My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

The morning market in Zhonghui County Town.

Amid the chaotic crowd, three large horses with glossy coats drew many eyes. However, the riders wore the Daoist Robes of Qianmu Temple, forcing many greedy onlookers to reconsider.

The three of them passed through the morning market, taking the straight path along the man-made river toward the North Suburb, and in the blink of an eye, they disappeared from view.

「Half an hour later.」

The trio arrived at the bank of a river several dozen yards wide. On the opposite shore lay Qianmu Mountain, perpetually shrouded in mist. A Daoist Temple stood near the man-made embankment along the river.

The sky had not yet brightened, but two young disciples were already practicing their forms outside the Daoist Temple. They were performing the simplest of Qianmu Temple’s arts, the Chang Chun Technique. The moment they noticed three fine horses slowly approaching, they stopped their practice. A middle-aged man in a Blue Daoist Robe emerged from the courtyard.

"Greetings..."

The middle-aged man in the Blue Daoist Robe had not yet finished speaking when the leader of the three riders tossed him a Token.

The middle-aged man hurriedly reached out to catch it. After inspecting the seal inside the Token, he immediately cupped his fist and bowed. "So it is Brother Xia."

As Qianmu Temple expanded and its number of disciples grew, the seniority between the various courtyards became muddled. Aside from disciples accepted into the Inner Sect, who could address each other using internal sect titles, all other disciples were required to address Inner Sect Disciples as ’Brother’ to mark the distinction.

The leader of the three riders was none other than Xia Wen Yi, who had insisted on going to Shangjing City all those years ago. Seven years had passed in a flash, and the carefree air of his youth had vanished, replaced by a steady, composed demeanor.

"Return my Token."

Xia Wen Yi’s tone was neither arrogant nor particularly deferential; he simply asked for his Token back in a flat, dispassionate voice.

The middle-aged man held the Token with both hands and hurried over to Xia Wen Yi, bowing slightly. As he offered it back, he said, "My apologies, Brother Xia. I was just..."

"These three horses are property of the Inner Courtyard. Inventory them and file the records."

Xia Wen Yi cut the man off again, tossing out three bamboo slips. He then activated his Token and, along with the two disciples behind him, soared into the sky.

Although Qianmu Temple’s outer Mountain Protection Array wasn’t particularly powerful, it still posed a challenge for Xia Wen Yi and his companions. As they ascended, they immediately felt a strong, invisible force trying to push them back toward the riverbank.

Fortunately, the arrays within their Tokens activated in time. The three of them no longer needed to perform the Cloud Soaring Technique; they simply followed the current of wind from the array to cross the river, which then carried them onto the Ascension Platform.

The Inner Sect Disciples guarding the Ascension Platform saw them land. Some remained on alert in the shadows, while others came forward to greet them. One of the disciples recognized Xia Wen Yi and immediately bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Ancestor Xia."

Xia Wen Yi disliked this form of address. He looked at the figures coming and going within the mountain gate and asked, "Is something happening in the sect today? Why is it so lively this early?"

"To answer your question, Ancestor, the Hu Yin Clan Leader from Ningzhou Road is arriving. She is..."

Before the guard could finish, Xia Wen Yi was already leading his two attendant disciples through the mountain gate.

When Xia Wen Yi was far enough away, someone nearby asked, "Who is that? It’s the first time I’ve seen a Qi Cultivator who hasn’t even reached Foundation Establishment act so arrogantly."

"Keep your voice down! He’s a disciple of Changqing Zhenren. I hear he’s going to study the art of the Taiyan Talisman under the True Man himself!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the other disciples who were about to complain instinctively clamped their mouths shut, lest they speak as recklessly as the one who had just spoken.

When Xia Wen Yi entered the front hall, people immediately greeted him, but he only nodded casually in acknowledgment.

「Half an hour later.」

He rushed to the Dao Field of Yu Cheng Taoist on the back mountain.

Yu Cheng Taoist was performing his daily morning divination. When Xia Wen Yi appeared at the courtyard gate, he showed little surprise, merely staring at the Holy Trigram on the ground as he asked, "You’re back?"

"Yes!"

"Time to settle down?"

"Yes!"

"Have you been to see your Master?"

"I’ll go after daybreak."

"Go now. Your Master isn’t performing his daily cultivation today. He happens to be a bit busy, so you can stay in his Dao Field and help out."

Xia Wen Yi cupped his fist in acknowledgment.

He then looked at the two disciples beside him and said, "These two are my kinsmen. I found them five years ago in a residence on Qingpu Road. My original plan was to settle them on Moon Mountain and decide what to do later, but when I passed through Moon Mountain on my way back this time, I felt it would be better to bring them here."

Yu Cheng Taoist smiled and said, "You can leave them in the Inner Courtyard for now. Now that you’re back, your Master will likely arrange a new Dao Field for you. When that happens, you can take them to your own Dao Field to settle in."

"Thank you, Grandmaster!"

Xia Wen Yi solemnly cupped his fist and bowed, and the two behind him followed suit.

Yu Cheng Taoist maintained his smile and waved his hand. He watched Xia Wen Yi leave with his kinsmen until their backs disappeared from view. Only then did he rise, pick up the divination blocks that formed the Holy Trigram, and ponder for several breaths. He then looked up toward the peak of Qianmu Mountain and murmured, "A true piece of fine jade has taken shape."

「Mountain Peak Dojo.」

In Wang Ping’s small courtyard, two puppets were organizing a messy pile of Spirit Wood, while Wang Ping himself was tending to his flower clusters.

In the garden outside, five or six young attendants were clearing away overgrown Spirit Grass, reopening the small path from the courtyard to the main gate and covering it with a layer of crushed stone.

Meanwhile, Yu Lian was directing Shrimp Soldiers to dredge the sludge that had accumulated in the fishpond over the years. If not for the need to protect the Silver-backed Fish dwelling in the depths, she would have simply blasted it all clean with a large-scale Water Magic spell. The process was agonizing. The stench of the sludge was so foul that Yu Lian kept her mouth shut tight, feeling as if opening it would mean swallowing a mouthful of reeking mud.

Above the garden, Xuanling was levitating, using a Wood Spirit Technique to forcibly straighten the misshapen branches at the tops of the Spirit Wood Trees, improving the garden’s aesthetic value.

「Fifteen minutes later.」

Wang Ping was the first to finish his work. Yu Lian sensed it instantly and flew over, landing on his shoulder. She shook her head, as if trying to rid herself of the foul smell of the sludge.

"You don’t have to seal yourself off so completely when you go into seclusion in a few days, do you?" Yu Lian suggested. "How about letting a few attendants in each day just to tidy up the courtyard?"

"No need. Seclusion means cutting off all external contact. Besides, cleaning up doesn’t take much time. If it’s really a problem, I’ll just make two more Tool Puppets in the future!" Wang Ping disagreed. ’I go into seclusion to avoid being disturbed. Otherwise, what’s the point?’

"Why didn’t you just make two more puppets before?"

"..."

The reason Qianmu Temple was being cleaned from top to bottom for Hu Yin’s arrival was that she was not coming alone. She was bringing several clan elders and dozens of juniors from the Ningzhou Road Demon Race. Those juniors might be spending the next few decades cultivating at Qianmu Temple.

And when Hu Yin returned, Qianmu Temple would send an equal number of disciples to the Demon Race to learn some Ancient Secret Techniques.

As their conversation reached this point, they both looked toward the courtyard gate. Xia Wen Yi stood there respectfully. He performed a deep bow and said, "Disciple pays his respects to Master. I wish you well!"