The Programmer Cultivator

Chapter 283 - 15: Seeing Li Shifan Again

When Guk Liancai heard this, he paused for a moment to think. For once, he didn’t argue, but instead nodded in agreement. "I guess that makes sense, huh?"

After muttering to himself, Guk Liancai realized the other two had already walked off, so he quickly ran to catch up.

The three of them lived in one of the towers in this very area.

Well, "tower" here didn’t mean an ordinary building.

The "seven towers" of Spirit Nurturing Peak referred to seven Three-Star Cave Mansions. The Cloud Pool Tower on the summit, however, was a complex of buildings located at the mouth of the Spirit Vein, large enough for many people to cultivate in.

Of course, due to the space they occupied, aside from a few presentational buildings, the three Peak Master Level Cultivation Cave Mansions had already claimed the vast majority of the Spiritual Power from the Spirit Vein’s mouth.

Therefore, the Spirit Vein’s mouth could only support those three. If Zhang Deming had been a genuine Tai Chi Cultivator, there were other impressive residences nearby he could have lived in.

However, the Zhang Deming they knew was a Great Cultivator recovering his strength. The vein clearly couldn’t support an additional person of that caliber, so they had to make special arrangements for him.

······

After parting ways with the others, Zhang Deming didn’t summon an Immortal Crane or take the normal path.

Instead, he went straight to the top of the waterfall. Standing on the edge of the cliff and looking at the cascading water, Zhang Deming smiled faintly and leaped off.

The waterfall was incredibly high—for an ordinary person. For Zhang Deming, it was nothing.

He now had more than a few ways to make the jump without any issue.

Just as Zhang Deming was about to hit the ground, a pair of medium-sized wings unfurled and began beating rapidly.

His rapid descent slowed in an instant, turning into a gentle drift.

When Zhang Deming came to a complete stop, the tips of his toes had just touched the surface of the lake.

As his toes lightly tapped the lake, a ripple spread outward.

Just like that, Zhang Deming walked across the lake’s surface as if it were solid ground, passing through a filtration Array.

Gazing at the scene before him, Zhang Deming felt more relaxed than ever. ’Today’s gains were pretty good.’

Especially after clarifying the attitude of the Celestial Spirit Sect’s upper echelons and learning some key information, the weight on his mind was finally lifted.

’Even if my identity as a Spirit Nurturing Master is exposed, it doesn’t seem to be a bad thing. In fact, it might even add more weight to my current persona.’

’If I’d known I could do this from the start, I would have taken this path long ago.’

’No, that’s not right. Without Elder Huang’s appearance at the Three Talents Stage, it’s not just a question of whether I could have taken this path. Even if I had, and they believed me, there would have been no guarantee of courteous treatment.’

’The current situation, when it comes down to it, is due to external factors, but mainly because Elder Huang’s appearance carried enough weight.’

’After all, his Dao Mark Incarnation was at the Peak of Three Talents, which means his Main Body Cultivation is very likely at or above the Four Symbols stage.’

Now that he knew this crucial piece of information, everything started to connect.

Zhang Deming realized that his original plan—to lie low in the Outer Sect for decades with just a small shop and slowly make other plans—could be changed. ’Perhaps I can try to solidify this "reincarnated old monster" persona and rise through the ranks quickly?’

Zhang Deming returned to his pavilion, where he zoned out in deep thought for a long time. He sorted through the events of the past few days and contemplated his path forward.

After thinking for a long while, Zhang Deming contacted Li Shifan.

······

In the afternoon, just as Zhang Deming was finishing his lunch, Li Shifan arrived at the edge of the cliff.

Zhang Deming waved his hand, opening an entrance in the Array. Li Shifan walked in, sizing the place up as he went.

Zhang Deming remained seated on the top floor of the pavilion, watching from a distance without getting up.

After entering the Array, Li Shifan first did a quick spiritual scan. Upon sensing that Zhang Deming was alone, his icy expression relaxed slightly.

He glanced all around, looking this way and that, before finally performing a lightness technique and leaping to the top floor of the pavilion.

"Senior Brother Zhang, is this the place the Inner Sect assigned to you?" Li Shifan asked.

Zhang Deming nodded. "Mm, just got it set up yesterday."

"A place for just one person?" Li Shifan confirmed.

Zhang Deming replied, "What, did you enter the Inner Sect only to end up sharing your courtyard with someone else?"

Li Shifan rolled his eyes. "Can you even compare this to a courtyard? This is the Flying Spring Waterfall Tower on Spirit Nurturing Peak, okay?"

"Forget just Spirit Nurturing Peak, this is one of the top-ranked Cultivation Cave Mansions in the entire Celestial Spirit Sect!"

Zhang Deming chuckled. "It’s not that exaggerated."

"What do you mean ’not that exaggerated’? Besides the eleven Four-Star Cave Mansions, the Celestial Spirit Sect only has thirty-nine cave mansions with Three-Star High-Grade Spirit Veins."

"And the Flying Spring Waterfall is ranked right in the middle of those!" Li Shifan said.

Zhang Deming raised an eyebrow. "You’ve learned your Sect lore well."

Hearing this, Li Shifan paused. "I had no choice. The old man forced me to learn it. I couldn’t even slack off; he just kept nagging inside my head."

Zhang Deming smiled. "So your ancestor is violating your mind, too? And here I thought he just took your body for a spin now and then! Can’t mess with that! Nope, can’t mess with that!"

Li Shifan: "..."

"Seems you two have all sorts of fun, don’t you!" Zhang Deming continued, still smiling.

"AHEM..." A coughing sound came from Li Shifan’s left hand.

Zhang Deming said with a smile, "Elder Li, if you want to watch, why not come out and do it openly? The two of you ’combined’ like this and staring at me... it’s making me feel a little strange."

"After all, I’m only interested in the senior and junior sisters of the Sect."

Li Shifan froze at his words. Frowning, he looked at his own palm and said, "Ancestor, you..."

As Zhang Deming spoke, a phantasmal figure emerged from Li Shifan’s left hand.

"It was I who was being impudent," the figure said. "It’s one thing for a young friend like yourself to enter Spirit Nurturing Peak, but to actually become the master of one of its seven towers, the Flying Spring Waterfall Tower... it truly made this old one intensely curious."

"Back when I was still active in the Sect, not every Three Talents Ancestor could get to live in a Three-Star High-Grade Cave Mansion."

Zhang Deming smiled. "If that’s all it is, I don’t think you need to investigate me, Elder. I’m still in the dark about it myself."

’Well, I was in the dark before this morning, anyway,’ Zhang Deming added silently in his heart.

Li Cheng’s phantasmal figure paused, then smiled. "Mm, that’s not all. We parted in a hurry last time, and regarding the matter with Elder Huang..."

Li Cheng looked at Zhang Deming, trailing off.

Zhang Deming said, "If I were really someone important to Elder Huang, your little probe just now might not have ended so well for you, Elder."

Li Cheng stiffened. "You really are with the Alliance!"

Zhang Deming smiled. "Isn’t it obvious? We’re all on the same side, aren’t we? Right, Junior Brother Li?"

Smiling, Zhang Deming turned his head to look at Li Shifan.

Hearing this, Li Shifan replied, "So, Senior Brother Zhang, you’re a Two-Star member of the Alliance?"

Zhang Deming shook his head. "How could I be? I don’t even know how to earn Contribution Points yet. I’m just an ordinary, official One-Star member."