The Programmer Cultivator

Li Shifan gave a bitter smile and replied, "If it weren’t so troublesome to extract this Sword Spirit Ore, and so easy to contaminate it, why would I have ever bought this thing!

"It costs as much as a Two-Star Artifact but can only be used once. When you custom-order it, you even have to specify what you’re mining, and it can’t be modified after it’s made.

"What a ripoff. If I had any other choice, do you think I would have bought it!

"I only made this choice because finding the Spirit Ore is so difficult. I just bought it as a precaution, to be on the safe side.

"Otherwise, if I went through all that trouble to find it only to contaminate the Spiritual Materials because I was careless during extraction, I’d probably cough up blood from frustration.

"Besides, I plan to walk the path of the Artifact Sword Dao, which makes me half an Artifact Cultivator myself—basically a blacksmith. So, I know quite a few fellow Artifact Cultivators from Spirit Nurturing Peak, which got me a discount."

Zhang Deming looked at Li Shifan and said, "So, when all’s said and done, it’s just because you’re loaded now and have Spirit Stones to burn."

Li Shifan heard this and didn’t argue. While he had bought it as a precaution, it was true he only had the idea because he was flush with Spirit Stones.

As the two chatted idly, Li Shifan took the sphere in hand. Spiritual Power surged from his palm, activating the orb, and he tossed it toward the faint glow of Spiritual Light on the cave wall.

The moment the orb touched the stone wall, it stuck fast.

Immediately, Spiritual Light began to flash from the orb, projecting a small Array Light Screen.

Item: Sword Spirit Ore

Stage: Mature (Ready for extraction)

Warning: Severe damage to the ore’s protective sheath detected. Immediate extraction is recommended to avoid risk of contamination.

Seeing the simple information on the small Light Screen, Li Shifan’s face lit up with joy. He immediately chose to activate the orb.

As Li Shifan activated it, the orb began to transform. First, a strange shield of light appeared and expanded, creating a purified environment within its confines.

Then, pieces on the orb’s surface shifted and folded, transforming it into a peculiar mouse-like shape. The mechanical rodent immediately began to dig.

Zhang Deming’s expression faltered. ’This is... a bit like a Transformer, isn’t it?’

"So, what do you think? Pretty novel, isn’t it, Senior Brother?" Li Shifan asked, noticing Zhang Deming’s expression.

Zhang Deming said hesitantly, "Is this an Outer Realm Artifact Refining technique?"

Li Shifan nodded. "More or less. This is a variant mining artifact that Senior Sister Xuann developed after studying Outer Realm Artifact Dao for several years and combining it with the Hongmeng Artifact Dao.

"From what I heard from Senior Sister Xuann, it sounds like she wants to borrow concepts from the Outer Realm to turn this single-use mining tool into a reusable Two-Star Artifact.

"Hmm... a Two-Star Mining Machine, I suppose.

"That way, when you’re extracting rare Spirit Ores that have extremely strict requirements, it’s not only safer, but it could also save a ton of Spirit Stones.

"The Artifact Refining Department has been studying these kinds of concepts for years. There’s another one about making Artifacts widespread, low-level, and accessible to the common person.

"It’s about the Cross-Tier use of Artifacts, allowing even Apprentice Cultivators to use One and Two-Star Artifacts. These two concepts from the Outer Realm are all the rage in the Artifact Department right now.

"But aside from the Array and Artifact Departments, not many in our Celestial Spirit Sect know much about the Outer Realm or its knowledge. So it’s perfectly normal that you find it novel and unfamiliar, Senior Brother."

Zhang Deming’s expression twitched. ’It’s not that I’m unfamiliar with it,’ he thought. ’Heck, I’m more than just familiar...’

’He was too damn familiar with it. He couldn’t speak for the entire Celestial Universe Federation, but here in Hongmeng, there was probably no one who knew more about it than he did.’

Li Shifan paused, then continued, "Unfortunately, most Outer Realm Artifacts are just mundane objects. Their magical tools—hmm, in the Outer Realm they call them Magic Artifacts or Quantum Artifacts—the Refining methods for those are apparently a closely guarded secret.

"So for this thing, Senior Sister Xuann only managed to copy its appearance. The core inside is still just a regular mining tool. That’s why... it’s still single-use. It just looks a bit more novel, that’s all."

Zhang Deming: "..."

’You people are really something else. Taking a perfectly high-end Magical Artifact and insisting on turning it into some kind of mechanically forged contraption!’

’And if you’re going to copy mechanical forging, at least do it right! You only copied the superficial bits; the core is still a Magical Artifact’s core.’

’What is this even supposed to be?’

’A sports car engine in the shell of a beat-up tricycle? And you all think this is some kind of high-tech marvel?’

Seeing the regretful look on Li Shifan’s face, Zhang Deming truly couldn’t comprehend their way of thinking. ’Sorry,’ he thought, ’but I just can’t see it from your point of view!’

’In his previous life, he’d seen movies set in the late Qing Dynasty where characters sold polyester—a chemical fabric—for tens of times the price of hand-woven cotton, sometimes even rivaling the price of silk.’

’The buyers would look incredibly proud, as if they’d acquired some high-class treasure, giving it the fancy name "foreign silk" or "foreign satin"—the silk of the foreigners. Back then, he’d thought the characters in those stories were morons, absolute fucking idiots. Was this current situation a new kind of firsthand experience? Was he now a participant in this kind of trend?’

As they spoke, the Artifact, which looked like a mechanical mouse, kept its legs churning, while Spiritual Light flashed from within.

A peculiar heart-shaped ore, encased in rock, was ejected and left suspended within the purified Shield’s sphere of light.

After the heart-shaped ore appeared, the mechanical mouse paused and began to shudder violently. Then, as if it were falling to pieces, it collapsed into a pile of parts.

Then, guided by Spiritual Power, these parts attached themselves to the ore, forming a rather ugly sphere that encased the heart-shaped mineral.

The purified Shield then slowly contracted, sinking into the newly formed sphere until it was just a thin layer clinging to the heart-shaped Spirit Ore.

Zhang Deming watched this scene, his expression twitching. ’A perfectly good Magical Artifact, made to look like some second- or third-hand piece of mechanical junk. He truly couldn’t bear to watch!’