The Programmer Cultivator

Chapter 290 - 19: Outsiders Think I’m Living Off a Woman?

The Sect’s construction teams are truly the Immortal version of such.

The most outrageous part? Zhang Deming had even seen a Duality Great Cultivator doing construction work. Would you believe it?

Because of this, the Sect completed the main construction incredibly quickly. Specialists handled the details, and a lot of things were moved in from other parts of the Sect.

So, even though this gathering place in the Flower Demon Elf Forest was brand new, it was already quite large and well-equipped.

The place was bustling with people, mostly from the Miscellaneous Affairs Department and the Resources Department.

Disciples from the Miscellaneous Affairs Department were hard at work, while many from the Resources Department operated Light Screens, managing the forest’s resources and coordinating all sorts of logistics.

The scene was quite interesting. A typical sight was a chubby disciple from the Resources Department surrounded by three or five Light Screens, constantly manipulating them while directing the various disciples from the Miscellaneous Affairs Department—either on-site or remotely—as they toiled away.

The more overbearing ones would even command, complain, and curse all at the same time.

Someone was clumsy and damaged a resource? Dock their Contribution points.

Someone was careless and missed a resource? Dock their Contribution points too.

This wasn’t handled carefully and isn’t up to standard? Still have to dock their Contribution points.

...

Zhang Deming found this all very interesting. He turned to Yang Guangfu and asked, "You’re from the Resources Department too, aren’t you?"

Yang Guangfu nodded. "Yes, Senior Brother. I also had to put in my time and endure to get where I am."

Zhang Deming’s eyes widened. He looked at Yang Guangfu, then pointed at the disciples surrounded by Light Screens, barking orders. "And you call *this* ’enduring’?"

Yang Guangfu grinned. "Yep. Everyone in the Resources Department goes through this to move up."

"Ha! No wonder the Miscellaneous Affairs Department is the easiest to join, yet it’s the one nobody wants or cares about.

No wonder the Resources Department is the top dog, able to push the other departments around.

Just look at them. Exploitation has become second nature.

What’s even more ridiculous is that the ones being ordered around think it’s normal too...

As long as your department maintains this ’excellent’ relationship with the Miscellaneous Affairs Department, the Resources Department’s position as the eternal second-in-command is, at the very least, secure."

Yang Guangfu chuckled. "Oh, that won’t be a problem. After all, in the world of cultivation today, resources are more important than ever.

The Miscellaneous Affairs Department needs resources too, don’t they? Or rather, they need them the most, since they have the most people..."

For a moment, Zhang Deming was at a loss for words.

’How did the relationship between these two departments get like this? When I saw their department heads before, it didn’t seem like one was dominating the other, did it?’

’The big bosses are clearly at each other’s throats, so why are their subordinates acting like one is the other’s lackey? So much for "as the superiors act, the subordinates follow," huh?’

’Could it be those two old men have a completely different relationship in private?’

Yang Guangfu continued, "Of course, we on Spirit Nurturing Peak don’t pay much mind to these things.

After all, we don’t need to fight or scramble for anything. If we ever need something, or even just show the slightest interest, people will be falling over themselves to give it to us. They’d be upset if we didn’t accept.

You’ll come to understand all this after you’ve spent more time on Spirit Nurturing Peak, Senior Brother."

Hearing this, Zhang Deming couldn’t help but smile. ’That sounds great!’

"Why don’t the folks from the Miscellaneous Affairs Department have their own people do the coordinating?" Li Shifan, who had been silent until now, couldn’t help but ask as he watched the scene.

Yang Guangfu smiled. "Because the higher-ups stipulated this as a joint development, with the Resources Department taking the lead.

Besides, these resources fall under our department’s management. You need the proper clearance to allocate them.

On top of that, our two departments have ’cooperated’ like this for hundreds, even thousands of years. Everyone’s used to it."

Zhang Deming shook his head. "Quite a ’cooperation’ indeed. Let’s go. It’s not our business, anyway."

’He wasn’t a member of either department, so there was nothing for him to do.’

Besides, it was a classic case of Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai—one was willing to do the beating, and the other was willing to be beaten.

Yang Guangfu led the two to a relatively quiet room. A somewhat bored-looking disciple at the counter instantly perked up upon seeing them arrive.

Yang Guangfu paid the disciple no mind, directly scanning his identity token. "I need a special-issue Secret Realm Token," he said, "one with full access to the Cyan Wood Forest and the Cyan Wood Flower Sea."

The disciple looked slightly taken aback. He carefully checked the information that appeared before him, and only after confirming it was correct did he speak:

"Yes, Senior Brother. Only four of these Command Tokens were made, and this is the very last one.

The Array Department won’t have time to make more anytime soon, so please don’t lose it. It would be a huge hassle if you did.

It’s not just about getting a replacement; we’d have to revoke its permissions, immediately audit for missing goods, and deal with a whole host of other issues."

Yang Guangfu glanced at Zhang Deming, then replied, "Got it."

Hearing this, the disciple quickly worked for a moment before taking a Command Token from a compartment and handing it to Yang Guangfu with both hands.

"Here is your Command Token. I’ll have to trouble you to leave a Spirit Seal, Senior Brother."

The Rune Core between Yang Guangfu’s brows flashed for an instant, leaving a special symbol on the custom-made Artifact the disciple held out. Only then did he accept the Command Token and hand it to Zhang Deming.

"You heard the instructions just now, didn’t you, Senior Brother?" Yang Guangfu asked.

Zhang Deming nodded. Yang Guangfu continued, "I hope you’ll be careful, Senior Brother. Otherwise, it really is a huge pain.

If it weren’t an absolute necessity, and if setting up an external access point didn’t take so long, the Array Department would never have rushed to make one of these.

The implications are quite significant. After all, from anywhere within the Sect’s Grand Array, this thing allows you to enter the Secret Realm at will."

Zhang Deming nodded again. "I’ll be careful," he said.