My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

"Yaaa—"

A strange, grating cry echoed from deep within the Imperial Palace on the mountain’s peak.

It was the shriek of the twisted monster that Yu Zuo had become—a beast evolved from his suppressed Demon Race bloodline. It was attacking friend and foe alike, leaving the sky above the Imperial Palace in chaos. By the time Wang Ping arrived, more than half of the red-walled, golden-roofed Imperial Palace had collapsed. The ruins were littered with slashes from a Horse-Cutting Saber.

Jiangcun had returned to his human form. He and two other Third Realm Water Cultivators had erected an ice wall to protect the altar. The other Third Realm Cultivators were outside the ice wall, joining forces to besiege the twisted monster Yu Zuo had become.

The Third Realm Cultivators from the Chu Country faction were all burning the last of their lives in their own ways. The three Wood Cultivators had completely unleashed the Spirit Veins in their bodies. They fell into the center of the Imperial Palace and transformed into three unknown, grayish-brown trees filled with poison. These trees had already grown to a hundred feet tall, releasing toxins that corroded everything around them.

The remaining two Gold Cultivators and two Artifact Cultivators stayed close to Yu Zuo’s twisted monster form. Though they were also hit by Yu Zuo’s attacks, they paid it no mind; they were already a spent force.

Finally, three Earth Vein Cultivators and three Water Cultivators also released the suppression on their Spirit Veins. They threw everything they had at the ice wall Jiangcun had created, trying to break through the final barrier for Xiao Shan Lord.

Wang Ping’s attention wasn’t on the various battlefields. The moment he arrived above the Imperial Palace, his gaze shot toward the altar in the depths. His sight quickly pierced through the distance of several thousand feet and passed through the ice wall Jiangcun had built, revealing two people sitting at the center of the altar.

The next moment, however, his gaze shifted to two middle-aged men standing side by side outside the altar. One wore a gray, Narrow-sleeved Daoist Robe, his jade-and-gold belt betraying an unspeakably noble status. He wore a python crown on his head and his face was immaculate. This was Lishui Prefecture’s Third Prince, Ao Bing.

The other man was dressed in a wide-sleeved white robe, without even a belt at his waist. His hair was casually tied up with a wooden hairpin. His entire appearance was that of some slovenly, good-for-nothing son of an official, wallowing in self-pity in his own courtyard after failing to achieve any merit in his older years.

This was Lishui Prefecture’s Seventh Prince, Ao Hong. The various factions had very little information on him.

As soon as Wang Ping saw these two, he immediately guessed their identities.

"Look to the west!"

Yu Lian’s voice rang out in his Spirit Sea.

Wang Ping’s gaze swept over the half-destroyed Imperial Palace and landed on a steep peak to the west. Beside a strange pine tree, Guang Zuo Taoist was indifferently watching everything unfold in the Imperial Palace.

"ROAR!"

A furious roar erupted.

It came from the twisted monster that was Yu Zuo. Its body was now a mangled mess of flesh and blood, its aura far weaker than before. The array of Magical Artifacts circling it had also dispersed.

THWACK!

The lion-like head on its massive body was severed. The one who did it was an Artifact Cultivator wielding a long saber; he was the only Cultivator from the Court’s side left standing. The others were all grievously wounded. The two Artifact Cultivators and two Gold Cultivators who had been fighting beside the monster had already fallen, their life force completely exhausted!

CRACK!

The sound of the ice wall shattering wasn’t particularly loud on the chaotic battlefield, but it still drew everyone’s attention.

The three Earth Vein Cultivators had used the simplest method of Spiritual Qi neutralization. By exploiting the properties of the five elements’ creation and destruction cycles, they easily broke down the Water Spirit Qi maintaining the ice wall.

"Isn’t it about time?"

Xiao Shan Lord’s voice echoed inside and outside the Imperial Palace.

Below the crumbling ice wall, Jiangcun’s heart tightened, but his fighting spirit surged almost immediately. He instantly summoned a golden Dragon Pearl. An abundance of Water Spirit Qi appeared, spreading as far as his eye could see and forming countless water droplets that blocked the path of the three Earth Vein Cultivators and three Water Cultivators.

But before Jiangcun could even fully form his Magic, the three Earth Vein Cultivators and three Water Cultivators were frozen into ice sculptures.

"Ninth Brother, stand down!"

A gentle voice came from behind Jiangcun. It was Ao Hong. Though he was speaking to Jiangcun, his gaze was fixed on Xiao Shan Lord in the sky. His body slowly rose until he was level with Xiao Shan Lord and the others.

"You want to fight here?"

His gaze fell upon Wan Zhi Taoist. He actually wanted to fight her.

Wan Zhi Taoist met Ao Hong’s gaze. A thick ring of Earth Spirit Qi appeared around her, and her skin became dry and yellow. She stared at Ao Hong and said, "Are you sure you want to fight me? People will die!"

Her fighting spirit was soaring. As a Fourth Realm Cultivator, the centuries of peace in Zhongzhou had given her almost no opportunity to act. As she spoke, she extended her right hand, and a ’Mountain-Suppressing Tower’ appeared in her palm.

AOOOM—

A true dragon’s roar sounded.

Ao Hong transformed directly into a dragon. His colossal body instantly took up more than half the sky above the Imperial Palace. As he unfurled, layers of raindrops materialized beneath the golden clouds, followed by a torrential downpour.

He flew into the clouds against the rain. Wan Zhi Taoist glanced at Xiao Shan Lord, then transformed into a streak of light and disappeared into the clouds as well.

As Wang Ping looked up at the clouds, Yu Lian warned him, ’Many auras have suddenly appeared a hundred li away. Most are Third Realm Cultivators, but a few are too strong to probe. I think they’re above the Third Realm.’

CRASH!

The downpour suddenly intensified into a storm, and the temperature plummeted.

But the rain couldn’t touch Wang Ping. A transparent barrier had appeared around him, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu. Wang Ping could now confirm that this Min You had been specially arranged by Xiao Shan Lord to protect the three of them.

BOOM!

A thousand feet behind Wang Ping, an invisible pressure pushed through space and slammed into the earth. A deep crater instantly appeared on the waterlogged ground.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The continuous booming was accompanied by crater after crater appearing out of thin air. For a moment, it was as if the earth and sky were connected. Gravity lost its effect, and dirt and rubble began to float in the air.

This gravity-defying Earth Vein Energy quickly spread toward the Imperial Palace, but it was blocked by the Divine Technique Formation.

Xiao Shan Lord turned to look at Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu, and instructed softly, "Follow me." With that, he rose from his golden lotus. The lotus vanished in a flash of golden light, and he rode a cloud toward the altar deep within the Imperial Palace.

Zi Luan was the first to follow, with Wang Ping and Xiu Yu right behind. Min You remained at their side, protecting the three of them.

Jiangcun, hovering at the edge of the altar, saw Xiao Shan Lord’s movement. He then looked at the seemingly unfazed Ao Bing and couldn’t help but call out, "Third Brother!"

"It’s not my turn to act yet!"

Ao Bing rose on a cloud and landed on a courtyard wall, letting the rain fall on him. He then pinched his fingers together, calculating the time, and looked at Xia Yao, saying, "The time is almost here, isn’t it?"

As his words fell, Guang Zuo Taoist transformed into a streak of light, landing directly in Xiao Shan Lord’s path.

"Senior Brother!" He Feng Taoist said, cupping his fists in a salute.

"It’s been a long time since we’ve fought, hasn’t it, junior brother?" Guang Zuo Taoist asked.

"It’s been over eighteen hundred years!" He Feng Taoist replied.

As they spoke, the two of them transformed into two streaks of fiery light and shot up into the clouds.

’I was just worried,’ Wang Ping thought. ’The other side has three Fourth Realm Cultivators. If Min You has to protect us, then only by having Wan Zhi Taoist and He Feng Taoist face all three of them could we hold the line. But now it’s two against two!’

’So what about the last one, Ao Bing?’

’If Min You is forced to fight, my life will be in real danger.’

And just at that moment, a clear voice from the horizon pierced through the curtain of rain and reached the Imperial Palace:

"Xiao Shan!"

Then, the entire northern sky was dyed a fiery red.

’Another Fourth Realm Fire Cultivator has arrived!’