The Programmer Cultivator

Tong Hou looked at the others and said simply, "I’m good with anything."

Feng Mingyou was used to being poor. Even though he wasn’t destitute anymore, thanks to his shop, the thought of spending Spirit Stones still stung. But everyone had already made their decision, and he didn’t have enough Spirit Stones to buy all the materials himself anyway. Thus, he also spoke up, "I agree as well."

Seeing this, Zhang Deming said, "Alright then. I’ll calculate the value based on market price."

Zhang Deming paused, then continued, "This Red Silk Energy Grass is one of the ordinary primary ingredients for a Duality Formula of the Business Dao. Although it’s not a universal primary ingredient, it is for a Duality formula, which makes it extremely valuable.

The market price fluctuates between two thousand and twenty-three hundred, excluding special auctions, of course. I won’t try to make a profit off you. I’ll take the median and price it at twenty-two hundred Spirit Stones. How does that sound?"

The others nodded without objection. They knew that if Zhang Deming handled the sale, he could probably get twenty-five or twenty-six hundred for it, but he was putting in the time and effort, so it was only fair he made a small profit.

Zhang Deming continued, "This Demon Dog Bloodline is decent, but it’s too impure. For a Cultivator specializing in canine transformations, it wouldn’t be a top-tier choice.

Of course, that doesn’t negate its value. It’s a decent Two-Star Bloodline material, but it’s obviously not as valuable as a formula ingredient. The market price is around seven or eight hundred. I’ll price it at eight hundred."

The price Zhang Deming gave this time was quite generous, and the others nodded again.

With the most valuable items priced, the rest were mostly common and had stable market values, so settling on their prices went without a hitch.

A moment later, after finishing the calculations, Zhang Deming announced, "The extra spoils from this mission, adding up all the miscellaneous items, comes to a total of three thousand four hundred and eighty Spirit Stones. I’ll round it up to an even three thousand five hundred Spirit Stones. How do you all want to divide it?"

Hearing this, Nangong Cheng pondered for a moment and said, "The biggest haul came from the Demon Dog. Summoning Spirit and I contributed the most, so let’s each take thirty percent. Clear Tea gets ten percent, and the remaining thirty percent can be split evenly between Painted Sword and Sacrificial Chess."

Although Li Shifan had already reached the Duality stage, he hadn’t contributed much toward acquiring these resources. Originally, he would have been lucky to get ten percent, the same as Feng Mingyou.

But because he was a Duality cultivator, he had contributed significantly during the rest of the journey, which was why Nangong Cheng made such a proposal. All in all, it was very fair.

So, cradling his sword, Li Shifan said, "I have no objection."

Tong Hou nodded. "Works for me!"

As for Feng Mingyou, his contribution for the most part had been to unload a single combo and then get out of the way. He had been freeloading in style the entire time, so he was the last person who would have an objection.

If this hadn’t been the first time this Alliance team had worked together, with everyone making a conscious effort to build rapport, he wouldn’t have received nearly this much. Furthermore, the other four weren’t the type to squabble over a hundred-odd Spirit Stones. In a standard distribution, he likely wouldn’t have received even ten percent.

Zhang Deming glanced at the four of them and said, "Then it’s settled."

With that, he collected the materials and took out a Spirit Stone Card from the Hongmeng Spirit Manor.

His monthly income was now four to five thousand Spirit Stones. Although he converted most of it into physical stones for the sake of Experience Points, he still had a balance of three to five thousand on his Spirit Card.

"Of the three thousand five hundred Spirit Stones, my thirty percent share is one thousand and fifty. Therefore, I need to pay out two thousand four hundred and fifty," Zhang Deming said as he activated the Light Screen on his Spirit Card.

Tong Hou and the other two all took out their Spirit Cards, and Zhang Deming quickly completed the transfers.

When he was done, Zhang Deming looked at an embarrassed Feng Mingyou and said, "Clear Tea...?"

Feng Mingyou said, "I rarely go to Celestial Spirit City."

Feng Mingyou had been running his shop for over half a year now and had surely earned a good number of Spirit Stones. At the very least, he wasn’t as poor as he used to be. In fact, among the Tai Chi Cultivators in the Sect, his net worth could be considered quite substantial.

But because he ran his shop within the Sect, he probably just holed up like before, laying low and quietly hoarding Spirit Stones. With a personality like his, it was perfectly normal for him to only possess items issued by the Sect.

Hearing this, Zhang Deming put away his Spirit Card, took out his Identity Card, and completed the transfer with him.

Once that was done, Zhang Deming put away all the materials and said, "Alright, that wraps things up for this mission. Let’s part ways here.

Oh, right. Remember to submit the mission as soon as you get back. Our rewards will depend on the final evaluation."

The Surveillance Elves of today weren’t advanced enough to automatically assess mission completion. An automated judgment system would require an incredibly complex AI.

Or, to put it another way, perfectly processing the evaluations for all the various missions would require a sentient being. There are far too many variables, making it nearly impossible to preset all the necessary criteria; reality is just too unpredictable.

The group nodded. Nangong Cheng was the first to rise, saying, "Well then, everyone, until we meet again!"

The others bowed in return. A lotus flower materialized beneath Nangong Cheng’s feet, and stepping on it, he rose into the air and quickly vanished into the forest.

"I also have some other business to take care of, so I won’t be returning to the Sect with all of you," Tong Hou said, giving a bow to the remaining three.

After they returned the bow, Tong Hou also vanished from sight, using his chess-like steps.

The remaining three looked at one another. Zhang Deming said, "Shall we head back to the Sect, then? We’ve been out for ten days; it’s time to go back and check on things."

The other two nodded. The trio set off together in the direction of the Sect. Since there were no more Demon Beasts around, they traveled extremely fast. In just under half a day, they were back at the Sect, and each returned to their own Cave Mansion.

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After returning to Flying Spring Waterfall Tower, Zhang Deming first took care of his routine affairs, such as sorting out the next month’s quota of Spirit Nurturing Beads for the shop and other such daily tasks.