"Okay, I'll remember that. I have some other business today, but let's get in touch when you're free after you enter the Outer Sect!" With that, the man left immediately.
"Who was that?" Zong En asked, walking over to his side.
Zhang Deming was just as baffled. "I don't know him," he replied.
"You don't know him? An Outer Sect senior brother you don't even know just came up to greet a servant like you? Who are you kidding?" Zong En said.
Zhang Deming spread his hands. "I'm just as clueless as you are. I really don't know him. I've never seen him before, not even once.
From the looks of it, he was probably on a routine patrol for a mission. After all, the Spirit Rice is about to be harvested.
I guess he just saw us Casting and acted on a whim."
"So he was just passing by and decided he wanted to get to know you? You're pretty full of yourself, aren't you!" Zong En retorted.
Zhang Deming shrugged. "Well, what else could it be? Was he after my fortune or my beauty?"
"Uhh, forget about fortune. Your net worth is definitely not worth his time. As for your beauty..."
Zong En paused, looking Zhang Deming up and down.
He stood about six-foot-one. Thanks to years of intense labor and good nutrition from a young age, his physique was excellent—strong and well-defined.
He had bronzed skin and a handsome, resolute face with sharp, chiseled features.
Unable to lie, Zong En said, "Well, if he was after your beauty, your looks are certainly up to snuff. I just don't know if you'd be the top or the bottom."
"Oh, get lost!" Zhang Deming rolled his eyes and kicked out at him.
Zong En expertly dodged the kick. "Alright, alright, I'll stop fooling around. I'm leaving. Time to go back, eat, and do my Cultivation."
Zhang Deming glanced in the direction the senior disciple had gone, then turned and left as well.
Since mastering the Little Cloud Rain Skill, Zhang Deming's work had become much easier.
His days changed from non-stop, high-intensity labor to a routine of Cultivation focused on restoring his Magical Power.
His days were no longer so idle.
At the same time, Zhang Deming began various experiments for the sake of the new white light ball that was coalescing in his repository.
...
「Twenty-some days passed in the blink of an eye.」
Despite Zhang Deming's eager anticipation, the rate at which the second white light ball was coalescing was incredibly frustrating.
It looked like it was just about to finish, but as of yesterday, the progress had completely stalled.
Looking at the light ball in his repository, Zhang Deming had, after over half a month of testing, started to figure out the criteria for obtaining the energy for the white light balls.
The white light balls, a form of Qi Fortune, didn't just appear out of thin air.
A Qi Fortune Light Ball would only begin to condense automatically when Zhang Deming's overall influence increased—for instance, through a rise in his power, wealth, or even an expansion of his social network.
Yes, this was what his preliminary tests had revealed.
As for plundering other people's Qi Fortune, he couldn't even see it, let alone take it.
Over the past twenty-odd days, Zhang Deming had already maxed out the influence he could gain from having learned the Little Cloud Rain Skill.
By now, never mind just among the servants tending the Spirit Rice fields, he, Zhang Deming, was considered a somebody even in the entire Little Qing Mountain Servant Institute.
But this damn light ball was still just shy of finishing, and the minimum standard for coding required at least one complete white light ball.
As a result, the Growth Technique, which he'd had for nearly a month, was still just collecting dust in his personal stash.
'As for comprehending it on my own... with my Spirit Root Talent... unless I get incredibly lucky, it would take a conservative estimate of twenty years, minimum!'
Seeing that the Qi Fortune Light Ball had completely stopped forming, Zhang Deming turned his attention to the only Cultivation script in his Dantian.
Cultivation Technique: Basic Cultivation Technique
Cultivation: Apprentice Lv1 (191/200)
After almost a month of Cultivation, he was not far from level two, an Intermediate Apprentice.
After a moment of deliberation, Zhang Deming carefully took a Spirit Stone from his personal stash.
Staring at the thumb-sized, crystal-clear Spirit Stone, Zhang Deming took a deep breath and decided to use it for his Cultivation.
This was his second time using a Spirit Stone for Cultivation. The first time, which had allowed him to achieve Qi Sensing, had consumed a little less than half a stone.
Afterward, before he had his 'golden finger,' he hadn't felt like the remaining half-stone had increased his Cultivation much at all.
Because of that, he had never used a Spirit Stone for Cultivation again, saving them all up. His plan was to use them for a final push when he felt a breakthrough was near.
But now, things were different. His progress was clearly visible, he was close to a breakthrough, and the white light ball seemed to need just one final push.
So, after only a moment's hesitation, he decided to use the Spirit Stone for his Cultivation.
As he held the Spirit Stone and circulated his Cultivation Technique, Spiritual Qi several times denser than what the Cultivation Disc provided was drawn out directly.
"Experience Points +1"
In just six short minutes, Zhang Deming gained one experience point. A slight smile crept onto his face.
"Experience Points +1"
"Experience Points +1"
...
An hour later, as the Spirit Stone in his hand crumbled to ash, Zhang Deming's entire body trembled.
Spiritual Power erupted from his Dantian, circulated throughout his body, and then receded back into his Dantian.
In the process, however, the Spiritual Energy Group in his Dantian—located above a golden vortex formed by countless Runes—had tripled in size.
He had successfully advanced to Intermediate Apprentice.
Ten years of bitter cultivation had finally borne fruit.
But when his gaze fell upon the golden vortex in his Dantian, the smile on Zhang Deming's face froze.
Cultivation Technique: Basic Cultivation Technique
Cultivation: Apprentice Lv2 (1/20000)
One Spirit Stone had provided ten Experience Points. That, combined with his promotion, should have been a cause for celebration.
'But what the hell is this twenty thousand experience points to get from Intermediate Apprentice to Advanced Apprentice?!'
'A hundred-fold increase in the max experience points? What kind of joke is this?'
'No, that can't be right. An increase this absurd isn't normal. Is it because the Cultivation Technique is too low-level for the system's deductions?'
'At a rate of two experience points a day, it would take ten thousand days—more than thirty years—to level up again!'
'Then again, in the Sect, that's considered fast for someone with my Spirit Root Talent.'
'Most people are stuck as Intermediate Apprentices for their entire lives.'
'Uhh... when I think of it that way, should I be happy?'
'Happy my ass! That's thirty years we're talking about!'
'The Apprentice Tier doesn't increase your lifespan. Thirty years from now, what will I have left to even attempt to reach the Tai Chi Stage?'
'Forget it. Once I get into the Outer Sect, I'll have a chance to switch my Cultivation Technique, and things should get a lot better. I'll worry about it then. It's too early to stress about it now.'
Zhang Deming set aside the frustrating issue and turned his attention back to his repository.
He saw that inside the repository, the white light ball had finally finished condensing. A peculiar, branching rune bobbed up and down on its surface.
His consciousness locked onto the light ball as he held the > manual.
"Ordinary Energy: 1. Small plug-in is now editable.
Editing conditions met!
Currently, only the Dantian Disc category is unlocked. Please input a command to navigate to the Dantian category to edit the plug-in."
Zhang Deming expertly typed "/Dantian" on the main page.
The page changed, navigating to his Dantian.
Zhang Deming: Dantian> if () {Growth Technique cast success} else {Growth Technique cast fail}.
This wasn't the first time he had written code inside his own body and installed a plug-in on his Dantian.
As a veteran code monkey, Zhang Deming was quite familiar with such simple core code.