The Programmer Cultivator-Chapter 79 - 77: Idle Chat
’If I pretend not to understand, knowing Feng Mingyou’s personality, he’ll most likely just get straight to the point.’
’That would be like forcing him to humble himself again, which would diminish some of the rapport we have.’
’So, if I’m going to do something, now is probably the best time.’
’But Feng Mingyou is a salted fish who’s been air-drying for nearly twenty years. Is he still worth investing in?’
After a long moment of thought, Zhang Deming asked, "Steward Feng, you’re an Advanced Apprentice—in how many skills?"
Upon hearing this, Feng Mingyou’s smile widened. "A Three Skills Peak Apprentice, but unfortunately, I failed the Inner Sect promotion assessment.
"Since my cultivation was decent, I didn’t have to worry about being cast out and forced to be a stallion.
"I don’t have any connections, but I managed to scrape by and land a position as a Steward."
’A stallion... Is it really okay to describe the senior brothers sent out to expand the Cultivation Families like that?’
’Then again, strictly speaking, it’s a pretty accurate description.’
Zhang Deming said, "So you’re saying, Steward, that you’re still... preserving it?"
Feng Mingyou asked in confusion, "Preserving what?"
"What do you think? Your Primordial Yang, of course!" Zhang Deming said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Feng Mingyou’s face flushed red. Under Zhang Deming’s calm gaze, he braced himself and nodded.
’For a Cultivator in the Apprentice Stage, forty is still an age of vigor and vitality. And he’s held out for twenty years, despite having little hope.’
’From this, at least, it’s clear his heart for seeking the Dao is firm enough.’
This wasn’t Zhang Deming being a pervert and prying; it was because preserving one’s Primordial Yang greatly increases the success rate when condensing a Rune Core for the Foundation Establishment Tai Chi.
This made a huge difference not just for an Outer Disciple with low Talent, but even for highly talented Inner Sect Disciples.
Zhang Deming mused for a moment before asking, "Steward, have you ever attempted to break through?"
Feng Mingyou shook his head. "I could probably scrape together several hundred Spirit Stones’ worth of resources.
"What’s more, I never made it into the Inner Sect, I have no specialty skill, and I have no connections.
"Some things can’t be bought, even with Spirit Stones.
"For the last twenty years, I’ve maxed out my annual ten-point quota for converting Spirit Stones to Contribution Points every single year.
"Adding in the points from some tasks I’ve done here and there, I’ve only just scraped together three hundred and sixty Contribution Points, which is the bare minimum for a breakthrough.
"But I only know three Basic Techniques. How could I be content with using a Secret Level Low Grade, Tier One Technique like Tea Art, Agility Technique, or Spiritual Shield as my Rune Core to build my Tai Chi Dao Foundation?
"Besides, my priority for exchanging the main materials is also too low.
"If I tried to force the exchange, it would cost a premium of at least one hundred Contribution Points, which is far too steep."
This was the tragic plight of an Ordinary Outer Disciple: scraping and saving for decades, yet still finding it difficult to gather the resources for a single promotion.
Throughout this process, they also had to be careful not to accept any dangerous missions.
Getting severely injured would lead to costly treatments, resulting in a devastating loss of resources and potentially forfeiting any chance of promotion altogether.
Feng Mingyou’s situation was already considered upper-middle among the hundreds of thousands of Outer Disciples.
At least he had a position as a Steward, which provided an extra source of income.
Zhang Deming nodded. "In other words, Steward Feng, you want to get a Secret Level Mid Grade, Tier Two Technique to serve as your core technique and begin your promotion, right?"
For the construction of a Rune Core, Techniques are divided into two grades.
One can use either a Tier One Technique or a Tier Two Technique, and only these two tiers.
This is because there is a significant difference between Tier One and Tier Two Techniques. After the Rune Core is completed, the core technique is strengthened by the promotion, widening this gap even further.
Then, after achieving Tai Chi, this core technique serves as the foundation.
Whether one learns similar techniques or researches the core technique to develop new ones, the difference will grow even larger.
Therefore, the choice makes a huge difference!
Feng Mingyou nodded. "Yes. The reason I didn’t exchange for one in advance to prepare is..."
"Because in forty years, you’ve only reached the Entry Level for three Tier One Techniques. Your Talent is extremely limited, and a Tier Two Technique costs at least thirty-three Contribution Points."
"You were afraid that if you got one, you wouldn’t be able to learn it, and it would be a complete waste."
"Plus, you still haven’t secured the main materials, right?" Zhang Deming finished.
Feng Mingyou nodded. "Yes, that’s more or less it."
Zhang Deming said, "If—and I’m just saying if—I could guarantee you’ll master a Tier Two Technique, would you be confident in gathering the materials and achieving your promotion?"
Feng Mingyou stared at Zhang Deming, stunned.
Zhang Deming looked at him calmly and repeated, "Are you confident?"
Feng Mingyou was stunned for a moment. He took a deep breath, and after a long pause, said dejectedly, "I’d like to lie to you, but I think it’s better to be honest.
"With talent like mine, saying I’m confident would be a lie.
"However, I’ve managed to reach Entry Level in the Tea Dao. If I were to start from there and specialize in the Miscellaneous Arts Dao, I think I’d have a bit of confidence."
Hearing this, Zhang Deming smiled.
The Hundred Daos of Miscellaneous Arts are no weaker than the other five major paths; it’s just that some of them offer limited means of self-protection in the early stages.
It’s not that the Miscellaneous Arts are all just secondary professions with no real power.
It’s only because most people choose to Minor in them that the Miscellaneous Arts are largely treated as secondary professions.
"This is what I like about you, Steward. Your self-awareness is refreshingly clear.
"In that case, Steward, you can go to the Scripture Pavilion and apply for a Secret Level Mid Grade, Tier Two Technique. You can decide which one to pick, but don’t register the Technique under your name.
"Once you’ve chosen the Technique, register it directly under my name."
At this, Zhang Deming paused, then continued, "Of course, a Tier Two Technique costs over thirty Spirit Stones—well, over thirty Contribution Points—so it’s quite valuable.
"Putting up such a large stake to trust me has a bit of a gambling element to it.
"If you have any reservations, Steward, you can just treat our chat today as a bunch of nonsense and pay it no mind.
"Alright, we’ve finished our tea for today. That’s enough reminiscing for now.
"You have my contact information, Steward Feng. You can reach out once you’ve made your decision."
With that, Zhang Deming rose and left.
He left Feng Mingyou standing alone in the small courtyard, lost in thought for a long, long time.
In truth, Zhang Deming could have just taken out the Spirit Nurturing Ball. With the guarantee that item provided, a man as far-sighted as Feng Mingyou would surely understand its implications.
But Feng Mingyou wasn’t a genius, and there was no great debt of gratitude between them. Strictly speaking, they even had a small dispute in the past.
If it weren’t for the fact that Feng Mingyou had, in a way, supported him for ten years, and that they genuinely had a good rapport, their relationship wouldn’t be what it was today.
So, there was no need for him to go that far.
Zhang Deming had given him the opportunity. Whether he chose to take the gamble or not was up to him.
After leaving Little Qing Mountain, Zhang Deming didn’t head straight back to Qingyou Pool. Instead, he went to the street market on Little Hui Peak.
As he passed through the stall area, Zhang Deming deliberately went to the same section he’d visited before. There, in a corner, he once again saw the figure of Li Shifan.
