Until now, Zhang Deming's impression of the Little Cloud Rain Skill was always the same: had he gotten a fake manual, or did Magic even truly exist in this world?
If it weren't for the Spiritual Power in his body and the fact that others had successfully learned it, Zhang Deming felt that doubt would have completely taken over his mind.
This just went to show how utterly hopeless he felt when it came to the Little Cloud Rain Skill.
His reason for coming here was purely for the sake of social obligation—a necessary part of maintaining his relationships.
After the three "big shots" finished showing off and everyone had finished kissing up, a few people crowded around them, endlessly flattering and fawning.
Zhang Deming watched them and shook his head slightly. 'They didn't make their move earlier, and now that the others have already learned the skill, it's obviously too late.'
"Brother Ming, how about you finish work early tomorrow afternoon and come with me to the Outer Sect?" Zong En asked.
Zhang Deming turned and nodded. Without even asking why, he replied, "Alright."
A few of the opportunists glanced at Zhang Deming, their eyes filled with envy.
Among the three who had mastered the Technique, Zong En now held the highest standing, as his Cultivation was on the verge of a breakthrough.
And since Zong En and Zhang Deming's relationship was the best of all, Zhang Deming also benefited from the association.
The group continued to chat as people came and went.
As dusk fell, Zhang Deming suddenly felt dizzy. Before he could even process what was happening, his vision went completely black, startling him so badly that he nearly toppled over backward.
'Thank goodness I was sitting down!'
When everything settled, Zhang Deming discovered a black frame had appeared before him.
It was about the size of two palms. Within a white border was a pitch-black text box, completely dark in the center.
Looking at the frame, Zhang Deming subconsciously thought of the CMD command prompt from the computers of his past life, or the kind of command-line interface typically used by hackers.
The window was completely black inside, with only a single cursor blinking.
At the top of the window, on the white border, were two function buttons.
Warehouse, Help.
Staring at the window before him, Zhang Deming looked up and realized that his sudden movement had caused two people chatting nearby to look over at him.
Their expressions were normal, however; it seemed they couldn't see the window in front of him at all.
The moment he shifted his focus away, the window vanished.
Seeing him look up, one of them asked, "Brother Ming, you alright?"
Zhang Deming shook his head. "I'm fine, just felt a little dizzy for a second."
Hearing this, the other person said, "You shouldn't go out to work so early in the afternoon. Go to the kitchen and have some cooling soup. That stuff tastes awful, but it'll prevent heatstroke.
After all, the Celestial Dao dictates this heat; if you get heatstroke and delay the watering, it will severely affect the Spirit Rice.
We're just about to harvest. You don't want heatstroke to affect your yield. Not only would you lose the reward, but you'd also be punished. There'd be no one to complain to then."
Zhang Deming smiled. "It's nothing, I'm just a little tired. I'm going to head back and rest for a bit."
With that, he said his goodbyes to the others and left.
Once he was out of the main courtyard, Zhang Deming couldn't help but quicken his pace. By the time he reached his own doorway, he had broken into a near-sprint.
Zhang Deming was feeling an overwhelming sense of urgency. How could he not?
Eighteen years. If he wasn't mistaken, from the moment he was born into this world until this very moment, a full eighteen years had passed. His 'golden finger' had finally arrived.
He'd transmigrated after working himself to death at his desk.
He hadn't bought some mysterious object from a street stall, nor had anything fallen on him from the sky. He had honestly thought he was one of those transmigrators without a golden finger!
He had nearly given up all hope and resigned himself to living out his days as a salted fish. Who would have thought the darn thing was just running late?
He burst through the door, slammed it shut behind him, and sat on his bed. Urgently, he called forth the black text box again.
As Zhang Deming concentrated, the white-bordered window with the pitch-black interior slowly materialized. Inside, a single cursor blinked.
'What is this? It looks so much like a CMD command prompt. Don't tell me I brought a computer with me?
'Where is it?
'In my brain?'
His mind was full of questions, but there was no one to answer them.
Zhang Deming focused his attention on the two function buttons. With his consciousness, he first touched 'Help,' hoping to find a beginner's guide.
A text box popped up, overlaying the black window just like a new page on a computer screen.
1. This is a software editor. Reality can be edited via software. Please explore specific functions on your own.
2. Editing consumes a corresponding amount of editing Energy. Please explore how to obtain Energy on your own.
3. This editor can edit 'drives' such as the Dantian, the self, the consciousness, and even external plug-ins. Currently, only the Dantian Disc editing is enabled. Please explore how to unlock other function discs on your own.
4. For Dantian editing, before committing Energy, please input '/Dantian' at the blinking '|' cursor on the main page to navigate to the Dantian Disc category and begin editing.
5. For further assistance, please explore on your own.
Zhang Deming was speechless.
'What kind of golden finger is this? It's all "explore on your own," dammit!'
'What's the use of you, then!?'
Still, he understood the gist of it. His body had apparently become a computer, and his Dantian was like the C: drive. In other words, he could write code for his Dantian.
'But what's the use of that?
'Make a piece of software for my Dantian?
'Ha! With no computer and no phone, even if I made a game, how would I run it? On my own body?'
Shaking his head, he X'ed out of the help text and had his consciousness tap the other function button: Warehouse.
This time, a peculiar Space seemed to open up in Zhang Deming's mind. Inside it floated a single, solitary ball of light.
On the ball of light, a 'branch' Rune flickered.
'So this ball of light is the starter pack? What does 'branch' mean?'
Zhang Deming's consciousness tapped the ball of light again. There was no treasure chest, no lottery prompt, none of the things he might have expected.
Zhang Deming's vision blurred for a moment, and he found himself back in his room, having left the Warehouse.
The black text box was before him once more, its cursor blinking.
The vision of the Warehouse seemed like an illusion. The only difference was that he was now holding the Little Cloud Rain Skill book in his right hand, and a white ball of light in his left.
For the first time, a notification message appeared in his mind: "Energy: 1. Small plug-in editable. Editing conditions met. Currently, only the Dantian Disc category is enabled. Please input command and navigate to the Dantian category to edit the plug-in."
Following the prompt, Zhang Deming focused on the blinking '|' cursor on the main page and, as instructed by the help file, typed '/Dantian'.
The dark text on the screen flickered, and a few new symbols appeared before the cursor.
Zhang Deming:Dantian>|
The vertical '|' cursor blinked incessantly. Just then, the ball of light and the Cloud Rain Skill book in his hands vanished.
Information began to stream out after the '>' symbol. When it stabilized, the line read:
Zhang Deming:Dantian>if ( ) {Cloud Rain Skill cast successful} else {cast failed}
(PS: For ease of reading, all subsequent code commands will be presented in a simplified, natural language format rather than actual programming language. For comprehension, only the core logic of each plug-in will be shown.)
A new message appeared: "Core code has been generated. Please modify and edit as needed.
Note: As this plug-in was generated using one point of Energy, the scope of modification is limited.
Please be cautious when modifying the core code. The trial run function is not yet enabled. If your modifications result in logical errors or exceed standard definitions, causing the plug-in to fail, you are solely responsible."
A glimmer appeared in Zhang Deming's eyes as he looked at the familiar code and the accompanying prompts.
'Does this mean I can treat the Cloud Rain Skill as a plug-in and compile it into my Dantian?
'And my body will run it like a computer?
'Does that mean that once I finish editing this plug-in, I'll have finally learned the Little Cloud Rain Skill I've been dreaming of?'
'Only one way to find out!'
'But there's no dedicated compiler or test environment.'
'I have to write the code by hand and simulate it in my head. That means I can't mess with the core logic too much.'
As a veteran programmer, a small plug-in with a single line of core code was almost laughably simple.
He immersed his consciousness in the editor and began to modify the core code.
"if (the Dantian has sufficient Spiritual Power AND the user attempts to cast the Little Cloud Rain Skill) {then, the Little Cloud Rain Skill is cast successfully} else {then, the Little Cloud Rain Skill fails to cast}"
Aside from adding trigger conditions inside the parentheses, Zhang Deming didn't make any other major modifications. He had, in fact, considered setting the trigger condition to something like 'succeeds on thought.'
But he was afraid that wouldn't meet the requirements, or that he wouldn't have enough Energy, so in the end, he dutifully compiled a normal, rigorous trigger condition.