The Programmer Cultivator

’For a dilapidated Secret Realm, an assessment this nonsensical can still function normally and even give out such good things.’

’Add to that this lone wolf who seemed to know the Secret Realm so well at the beginning, yet is now the only one "heavily injured." And the orb of light corresponding to him was so hesitant.’

’Heh!’

’This Secret Realm is getting more and more interesting, more and more thought-provoking!’

Zhang Deming glanced at Qu Hua, then was the first to state his position coolly, "I’ll just take my share. You all can figure out the rest yourselves."

Xue Su paused slightly at his words. Li Shifan’s eyes flickered, and his gaze toward Qu Hua also became thoughtful.

He hadn’t known Zhang Deming for long, but from what he understood of his character, he was definitely not someone overflowing with sympathy.

’A person like that, especially in this situation, wouldn’t easily give up a piece of meat that’s already in his mouth.’

’So, for Zhang Deming to act this way, there’s likely only one possibility.’

Li Shifan paused, then followed up frostily, "I only want my Sword Grass, too."

The implication was clear: he was teaming up with and unconditionally supporting Zhang Deming.

His intention to follow Zhang Deming’s lead couldn’t have been more obvious.

Xue Su looked at Zhang Deming, pondered for a moment, and still felt a little reluctant.

However, he didn’t say anything to Zhang Deming. Instead, he turned to the equally unharmed Sha Xingping and asked, "What about you?"

"Although they are all top-tier main ingredients, those from the Strange Ability Class should be the rarest, right?

"Rarity determines value. He should compensate everyone for their ’loss.’" Sha Xingping said coolly, glancing at the heavily injured Qu Hua.

He was another one with a sharp mind. After Zhang Deming and Li Shifan had expressed their non-involvement, he chose not to isolate Qu Hua directly, but to squeeze him for what he was worth. This way, he didn’t stand alone and stir up conflict, and could still maximize his own gains.

Qu Hua’s pale face turned ugly. He asked, "How much compensation do you want?"

"Top-tier main ingredients have a market price of at least three to five hundred Spirit Stones, though they have a price but no market.

Let’s value yours at three hundred, and ours at two hundred.

So, you just need to make up the difference by giving each of us twenty-five Spirit Stones," the lone wolf Sha Xingping stated calmly. Xue Su nodded in agreement, clearly backing Sha Xingping up.

Qu Hua’s expression was extremely ugly. His eyes were deep and dark as he looked at Zhang Deming and Li Shifan. "What about you two?" he asked.

Zhang Deming spread his hands. "Like I said, I only want my share. But if you insist on stuffing Spirit Stones in my pocket, I won’t object."

Zhang Deming’s words made Sha Xingping flinch slightly.

If Zhang Deming’s earlier attitude was about not wanting to stir up trouble, now that Sha Xingping had taken the lead, Zhang Deming shouldn’t have given this answer. He could have easily taken advantage of the situation.

’Could it be...?’

Xue Su and Sha Xingping exchanged a look, a hint of unspoken understanding passing between them.

Li Shifan hugged his sword, not saying a word, clearly supporting Zhang Deming.

Qu Hua paused, took out a card from his waist, and made a quick transaction with it. "Fifty Spirit Stones. Split it yourselves. COUGH COUGH..."

As he spoke, he suddenly coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood. His injuries looked extremely severe, and droplets of blood spattered onto the card in his hand.

He tried his best to hold it back, swallowing the blood rising in his throat before he could cough up any more.

Only then did he toss out the blood-stained Spirit Stone Card.

Sha Xingping’s eyes flickered as he watched Qu Hua cough up blood. He turned to look at Xue Su, but Xue Su glanced at Zhang Deming and gave a slight shake of his head.

Seeing this, Sha Xingping also glanced at Zhang Deming and stopped pushing his luck, not attempting to squeeze any more out of him.

By this time, the five orbs of light had drifted to within arm’s reach of Zhang Deming and the others.

The light shield over the table flickered a few times and disappeared.

The atmosphere between the five of them instantly tensed. No one dared to make a rash move.

Zhang Deming took a deep breath. "Let’s go one by one," he said.

Sha Xingping pressed, "Who goes first?"

Immediately, the five of them fell silent again.

Li Shifan suddenly broke the silence, looking at Zhang Deming. "Senior Brother, you go first. I’ll go last."

With that one sentence, a delicate balance was instantly formed.

Because of all the teams, only Zhang Deming’s pair had both made it through.

Therefore, it was an arrangement the others could accept.

Zhang Deming nodded. When the Fetal Jade rotated in front of him, he carefully reached out and took it.

There were no tricks. Zhang Deming’s hand passed directly through the orb of light and retrieved the Fetal Jade from within.

It left behind an empty orb, which continued to rotate above.

Since it was Li Shifan who had set the order, the remaining three all turned to look at him.

Li Shifan looked at the heavily injured Qu Hua. "You’re second."

Qu Hua was slightly taken aback, then decisively reached out and grabbed the orb of black smoke that had rotated in front of him.

A mass of constantly struggling black smoke was now in his hand.

What surprised the other four was that he didn’t use a container to store it; instead, he tossed it directly into his mouth.

They didn’t know if he was choosing to partially fuse with it, or if the material’s special properties required him to use his body as a container.

Li Shifan also paused, giving Qu Hua a deep look before turning to Sha Xingping. "You’re next."

Sha Xingping raised a hand, produced an exquisite jade bottle, and stored the Bloodline inside.

The last two orbs of light were positioned perfectly in front of the remaining two men.

There was no need to decide the order; they both grabbed their items at the same time.

Once all five had their materials in hand, the tense atmosphere eased slightly.

Zhang Deming, however, frowned slightly. ’The previous assessments felt like they were screening for something.

But this reward stage is rather hostile. From the changing seats to the selection of the orbs, everything seems designed to provoke conflict.

This ruin has a clear inconsistency between its parts. It’s getting more and more intriguing.’

Just then, with all five orbs empty, they flickered in unison and then, with a soft POP, vanished completely.

The five men instantly felt themselves being pushed to their feet as the chairs behind them all disappeared.

At that moment, a massive door abruptly appeared on the other side of the hall.

The five exchanged glances and, keeping their distance from one another, approached the great door.

The suddenly appeared door was shut tight and had five indentations on it. The moment they saw the indentations, they all paused.

They all took out their respective Command Tokens. The instant the tokens appeared, a word materialized on each one.

Three read "Good," Zhang Deming’s read "Good-Plus," and Xue Su’s was surprisingly "Excellent."

The five words floated off their tokens, condensed into five transparent copies, and embedded themselves in the door.

CLANG...

With a loud bang, the massive door opened automatically, revealing a deep, enormous tunnel before the five of them.

’There was no teleportation. So, despite our different ratings, it just opened a single door for all of us? It didn’t separate us or have any other effect. We’re all supposed to proceed together... What’s the meaning of this?’

Zhang Deming’s brow furrowed. He once again sensed the contradictions within this dilapidated Secret Realm, and this time, the inconsistency felt particularly clear.

The group exchanged another look before stepping into the tunnel.

TAP... TAP...

The tunnel was extremely wide and high. The five of them seemed rather small walking inside it, and the sound of their footsteps echoed through the passage.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, Sha Xingping frowned slightly and looked at Xue Su. "Is this an Array, or is this place real?"

Xue Su was caught off guard by the sudden question. He paused for a moment before answering:

"It should be real. With my level of skill in Arrays, for me to not sense the slightest trace of one, it would have to be a Three-Star Array or higher.

So, rather than believing we’ve entered a Three-Star Array or better, I’m more inclined to believe this is a real tunnel."

Sha Xingping nodded. "In that case, this tunnel is really long."

Just then, Zhang Deming spoke coolly, "I’m more concerned about why it was built to be so large. This place is obviously either underground or inside a mountain.

Building a tunnel this massive... was it just for show, or was it because of the size of the people—or things—that were meant to pass through it...?"