My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

「Morning.」

The weather was great. Whether it was because he’d grown accustomed to it or for some other reason, the foul smell in the air seemed to have lessened considerably. Wang Ping awoke from his meditative state and glanced at the glowing status panel. His proficiency with the Spirit Communication Talisman had reached (26/100).

’The progress is incredibly fast. At this rate, I can perfect it in three more months at most. Then I’ll be able to enter seclusion and break through to the next realm.’

Stepping out of his tent, he found the camp bustling with activity. A group of disciples had set up a large iron cauldron in the center of the camp, and the distinct aroma of cooking meat wafted over.

"Master!" Liu Shuang was standing right at the entrance to his tent. She had stood guard all night, following Wang Ping’s orders from the previous evening.

"That’s enough. You can go join the others."

At his words, Liu Shuang laughed and dashed over to the iron cauldron, shouting, "Make way, make way! Let me see if it’s ready yet."

"That’s the smell of mutton! I want some too..."

Yu Lian awoke on Wang Ping’s wrist, crawled up his arm to his shoulder, and gazed at the lively scene in the middle of the camp. Her desire was so immense that it even made Wang Ping want a bite.

The sudden appetite made Wang Ping feel something was off. ’Where did they get mutton?’

A possibility immediately occurred to him, and he leaped up to the watchtower at the camp entrance. From there, he saw that thousands of civilians had gathered in the area that had been the Demon Race’s encampment. Livestock of all kinds roamed about, and a Government Office had been set up to distribute farming tools and seeds.

Although the area had been devastated by the rampaging Spiritual Qi, this very process had made the soil even more fertile than before. Some patches had even turned into Spiritual Soil.

"Master, come down and have some too!" Liu Shuang shouted from below.

"Alright!"

Wang Ping leaped down from the watchtower, his mood inexplicably lifting.

Meat was already being portioned out by the large cauldron in the center of the camp. Liu Shuang grabbed a hind leg of lamb. Just as the master and disciple, along with Yu Lian, finished their delicious meal, Zhao Qing, who had gone out early to gather information, returned to camp.

"The other sects didn’t find much either. I discussed it with them, and we decided to partition the underground palace and assign sections to each party. We’ve been assigned a region in the southern part of the palace. There’s some Earth Vein Iron Ore there. Once we’ve finished mining it, we’ll head back to the Daoist Scripture Hall to report the mission as complete."

"Alright!"

「Late Morning.」

The sects entered the underground palace once again. This time, however, they weren’t as frantic as the day before. They were talking and laughing as they descended, a far cry from yesterday’s hostility.

Just like the day before, Wang Ping chose not to go down. He stood at the edge of the deep pit that served as the entrance and asked, "Fellow Daoist, is there anything else of value in this abode of yours?"

"I’ve told you already. Before I fell into my slumber, I was only a Second Realm Cultivator. My most valuable possessions were some Demon Soldiers, which have likely been taken by now. I traded all my other materials for Earth Vein Iron Ore to construct my resting place."

Tongyu Taoist replied, sounding quite dejected. Then, as if something surfaced from his muddled memories, he added, "I crafted two puppets. One was left behind in Yongming Port to guard my palace. As a precaution, I left the other one on the seabed near here. I have no idea if it’s been found yet."

"What kind of puppet?" Wang Ping’s interest was piqued.

"The Secret Techniques of the Taiyin Sect involve two paths: one is the refinement of flesh and blood, and the other is the refinement of netherworld artifacts or one’s own body. This is the difference between what you call Evil Cultivators and Pure Cultivators. After advancing to the Second Realm, the Taiyin Qi in one’s body transforms into Nether Qi. With this, one can refine their own netherworld artifacts or puppets, because Nether Qi can not only inflict death, but it can also refine death itself."

Tongyu Taoist spoke very slowly. "You practice the Wood Spirit arts, correct? After you break into the next realm, you can learn the Enlightenment Skill. If you can manage to re-refine that puppet to have a Wood Spirit attribute, you can then use the Enlightenment Skill to bestow upon it a set of rules for existence. It could become a powerful asset for you in the future."

A look of delight spread across Wang Ping’s face. He then waited for Tongyu to reveal the puppet’s location, but after a long pause, the Daoist said nothing more.

"So, where is the puppet?"

"Didn’t I tell you?"

"No!"

"One’s memory falters with age, and what’s more, I’m just a Primordial Spirit Body—I don’t even have a brain... I remember... you fly southeast from Yongming Port out to the Great Sea. After flying for a little under half an hour, you should see a tiny, deserted island..."

The location Tongyu Taoist described was useless as a reference for now. Wang Ping’s only option was to search by channeling his True Essence, allowing Tongyu to sense for the location.

Less than half an hour went by in a flash...

Wang Ping and Yu Lian were now soaring on a cloud high above the boundless Great Sea. The ocean below was deep and desolate, the sky above vast and endless. Being there instilled a sense of fearful insignificance.

"I remember there used to be a small island here, with a navigational marker built on it."

"Are you sure this is the place?"

"Yes, it has my mark on it..."

"I’ll go down and take a look!"

Yu Lian could no longer contain her excitement. She loved nothing more than frolicking in the water.

Hearing this, Wang Ping took out two Copper Coins and performed a divination. The reading was perfectly normal, but he still hesitated. For one, he had a touch of thalassophobia. For another, he still couldn’t bring himself to fully trust Tongyu.

"I’ll be right back. Don’t forget, I can communicate with water spirits. Going into the water is like coming home for me." As she spoke, Yu Lian reverted to her true size. She had already grown to nearly two zhang in length—in shallow waters, she was undoubtedly an apex predator.

"Alright. I’ll keep watch from here. Come back up immediately if there’s any danger."

"What danger could there be? You’re just scared of the ocean..." With that parting shot, Yu Lian coiled her serpentine tail around the Purgatory Banner and plunged headfirst into the sea.

"How is it?" Wang Ping communicated with Yu Lian through his Spirit Sea.

"It’s great! So many fish... No shrimp, though."

"..."

"Don’t rush me."

Wang Ping decided to keep quiet, but it wasn’t long before he couldn’t resist asking, "Are you okay?"

"I’m fine!"

"How’s it going?"

"I’m fine, don’t worry!"

They continued their intermittent conversation. A quarter of an hour later, Yu Lian’s massive, grayish-white head burst from the surface of the sea, the scales on her head glinting gold in the sunlight. She was chewing on a large shrimp.

"Found it. He says he needs to borrow your True Essence..." As she spoke, Yu Lian flicked her tail, tossing the Purgatory Banner to Wang Ping. Then she dove back into the sea in search of more shrimp.

"It’s still in the same place," Tongyu’s voice came from the banner, "but it’s covered in too much silt. There’s also a waterproof seal on its surface. I’ve already marked it, but I need more of your True Essence to connect with it."

Wang Ping fell silent for a few moments before asking, "But how can I trust you?"

"I’m just a useless Primordial Spirit Body right now. What could I possibly trick you with? Oh, I see. You’re worried I’ll possess the puppet and turn it against you? Have you been reading too many folktales? The only reason I can inhabit the Purgatory Banner is because it and I were already refined into a single entity. And that was only possible thanks to the presence of Nether Qi powerful enough to rival the Fourth Realm."

Tongyu said irritably, "If it were that easy to possess a new body, wouldn’t the world be crawling with Primordial Spirit Bodies?"

Wang Ping nodded. ’Sometimes, you just have to take a risk.’ He unfurled the Purgatory Banner, called Yu Lian back to his side, and swallowed two Qi Gathering Pills. Only then did he begin to channel his True Essence for Tongyu.

Then, Tongyu’s tiny Primordial Spirit figure formed a spell sign with its hands, and a faint, gray array materialized around it. Through Tongyu’s Primordial Spirit, Wang Ping soon sensed a faint, cold, and lonely emotion. Next, he ’saw’ a metal coffin on the seabed being forced out of the silt.

The next moment, a dark gray light flickered across the coffin’s surface, slowly prying the lid open. As countless bubbles rose, a figure slowly climbed out. It then launched itself upward from the seafloor.

SPLASH...

The surface of the sea exploded.