My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

After connecting to the Heaven-Reaching Talisman, the Wood Spirit Origin continued to absorb Wood Spirit from the Five Elements Energy, using the talisman to infuse it into Wang Ping's Primordial Spirit and physical body.

Far from feeling any rejection, Wang Ping's Primordial Spirit and physical body experienced a comfortable, satisfying sensation, like gulping down water after being parched all day.

The Wood Spirit entered his physical body without any issue. It flowed along his meridians, completed a Grand Circulation, and merged with the Spirit Vein in his Qi Sea, where it was swiftly assimilated.

Likewise, the Spirit Vein within his Primordial Spirit autonomously completed a Grand Circulation before merging with and being assimilated by the Primordial Spirit's Qi Sea.

Wang Ping was very satisfied with his current state. Acting on instinct, he summoned both the Spirit Communication Talisman and the Luck-Borrowing Talisman. The moment they appeared, they automatically connected to the Wood Spirit Origin.

The next moment, Wang Ping's physical body and Primordial Spirit clearly felt the absorption of Wood Spirit accelerate considerably, and he let out a comfortable sigh.

"Such dense Wood Spirit... I suddenly feel so sleepy..."

Yu Lian's voice resounded in his Spirit Sea. "The Wood Spirit overflowing from your Primordial Spirit is being channeled to me through the passage connecting our Primordial Spirits."

Her consciousness and physical body had been hatched by Wang Ping using his own Sea of Qi Spiritual Qi, so she did not reject the Wood Spirit overflowing from his Primordial Spirit.

Upon hearing this, Wang Ping thought for a moment before checking his condition. The Spirit Vein Consciousness in his physical body was dormant and unlikely to awaken. Moreover, his own consciousness was perfectly clear, just as it was during his usual Qi Cultivation.

"Since this is your opportunity, seize it!"

Wang Ping reassured Yu Lian within his Spirit Sea.

Yu Lian hesitated. "But... are you sure you're okay?"

"Don't worry. My condition is stable, and I can stop cultivating at any time!"

Wang Ping said reassuringly.

After some thought, Yu Lian still refused. "This evolution won't do much for me. At most, it will just slightly increase the strength of my Primordial Spirit."

Wang Ping didn't press the matter. He calmed his thoughts, centered himself, and focused on guiding the Wood Spirit to circulate through his physical body and Primordial Spirit.

He soon fell into a deep meditative trance.

An unknown amount of time passed.

The Wood Spirit absorbed by Wang Ping's physical body reached a critical point. The True Essence in his Qi Sea suddenly began to spin faster, forming a vortex. Under the vortex's powerful pull, the meridians throughout his body began to absorb the Wood Spirit from the Wood Spirit Origin at an accelerated rate.

In this state, after completing a Grand Circulation, the Wood Spirit began to assimilate the Spirit Vein within Wang Ping's body, transforming it into the Wood Spirit Form.

The process was similar to his Spiritual Qi transitioning into True Essence during Foundation Establishment, and also like when his True Essence was assimilated by the Wood Spirit during his initial breakthrough.

This type of cultivation came with no major complications; it only required sufficient patience and time.

Sensing Yu Lian's longing for the Wood Spirit, Wang Ping used their linked Qi Sea and Primordial Spirit Consciousness to channel the Wood Spirit from his own Qi Sea into her body, nourishing her Primordial Spirit and Spirit Vein.

A flicker of joy passed through Yu Lian, and she soon fell into a deep slumber.

Wang Ping, in turn, emptied his mind, quietly feeling his Spiritual Body transform into the Wood Spirit Form. Before he knew it, he had fallen back into a trance.

Another unknown period of time passed. Wang Ping felt as if he had merely dozed off for a second before a surge of energy inside him jolted him awake. He discovered that the Spirit Veins in his body had all been assimilated into the Wood Spirit State. His physical body was now channeling energy back to his Primordial Spirit's Qi Sea, attempting to complete its assimilation into the Wood Spirit Form as well.

Wang Ping was instantly overjoyed.

He hadn't expected this cultivation session to go so smoothly. After checking on Yu Lian's condition, he resolutely emptied his mind and fell into a trance once more. Not long after, he experienced the same thing again. It felt as if he were a new disciple at the Daoist Temple, dozing off while listening to his master explain the scriptures—his head would dip for just a moment, and by the time he looked up, the lecture was over.

At the same time, his Primordial Spirit also completed its assimilation into the Wood Spirit Form.

This time, Wang Ping wasn't overjoyed, but rather slightly bewildered. He had distinctly felt himself getting drowsy, just like a mortal, and his Primordial Spirit Consciousness had been completely unaware of it happening.

And those two dozing spells had allowed him to directly complete his cultivation of the Wood Spirit State!

At this very moment, both his physical body and Primordial Spirit could merge completely into the Wood Spirit. In the Cosmos connected by the Heaven-Reaching Talisman, the tendrils of Wood Spirit Power that had surrounded his physical body had vanished. The waterfall-like channel linking his Primordial Spirit to the talisman was also gone without a trace.

In other words, his physical body and Primordial Spirit were now hidden within the Wood Spirit. As long as he didn't deactivate the Wood Spirit Form, his aura would be virtually untraceable.

This was the state of Nothingness!

In this state, his cultivation level hadn't substantially increased, but his methods had become far more profound. In battle, he could now directly manipulate the Wood Spirit. For example, if he faced an Earth Vein Cultivator, he could work through the Wood Spirit and use the principle of the Five Elements overcoming one another to sever the connection between his opponent's Spirit Vein and the Earth Spirit, crippling them.

It sounded similar to what he could do before, but previously, he had to use Wood Spirit Qi to achieve assimilation, which added an extra step compared to his current abilities.

"Ah, did I fall asleep?"

Yu Lian's voice resounded in his Spirit Sea.

Hearing her voice, Wang Ping felt strangely dazed. The human part of him, which had been dormant during his trance, suddenly stirred to life. The next moment, he opened his eyes.

But everything was pitch black.

"Huh? Why did the illumination magic disappear?"

As Yu Lian spoke, she flicked her tail. A streak of cyan light rose, illuminating every corner of the cavern. Then she exclaimed, "How long were we asleep?"

Wang Ping had noticed this problem the moment he awoke; the presence of light had no effect on his ability to survey his surroundings. First, the cloud bed beneath him was overgrown with moss, and his clothes were filthy. Furthermore, of the various arrays carved into the surrounding walls and ceiling, only the Spirit Gathering Array was still functioning—the rest were all damaged.

At that moment, a sliver of anxiety gripped him. He froze, not even daring to use his Primordial Spirit to probe the situation on Qianmu Mountain. Sensing his emotions, Yu Lian swiftly retracted the Primordial Spirit Consciousness she had spread out.

Fortunately, Wang Ping was only stunned for a few breaths. He first cast a cleansing spell to remove the grime from his body. After taking a plain Blue Daoist Robe from his storage bag and changing into it, he held out his right hand and began trying to calculate how many years he had been in seclusion.

But after a long while, he still had no result.

Finally, he had to face reality. After locking eyes with Yu Lian for more than ten breaths, he used the Pocket World Mirror to teleport them outside. Then, he cautiously used his Primordial Spirit Consciousness to scan the entirety of Qianmu Temple.

Qianmu Temple looked mostly unchanged, yet it felt strangely unfamiliar. The auras of the disciples were mostly unknown to him, and he couldn't sense his master's presence in the Dao Field on the back mountain.

Just then, two fiery red streams of light rose into the air from the direction of the Fire Institute and landed in front of Wang Ping.

It was Yuan Zheng and Ruan Chunzi!

"How long was I in seclusion this time?" Wang Ping's voice was quiet, as if he were afraid of disturbing someone by speaking too loudly.

Yuan Zheng exhaled. "One hundred and fifty-two years!"