My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

Wang Ping summoned a blank Talisman and connected it to the consciousness of the locust tree. He circulated the Wood Spirit True Essence within his body, and in the blink of an eye, a complex inscription materialized on the blank Talisman.

The Spirit Communication Talisman was complete!

Tongyu Taoist watched from the side, dumbfounded. Yu Lian, who had been sleeping on the eaves, snapped her eyes open. She flew over on a cloud to the locust tree, only to see its trunk, already dozens of feet tall, trembling violently. At that moment, all the Wood Spirit Qi on Qianmu Mountain grew incredibly active, converging on the Spirit Communication Talisman in Wang Ping’s Qi Sea.

HUMMM...

It was like the low hum of a bee, but the sound echoed far and wide. An Energy Light Pillar several feet thick, formed from Wood Spirit Qi, coalesced in the realm of Spiritual Qi. It shot straight toward the heavens, creating a small vortex which, in the instant of its formation, began to furiously absorb the surrounding Wood Spirit Qi.

The next moment, the pillar of light became visible even to the naked eye.

Yu Cheng Taoist arrived at the small mountaintop courtyard in an instant. He quickly cast a divination, and a gratified smile spread across his face.

In a valley behind Qianmu Mountain, inside a newly established little Dao Field, Liu Shuang opened her eyes from her Qi Cultivation meditation. She walked out of her room, where two Daoist Children in short Daoist tunics immediately bowed. "Master!"

Liu Shuang gently stroked the two Daoist Children’s heads. She looked up toward the peak of Qianmu Mountain and murmured, "Is Master having a breakthrough?"

Just outside the west of Yongshan County Town, in a sprawling mansion with five courtyards, Yang Zhiping was instructing his clan’s youth in their cultivation. He abruptly turned his head toward Qianmu Mountain. Watching the pillar of Wood Spirit light suddenly shoot into the sky, a sense of familiarity washed over him, and he whispered a few words to himself.

Deep within Sanhe Temple, beside a milky pool in a cave, the meditating Gu Heng Taoist opened his eyes. In a flash, he shot out of the cave and ascended high into the air. He gazed toward Qianmu Temple, hundreds of miles away, a smile touching his lips. "A natural-born Daoist body, as I thought," he said.

With that, he glanced down at the countless disciples staring curiously at the celestial phenomenon and shook his head with a sigh. In a flash, he appeared outside the cave residence where Guangxuan was in closed-door cultivation. He extended a wisp of his aura to probe the situation within.

「On the summit of Qianmu Mountain’s main peak.」

Wang Ping, deep in meditation, was enduring a powerful, crushing force. It assaulted him from all directions, seeping into every pore, infiltrating his blood, his marrow, and even his nervous system. Yet, it wasn’t painful. It just felt as if his body was no longer his own. The sensation was deeply unsettling, and he subconsciously struggled to reclaim control.

To an outside observer, Wang Ping’s body looked as if it were about to distort grotesquely. Something seemed to be writhing beneath his skin, threatening to burst out at any moment. His face was periodically covered by a deep green, moss-like substance that would vanish as quickly as it appeared, only to return again and again in a ceaseless cycle.

This was mortal transcendence!

A breakthrough was the process of transcending mortality. Once a Qi Cultivator crossed this threshold, they would leave the mortal domain behind completely. They could then truly wield some of the world’s most incredible magic, draw closer to the realm of Spiritual Energy, and command even greater amounts of it for their own purposes.

Standing guard nearby, Yu Cheng Taoist turned to look toward the gate. With a flick of his sleeve, an invisible wave of energy sent all the disciples gathered there tumbling down the mountain. His cold voice then echoed in every one of their ears: "Any other onlookers will be treated as traitors to the temple!"

The disciples who had been thrown down the mountain were all accomplished in their Qi Cultivation, so they would not be seriously injured. Upon hearing Yu Cheng Taoist’s words, they ignored their injuries after landing and immediately fell to their knees in submission. "We obey the decree!"

At that moment, they felt Yu Cheng Taoist’s long-absent authority, as well as the chasm between immortal and mortal. Some were filled with awe and longing, some with jealousy, while the petty-minded began to harbor resentment.

Wang Ping, however, was oblivious to everything happening in the outside world. He was slowly reclaiming control, bit by bit, and adapting to his new body.

「A day passed...」

Another person now stood beside Yu Cheng Taoist: Gu Heng of Sanhe Temple. He had been worried and came to check on the situation. By now, the Energy Light Pillar in the sky had weakened considerably, becoming invisible to ordinary people.

Wang Ping, however, showed no signs of waking. He had only just regained control of his own mind; he could hear the sounds of the outside world and perceive his surroundings, but he could not truly awaken. An ordinary person in this situation would have been frantic, but after so many years of cultivation, Wang Ping easily suppressed all negative emotions and continued to attempt to reclaim control of his body.

「Half a month passed...」

The Energy Light Pillar in the sky had vanished completely. Wang Ping could feel his own breath and was now able to look inward. The first thing he observed was the Spirit Communication Talisman suspended in his Qi Sea. It was like a solar panel; through the heightened spiritual senses produced by his body’s transformation, it was furiously absorbing the Spiritual Qi from the heavens and the earth, converting it into Wood Spirit True Essence to supply all the Qi Seas in his body.

At the same time, Wang Ping sensed that his body had been transformed, from the inside out, into one with the Wood Spirit attribute. He keenly perceived a qualitative leap in his physical strength, and his lifespan had increased by several hundred years. In fact, if he were to simply remain in seated meditation, his life could extend indefinitely.

"Hey, hey, are you still alive?" It was Yu Lian’s voice, her tone tinged with anxiety and helplessness.

’I’m fine. Don’t disturb me. I’ll be awake soon.’ Wang Ping sent a clear message to Yu Lian through his Spirit Sea. He then felt a wave of her joyous emotions, but she quickly suppressed them, as if afraid her feelings might disturb him.

「Another ten-odd days passed.」

Wang Ping finally gained complete control over his body. The writhing beneath his skin had vanished.

Now, he could ’see’ the world without opening his eyes. The world viewed this way was magical, for it was the world as perceived by a Wood Spirit. For instance, Yu Cheng Taoist and Gu Heng Taoist, standing nearby, felt incredibly familiar within Wang Ping’s Wood Spirit perception because one was of wood affinity, and the other, of water.

He also sensed the world at the foot of the mountain, perceiving many things he disliked—most notably, metal. The most miraculous, however, was Yu Lian beside him. The Water Spirit within her body practically merged with the Wood Spirit in his, forming a wondrous Spirit Gathering vortex from which they both benefited.

Just then, Wang Ping felt a new set of memories appear in his mind: the crafting methods for the Armor Talisman and dozens of other types of incantation talismans!

How miraculous!

His mind began to race.

「Two days later, Wang Ping opened his eyes, having completely digested these new memories...」

The world looked normal again. The sensation was wonderfully strange, reminiscent of the wonder he had felt as a child playing a video game for the first time.

After taking a moment to savor the experience of these different worlds, Wang Ping immediately rose and bowed to Yu Cheng Taoist and Gu Heng Taoist. "Master, Senior."

"Not bad, kid," Gu Heng Taoist interjected. "You must be the first Qi Cultivator in centuries of recorded history to achieve a breakthrough with the *Taiyan Talisman* technique in less than three years."

"For the time being," Yu Cheng Taoist said, "focus on familiarizing yourself with your post-breakthrough body. Practice crafting the talismans from your new memories. Only then will we discuss the next steps of your cultivation."