The Programmer Cultivator

After retrieving the large materials they had stowed away earlier, the two continued on their way for about another day. The moment they saw the Sect, they both let out a long sigh of relief.

An incredible sense of security washed over them.

The constant anxiety of the past few days had left them both utterly exhausted.

After returning to the Sect, Zhang Deming parted ways with Li Shifan and went straight back to the Qingyou Jade Pavilion on Little Hui Peak.

He didn’t bother with anything else and simply collapsed into bed.

During their journey over the past few days, aside from resting to recover their Spiritual Power, they had only slept once.

The high-paced travel had been truly exhausting.

He slept like the dead, and when he finally woke up, it was already the afternoon of the next day.

After getting up and washing his face, Zhang Deming made himself a lavish lunch. Only after enjoying the meal did he begin to sort through his haul from the trip.

First, there were the Demon Beast materials, the Bloodline, and the Blood Emotion Wine. They should fetch a good number of Spirit Stones, but this was all just small change.

The real prize was the several top-tier main materials he had acquired, from the cave all the way to the Secret Realm.

The Yin Yang Rejuvenation Crystal, the Fetal Jade, and a small portion of the Wandering Soul Mist.

These alone represented a huge fortune, and they were the kind of items that were priceless and rarely seen on the market.

Then, Zhang Deming opened the other backpack—Sha Xingping’s.

It contained some valuable materials, but the most important item was the Two-Tailed Demon Fox Bloodline.

After taking inventory of everything, Zhang Deming realized that if he converted his haul into Spirit Stones, it would be worth at least several hundred.

His finances were instantly relaxed. Combined with the steady income from selling Spirit Nurturing Beads, he wouldn’t have to worry about money for a while.

More importantly, he had gathered all the primary materials. The only supplementary materials he lacked could be obtained through trade.

All he was missing now were Experience Points. After that, he could begin preparations to condense his Rune Core and advance to the Tai Chi realm.

’Oh, right. There’s still one more thing—the biggest prize of all!’

Zhang Deming’s gaze fell fervently upon his inventory, where a Tier Five Cultivation Technique lay quietly.

Without a doubt, that was his greatest prize from this trip.

Then, Zhang Deming froze for a moment before his face lit up with joy.

The nearly three white light balls he had before had finished condensing during his absence. In fact, more than one had formed, bringing the total to four.

Having four light balls wasn’t the main reason for his delight. What truly made him ecstatic was what was inside them.

The first two still flickered with the ’branch’ Rune.

The third flickered with the ’sequence’ Rune.

And the fourth... it flickered with the ’loop’ Rune he had been anticipating the most.

’After waiting for so long, the first "loop" Rune Light Ball has finally appeared!’

Zhang Deming had long known exactly what he would do with it.

Looking at the 45,000 Experience Points in his Dantian Cultivation Technique Script, a smile touched Zhang Deming’s lips.

With this ’loop’ ball, the time he needed would be shortened even further.

’The Tai Chi realm... it shouldn’t be far off now!’

Furthermore, the time he saved on Cultivation could be used to create Spirit Nurturing Balls, which would in turn speed up his acquisition of Spirit Stones.

By then using Spirit Stones to advance his Cultivation, his overall progress would leap forward severalfold.

The appearance of this single ’loop’ ball would shorten his originally estimated one to two years of accumulation by at least three or four times.

As for the exact amount, he would find out once he put it into effect.

He didn’t act immediately. Instead, Zhang Deming sorted through his materials, deciding to first sell off the ones that were difficult to preserve.

Among his top-tier primary materials, Zhang Deming paused to think. He took out the portion of Wandering Soul Mist he had extracted from his stomach and set it aside.

He would use the remaining Fetal Jade himself. As for the Yin Yang Rejuvenation Crystal and the Two-Tailed Demon Fox Bloodline, he decided not to touch them for now. ’I should probably hold onto them.’

After all, each one was a material for advancing to the Tai Chi realm; this wasn’t something that could be measured in just Spirit Stones.

Zhang Deming first headed to the market stalls. He hadn’t been there in a long time. When he arrived at Qin Shizhong’s stall, he found that it had expanded to several times its original size.

Judging by the way the other vendors acted around him, he had clearly gained some status.

Evidently, the multiple transactions worth dozens of Spirit Stones over the past month or two had earned him more than just Spirit Stones.

He had also built up initial connections and business channels.

"Hey, Senior Brother Zhang! What brings you here? If you needed something, you could have just sent word," Qin Shizhong called out, spotting Zhang Deming from a distance and enthusiastically coming forward to greet him.

Zhang Deming smiled and said, "I have some materials to offload. Seeing as your business is doing so well, I figured I wouldn’t bother selling them myself. I’ll let you make a cut instead."

Qin Shizhong’s face beamed with delight. "In that case, let me thank you in advance, Senior Brother Zhang!"

With that, Zhang Deming took out the materials from the Qiu Ape—excluding its Bloodline, of course—and some of the materials from Sha Xingping’s bag.

After a good while, they finished the appraisal. Qin Shizhong looked troubled as he said, "Uh, Senior Brother Zhang, the total comes to eighty-three Spirit Stones."

"It’s not a huge quantity of items, but the materials from the two Tai Chi Demon Beasts make up the bulk of the value."

"I can’t front that many Spirit Stones, and it’s not like I can resell these things immediately."

Hearing the eighty-three Spirit Stone figure, Zhang Deming glanced at Qin Shizhong.

’This guy isn’t making much of a profit on this deal. Looks like he’s trying to lock me in for the long haul, treating me like his personal cash cow.’

Zhang Deming nodded. "That’s fine. You can pay me back with materials later."

"My demand for materials might increase even more this month. This amount will probably just cover a month’s worth of supplies, and it might not even be enough."

Hearing this, Qin Shizhong couldn’t hide the overjoyed expression that bloomed across his face.

"Don’t you worry, Senior Brother. I’ll get these items sold as quickly as possible. As for the materials you requested, I already have them ready for you."