Returning home, he spent some time with his new family. They were already aware of his decision to become a Programmer and were happy to support him in his endeavor.
Michael refused their 'sponsorship' after showing his Spatial Pouch and the remaining 80 spirit stones. His parents were obviously surprised upon seeing both his 'assets,' as even the most basic one-cubic-meter pouch was worth at least 20 spirit stones.
The thought-up lie was about how he saved a portion of the spirit stones they gave him as cultivation resources monthly over the years and used the said reserves to buy the pouch.
Fortunately, they believed him since his parents would indeed provide him with ten spirit stones each month, as well as some other pills his mother would make.
Beating a hasty retreat all the way to his room before he said something stupid and gave himself away, Michael operated his smartwatch and continued searching for more information online about his future profession.
What he was most curious about were the reviews left by people who used these virtual Secret Realms, trying to get a general idea of what the audience was looking for.
In a sense, this was very similar to a gaming industry, albeit one still in its infancy. And highly militarized.
[ Secret realm - Volcanic Island
Stats: 2.63 million users (peak) / 7.89 million hours spent (3 hours on average)
Description: The virtual copy of a Secret Realm from 3,520 years ago. The users can enjoy battling against the hordes of the Demon Wolf Clan as part of the vanguard sent to probe their forces.
Tier: 1 - 3
Price: 10 spirit stones for Tier 1; 25 spirit stones for Tier 2; 100 spirit stones for Tier 3. ]
Reading the description of one of the more popular choices among young cultivators, Michael saw the mention of 'tiers' again and quickly remarked how each Tier was the side-profession equivalent of a cultivation realm.
A Tier 1 pill, array, talisman, or, in this case, Secret Realm, was something that could be used by Qi Gathering cultivators.
Of course, higher realm cultivators could still use lower realm resources, but the effect significantly decreases once one crosses into the next realm.
'According to Silvia, a Foundation realm cultivator using a Qi Gathering pill is simply a waste of resources, as they can, at best, gain 10% of the effect a Qi Gathering cultivator can.'
Also, the resources spent on making higher-tier goods also increase and require higher cultivation. Therefore, the prices increase accordingly.
His mother was also a peak Tier 2 Alchemist, but she couldn't make Tier 3 pills yet for two simple reasons: 1. she lacked the required recipes (which were insanely expensive), and 2. her cultivation level wouldn't allow for it since she was only at the Foundation level.
'In other words, sparing myself the technical mumbo-jumbo which sounded more like a spell than actual sentences to me, while she could obviously make Tier 1 and Tier 2 pills, her cultivation was insufficient to attempt a Tier 3 pill even if she had the recipe. As for why that is... unless I'm willing to actually learn Alchemy from scratch, it's better to forget about the technicalities. However, the same thing should apply to Secret Realms creation.'
He still had no idea what the 'intent' needed to create the said virtual programs was and how it functioned, so for now, he could only scour the market and figure out the trends.
Therefore, he returned to Volcanic Island and read its reviews.
[ 7/10: It's fun in the beginning, and the Demon Wolf Clan is scarily strong. However, it gets boring after a while. You can only charge again and again in the same valley, meeting the same enemies. ]
[ 6/10: Too repetitive. Also, the balance between my real-life skills and those I can use in the Secret Realm is too skewed. I can't bring even 70% of my actual power... ]
[ 9/10: It's incredible how detailed the Programmer made this Secret Realm. I can smell the stench on these Demon Wolves whenever I engage them. Vomited so many times... ]
[ 5/10: Boring. We are fighting alongside thousands of other 'cultivators,' but they all seem robotic. Even an A.I. looks more human than that. ]
[ 6/10: Interesting at first, but it gets boring fast. It would be nice if you could control the other cultivators and give orders. ]
He spent the next eight hours reading through the review of 20 different Secret Realms and met the same reactions every time.
Even the best Secret Realms, which earned rewards from the Cultivator Alliances, had similar reviews, mostly complaining about how boring and static the action is, the lack of freedom in the fights, the difference between the power output the 'players' could bring, and many other flaws.
'If I had to compare it with something similar back on Earth, it would be single-player games. The graphics are amazing, but the mechanics and storyline are trash. There are also no Secret Realms below Tier 4 that I can see capable of connecting multiple users for some reason, something I need to investigate. I can easily solve most of these things by pirating the ideas of the most successful games from Earth, but there's a small problem of how to adapt them to a cultivation world.'
Currently, the Green Sanctuary was experiencing a much-needed time of peace, with only seven months having passed since the last time the invasion ended.
To make matters even worse, this invasion lasted for a full eight years, making everyone weary and tired of continuously battling the demons.
The more he thought about it, the more ideas he got. Unfortunately, no matter how much brain juice he squeezed, it would be useless unless he could put it to good use.
Therefore, it was very important to slowly understand what a Programmer was and how their profession worked.
--------Scene Break--------
The sound of the alarm woke him the next morning, reminding him of his impending class. Eyes bleary and mind foggy, he stepped into the shower, grabbed something to eat from the fridge, and took a cab to the address he was given yesterday.
While spirit stones were used as currency between cultivators, credits were used for pretty much all other purchases, sometimes including cultivation-related goods.
After reaching 15, one was able to open a bank account at the nearby sect branch, and Michael had his own. His parents gave him pocket money over the years, which he, fortunately, saved since the previous host was obsessed with cultivation and mostly remained indoors.
[It's 250 credits, lad.](Taxi Driver)
"I'll scan it now."
Using his wristwatch to scan the code on the screen, Michael approved the payment and got out of the cab.
In front of him stood a tall building, with its windows shining like mirrors. Rather than it being Riverview City's 3rd Bright Moon sect branch, it looked more like an office building to him.
Which... it kind of was. After providing his name and stating his purpose at the reception desk, he was given a badge and a floor to go to.
Taking the elevator and stopping at the 29th floor, he was greeted by a classroom-like view as soon as the doors opened.
The disconcordance between the professional office building, the entire floor being repurposed as a classroom, and the fact that this was supposed to be a cultivator profession for which he was getting trained made his brain hurt.
Much to his surprise, the five individuals mentioned by Anna—the third lady she met during yesterday's recruitment—transformed into twenty to thirty people sitting at student desks while a 'professor' was patiently waiting on a chair near the blackboard.
The 'classroom' should be about a hundred meters from where the first desk was placed to the blackboard, with another four meters acting as a 'hallway' leading to the elevator.
In width, it was around twenty-five meters or so, making it reasonably spacious.
Fortunately for Michael, he wasn't the last to arrive, as another 12 people joined the class soon after he took a spot close to the blackboard.
When the Tier 2 Programmer saw the time, he stood up and presented himself to the rest. Nobody talked or clapped, and there were no introductions between the 'students.'
Furthermore, as soon as the middle-aged, slightly balding man finished saying his name, he directly dived into the subject.
[There are a few things you need to keep in mind when creating Secret Realms. First and foremost, a strong foundation is needed. Make sure you read enough about the history you want to be re-enacted, and don't forget to cultivate properly. If your cultivation base falls behind, not only will you be unable to create anything due to the poor Qi transmission, but you wouldn't be able to correctly reproduce the skills and spells cultivators at that specific realm can use.](Morano)
Programmer Morano continued to explain why, ending up simplified in fewer words in Michael's mind: a plane with a scooter's engine.
No matter how amazing your plan for a Secret Realm is, you need to be able to support its creation. And to do so, your strength must be up to par.
Although he didn't go into details, the 'intent' and the coordination between A.I. and the cultivator were also explained during the class.
Simply put, the 'intent' was a way of transferring information. In a more abstract way, it could be called transforming the imaginary into binary.
To do so, one would use a combination of Qi and a mental technique every Programmer must learn (obviously, each sect had its own iteration with various peculiarities depending on the sect's preferences).
After learning the said mental technique, by spending a specific amount of Qi, you could inscribe your 'intent' into the virtual product, creating a resonance with the laws of the world.
If the product was 'up to par' once installed in the deep-dive devices, it would create a virtual formation capable of acting like a Qi Gathering array.
Of course, its function was more spiritual rather than physical, the Qi drawn during the dive process working on improving one's mind and soul, rather than the body and cultivation.
Nevertheless, such improvements would create a domino effect, resulting in cultivation base improvements - as long as the product was good enough.
Next was the problem of 'transmission' he kept hearing about. Long story short, the worse the spiritual roots, the more significant the loss of 'intent' transmitted during inscription.
The amount of Qi needed also increased considerably, resulting in a much larger amount of resources such as spirit stones and Qi Recovery pills being required during the creation process.
After someone with similar concerns asked about it, the 'professor' explained the severity of the loss based on the type of spirit roots one had. In Michael's case, there would be about a 70% loss of 'intent' during transmission, and the amount of Qi needed would be about 5 to 6 times more than that of a person with Normal-grade roots.
The lecture lasted five hours, and the students had to read seven superbly thick books by the end of the week. Actually understanding the said books was another matter altogether.
After moving to the 37th floor, which was designed as one of the residential areas, he found his allotted apartment and grabbed some lunch.
The rest of the day was spent reading 'The Basics of Programming' and trying to better understand his chosen profession.
Suffice it to say, it was a lot more difficult than he initially expected. A lot more.
'*Sigh* Leaving aside the fact that I'm starting with a huge disadvantage thanks to my shitty spiritual roots, the previous host had zero knowledge about this field or anything remotely related to it. The cultivation maniac focused on improving his realm daily, and that's it.'
Taking a shower and going to sleep, the eight day after his transmigration to Green Sanctuary came to an end.
And so did the next six days after.
During this time, he crammed as much knowledge as possible into his brain while also allowing one hour daily for cultivation. Due to his poor constitution, he couldn't draw more Qi into his body without suffering a backlash, so he limited himself.
His understanding of his future profession became somewhat clearer, but it was still akin to a tall mountain peak in the far distance, surrounded by thick fog.
Fortunately, 'professor' Morano answered many of his questions the next day, allowing Michael to breathe in relief after realizing that all other students were having similar problems understanding the 'homework' they were assigned.
Day after day passed, and soon, it was the final month of the training course. The theory part ended, and the practical test started today.
It was already the 8th of January 2025, and with the exception of a one-day visit during New Year's, Michael spent all of his time reading and deepening his understanding of Programming.
[As you all know, the final month is a test to show your potential as a Secret Realm creator. The Bright Moon sect will put at your disposal the usual amount of resources needed for creating an average Tier 1 Secret Realm, allowing you to test your mettle. However, you first need to work with the A.I. and create a virtual project. Only when the project is completed and approved can you receive the resources and start crafting in the true meaning of the word.](Morano)