The Programmer Cultivator

Chapter 319 - 34: The Peak Master’s Salary

Just as he turned to leave, Zhang Deming paused. He pondered for a moment, then took out an Array Card and, with a wave of his hand, set up a surveillance array to monitor the status of his watch.

This was mainly because Zhang Deming didn’t dare to activate the watch’s built-in notification function, fearing it might cause an unforeseen incident.

Then, Zhang Deming took out the Array Dao knowledge from the attachment, which resembled programming tutorials, and began to read through it bit by bit.

The more he studied it, the more excited Zhang Deming became about this Technique. Although it was still missing its core components, he could clearly see its potential.

Its starting point was clearly a fusion of Federation code and the path of the Hongmeng Array, but its end goal wasn’t artificial intelligence or intelligent life. What Zhang Deming saw was Rune Life!

If it was this appealing to him, one could only imagine how attractive it would be to the people in the Array Department.

He had to admit, the Celestial Universe Federation had really come up with a big move. Now it all depended on how they would use it, and for what purpose.

Aside from the Technique itself, Zhang Deming was more concerned about how many benefits he could reap from this.

According to the rules of acquiring Qi Fortune, it was clear that if he personally participated as the "enlightened one," his gains would be the greatest.

But... well... doing that might be a bit reckless, and it didn’t seem to align with his usual way of doing things.

After all, doing so would be like dancing on a knife’s edge. It was impossible to know whether the pros outweighed the cons; it would all depend on the outcome of his dance.

But if he didn’t participate personally, Zhang Deming wasn’t sure what his gains would be, and he didn’t want to waste such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

After much conflicted thought, Zhang Deming still couldn’t make up his mind.

’Forget it. There’s still plenty of time, I’ll decide later. Maybe the results of the Qi Fortune and Merit tests during this period will help me make a decision.’

Having made up his mind, Zhang Deming put everything away.

He took out the Secret Realm Token and activated it, entering the Cyan Wood Secret Realm.

After a moment of disorientation, Zhang Deming arrived at the settlement in the Cyan Wood Forest.

He quickly made his way to the Flower Sea. Before he even reached the watchtower, three little creatures flew swiftly toward him.

"Papa, Papa..."

The moment he heard them, Zhang Deming’s face darkened as he looked over.

He saw three palm-sized Flower Demon Elves, as exquisite as elves from a fairytale, flying rapidly toward him.

One in particular, a little Flower Demon whose wings were like feathers rather than the usual cicada-like wings, was moving so fast it nearly matched a Tier Two Swift Technique. And they were less than two months old.

These three were the little ones Zhang Deming had created on the first day. Two had a talent for the Growth Technique, and one for the Agility Technique—all talents that were a perfect match for the Cyan Wood Flower Demon clan.

Driven by his initial curiosity, the fact that it was his first time performing Spirit Nurturing, and the Flower Demons’ adorable pet-like nature, Zhang Deming couldn’t resist the temptation. After bringing them into existence, he meticulously nurtured them for ten consecutive days with a Tier Three Growth Skill.

What should have been an initial incubation period of at least a year was thus completed ahead of schedule.

From then on, the Fourth Flower Sea had three new Elves—two male and one female—all of whom were exceptionally cute.

Over the past two months, they hadn’t held back on being cute in the Fourth Flower Sea, and even the entire Flower Sea. Their birth had delighted Yue Mengsheng and the other two, so they had reaped quite a few benefits.

As a result, the three little ones seemed to change day by day. With the help of Yue Mengsheng and the other two old-timers, they grew at an incredible speed.

And now look! After just two months, the clever little rascals were already as smart as ten-year-old children.

Since they had developed intelligence, they naturally needed someone to look after them. The remaining Cyan Wood Flower Demons were all in deep slumber, their life forces severely depleted from nurturing the Flower Sea.

For this reason, one of them had been specially awakened to take care of them.

It was none other than the previously reckless Qing Xiaolu.

This was because the Fourth Flower Sea was partly of his bloodline, and these three were from it.

Zhang Deming was skeptical about this guy taking care of the kids!

After all, that guy Qing Xiaolu was still an immature child himself. How could he possibly raise kids?

Sure enough, subsequent events confirmed Zhang Deming’s suspicions. On the third day after the three little ones started talking, who knows what Qing Xiaolu taught them.

They started calling Zhang Deming "Father" and Qing Xiaolu "Mother"—the problem being that Qing Xiaolu was a boy!

The first time they called him that, Zhang Deming was talking with the old-timers. The scene was, to put it mildly, incredibly awkward.

No matter how Zhang Deming tried to correct them afterward, it was no use. The address merely changed from "Father" to various other versions like "Papa," "Papi," and "Daddy."

Zhang Deming was utterly speechless about this, but faced with the little ones he had personally brought to life through Spirit Awakening and nurtured, and looking at their heart-meltingly cute faces, he could only feel helpless.

This also made him realize that looks really could be a weapon. It wasn’t just about being handsome or beautiful; being cute and well-behaved were also super weapons of infinite destructive power.

With a look of resignation, Zhang Deming watched the three little ones fly over. One landed on his head, and the other two on his shoulders. They hugged his neck and snuggled against him relentlessly, looking so adorable it was impossible to do anything about it.

"Sit still, or you’re all getting down," Zhang Deming said, trying his best to sound stern.

Hearing this, the three little ones immediately sat up properly.

Zhang Deming had also given the three little ones names. Originally, their surname was supposed to be Qing, but the three of them were dissatisfied and made such a fuss that he changed it to Zhang.