My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

After Yu Cheng Taoist and Gu Heng Taoist left, Yu Lian immediately flew over. She circled Wang Ping and asked, "So? How does it feel now that you’ve entered the realm?"

"It feels like the whole world is different..."

"How is it different?"

That question stumped Wang Ping. He thought for a moment, then said, "Hop on. I want to show you my speed!"

Sensing Wang Ping’s excitement, Yu Lian joyfully circled him one more time before landing on his body and wrapping around his left arm.

The next moment, without even forming a hand seal, Wang Ping mobilized the Wood Spirit True Essence within him. He shot into the sky like an arrow loosed from a bow, becoming a streak of light that arrived above Yongshan County in the blink of an eye.

"What a rush!"

Yu Lian grew a little larger, wrapping around Wang Ping’s entire left arm. She then tried to imitate him by mobilizing the Water Spirit True Essence in her body, but she couldn’t achieve the same result.

Wang Ping felt exhilarated. Mobilizing his True Essence, he flew a full circuit around Shang’an Prefecture and Sanhe Prefecture without stopping, then returned to Qianmu Mountain and landed. The entire trip had taken him less than two hours.

"What else?" Yu Lian asked.

"My other Magic should be stronger..." Wang Ping took the thorn vine seeds from his storage bag, instantly making them sprout and transforming them into soldiers. A flash of green light swept through the small courtyard, and dozens of Vine Armor Soldiers appeared.

"Those are just parlor tricks. They might have been useful before you entered the realm, but now you must specialize in Talismans!" The Primordial Spirit of Tongyu Taoist materialized atop the Purgatory Banner hanging over the courtyard gate. He said to Wang Ping, "I once saw your Ancestral Master use the First Realm’s Sword Talisman from the *Taiyan Talisman* to form an immensely powerful Sword Array. He annihilated all those Cultivators from the north inside it."

"Then there’s the Second Realm’s Soldier Talisman. When used with a Sword Array, it’s comparable to an army of Cultivators. Plus, a Wood Spirit Cultivator’s True Essence is already several times that of other Cultivators, and you have Healing Talismans and an inexhaustible supply of Curse Talismans. In short, after entering this new realm, you only need to learn the basics of other Magic. Don’t waste time specializing in them. You must devote yourself to your Talismans."

Wang Ping extended a finger and recalled the memory of the Sword Talisman. The True Essence in his Qi Sea began to circulate on its own, quickly tracing the Talisman in the air before him. The instant it formed, the Talisman connected to the Spirit Communication Talisman inside him. It converted the surrounding Spiritual Qi into Wood Spirit Qi, which coalesced around the Sword Talisman, manifesting it as a solid, jade-green Longsword.

WHOOSH.

The instant it formed, the Longsword streaked through the air and sliced through a section of the courtyard wall. Startled, Wang Ping quickly composed himself and commanded the Longsword to return to his side. In that moment, he felt with absolute clarity, ’If I wanted to, I could level a nearby mountain with a single strike!’

"Feel its power now, don’t you? Your Ancestral Master could summon a thousand of these Sword Talismans in an instant!"

Tongyu Taoist said, "You’d best learn a Sword Array; your master should have the teachings for one. If you coordinate it with the Sword Talisman, plan carefully, and get a few people to help, you could even instantly kill an ordinary Second Realm Cultivator."

Wang Ping couldn’t help but nod. This time, he directly drew two Sword Talismans in the air. The Spirit Communication Talisman inside him converted the surrounding Spiritual Qi into Wood Spirit Qi at maximum speed. In the next moment, two Longswords materialized.

"You should prepare the Talismans in advance so you can summon them instantly in battle. Aren’t you just making yourself a target by drawing them on the spot?" Tongyu snapped, then grumbled, "It’s not like I’m your master..." With that, he vanished back into the Purgatory Banner.

"Aren’t you going to test their power?" Yu Lian urged.

"No hurry..."

With a wave of his hand, Wang Ping dispersed the Longswords manifested from the Sword Talismans. He then sifted through his memories of other Talismans. The most common were Curse Talismans—for causing bad luck, shortening lifespans, inflicting disease, rapid aging, and more. Then there were their opposites: Talismans for healing, dispelling illness, and bestowing blessings.

These were all support-type Talismans, mostly used in specific situations to affect a target without them ever knowing.

The Healing Talisman was faster than the Cyan Wood Technique and could make wounds heal instantly. However, it could only treat external injuries. For damage inflicted by Magic, the residual magical energy had to be cleansed first, otherwise there could be adverse effects.

「Three days passed.」

Wang Ping now had a full understanding of his condition.

After a Cultivator enters the realm, their very level of existence is elevated. For example, Wang Ping was now far more attuned to Wood Spirits, as the Spirit Veins inside him had expanded to encompass his entire body. In a sense, he was no longer entirely human.

Now, just by standing there, he could change the properties of the surrounding Spiritual Qi with a single thought, communicating with it to do his bidding. If he were facing a mortal, a mere whim could command the Wood Spirit Qi to strike them dead on the spot.

This was fundamentally different from the unorthodox method of fusing with a Spirit Vein, which required the cultivator to borrow the fused vein’s power every time they cast Magic.

Just as Wang Ping grew accustomed to the changes in his body and was about to find Zhao Qing to get some materials for drawing Talismans, Yu Lian suddenly spoke to him in his Spirit Sea. "Your Qi Sea is affecting me. I need to go into a deep sleep for a while. I think I might grow."

"Is there anything I need to watch out for?"

"I’ll just sleep on the pagoda tree. Just make sure no one disturbs me!"

"Alright!"

Aside from Wang Ping and Yu Cheng Taoist, everyone else in Qianmu Temple was instinctively afraid of Yu Lian. No one would ever dare approach her, let alone disturb her.

"How long will you need?"

"A month or two, probably..."

"In that case, I’ll stay in seclusion for a month or two as well, just to make sure no accidents happen."

"Okay."

After their exchange, Yu Lian flew down to the pagoda tree. She reverted to her original length, her enormous body coiling gently around the trunk as she fell into a deep sleep.

Wang Ping’s lively Spirit Sea instantly fell quiet, a change he found slightly jarring.

As Yu Lian slept, her body continuously contracted and expanded with each breath. A faint, transparent, cyan curtain of light slowly gathered over her Scale Armor.

「Ten days later.」

A ring of bluish-gray patterns had formed on the surface of Yu Lian’s Scale Armor. The patterns all connected, resembling ripples spreading through water.

「Another ten days passed.」

She seemed to have grown a little larger, and was still growing.

Afraid of disturbing her, Wang Ping didn’t dare get close to check exactly how much she’d grown. By now, every breath she took created a flow of Water Spirit Qi around her. This current intertwined with the Wood Spirit Qi from the pagoda tree, forming a transparent Energy Vortex.

「Another month passed.」

One morning, as Wang Ping was meditating and practicing Qi Cultivation through his Spirit Communication Talisman, a lazy voice suddenly echoed in his Spirit Sea: "I leveled up, too! Come on, I’ll take you for a flight!"

"..."

Without waiting for a reply, Yu Lian coiled around Wang Ping. Their Qi Seas connected in perfect sync. Then, Yu Lian gathered their combined True Essence, lifted them both into the air, and just as Wang Ping had done before, flew a circuit around Shang’an Prefecture and Sanhe Prefecture.

"This feels amazing!"

Returning to the peak of Qianmu Mountain, Yu Lian was still overjoyed. With a sway of her body, she lifted all the water from a nearby well into the air, where it swirled around her. She then swam through it gleefully.

After a long while, she had her fill of fun. Shrinking down, she landed on Wang Ping and habitually coiled around his wrist. "So, are we going to catch shrimp now?" she asked.

"Let’s go check on Master first."

"Oh!"