My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

Yu Lian’s last words struck a chord with Wang Ping.

Not long ago, Wang Ping had asked Zi Luan if he possessed the compound array passed down from the Xiao Shan Lord. Zi Luan had said no, yet Xiu Yu had later told him that very array was on Zi Luan’s person.

It was highly probable that Xiu Yu was deliberately sowing discord, but Wang Ping couldn’t help but overthink it.

Now that he had met with Xiu Yu alone, with Wu Quan also involved, word would inevitably reach Zi Luan’s ears. Zi Luan might not think much of it at first, but over time, it would surely foster resentment.

Furthermore, Zi Luan should have replied to him by now under normal circumstances, yet there was still no word.

Just as he was thinking this, he sensed a Puppet Bird in the sky locking onto his aura. When he looked up, the Puppet Bird was already descending and circling above the Mountain Peak Dojo, waiting for the Dojo’s illusion to let it in.

Wang Ping gave a light wave of his hand, manually dispelling the Dojo’s illusion. The puppet immediately dove down, landing on his right shoulder and hopping back and forth.

"Is that a reply from Zi Luan?"

Yu Lian asked.

Wang Ping gazed at Liu Shuang, who was deep in meditation. He seemed lost in thought and didn’t answer Yu Lian. After a long moment, he finally picked up the Puppet Bird, opened the mechanism on its abdomen, and took out the bamboo slip from within.

It contained a single sentence: I am aware of the matter and have utterly destroyed Xiu Yu’s Primordial Spirit!

Yu Lian craned her neck to stare at the sentence on the bamboo slip. "Zi Luan is also unwilling to destroy our alliance," she said. "But it is just that—an alliance to protect our mutual interests."

Wang Ping nodded. Yu Lian’s meaning was obvious. He and Zi Luan might have shared a bit of friendship before, but it would be hard to maintain it after this.

"If you offered him a brief explanation, things would be much simpler."

Yu Lian reminded him.

But Wang Ping shook his head. He didn’t want to.

Yu Lian dropped the subject. She rose on a cloud and landed on a branch of a nearby Spirit Wood Tree. Just as she was about to fall asleep, Wang Ping suddenly spoke within his Spirit Sea, ’Do you think my fate has also been arranged by someone?’

’I don’t know!’

’What if it has been?’

’If it has, there’s nothing we can do about it for now. Think about Xiu Yu—he played the fool for over a thousand years. Our own stories have only just begun. We don’t even know who might be pulling the strings.’

"..."

Wang Ping summoned his Pocket World Mirror, sensing the information being relayed from the puppets within. He asked, ’Do you think Shuang’Er and the others will grow suspicious, like Xiu Yu did?’

Hearing this, Yu Lian turned her gaze to Liu Shuang and sank into contemplation.

After a long while, she replied, ’The Xiao Shan Lord always treated his two disciples with a certain aloofness. He must have cared deeply for Xiu Yu and Zi Luan, yet he deliberately acted cold. Perhaps he wanted to put them at ease, but unfortunately, it backfired.’

’Why?’

’Remember that puppet we captured on Ningzhou Road? He was also one of the Xiao Shan Lord’s disciples!’

Wang Ping fell into contemplation at her words.

After a moment, he gazed at Liu Shuang and sighed. "Human nature is too complex. Even someone with my Primordial Spirit Cultivation can’t fathom it."

"Human nature isn’t something a Primordial Spirit can perceive!"

Wang Ping nodded in agreement and looked up at the sky. Another Puppet Bird was descending, this one marked with the Zhi Gong Daoist’s aura.

"What does he want?"

"Who?"

"Zhi Gong!"

As they spoke, the Puppet Bird landed on Wang Ping’s outstretched hand. He took out the bamboo slip, and a look of clear surprise crossed his face as he read its contents.

"What is it?"

"Someone has proposed putting Qingjiang on the Daoist Palace’s wanted list."

After he spoke, a smile touched Wang Ping’s lips for some reason, as if he had stumbled upon something amusing.

Yu Lian was very clever. Sensing Wang Ping’s mood, she spoke up, "It’s those Cultivators who swept through Hai Zhou Road before, isn’t it? Is their excuse that they’re afraid Qingjiang will rally the remaining Cultivators in the region?"

Wang Ping nodded. "And their timing is perfect..."

He looked up at the sky. "The Cultivators who suddenly went berserk yesterday have paralyzed the administration in nearly half of the southern cities. The number of refugees is staggering. If the Chu Kingdom Court doesn’t handle this well, there’s a risk of a coup."

"Qingjiang’s sudden appearance will inevitably cause panic among the smaller sects. If they seize this opportunity to make their proposal, they’ll likely gain the support of the majority."

As he spoke, Wang Ping released the Puppet Bird from his hand without sending a reply to the Zhi Gong Daoist. The smile on his face deepened, and he turned to meet Yu Lian’s gaze. "Only a handful of people knew Qingjiang had appeared. Who do you think leaked the information?"

Yu Lian didn’t answer his question, asking instead, "What do you plan to do?"

"What else can I do? Someone wants to force me into opposition with the Southern Cultivators, so I might as well play along. We’ll see who dares come to my Baisui Lake Dojo to seize someone."

After speaking, Wang Ping glanced at the Spiritual Dog lying nearby, then closed off his consciousness to focus solely on serving as Liu Shuang’s Guardian.

The Mountain Peak Dojo instantly returned to its usual tranquility.

But the world outside was not so easily quieted. In Zhonghui County Town alone, at least fifty thousand refugees had flooded the area in a single day. Fortunately, the County Government had made preparations, setting up enough soup kitchens and temporary straw shelters.

Other places were not so fortunate. Many local governments had collapsed during the disaster, allowing the long-buried ambitions of certain individuals to fester and grow. They seized the opportunity to plunder wealth and recruit able-bodied men.

「Half a month later.」

The chaotic spiritual energy was suppressed, but the government of the Chu Country was now in utter turmoil.

The earlier proposal to place Qingjiang on the Daoist Palace’s wanted list had vanished without a trace, like a stone dropped into the ocean.

The Court was already debating whether to adopt the system of the former Xia Dynasty, which would order the various regions to quell their own rebellions and then grant rewards based on merit.

But the chaos was like a wildfire, its flames spreading ever wider. The Chu Kingdom Court could only dispatch Entering Cultivators to negotiate with the great aristocratic clans of the various regions while simultaneously issuing an urgent proclamation to quell the rebellions.

「Three months later.」

Liu Shuang successfully and naturally fused with the Spirit Body consciousness within her soul, as if it were water flowing into a newly dug channel.

The next step was to break past the critical point for her Primordial Spirit and physical body. Liu Shuang’s Spirit Veins were too weak. Furthermore, when she had advanced to the Second Realm, she had used the Soul Devouring Technique to forcibly consume Spiritual Creatures. Now, even with the fusion complete, some of their memories would resurface and interfere with her Primordial Spirit cultivation.

Wang Ping’s solution was to forcibly erase these memories. Then, he would use the Wood Spirit Qi gathered by the Nine Extremes Array to cultivate Liu Shuang’s Spiritual Body through a slow, grinding process.

Although she would be very weak upon reaching the Third Realm this way, at least she would have a chance of reaching it at all.

Over the next two months, Wang Ping focused on setting up an Array for Liu Shuang’s future cultivation. This time, the Array was established in Liu Shuang’s own Dao Field. By the time he finished, another Spring Festival had arrived.

This year’s Spring Festival was not a joyous occasion. People were dying everywhere. Even many of Qianmu Temple’s disciples, who had gone out to gain experience, had suffered heavy casualties.

Wang Ping did not celebrate the Spring Festival this year. After taking care of Liu Shuang’s affairs, he remained in deep meditation at the Mountain Peak Dojo. He stayed that way until the last day of the first lunar month, when Zi Luan suddenly contacted him via Communication Token, requesting a projected consciousness link to discuss an urgent matter.