The Programmer Cultivator

Looking at the four of them, Zhang Deming began, "I was just planning on doing a bit of casual scouting, but as it turns out..."

Before he could finish, Zhang Deming froze. A sudden ripple had come from his Spirit Nurturing Space.

Zhang Deming paused, then continued, "As it turns out, my investigation uncovered something this momentous. That’s why I so urgently summoned all of you here, to discuss how we should handle this matter."

After he finished speaking, he looked at the four people, who were now deep in thought. Zhang Deming’s Spiritual Power fluctuated slightly as he used the Heart Dream Technique to temporarily manage his body. ’A Tier Three Heart Dream Technique is more than enough to handle a simple discussion while my attention is split.’

His consciousness shifted to the Spirit Nurturing Space, where the Surveillance Elf was flashing rapidly.

The Surveillance Elf currently had only one constantly active function: to detect whether any of the anchor members were leaking information about the Alliance.

This had been the Surveillance Elf’s original purpose, but it hadn’t been able to run continuously. Zhang Deming had only barely solved the problem by devising a way to link it to his own Spiritual Power circulation.

All its other functions had to be manually triggered. This included petitions from contracted anchor members, which was why he had created a process reminiscent of dial-up internet.

But the way the Surveillance Elf was flashing now was strange. Two alarms—one for a petition and one for a leak—were blinking simultaneously.

Zhang Deming looked up at the ’sky’ of the space. Only one point of light, representing Qu Qingxian, was flashing rapidly.

He reached out and tapped it. A strange, god-like perspective centered on Qu Qingxian rapidly materialized within the Spirit Nurturing Space.

Zhang Deming, who had been perplexed, froze the instant he saw the image.

What filled his vision was the horrific scene in the Qu Family Plaza, along with the figures of Guann Zhenzhen and Qu Wenbai.

At that moment, Qu Wenbai’s eyes were glinting with a profound, dream-like black light as he cast some sort of Enchanting Class Technique on Qu Qingxian.

Perhaps because he was clinging to hope in the Alliance, or perhaps because the scene in the plaza had been too great a shock, Qu Qingxian was struggling violently.

It was clearly an Enchanting Technique, but the tug-of-war between them was so intense that wisps of Soul Mist pulsed from Qu Qingxian’s body. His face twisted in excruciating spiritual agony, making it look as though he were being subjected to Soul Searching.

Even so, he struggled desperately, willing to suffer a Soul Injury rather than let Qu Wenbai have his way.

Watching this, Zhang Deming’s expression hardened. He immediately reached out his hand, and a ball of light appeared.

Rune Summoning: Spirit Nurturing Vine Demon Summoning Technique—Dragon Turtle!

Rune Summoning: Spirit Nurturing Vine Demon Summoning Technique—Feng Mingyou!

The ball of light rapidly stretched, taking on the transcendent, aloof form of Elder Huang. Zhang Deming’s consciousness plunged into the body.

As soon as Elder Huang opened his eyes, he unhesitatingly tapped on Qu Qingxian’s point of light, and a portal materialized. Without a moment’s delay, Elder Huang stepped through it and vanished from the Spirit Nurturing Space.

...

「The Qu Family Plaza.」

Qu Wenbai still had use for Qu Qingxian, and since they didn’t plan on exposing their identities in Celestial Spirit City, he couldn’t simply overpower and enchant him in an instant, especially with Qu Qingxian resisting so fiercely.

After a moment of this stalemate, Qu Wenbai’s brow furrowed. Growing impatient, he was about to ramp up the power of his technique.

Just then, Spiritual Power suddenly surged around Qu Qingxian. A Spirit Species pulsed out through his Rune Core, rapidly stretching and transforming beside him.

In the blink of an eye, Elder Huang’s figure materialized before them.

"For what purpose have you petitioned me?" After appearing, Elder Huang looked at Qu Qingxian and spoke his signature line.

But then Elder Huang saw Qu Qingxian’s condition and paused. His expression instantly darkened, and his gaze turned chillingly cold as he swiveled his head to look at Qu Wenbai.

The entire sequence, from the Spirit Species emerging to Elder Huang’s arrival, took but the blink of an eye. Qu Wenbai faltered for a second, then recognized Elder Huang’s familiar face, and an expression of pure horror instantly twisted his features.

’Of everyone he’d encountered since breaking out of his seal, this was the man who had left the deepest impression on him.’

’If this man hadn’t used that Heart Soul Technique to inflict a severe Soul Injury on him back then, his condition would be several times better than it was now.’

At the sight of Elder Huang, even his stooped figure tensed. Beside him, Guann Zhenzhen, who had been lounging lazily, also sensed that something was wrong and watched Elder Huang warily.

Elder Huang’s gaze was chillingly cold as he looked at Qu Wenbai. "You again, you little demon. It seems the lesson I taught you last time wasn’t enough, since you keep showing your face before this old man."

Staring back at Elder Huang, Qu Wenbai’s expression turned grim. "Little demon? This old man has lived for an age that might be several times your own."

"If I hadn’t been careless last time, did you really think you could get the upper hand so easily with a mere Incarnation?"

Elder Huang’s expression was aloof, his aura transcendent, while Qu Wenbai’s face was grim and his tone severe. Though neither showed any weakness, by comparison, Qu Wenbai seemed to be merely putting on a brave front.

Elder Huang shot Qu Wenbai a single, indifferent glance. He showed no reaction to the man’s harsh demeanor and wasted no more words on him.

Countless threads converged, forming a Jade Long Sword that hovered before him. With a light wave of his hand, Elder Huang sent the sword slashing toward Qu Wenbai.

The moment he struck, the sword swelled to an immense size, transforming into a Jade Giant Sword that cleaved down upon his foe.

The instant Elder Huang made his move, Guann Zhenzhen didn’t choose to flee.

Instead, her entire body dissolved into a puff of pink mist, which then condensed into an illusory flower. Like a tattoo, it branded itself onto the back of Qu Wenbai’s hand before slowly fading from sight.