The Programmer Cultivator

At the very center of the sphere, a tiny, agile stream of water danced about the middle-aged man’s brow before finally plunging into it.

The middle-aged man’s eyes remained closed for a long while. A moment later, a look of joy spread across his face.

A Rune resembling a stream of water, part snake and part dragon, appeared between his brows. The moment it manifested, two luminous Rune clusters materialized above his head.

Then, a third luminous cluster began to slowly coalesce and take shape.

The auras of the three luminous Rune clusters were intertwined with the watery Rune between his brows.

Within the most recently formed luminous Rune cluster was that same agile stream of water from before.

Gazing at the third, newly formed luminous Rune cluster, the middle-aged man could no longer contain his smile.

With that, the entire scene shattered, transforming into a speck of light that flickered at the brow of Zhang Deming’s consciousness.

In his inventory, the Qi Fortune cluster grew by 0.2 and his Merit by 0.02, which was nothing out of the ordinary.

’This is...?’

’A master of Three Lives Tai Chi?’

’A Tai Chi master who used my Spirit Nurturing Bead as his Third Life Skill?’

’Doesn’t that mean my Spirit Nurturing Summoning Technique will be able to summon a true Tai Chi master from now on?’

’And one with Tai Chi Cultivation, no less!’

After the Apprentice stage comes the Tai Chi Stage, which is divided into three phases known as the Tai Chi Three Lives.

It signifies the concept: ’The One begets the Two, the Two begets the Three, and the Three begets all things, opening the path to Duality.’

After constructing a Rune Core and ascending to the Tai Chi Stage, as one’s Cultivation advances, one must further perfect the Rune Core in order to break through.

For each stage, or each ’Life,’ one must build upon their Rune Core. They must either learn a Technique from a related series or develop an entirely new Technique based on the Rune Core.

In short, after breaking through each ’Life,’ one must coalesce a Magic Rune to proceed.

These three Techniques form the foundation of the Tai Chi Three Lives.

To use an analogy, the Tai Chi Rune Core is the base of a Skill Tree.

During the Tai Chi Stage, a Cultivator must unlock three Skills related to this Skill Tree’s base. This forms the initial tree structure, and only then can one begin preparing for advancement to the Duality Stage.

The scene Zhang Deming had just witnessed was of a top-tier Tai Chi Cultivator who possessed three luminous Rune clusters and was ready to begin preparing for advancement to the Duality Stage.

’This is my first vision involving a Tai Chi Cultivator. To think the very first one would be a top-tier master!’

Furthermore, since the man had used my Spirit Nurturing Bead to construct a Skill related to his Core Rune, it meant that I could now summon his Mirror Image, just as I could with Feng Mingyou.

Gazing at the speck of light before his consciousness, Zhang Deming hesitated for a moment. Then, gently cradling the light, he entered the Spirit Nurturing Space.

He gazed at the surrounding islands, pondering for a moment.

With a wave of his hand, Zhang Deming took on the appearance of Elder Huang.

After a moment’s thought, he activated Spirit Nurturing Summoning, and the luminous cluster representing Feng Mingyou’s Mirror Image appeared in his hand.

He fused the luminous cluster directly into his body. An otherworldly, detached, and serene aura immediately began to emanate from Zhang Deming.

It perfectly complemented his current elderly appearance.

With another wave of his hand, an exquisite tea set appeared on the table before him.

The coarse sackcloth he had intentionally worn transformed into an old, simple cyan robe.

Although it still looked quite plain, it fit the atmosphere perfectly.

Then, Zhang Deming took a deep breath and lightly tapped the speck of light in his palm.

The speck of light rapidly expanded, forming a tunnel. It opened somewhat slowly, not as quickly as before.

SQUELCH!

A moment later, the tunnel convulsed like an intestine and spat out a middle-aged figure who had a watery Rune between his brows and three luminous clusters spinning above his head.

"You..."

"HURK... GAG..."

Zhang Deming was just about to speak, but the other man, despite his wary expression, couldn’t suppress the deep-seated nausea and began to retch uncontrollably.

Zhang Deming was speechless.

’So does the awful feeling get amplified for them when they pass through the tunnel?’

Because even though Zhang Deming had felt an overwhelming urge to vomit, he had barely managed to hold it in.

But now, every person he summoned threw up—even a Tai Chi Cultivator at the Three Lives Stage was no exception. It was clear that what they experienced was far more severe than what Zhang Deming had gone through.

Zhang Deming paused, then said nothing more.

He stood at the top of the pavilion, hands clasped behind his back, gazing at the island scenery outside. He waited quietly as a gentle breeze caressed him.

After a moment, Qu Qingxian finally stopped retching.

Zhang Deming maintained a detached expression. The art of the Tea Dao lent his aura an exceptional, otherworldly quality. Combined with his state as a being of pure consciousness, this sense of detachment was expressed to its fullest.

He didn’t need to say a word. His presentation alone was enough to identify him as an enlightened master of a very high caliber.

Zhang Deming continued to gaze outside with a detached expression, not even turning his head as he spoke, as if muttering to himself, "Feeling better now?

"It seems this mode of transport needs some work. If even someone at the Tai Chi Three Lives stage finds it this unpleasant, it’s no wonder those juniors below are constantly complaining."

In truth, Qu Qingxian had been observing his surroundings the entire time he was retching.

The uncontrollable nausea had actually helped him overcome his initial panic.

The higher his Cultivation, the more he understood just how terrifying this Detaining God technique was, leaving him utterly unable to resist or even sense it beforehand.

He couldn’t even imagine what level of Cultivation was required to achieve something like this.

He remained vigilant. When he looked at Zhang Deming, the man seemed ordinary, yet the aura of a great master was ingrained to his very bones.

He knew at a glance that this man before him was the one who had brought him here.

"Qu Qingxian of the Qu Family, an outer family of the Celestial Spirit Sect, greets you, Senior." Qu Qingxian suppressed all his questions and spoke with utmost respect.

"Haha... Little one, are you trying to intimidate me with the Celestial Spirit Sect?" Zhang Deming said with a chuckle.

Qu Qingxian immediately lowered his head. "This junior wouldn’t dare."

"Even if you dared, the Four-Nine Upper Sects don’t carry enough weight here.

You’d have to at least invoke a Blessed Land. A Holy Land would be even better. Perhaps that might actually frighten me," Zhang Deming said with a teasing smile.

Qu Qingxian’s heart sank. He had intended to use the Celestial Spirit Sect as a minimal deterrent.

He never expected that, judging by this senior’s tone, even the Three Great Holy Lands might not be enough to earn his respect.

’Just what kind of old monster captured me and brought me here?’

His mind raced, but he dared not let any of it show on his face. He said in a tone of feigned panic,

"Senior jests. This junior is well aware of his own meager standing. I have no connections to any Blessed or Holy Lands."

"Are you implying that if you did have such connections, you’d actually try to use them?" Zhang Deming continued to maintain his persona as a witty, powerful master.

Qu Qingxian faltered, momentarily at a loss for how to respond appropriately.

Seeing that he had thoroughly intimidated the man, Zhang Deming decided not to tease him any further.

He looked at the man and asked, "You are the one that young fellow Zhang Wu mentioned? Qu Qingxian, the current patriarch of the Qu Family of East City?"

Qu Qingxian’s expression flickered. He gleaned several pieces of information from that single question. Though his mind was racing, he put on a frightened expression, bowed his head, and said,

"I am unworthy of the title ’patriarch.’ If Senior is referring to the Qu Family of East City in Celestial Spirit City,

then I believe you are referring to this junior."

Zhang Deming scrutinized him for a moment before shaking his head.

"With such a meager Cultivation, and that brat Zhang Wu still went out of his way to file a report on you... It seems the domain of the Celestial Spirit Sect has fallen into decline in recent years."

Hearing this, Qu Qingxian lowered his head obsequiously. "Senior speaks the truth. This junior’s Cultivation is indeed nothing to look at."

From beginning to end, he hadn’t raised a single question, even though he was now bursting with them. He didn’t even know who this Zhang Wu was.

Zhang Deming looked at him with a faint smile and asked,

"Aren’t you curious why I’ve brought you here?"

Qu Qingxian smiled. "As long as it pleases Senior. This junior quietly awaits your orders."

’Heh, he didn’t even take the bait to ask a follow-up question?’

’I’ve never once contacted him as Zhang Wu, from start to finish.’

’This old fox really is a cunning one, cautious to a fault!’