The Programmer Cultivator

"By a twist of fate, the three of us somehow ended up here, suppressed by a Protective Talisman."

"It was only then that I discovered this room actually had a Soul Lock effect."

"And so, the three of us were sealed in this room. We first fought amongst ourselves for several years within the seal. It was only after the power of that cursed Protective Talisman was nearly depleted that we slowly figured out what had happened."

"We understood the situation, but..."

"By then, the three of us were nearly spent. Our fighting had left us all half-crippled."

"As for our physical bodies... I had not reached the Five Elements Stage, so my body couldn’t achieve short-term immortality. With my Soul Body gone for years, my physical form had already lost all Vitality."

"As for the other two, their bodies were likely devoured by the Demon Beasts in the mountains outside. Under these circumstances, it took us decades of reconciliation before we finally reached an agreement to break the seal together."

"But because we were already half-crippled, and the room had a Forbidden Soul effect, breaking out was incredibly difficult."

"Fortunately, a Spirit Summoning Essence Soul Jade was sealed in here with us. I had been studying it at the time, intending to use it to enhance my Scattering Beans into Soldiers Skill. This gave the three of us a sliver of hope."

"Using my Summoning Path as a foundation, we fused it with the power of the Painting Dao and the Sword Dao. The three of us spent several hundred years nurturing a resource for the Painted Sword Summoning Dao—the Spirit Sword Bead."

"Our plan was to use it to lure a few Low-Level Cultivators here to help us escape."

"This effort took two hundred years. It wasn’t until one hundred and fifty years ago that the three of us managed to combine our power, break through the barrier, and send the Spirit Sword Bead out."

"Then came the long wait. During that time, the three of us continued to nurture the Spirit Sword Bead."

"I know all too well the power of Blessed Fortune. You never know if you’ve succeeded until the very last moment."

"After one hundred and fifty years of constant effort, we finally hooked someone. But to my dismay, Blessed Fortune dealt me another heavy blow. Reality showed me exactly what ’Blessed Fortune’ truly means."

"After centuries of combined effort to break the seal, we ended up luring a figure like you, fellow Daoist... Thinking about it now, I feel truly bitter. At this rate, I would have been better off taking my chances in the Outer Realm battlefield."

As Ding Xuesi slowly recounted his story, Elder Huang fell into deep thought. He could understand the man’s plight.

The path of Blessed Fortune had many restrictions, and those who walked it rarely acted before achieving their Enlightenment Dao.

Even at the level of Three Talents Cultivation, killing someone was exceedingly difficult. Given this, one could only imagine the power of a Curse Skill left behind under the condition of life and death.

"So there are no other arrangements outside?" Elder Huang asked after a moment of contemplation.

Ding Xuesi nodded. "There were never any arrangements. For me, it was a classic case of disaster striking out of the blue. I was suddenly faced with this situation and then immediately sealed away. How could I have had time to leave any arrangements behind?"

Hearing this, Elder Huang nodded and said, "Alright, that’s all for today. I’ll decide how to deal with you after I’ve finished my current business."

"Wait!" he said hurriedly, seeing that Elder Huang was about to toss him back.

Elder Huang asked, puzzled, "What is it?"

"I’ve answered all your questions honestly. Could you please not seal me away like before?" Ding Xuesi asked.

After hearing this, Elder Huang paused for a moment before saying, "Fine."

With that, he did not apply another seal and simply tossed Ding Xuesi back into the chaotic sky.

It was still uncomfortable, but at least it was much better than before.

After doing all this, Elder Huang’s form shifted, and he changed back into Zhang Deming.

Just as Zhang Deming was about to leave, his expression flickered. His consciousness entered the warehouse, where orbs of light were now appearing amidst a surge of Energy.

This time, he had saved the Golden-Haired Sheep, and even saved its "golden-finger" ancestor by performing a Destiny Alteration. He had also tampered with the consciousness of a Great Cultivator at the Three Talents level.

All of this combined had earned him a total of six points of Merit and eleven points of Qi Fortune. It was a decent haul.

The rewards would have been even greater. But since Li Cheng was now an Artifact, and it was difficult for a Tier Four Spirit Nurturer to use a Spirit Nurturing Bead on an Artifact, Zhang Deming hadn’t formed a deep entanglement with him.

Most of the current rewards came from Li Cheng’s Destiny Alteration, and it was only because of Li Shifan’s connection through their Soul Binding that he had gained so much.

Although it was a bit of a pity, at least he hadn’t come away empty-handed, which was still something to be happy about.

He checked the Energy and, after confirming there was no danger, Zhang Deming finally left the Spirit Nurturing Space and returned to his room.

...

The moment Zhang Deming’s consciousness returned, he jumped in fright. The first thing he saw was Li Shifan and Li Cheng staring at him from extremely close range.

"What is wrong with you?!" Zhang Deming snapped, glaring at Li Shifan.

"You didn’t break through?" Li Shifan asked.

Zhang Deming rolled his eyes and ignored him. Seeing this, Li Shifan breathed a sigh of relief. ’Good, we can still be friends,’ he thought. ’At least he won’t make me die of jealousy.’

Once he collected himself, Zhang Deming first looked at the hilt of the Broken Sword floating silently nearby. With the collapse of the Broken Sword, a Life Artifact, the Xin Rongjiang inside had long since fallen silent.

Both of them could clearly sense that Xin Rongjiang, who was inside, was only a breath away from death. After letting out that bloodcurdling scream earlier, he had fallen into a deep slumber.

Normally, in his current state, he would simply die slowly in his sleep without any external help. Under normal circumstances, he should have no chance of waking up.

Looking at the floating hilt, Zhang Deming asked, "You want this thing?"