My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

The commotion stirred up by the brothers Ao Bing and Ao Hong had drawn the attention of Wang Ping and Zi Luan. Though they didn’t know the specifics of what had transpired, they were relieved to see that, in an instant, only their own party remained.

Zi Luan, standing beside him, looked as if he was about to speak, but he was cut off by a stir from Xiao Shan Lord’s direction. Both men immediately looked over. On the other side, Xiu Yu had been staring intently at Xiao Shan Lord the entire time.

At that moment, through the barrier Min You had erected, Wang Ping sensed the Wood Spirit materialize beside Xiao Shan Lord. The sensation stirred the Spirit Vein Consciousness within him, making it show signs of awakening. He subconsciously wanted to observe the Wood Spirit with his Primordial Spirit. The thought, once born, grew ever more intense—a greed and desire emanating from the Spirit Vein inside him.

Yu Lian immediately warned, "You’d better not do that. That is a primeval Wood Spirit. I can even sense it has a consciousness. What’s more, I feel some kind of indescribable life form watching us. You need to be careful."

At her words, Wang Ping immediately forced himself not to observe the Wood Spirit. He retracted his aura and suppressed the Spirit Vein Consciousness within him, preventing the last vestiges of its awareness from reawakening.

Just then, Wan Zhi Daoist and He Feng Taoist transformed into streaks of light, landing on either side of Xiao Shan Lord and warily surveying their surroundings. Rongyang Monarch, meanwhile, slowly descended, observing Xiao Shan Lord’s current state with keen interest.

As the one closest to the Wood Spirit, Xiao Shan Lord’s experience was similar to Wang Ping’s, only far more intense. The moment the Heaven-Covering Talisman touched the Wood Spirit, he felt the Spirit Vein Consciousness inside him reawaken, and he had no time to suppress it.

As everyone watched, Xiao Shan Lord completely ignored the reawakening of the Spirit Vein Consciousness within him. Not only that, he sent his Primordial Spirit out of his body and absorbed the Wood Spirit-nourished Heaven-Covering Talisman into it.

RUMBLE—

The instant Xiao Shan Lord’s Primordial Spirit absorbed the Heaven-Covering Talisman and its Wood Spirit, a bolt of purple Divine Thunder descended from the sky without warning.

The puppet Xiao Shan Lord had summoned earlier, the one that emanated a cold metallic glint, was already prepared. Complex Wood Spirit Array Runes surfaced on its body, forming a Wood Spirit Protective Shield around it.

POP!

The Divine Thunder struck the puppet, and the Wood Spirit Protective Shield around it shattered instantly. Fortunately, the puppet itself was unharmed. But before it could erect a second defense, another bolt of Divine Thunder descended, striking it squarely on the head.

DONG!

It sounded like the beat of a war drum. The puppet’s head, once gleaming with a metallic luster, turned a dull, ashen gray from the instantaneous, intense heat.

Then, a third bolt of Divine Thunder fell. This time, the puppet was blasted to pieces!

"That puppet took my master hundreds of years to refine. It could probably even withstand an attack from a Fourth Realm Cultivator, but..."

Zi Luan whispered quickly, but he trailed off as his attention was captured by what was happening with Xiao Shan Lord.

After the metal puppet disintegrated, Xiao Shan Lord’s Primordial Spirit remained perfectly still, seemingly digesting the Heaven-Covering Talisman it had just merged with—or rather, the Wood Spirit the talisman carried.

As the fourth bolt of Divine Thunder descended, Xiao Shan Lord’s Primordial Spirit glanced upward. Then, it actually began to use its own Spiritual Body as a puppet. Using a sliver of consciousness he had left behind, he manipulated the Spiritual Body to rise stiffly and meet the Divine Thunder.

SIZZLE—

This bolt of Divine Thunder struck the surface of the Armor Talisman’s barrier around Xiao Shan Lord’s Spiritual Body. The thunderbolt, over ten feet in diameter, shattered against the barrier, scattering into countless fine arcs of lightning. These arcs rained down upon the earth like a torrential downpour. Amidst a series of dull rumbles, the ground they touched was instantly turned to scorched earth.

As the fifth bolt of Divine Thunder descended, Xiao Shan Lord’s Spiritual Body slapped his storage bag, sending out dozens of masterfully refined Command Flags. They assembled into a vast Divine Technique Formation. Then, a golden hall, as solid as if it were real, materialized and enveloped both Xiao Shan Lord’s Spiritual Body and Primordial Spirit.

Wan Zhi Daoist and He Feng Taoist, who had been flanking Xiao Shan Lord, instantly scattered to the sides as the golden hall formed, as if they couldn’t get away from it fast enough.

CLANG!

The fifth bolt of Divine Thunder was blocked by the golden hall. The collision produced the crisp clang of striking metal, only deafeningly loud. As the sound expanded outward, it was accompanied by a slight sonic boom.

Meanwhile, Xiao Shan Lord’s Spiritual Body had already sat down cross-legged. The sliver of consciousness left inside it could no longer suppress the reawakening of the Spirit Vein within his body. A patch of cyan, moss-like substance surfaced on his neck and began spreading toward his face. His arms and chest throbbed and bulged, as if something were about to burst forth from within!

But at that moment, Xiao Shan Lord’s Primordial Spirit had no attention to spare.

"Observe the Inspiration Realm!" Yu Lian’s voice resounded in Wang Ping’s Spirit Sea.

Wang Ping had been puzzled by Xiao Shan Lord’s condition. At her words, he immediately extended his Primordial Spirit Consciousness...

In the Inspiration Realm, the golden hall formed by the Divine Technique was even more magnificent, even more tangible—so much so that Wang Ping felt he could almost reach out and touch it.

But the golden hall, for all its splendor, was not what mattered now. Wang Ping gave it only a passing glance before fixing his gaze on Xiao Shan Lord’s Primordial Spirit.

Floating around Xiao Shan Lord’s Primordial Spirit were a Spirit Communication Talisman, a Luck-Borrowing Talisman, a Heaven-Reaching Talisman, and the Fourth Realm Heaven-Covering Talisman.

These four Talismans had created a peculiar space, locking the Primordial Spirit in place. Within the Primordial Spirit was a dense concentration of Wood Spirit, which it was currently refining, using both the strange space created by the talismans and its own cultivated Qi Sea.

What Wang Ping found most incredible was that as he observed Xiao Shan Lord’s Primordial Spirit, every few seconds, his memory of the preceding few seconds of observation would simply disappear.

"Your cultivation levels are too low," Min You’s voice sounded from nearby. "Don’t force yourselves to observe the Heaven-Covering Talisman. If you aren’t careful, your consciousness will be devoured."

But Wang Ping seemed to have fallen into a trance. ’I have to look away,’ he thought, but he found himself unable to shift his gaze. At the critical moment, Yu Lian bit his wrist, pouring a stream of Water Spirit Qi into his Spirit Vein. The unbearable pain instantly jolted him back to his senses.

TING.

TING.

A soft, metallic chiming. It was pleasant to the ear and emanated from the golden hall.

It was a divine sound, created by a Divine Technique originating from Xiao Shan Lord’s Spiritual Body. Golden chains, entwined with golden bells, had now formed around his Spiritual Body, sealing it within and halting the further awakening of the Spirit Vein inside him.

Meanwhile, the Divine Thunder gathering in the sky was about to strike for the ninth time!

BOOM!

As this bolt of Divine Thunder struck, even the golden hall visibly trembled.

Then, just at that moment, Xiao Shan Lord’s Primordial Spirit finished digesting the Wood Spirit.

The moment his Primordial Spirit finished digesting the Wood Spirit, its once-illusory form solidified, becoming as tangible as a physical being. Its consciousness broke free from the confines of the Inspiration Realm and synchronized with the real world.

He seemed dazed for a moment, then he transformed into a streak of light, carrying the four Talismans as he fused back into his Spiritual Body. The instant his Primordial Spirit and Spiritual Body became one, the rebellious Spirit Vein within him was suppressed.

"It is time..."

He looked up at the sky, then extended his right hand and tapped a finger in the air. A blank Talisman appeared before him.

Wang Ping’s eyebrow twitched at the sight. Yu Lian coiled tightly around his arm. He knew that Xiao Shan Lord was about to inscribe a Heaven-Stealing Talisman. This meant that he, along with Zi Luan and Xiu Yu, would have to help stabilize the Wood Spirit, which could go berserk at any moment during Xiao Shan Lord’s ascension.