The Programmer Cultivator

She had used a Soul Binding, and while it was an equal binding, this was a Void Soul! The master of the Technique couldn’t just dominate it—they could freely mold and even construct it however they wished.

Under the absolute control of the Technique, this mass of Void Soul was a lump of soft clay. It could be toyed with at will—shaped into a circle or a square—and even be given a consciousness.

And she was Soul Bound to such a Void Soul... which meant the other party could control her just as easily as they controlled the Void Soul itself.

’This is even worse than being an Artifact Spirit like Li Cheng!’

An Artifact Spirit might not have autonomy, but it was still difficult for its master to forcibly control it. If the Artifact Spirit resisted with all its might, the master would suffer as well, thanks to the Soul Binding.

But now she was bound to a Void Soul. Forget autonomy—even her very consciousness could be arbitrarily shaped by the master of this Technique!!!

The realization struck Yinn Yindi, leaving her dumbfounded. As the horror of her situation washed over her, her Heart Spirit fell into turmoil and her Dao Heart wavered, causing her already severe injuries to flare up once more.

The Scroll trembled, looking as if it would follow the fate of the Broken Sword and shatter into Spiritual Light. But unlike the sword, which had at least left its hilt behind, the Scroll seemed poised to disintegrate completely into fragments.

Though this all took some time to describe, it happened in an instant. As the Scroll began to tremble, the Broken Sword had only just shattered into a cascade of Spiritual Light.

Outside, Elder Huang had just given Li Shifan a small boost to help him seize this heaven-defying opportunity when his expression suddenly stiffened.

He turned, a bizarre expression on his face as he looked at Zhang Deming’s Incarnation—or more accurately, at the Scroll inside its mind.

’Is she... vying to become the spirit of his Scroll?’

’You’ve got to be kidding me. A Three Talents Great Cultivator Soul Binding to the Void Soul of his Technique?’

’Are all Painters this... magnanimous? Each one more reckless than the last?’

’Was losing her autonomy not enough? Did she have to go and Soul Bind to the Void Soul of his Technique? Did she think he’d never toyed with the soul of a Three Talents Great Cultivator before and decided to serve hers up on a platter?’

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Elder Huang paused. He noticed that inside the Scroll, Yinn Yindi’s Heart Spirit had faltered and her Dao Heart was collapsing. She was on the verge of completely dissipating.

Elder Huang’s expression changed. ’Well, now that a soul has been delivered right to me, I can’t just let it escape.’

Elder Huang quickly reached out. A dreamy light surged in his palm as he directly stripped Yinn Yindi of her original consciousness and bestowed a new personality upon her.

The Scroll trembled lightly. Now like a completely different person, Yinn Yindi began to stabilize her injuries.

Of course, the Heart Dream Technique was only at Tier Three, so normally it would be incapable of achieving such an effect.

Against a Three Talents Great Cultivator, whose Three Souls had achieved their initial gathering, even a Tier Seven Dream Technique—let alone a Tier Three Dream Skill—could not so easily shape a soul and tamper with its consciousness.

The Heart Spirit Series Technique was a High Tier path. Only at the Tier Four Magic Level did one truly begin to delve into Heart Spirit Consciousness.

At the Tier Three stage, merely toying with memories could fail if one encountered strong resistance.

Even if it succeeded, the manipulation could be shattered if the target’s emotions or Cultivation grew strong enough.

However, Yinn Yindi’s current state was an exception. For Elder Huang, controlling her soul was exactly like controlling a Void Soul.

Because the Void Soul was a construct of his Heart Dream Technique, he had absolute power to modify it—from the appearance of its Soul Body to its very consciousness.

Thus, at this moment, Yinn Yindi was like putty in Elder Huang’s hands, to be twisted and kneaded however he pleased.

So, with a mere thought from Elder Huang and a surge of dreamy light from his hand, Yinn Yindi became a different person. Well... her consciousness had been completely reshaped, so of course she was a different person.

...

Meanwhile, Li Shifan had already begun forming spell signs with his hands. "Senior Brother," he called out, "the Spirit Ore!"

Both Zhang Deming and Elder Huang froze and turned to look at Li Shifan.

Li Shifan’s hands were a blur of spell signs as he spat out three balls of light, within which Runes faintly flickered.

Zhang Deming stared, stunned. ’Is this...? A spontaneous breakthrough? Is he trying to advance to Duality?’

Uh...

’You’ve got to be kidding me. Breaking through a minor stage during an Enlightenment Dao without any materials is one thing, but this is an advancement to Duality. Can he really just brute-force his way through?’

He, as Elder Huang, had only given the young man a small boost, thinking he would use the opportunity to raise his Cultivation to the Tai Chi Peak and perhaps refine his Lifebound Sword Artifact. He never imagined Li Shifan would be so audacious as to aim for Duality!

As Zhang Deming’s thoughts raced, Li Cheng cried out urgently, "Young friend, quickly, the Sword Spirit Ore! This grandson of mine is audacious—he wants to devour that woman’s Lifebound Sword Artifact and forge it into his Sword Heart!"

Zhang Deming: "..."

The face of Zhang Deming’s Incarnation twitched, and even the impassive expression of his main body, disguised as Elder Huang, showed a slight flicker. He stared at the Long Sword within the Spiritual Light, his mind racing.

’Truly worthy of a protagonist’s fate,’ he thought. ’For anyone else, just achieving a breakthrough during an Enlightenment Dao would be incredible enough.’

’But you? Not only did a world-shaking crisis inexplicably vanish, but now you have the Lifebound Sword Artifact of a Three Talents Great Cultivator—a treasure of unimaginable value—right in front of you?’

’By some bizarre twist of fate, it shatters right in front of you, and now it’s just going to become the Resources for your advancement? The starting point of a supreme Dao Foundation?’

Ha!

’Did my casual push really have that much of an effect? Why didn’t I know I was capable of that?’

While his mind raced, Zhang Deming’s hands didn’t stop moving. With a turn of his hand, a peculiar, heart-shaped Spirit Ore appeared in his palm, along with the Sword Grass and Mystic Sword Fruit he had acquired earlier.

Zhang Deming took the Spirit Ore and other Spiritual Materials and tossed them directly to Li Shifan.

Li Shifan’s hands were a blur of motion. His Long Sword pulsed as it continuously absorbed the Spiritual Light before it. He had gathered all the ambient Spiritual Light, shrouding the sword in a brilliant cocoon.

...