My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

「Three months later.」

Wang Ping, who had been in secluded ascetic cultivation, finally perfected his mastery of the Spirit Communication Talisman. He could not only draw it with his eyes closed as his master had required, but he could also complete it within five breaths.

The events of the day he returned to Qianmu Temple had left Wang Ping agitated. The next day, he summoned Zhao Qing and split the more than one hundred thousand taels of silver he had into two portions. He gave one to Liu Shuang and the other to Yang Zhiping. At the same time, he also transferred half of his personal exchange points from the Daoist Scripture Hall to Liu Shuang, but he gave none to Yang Zhiping.

He then shut himself away in his small courtyard on the mountain peak for secluded cultivation. Today, he had finally achieved a breakthrough!

After perfecting the Spirit Communication Talisman, Wang Ping rested for a day. The next morning, just as the sky began to lighten, he pushed open his door. He then habitually performed a divination. As he expected, the result was auspicious. While at Qianmu Temple, his divinations were almost always perfect.

After eating the breakfast brought by an acolyte, he took off the loose-fitting long robe he wore while cultivating alone and changed into a formal blue Daoist robe. He walked out the gate of his mountain peak courtyard and headed toward Yu Cheng Taoist’s residence on the back of the mountain.

Yu Cheng Taoist had also just finished his breakfast, which consisted of his usual steamed buns and pickled vegetables.

"Have you mastered the Spirit Communication Talisman?" Yu Cheng Taoist asked.

"Yes!"

"Then let’s see it."

Wang Ping nodded, focused his divine soul, and directly channeled the Wood Spirit True Essence from his Qi Sea, using its energy to sketch a Spirit Communication Talisman in the air before him.

Yu Cheng Taoist watched the entire process intently. When Wang Ping finished, he nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. The next step is formally beginning the Passage. This stage will be incredibly lonely. You must be prepared to sit in meditation for decades. Moreover, when you rise again, the world you knew will have changed."

Hearing this, Wang Ping’s thoughts turned to many people. He thought of the family he had seen at his home in the mortal world when he’d just returned to the temple. Then he thought of Su Dun, Wang Kang, his Second Senior Brother Liu Zixiu, his missing Eldest Senior Brother, and of course, his two disciples and other fellow disciples.

Among them all, the ones he couldn’t stop worrying about were his two disciples. Liu Shuang concerned him the most, as he was the only person she could now rely on.

"Master, I’ll have to trouble you to look after Shuang’Er’s affairs."

"Don’t you worry. I watched Shuang’Er grow up, too. It’s rare that she has such a strong Dao Heart. If it’s truly possible, I will help her lay a solid foundation for her own Passage."

Yu Lian immediately chimed in from his Spirit Sea. ’What about me? What about me? I’m about to enter my next growth phase! After that, I’ll be able to condense an Inner Core and speak human words...’

’Aren’t you with me every day?’

’Oh, that’s right!’

Having received his master’s permission to begin the Passage, Wang Ping didn’t linger. As he walked out of the small courtyard and prepared to ride a cloud back to his own Dao Field, he saw Zhao Qing, who had clearly been waiting for some time.

Seeing Wang Ping, Zhao Qing hurried over and cupped his fist. "Senior Brother, care to come to my place for a cup of tea?"

Wang Ping asked, "What is it?"

"Just a small matter..."

In the back hall of the Inner Courtyard.

Just as Zhao Qing served the tea, Wang Ping saw Liu Shuang, dressed in a Daoist robe, walk in.

"Master..."

"Mm, have a seat." Wang Ping gestured to the chair beside him.

"Thank you, Master."

After Liu Shuang sat down, Wang Ping glanced toward the doorway. Liu Shuang said, "Junior Brother bought a residence outside the temple."

"To each their own," Wang Ping said. "Don’t worry about it too much."

At this ’comforting’ remark, Liu Shuang’s eyes widened. ’I should be the one comforting Master, so how did it turn into him comforting me?’ She wanted to explain, but she found herself unable to say a word.

"What did you want to see me about?" Wang Ping asked, looking at Zhao Qing.

"Senior Brother, do you have time to refine any Power Pills recently?" Zhao Qing quickly got to the point.

"I’m about to enter seclusion for the Passage. I won’t be refining any more Power Pills for a very long time."

"Is that so..."

"Has something else happened?"

"The Court wants to buy them. They want three hundred thousand pills at once, and they’re offering five taels of silver for each."

For a fleeting moment, Wang Ping was tempted. But he quickly suppressed the feeling and asked curiously, "Is there going to be another great war?"

"You may not know this, Senior Brother, but many major events have occurred in the three months you’ve been in seclusion. First, and this is somewhat related to us... that Imperial Envoy we saw at Yongming Port? He took his reorganized Demon Race army, elite Government Soldiers, and tens of thousands of New Army troops from Nanlin Road, and they’ve occupied the Governor’s Camp on Mozhou Road."

"Second, chaos has erupted again in the Northwest. Two months ago, while Prince Ning was inspecting a military garrison, his own men suddenly mutinied and cut him down. They then raised the banner of rebellion, stormed Liuzhou Prefecture, and their forces are now marching straight for the Vice Capital, Anqing."

"Finally, and this is the most interesting part, news came back half a month ago that General Liu Yue, who had surrendered to the Northern Country, suddenly led his troops south. He’s occupied thirty-two cities in the northern territories, captured Beiguan, and declared himself King Beiyi. The Imperial Cabinet has appointed the veteran general Fan Wenzhi as the General of the Northern Expedition to lead a punitive campaign. This time, they’ve deployed the Royal Imperial Guard, and Junior Brother Wang Kang is with them!"

Hearing this last part, Wang Ping recalled Wang Kang’s stubbornness when he left. "Junior Brother Wang has admired General Liu Yue since he was a child," he said. "To think he’d now be leading troops to fight against him. Fate is truly ironic."

Zhao Qing nodded. "Isn’t it? Senior Brother Wang Kang always gets excited whenever he hears about General Liu Yue. If there was a storyteller in town telling the General’s tales, he could sit there and listen all day without ever getting bored!"

Wang Ping nodded. Then, as if a thought occurred to him, he changed the subject. "This time, was it Junior Brother Su who asked you to buy the Power Pills?"

"Yes!"

"I’d really like to help him out, but unfortunately, I must begin the Passage... Still, who knows? What if I’m lucky and find the opportunity to cross over as soon as I enter meditation?"

Wang Ping had fantasized more than once about being that one-in-a-million lucky person his master spoke of—the one whose success rate for sketching the Spirit Communication Talisman would jump to one hundred percent the moment he sat down.

But as it turned out, he was just dreaming.

His meditation lasted for two years. During that time, his highest success rate never exceeded 72%. For someone incredibly lucky, that might have been enough, but Wang Ping didn’t dare to risk it.

Two straight years of practicing Qi Cultivation by connecting to the Locust Tree Divine Soul had also helped Wang Ping understand what this so-called "success rate" was all about.

This Locust Tree Divine Soul was asleep most of the time. It was only awake for less than two hours each day, and during that time, it was usually in a damned irritable mood. Only on rare occasions would it be in a good mood.

When the Locust Tree Divine Soul was in a good mood, the success rate would skyrocket, but it never lasted for more than fifteen breaths.

’This thing is basically a narcoleptic, grumpy old man,’ Wang Ping thought. ’But the Strategy Panel clearly says to ’get angry less, think more.’ Then again, someone who’s always angry probably wouldn’t like another person who’s always angry.’

As he sat in meditation practicing his Qi Cultivation, Wang Ping couldn’t help but let his mind wander. Yet he didn’t dare to end his meditation prematurely, because the grumpy spirit’s waking hours were never fixed.

Fortunately, he had Yu Lian to talk to.

Sometimes, Tongyu Taoist would also emerge from the Purgatory Banner for a stroll. He was not very optimistic about Wang Ping’s cultivation of the Taiyan Talisman technique.

Today, for instance, having nothing better to do, he started talking again. "Of the Five Mystic Sects and the two sects of the Celestial Gate, only these seven cultivation techniques allow one to begin the Passage without a Spirit Body. But they are also the seven most difficult techniques for it. Ordinary people who cultivate them either become idiots or go insane. And of those seven techniques, the hardest is the Taiyan Talisman. Just this first step of the Passage alone..."

Tongyu Taoist’s words came to an abrupt halt. He had just seen Wang Ping summon a blank talisman that had been condensed within his body...