spear-like vines that were supporting him.

With his support gone, Zhang Deming instantly lost his balance.

The Kongyan, already prepared, opened its mouth again, spewing forth even more powerful Wind Blades.

The reason it hadn’t aimed its sneak attack directly at Zhang Deming was that the subtle Wind Blades weren’t guaranteed to break his Spiritual Shield’s defense in a single hit.

It was highly likely that Zhang Deming would have time to react and put up a proper defense.

But now, caught off guard and off-balance in mid-air, Zhang Deming was struck by the follow-up, enhanced Wind Blades, which hit the same spot in rapid succession.

His Spiritual Shield shattered, which only bought Zhang Deming enough time to slightly turn his body.