The Programmer Cultivator

But the missions had been going too smoothly. Zhang Deming had thought he wouldn’t be able to hand out the incentive, that he wouldn’t get to set his example. ’Could this be the turning point?’

Zhang Deming’s expression shifted, a look of interest appearing on his face. "Oh? You really found something? It seems choosing you for the Alliance because of your great Qi Fortune was the right decision after all.

Tell me, what did you discover?"

Li Shifan hesitated for a moment before speaking. "At both mission locations, I felt... uneasy. I’ve encountered this kind of feeling before, so I was especially cautious.

But I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, so I thought it was just my imagination.

However, Summoning Spirit’s reaction afterward confirmed to me that there was something wrong with the locations. So when I was searching the second mission point, I was much more thorough.

Finally, by chance, I discovered something was wrong underground at the mission site. But my Spiritual Sense told me it was something of great terror.

So I didn’t dare to act rashly. I pretended I hadn’t found anything, left the area, and returned to the Sect.

Since I didn’t conduct any actual Reconnaissance and was going purely on a feeling, I couldn’t decide whether or not to mention this when I submitted the mission report."

Hearing this, Zhang Deming took a serious look at Li Shifan. ’He’s truly worthy of a protagonist’s destiny. That kind of Spiritual Sense is practically a cheat.’

’No wonder he’s had so many fortuitous encounters in just two short years and reached the Duality realm. His Cultivation speed is barely any slower than my own.’

"So, you’re saying this is all just a guess?" Zhang Deming asked after a moment of thought.

Li Shifan nodded. "More or less. It’s not a complete shot in the dark, but I have no concrete evidence. It’s no different from a guess. Should I still report it in this situation?"

Zhang Deming mused for a moment, then said, "Mention it, but also make it clear that it’s speculation. That way, the Alliance’s reaction will be up to them."

Li Shifan was taken aback for a second. ’Is this... passing the buck in advance?’

’As expected of a division’s Steward. In this regard alone, I’m no match for him!’

A smile then appeared on Li Shifan’s face. "Thank you for your guidance, Steward Zhang. I understand what to do now."

Zhang Deming nodded. "While doing it this way means you won’t face any consequences, it’s not without its own drawbacks."

Li Shifan was surprised again. "What do you mean, Steward Zhang?"

Zhang Deming replied, "You’ve passed on the responsibility, but there’s no guarantee of a reward. The Alliance might not take it seriously. Then, even if something is discovered later by chance, it will have nothing to do with you.

And even if they do investigate because of your tip and make a discovery, your reward will likely be reduced.

After all, no one’s a fool. They’ll clearly see the meaning and attitude behind your actions.

So while you won’t bear any responsibility, the benefits are also uncertain. It’s a case of risk versus opportunity. The choice is yours."

Upon hearing this, Li Shifan fell into deep thought. After a long while, he finally replied, "I understand."

Seeing that Li Shifan understood, Zhang Deming asked, "Is there anything else?"

Li Shifan shook his head. "No."

"Then that’s all for today. I still have many things to take care of," Zhang Deming said.

Li Shifan nodded. "Mm."

With that, Zhang Deming ejected Li Shifan.

A moment later, Li Shifan submitted his mission report. His submission had one more sentence than the others, and it was worded quite interestingly.

"My Spiritual Sense was triggered; there may be an issue underground at the mission point. Given that matters concerning the Five Elements Remnants are beyond my level of Cultivation, I did not attempt to investigate."

From this message, it was clear that Li Shifan had chosen the safe strategy of passing the buck.

This was normal, though. It was his first mission, after all, and he was still unfamiliar with the Alliance’s procedures. Caution was the right move.

Seeing this, Zhang Deming also changed his own mission status to "Completed." After a brief hesitation, he began processing the mission.

A moment later, the mission’s status changed to "Processing," and Zhang Deming even added a special note.

Category: Regional Mission

Type: Reconnaissance

Level: Tai Chi to Duality

Participants: Five (Summoning Spirit, Clear Tea, Painted Sword, Speaking Lotus, Sacrificial Chess)

Description: Omitted...

Information: Map (Viewable after accepting the mission and assembling)

Objective: Investigate the two marked locations on the map.

Status: Processing

Reward: Processing

Note: Due to information discovered during exploration, this mission requires further processing. Rewards will be issued after this subsequent processing is complete.

Special Reminder: The reward for this mission may include a ’Promotion Dao Fruit.’

Issuer: Celestial Spirit Division Steward—Zhang Wu

Looking at the modified mission details, Zhang Deming nodded. He tossed the Book of All Living Beings back, and it once again floated in mid-air.

As Zhang Deming completed his edits, the other four who had just submitted their reports all paused. They stared at the updated information on the Book of All Living Beings, their eyes glinting as they each fell into deep thought.

···

After dealing with the mission, Zhang Deming was about to leave when he habitually checked his stored Energy. One look was all it took for him to freeze completely.

With the four shops running smoothly and the steady daily sales of Spirit Nurturing Beads, Zhang Deming now had a stable income of a little over one unit of Qi Fortune per day.

Since the sales volume had reached a certain baseline, this income was relatively fixed, almost like a salary. Although it fluctuated, the range was not large.

Six or seven days had passed since he last used up his Qi Fortune, so the amount he’d depleted had been restored to 8.4 units.

That wasn’t the important part. Zhang Deming had saved up hundreds of units of Qi Fortune before; a mere handful would no longer stir any emotion in him.

What truly stunned Zhang Deming was that among the eight complete spheres of Qi Fortune light, one of them was flickering with a different Rune—the Rune for ’Cycle.’

···