My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

Yu Lian was right. During the battle of True Yang Mountain, when Wang Ping had watched the Second Realm Cultivators fight, he might as well have been watching a play. The only difference now was that the ’actors’ were Third Realm Cultivators, beings of his own station.

In just a few moments, two of the embattled Court Cultivators had already fallen. This was mainly because, faced with the frenzied fighting style of Yu Zuo and his men, fear had taken root in their hearts. They no longer dared to fight as fearlessly as their opponents.

Jiangcun made the decisive choice to retreat behind the Imperial Palace’s barrier. The barrier had just been repaired and, with reinforcement from the Divine Skill Array deep beneath the palace, it was once again as good as new.

From over a hundred li away, Wang Ping gazed toward Jiangcun at the Imperial Palace. Although Jiangcun was generous and seemed able to strike up a conversation with anyone, he was proud to the core. Now, that pride had been utterly shattered in this battle.

’Perhaps only at this moment did Jiangcun truly feel that he was nothing more than an ant between heaven and earth!’

Wang Ping’s reflection was fleeting. He then turned his gaze to the devastated landscape. The Nong River, which ran through the Zhongzhou Continent, had been completely obliterated in this region. Its rushing waters had turned a vast area into a Water Country.

Most of the area was freshly overturned earth, churned together with the yellow sand from the previous desertification. Due to the intense heat, toxins, and other byproducts of the great battle, the land had become crystallized and contaminated to varying degrees. It was an apocalyptic scene as far as the eye could see. And in the midst of this doomsday landscape, the solitary Imperial Palace atop the mountain range was strikingly conspicuous.

DONG.

A muffled boom, like a war drum, echoed.

Yu Zuo remained at the center, commanding two battle-scarred Gold Cultivators. No longer fighting conservatively, they ignored their injuries and began ramming their bodies into the barrier surrounding the Imperial Palace. Two Artifact Cultivators flanked them, providing cover against any sudden counterattack from the Court Cultivators inside.

As before, three Earth Vein Cultivators used Earth Vein Power to drain the energy of the Divine Technique Formation. The Wood Spirit Cultivator constructed a vast Recovery Array. Two Yuqing Cultivators summoned a Thunder Law Altar, conjuring Divine Thunder to bombard the Imperial Palace’s barrier, while the remaining three Water Cultivators called upon the floodwaters that now covered the land.

Although they were more aggressive than before, their coordination remained impeccable, giving the Court Cultivators no opportunity to surround and attack them.

BANG.

BANG.

The sound of the impacts grew more frequent. The resulting shockwaves made the very earth tremble, and the blast waves spread all the way to the golden barrier in front of Wang Ping, kicking up clouds of rubble and dust.

Wang Ping turned to look south. The Divine Technique Light Pillar connecting heaven and earth was still present. The longer he remained in this environment, the more disoriented he felt. He knew it was the Divine Technique stirring up certain thoughts within his mind.

「Time slowly passed.」

For some reason, Wang Ping suddenly felt a sense of anticipation. He first glanced at the ever-calm Xiao Shan Lord, then turned to Zi Luan beside him. Zi Luan’s eyes were filled with nothing but the sight of Xiao Shan Lord’s back; he was completely oblivious to Wang Ping’s gaze.

’What are you anticipating?’

Yu Lian read Wang Ping’s emotions and asked within his Spirit Sea.

Wang Ping looked up at the sky, silently calculating the time. The sun was already high in the azure sky; it would be Noon in a moment.

’I’m looking forward to seeing what those heavy hitters are about to do.’

Wang Ping earnestly replied to Yu Lian’s question in his Spirit Sea. Afterward, his mood became much more philosophical. ’The people and affairs of this world are actually quite simple. If you don’t cling to fixed ideas, your heart will naturally feel at ease.’

KRA-KOOM!

Ahead, a bolt of lightning resembling a coiling dragon descended from the sky. It tore a massive hole through the golden clouds, striking the surface of the illusory Imperial Palace that floated within them.

The invisible barrier outside the Imperial Palace immediately shuddered, and the Divine Technique Formation spanning heaven and earth warped.

KRA-KOOM!

Another identical bolt of lightning fell.

It was the two Yuqing Cultivators. After unleashing those two bolts of lightning, their bodies aged before one’s very eyes. They wasted away rapidly, becoming nothing but skin and bones in an instant.

The next moment, they each summoned a brilliant Golden Core above their heads. The cores formed a mystical space around their bodies, one that defied the rules of reality. Then, taking this transcendent space with them, they charged directly into the invisible barrier surrounding the Imperial Palace.

All of this happened incredibly fast. Jiangcun and the others were still in awe of the two bolts of Divine Thunder when the two Yuqing Sect Cultivators charged forward, brandishing their Golden Cores. There was no earth-shattering boom. When the space created by their Golden Cores touched the invisible barrier, it seemed to resonate with it. The spiritual energy particles that made up the barrier swiftly collapsed, deconstructed by this pocket of strange reality.

This was the power of an inner Cosmos!

But such a suicidal tactic could only be fleeting.

"Attack!"

The moment the barrier collapsed, Yu Zuo cast aside any thought for the battle formation. A twisted, excited expression flashed across his face as he tossed away the Communication Spiritual Artifact above his head and completely unleashed the Demon Race aura he had been suppressing.

’He had to become even more frenzied!’

As he burst through the barrier’s remains, his body transformed, twisting into a horrifying form that radiated a bloody light.

ROAR!

His twisted form possessed the body of a lion, but it had five or six heads. They resembled a lizard, a hyena, and a stag. But most shocking of all, one of them was the head of a flood dragon!

Furthermore, an array of Magical Artifacts circled his contorted body. They were all Horse-Cutting Sabers, but they consisted only of blades, with no hilts.

After charging through the barrier, he immediately clashed with two Cultivators who had merged with Demon Soldiers.

The Imperial Family seemed powerful, but they lacked an established heritage and had ruled Zhongzhou for only a little over five hundred years. Most of the Third Realm Cultivators they cultivated were those who had merged with Demon Soldiers or Star God Cores. With the aid of Divine Technique Formations and sacrificial rites, it was far easier for these two types to advance than it was for a typical Mystic Sect Cultivator.

For this very reason, their actual combat strength was at the bottom rung among Third Realm Cultivators.

CLANG.

CLANG.

CLANG.

The sound of clashing metal rang out incessantly. The two Court Cultivators who first engaged Yu Zuo were severely injured in the blink of an eye. If Yu Zuo hadn’t been in such a frenzied state, failing to aim for the cores in their chests, they would have likely perished on the spot.

As the Horse-Cutting Sabers carved a path of destruction, Yu Zuo’s twisted body also rampaged wildly. At the same time, the other Cultivators behind him stormed through the breach.

Jiangcun let out a draconic roar. After retreating some distance, he erected an Ice Barrier to protect the altar deep within the Imperial Palace.

Meanwhile, Ao Bing and Ao Hong, who had been meditating in a nearby palace, moved to the side of the altar, seemingly waiting for an opportunity to strike. On a western mountain peak, Guang Zuo Daoist, who had been sitting cross-legged, also rose to his feet to watch the battle between the Third Realm Cultivators unfold.

「Above the Chu Kingdom Camp.」

Xiao Shan Lord’s voice rang in Wang Ping’s ears. "The time is almost right. The people on the other side won’t be able to hold back any longer. Let’s go."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he transformed into a streak of golden light and flew toward Shangjing City, with Wan Zhi Daoist and He Feng Daoist flanking him.

Min You kept pace with Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu. The three of them flew cautiously across the hundred-li distance. As the gap closed at a speed visible to the naked eye, Wang Ping found himself arriving at Shangjing City once more!