My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

Once the plan was finalized, construction began. Wu Quan was on-site to personally stabilize the Earth Vein. Following that, over a thousand Earth Vein Qi Cultivators and hundreds of Foundation Establishment Cultivators were responsible for reshaping the terrain around the mountain range. Entering Cultivators handled the construction of the bedrock at the mountain’s base, while Second Realm Cultivators supervised.

Alongside this massive project, construction began on a straight road east of True Yang Mountain, following the river north toward Jianglin Road. The Chu Country’s twenty-thousand-strong Vanguard Army had already been deployed to Fengqing Prefecture, south of Jianglin Road.

This location was a mere three hundred li from the Xia Imperial Family’s Imperial Mausoleum on Moon Mountain. In other words, the grave of Wang Ping’s senior brother, Liu Zixiu, also on Moon Mountain, was close at hand.

Time passed in a flash, and before he knew it, the end of the month had arrived.

One night, Wang Ping awoke from a deep meditative state. He had just finished his daily attempt at fusing his Primordial Spirit with the Heaven-Reaching Talisman. He was deactivating the Cultivation Array, his human side yet to fully return, when a Puppet Bird landed on his shoulder.

It was Zi Luan’s Puppet Bird.

In the letter the Puppet Bird carried, Zi Luan confirmed Xuanling’s identity. He told Wang Ping that this Xuanling specialized in the study of the *Annotations on Heaven and Man* and had no contact with the outside world. Because of this, his mind was not only constantly contemplating the nature of all things but was also exceptionally clean and pure.

Finally, Zi Luan told Wang Ping in the letter that if he wanted to know more about Xuanling, he could ask the Lord directly.

Wang Ping put down the letter and involuntarily recited the *Annotations on Heaven and Man* in his mind. His human side had yet to reassert itself. After he finished the recitation, a line suddenly surfaced in his mind: "That which can endure and last long does so because it does not live for itself; therefore it can achieve longevity!"

Then, he spoke the words aloud.

Hearing this, Yu Lian rode a cloud down from the eaves and chimed in, "If one doesn’t live for oneself, then what’s the point of longevity? Can you not achieve longevity by living for yourself? What kind of logic is that?"

Wang Ping did not answer Yu Lian. He had spoken the words subconsciously; they were a passage from the depths of his memory. The original line was, "Heaven is eternal, Earth is everlasting. The reason Heaven and Earth can be eternal and everlasting is that they do not live for themselves; thus, they can achieve longevity." It was a line from the *Tao Te Ching*.

This was the wisdom of a Saint. Wang Ping could comprehend it, but he could not live by it.

He shook his head, banishing these unnecessary thoughts from his mind. He lowered his gaze back to the last sentence of the letter, where Zi Luan had said he could direct any questions to the Xiao Shan Lord.

Seeing that Wang Ping didn’t reply, Yu Lian landed on his shoulder and followed his gaze down to the letter in his hand.

Questioning the Xiao Shan Lord required wisdom and, more importantly, a perfect opportunity. Wang Ping would soon have just such a chance. When the Golden Body Divine Statue on True Yang Mountain was erected, he would lead over a hundred thousand troops from the front lines, as well as several civilian representatives, in a worship ceremony. At that time, the Primordial Spirit Consciousness of the Xiao Shan Lord was certain to descend.

He could ask some questions then.

At this thought, Wang Ping let out a long sigh. He began to regulate his human thoughts, and after a good while, when his human side felt full and restored, he once again manifested his Primordial Spirit Consciousness. He used his Primordial Spirit to absorb Spiritual Energy, just as one does in Qi Cultivation. During this process, many nearby Spiritual Creatures tried to approach, but Yu Lian drove them all away.

Even so, the thoughts of a few Spiritual Creatures still managed to connect with his Primordial Spirit Consciousness, though none had much of an effect on Wang Ping. Simultaneously, he divided his focus, separating a portion of the locust tree’s consciousness to condense a Divine Soul Guide.

This cultivation process continued until just before dawn.

But his daily cultivation regimen was not yet complete. He still needed to summon the Purgatory Banner and attempt to activate its Spiritual Poison. As expected, today was another failure.

When he opened his eyes, a faint light was visible on the horizon, but the winter fog on the mountaintop was so thick that his entire field of vision was white. As he stepped out of the courtyard, a cold wind enveloped him completely.

Yu Lian rose up on a cloud, flicked her tail gently, and ripples of a mystical Array spread out, causing the fog to dissipate at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"What awful weather!"

Wang Ping looked up at the sky. The cloud cover was low, and a light sleet occasionally fell.

Yu Lian, on the other hand, loved this kind of weather. After rising on her cloud, she reverted to her true form and leaped into the cloud layer. The light, misty drizzle immediately intensified into a downpour.

Wang Ping reached his right hand into a storage pouch at his waist, grabbed a handful of seeds infused with Wood Spirit Qi, and tossed them down the mountain into the falling rain.

...

「Before he knew it, the end of the year had arrived.」

In the past half-month, the rear had shipped large quantities of wine and meat to the front lines. Officials and imperial kinsmen from various departments arrived in successive waves to rally the troops, some even personally visiting the front lines at Jianglin Road.

For a time, the activity made the hundreds of li of battlefront unusually bustling.

But the real center of activity was Bin Pass. With True Yang Mountain now captured, Bin Pass had become the key point for the Shangjing City Court to hold back the Chu Country’s grand army. The closer it drew to the Spring Festival, the larger the scale of the fighting grew.

Wang Ping, however, never commented on the fighting at Bin Pass. He had seen no one lately, choosing instead to wait for True Yang Mountain to be re-established while focusing wholeheartedly on his cultivation. His progress in fusing with the Heaven-Reaching Talisman had advanced another step, reaching (52/100). His Primordial Spirit could now leave his body for a distance of over seven hundred yards, but he was still a long way from being able to cast techniques independently.

Furthermore, it was worth noting that Wang Ping had used his newly acquired Spiritual Body to craft another puppet, this one engraved with the "Five Elements Condensation Technique." The puppets for Zhigong and Hu Yin were also complete. He sealed them all inside the Soldier Talisman before giving it to Zhigong and Hu Yin.

The transaction between the three was secret, and they had also formed a clandestine mutual defense pact.

「The twenty-first day of the twelfth month.」

It was an ordinary day, but for everyone in and around True Yang Mountain, it was anything but. Today was the completion day for the Golden Body Divine Statues on the northern and southern faces of True Yang Mountain’s main peak.

The newly-formed True Yang Mountain was different from the old. Though equally magnificent, with its main peak piercing the heavens, it no longer had its former deathly stillness, nor the endlessly rolling waves of heat.

From a distance, it resembled an immortal’s dwelling in a painted scroll. Lush greenery thrived among the wondrous rocks that covered the slopes, flocks of unfamiliar birds darted through the mountain passes, and occasionally, enormous Immortal Cranes could be sighted.

Up close, it seemed to stretch on without end, as if it were the only thing left between heaven and earth. The magnificent Golden Body Divine Statue atop the peak, however, was intensely real, like a deity gazing down upon the land. One could not help but look up and offer a silent prayer to It.

A great river, approximately seventy yards wide, flowed from the north of True Yang Mountain, made a wide loop to the south, and split into several tributaries. Some flowed toward the Liangjiang Region, while others descended toward Ningzhou Road and Nanlin Road.

At this moment, on the far bank of the wide river below True Yang Mountain, incense was already lit upon an altar of white jade. Ten Second Realm Cultivators, dressed in wide-sleeved Blue Daoist Robes and holding Dusters, stood on either side, waiting respectfully for something.

Ministers in the purple official robes of the Chu Kingdom Court stood in orderly rows on both sides of the altar. Behind them were over a hundred thousand armored soldiers, all holding spears with their heads bowed.

Farther away still were representatives from the populace of Ningzhou Road, Jianglin Road, and the Liangjiang Region, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Led by the elders of their great clans, they faced True Yang Mountain in pious prayer.

CHIME!

As the clear, crisp sound of metal striking echoed out, the two Golden Body Divine Statues on the summit of True Yang Mountain were finally complete. Two beams of gentle, golden light, fueled by the pious faith of the hundreds of thousands below, rose up to cover the sky.