The Programmer Cultivator

After a long moment of contemplation, Zhang Deming concluded he no longer lacked methods for a burst of power at the Three Talents level. Both his Summoning and his Scroll served that purpose.

In that case, if he were to keep this Soldier Bean for his own use instead of selling it, it would be nothing more than a luxury.

’Since I can already unleash a burst of power myself, choosing to use an incredibly expensive puppet to fight my battles is definitely a luxury.’ There was nothing wrong with that assessment. So, after a moment’s thought, he decided to take a gamble.

"I’ll take this bean."

Li Shifan’s lips moved as he heard this. But before he could speak, Zhang Deming continued, "After all, I already have a Scroll of a Three Talents Great Cultivator. It should be enough to handle most situations. You, on the other hand, look like you could really use some powerful help right now."

’This way, the safety of my Golden Fleece would be a little more secure, wouldn’t it?’

Li Shifan hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Alright then. In that case, this storage pouch..."

Zhang Deming looked at the other’s eager gaze and said, "This is practically a Three-Star Artifact with fifteen cubic meters of space. So no, I won’t be giving it to you."

Li Shifan’s expression stiffened, and he looked crestfallen, but he didn’t argue in the slightest.

After their journey together over the past two years of cultivation, he felt he owed Zhang Deming far too much—a debt so great he could never repay it, even with his life. That, combined with his pure-hearted nature, meant he was never going to argue with Zhang Deming over such things.

But for a Sword Cultivator, having a storage pouch within his grasp only to see it fly away was an unavoidably painful experience.

Zhang Deming watched Li Shifan’s crestfallen face with an amused expression for a moment before saying, "But... the ten-cubic-meter one I have on me is now free to be replaced!"

Li Shifan’s expression changed in an instant. He asked, pleasantly surprised, "Really? Senior Brother, are you giving it to me?"

Zhang Deming nodded. "Mine is only a Two-Star Storage Pouch, but this one isn’t a pure Three-Star Artifact either. So if we trade, neither of us is losing out or taking advantage of the other."

Li Shifan said eagerly, "Ten cubic meters is more than enough! It will be useful for a very long time."

Looking at his expression, Zhang Deming shook his head, took out a storage pouch, and tossed it to Li Shifan.

He had three storage pouches on him, two of which were empty, so he didn’t even need to transfer any items.

Li Shifan took the storage pouch and admired it for a long while, unable to put it down, before carefully hanging it from his waist.

He then transferred everything from the backpack he was carrying into the pouch all at once. As for the now-empty pack, he tossed it aside with a look of disgust.

Zhang Deming just shook his head at the sight, not laughing. He remembered when he got his first storage pouch—one made from a creature’s stomach—and he hadn’t acted much better.

Once that was all settled, Spiritual Light surged from Zhang Deming’s hands. The miasma, which had been contained by the Array, was compressed until it finally condensed into a pitch-black pellet the size of a pinky nail.

Zhang Deming said, "This can also be considered a precious resource. Having corroded countless valuable Spiritual Materials over hundreds of years, it should be at least on par with a Three-Star toxic material. An Alchemist specializing in poisons would love this. Just consider it my bonus from our earlier split."

Li Shifan nodded. "Sounds good."

Then, Zhang Deming picked up the Jade Scroll. He was stunned the moment he began to scan its contents.

Li Shifan took the Jade Scroll, scanned it as well, and after processing the information, asked in surprise, "The orthodox Scattering Beans into Soldiers Technique?"

Zhang Deming nodded. Li Shifan handed the Jade Scroll back to him. "This is useless to me, Senior Brother, but it seems like a perfect fit for your Summoning skills. I’ve already had a look, so you should keep it."

Zhang Deming didn’t stand on ceremony and put it away without a word.

After this preliminary division of loot, the two of them put everything away and searched the room thoroughly for a long time, but they found nothing else of value.

The two then moved to the study. Their eyes lit up with eagerness as they gazed at the numerous bookshelves. They stood before them for a long moment before finally beginning to scan them quickly.

After a long while, Li Shifan’s brow was furrowed. "How is it that most of this is junk? Are the only important things this one Tier Four Cultivation Technique and this one about Tier Four Plant Summoning?"

Zhang Deming smiled. "He was a Loose Cultivator with no clan. Why would he amass a huge Daoist Collection? Of course he’d only keep the things he actually used. Why would he hold onto things he didn’t need instead of selling them?"

Li Shifan paused. He looked at the shelves before him—they were filled with either junk or written insights and reflections. There were even works of fiction. Li Shifan spotted a few biographies that turned out to be... autobiographies.

’Looking at all this,’ Li Shifan thought, ’the original owner was one Cultivator who really knew how to live!’

After a long while, they finished dividing up the items. They searched the rooms a few more times before leaving and giving the entire space one last scan. Finding nothing else of note, they returned to the entrance.

"Are we leaving?" Li Shifan asked. He stood before the spatial rift in the gray wall, looking at the solidified Sword Shadow.

"We’ve cleaned the place out. What else is there to do but leave?" Zhang Deming replied.

"In that case, Senior Brother, you should take out this Sword Shadow, too," Li Shifan said. "Judging by its appearance, it should be a pretty good prize. The Ancestor will probably like it a lot."

Zhang Deming nodded. "Even if you hadn’t mentioned it, I was planning on it. This place isn’t half bad. It might even make a good Cave Mansion in the future."

"For that reason, we don’t need anyone else finding their way in. Once this Sword Shadow is gone, the entrance should slowly close on its own."

"Even without a key, we know the location of the entrance. Later on, once we learn some spatial skills, it won’t be difficult to get back in if we really want to."

Li Shifan nodded. "Yeah, it really is a nice place."

As they spoke, a vine sprouted from Zhang Deming’s hand. Shimmering with a jade-like luster, it shot out and pierced the Sword Shadow embedded in the wall of the space.