My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

In the white light, the South Sea Taoist was immobile, as if struck by a Body-Stabilizing Talisman. His long, slender arms were being assimilated by the light. A phantasmal hand reached into the radiance, attempting to remove the flower-face mask from his head.

Just as the phantasmal hand was about to touch the mask, the space around it distorted, forcing the hand into a solid state. It then aged with incredible speed, becoming covered in blemishes in the blink of an eye. It withered into a skeletal hand before crumbling to dust on a sudden gust of wind.

"I never thought you’d actually manage to fuse with it. Too bad you’re still so useless!"

A voice drifted from the east side of the white light, and a figure materialized. It was Guan Xi of the Jimin Association. His right arm was severed at the elbow, the blood staining his long robes. At the wound, however, a fleshy growth was writhing, as though a new arm was regenerating.

The South Sea Taoist had already recovered from his paralysis. Before the white light could scorch his body, his slender, scarred left hand formed a seal, casting the simplest Substitute Technique to escape his predicament.

"Guan Xi, must you really hunt me to the bitter end?"

The South Sea Taoist’s voice was dripping with hatred. His head once again split into three faces. One of the faces spat out hundreds of tiny flying knives, which formed a Wood Spirit Array in front of him.

Guan Xi, however, said nothing more. He extended his left hand and pointed casually at the South Sea Taoist. Another beam of white light descended from the heavens.

The array before the South Sea Taoist pulsed, generating dazzling rays of rainbow light. As they streaked through the void, they seemed to pierce through the ages, conjuring countless strange images before wiping the descending beam of white light from existence.

"Let’s see how many more times you can do that."

A hint of anticipation was in Guan Xi’s voice. He was about to summon the white light again when his outstretched left hand suddenly froze. His eyes immediately glazed over, filled with confusion.

PUFF!

In that instant of confusion, an invisible force punched a hole clean through his chest. Guan Xi snapped out of his daze as his blood sprayed into the air.

CLANG!

A phantasmal figure appeared to Guan Xi’s left—a burly, bearded man. He wore a simple tunic and shorts that revealed his powerful limbs. The air crackled and popped as he swung his dark-skinned fists. That last attack had been just that: a single punch that compressed the air itself into an invisible, destructive force. As he prepared for a second strike, a Longsword blocked his path.

"Give me your power! Today, I’ll bathe this land in blood!"

The burly, bearded man roared at Guan Xi, then glanced toward the empty space to his other side. A middle-aged Daoist stood there, dressed in a Blue Daoist Robe. He was clean-shaven, his hair held up by a jade coronet, and two unadorned Longswords orbited him.

"Brother Ma Zuo, you are too fixated."

The Daoist’s voice was gentle.

He had called the burly, bearded man Ma Zuo, who was one of the leaders of the Jimin Association’s radical faction.

That was why, despite being gravely wounded by him, Guan Xi paid Ma Zuo no mind. He didn’t even bother to argue, his focus entirely on finding any trace of the South Sea Taoist.

His earlier moment of dazed confusion was the result of the South Sea Taoist using that flower-face mask to twist fate once more. By now, the South Sea Taoist was long gone.

"So, are you going to lend me your power or not?"

Ma Zuo’s voice boomed.

Guan Xi gave up his search for the South Sea Taoist. A white light flashed over his wound, and countless tendrils of flesh began to sprout. He turned to Ma Zuo and said, "If you have the courage, then when the time is right, I don’t mind lending you my strength. Your hatred is my hatred, after all. It, too, can maintain the balance!"

Ma Zuo offered no thanks. He turned to the middle-aged Daoist. "Chongyun, and you?"

This middle-aged Daoist was none other than Chongyun, leader of the Jimin Association’s moderate faction. The three great factions of the Jimin Association had each dispatched one of their leaders here—and not just any leaders, their three founding leaders!

Chongyun’s gaze shifted from Guan Xi to Ma Zuo. "As you wish," he said. "But I will not make a move myself."

"Good!"

Ma Zuo instantly transformed into a streak of white light and vanished deep into the void.

Chongyun recalled the two Longswords and asked Guan Xi via voice transmission, "He escaped?"

"It’s fine. He used ’Alpha-Plus 04’ several times. Even if he successfully fused with it, I fear his Primordial Spirit has been severely damaged. If he wants to recover, he’s bound to cause some kind of disturbance."

Guan Xi replied via voice transmission, "I’ve already made arrangements. When the time comes, he won’t be able to escape even if he grows wings!"

"You let him go on purpose?"

"Correct. His life is for someone else to take."

Guan Xi joined Chongyun, and they both gazed toward the battle near Xiao Shan Lord. "You see it clearly now, don’t you?" Guan Xi said. "Of the Five Profound Sects, Vajra Temple is the one we’ll need to watch in the future. The master of the Earth Cave Sect is still slumbering, so he can be ignored. It’s confirmed we can cooperate with the True Yang Sect. The Dragon Monarch is busy repaying his debts, so we can disregard him for now. As for the two sects of the Heavenly Gate, the Taiyin Sect also requires monitoring, but we can make overtures to the Yuqing Sect."

Of the seven sects of the Mystic and Heavenly Gates, Guan Xi had mentioned six, leaving out only the Taiyan Sect. Yet, the events unfolding nearby were inextricably linked to them.

Chongyun didn’t respond to Guan Xi’s analysis. Instead, he watched the distant battle with keen interest. "The game over there is about to end," he said. "Shouldn’t the star of the show be making their entrance?"

Guan Xi nodded. "They should be..."

"That Xiao Shan Lord has incredible patience. He’s still holding back, even now!"

"Patience is a mandatory lesson for any cultivator. He’s been patient for thousands of years. What’s a little more time to him?"

"True enough."

"The next several millennia will be the perfect opportunity. I hope we can secure a future for ourselves."

"We will."

As the two conversed, white powder began to seep from Wu Ma Daoist’s pores, a discharge from the majority of his Spirit Veins. If this continued any longer, all of his Spirit Veins would be assimilated.

But he was currently trapped in the Sky Forest created by Xiao Shan Lord. If he stopped channeling this power, he feared he would be sealed in an instant. Like the South Sea Taoist before him, he couldn’t understand it. They were both Fourth Realm Cultivators, both Taiyan Cultivators, so why was he so utterly powerless before Xiao Shan Lord?

His Primordial Spirit Consciousness swept the area. He saw that Master Kaiyun was still tied up by the Seven-Star Killing Array, clearly not using his full strength. Then he looked to Cang Ji, who was fighting with all he had, but was unfortunately pinned down by Wan Zhi Daoist and Min You. And off to the side, He Feng Taoist and Rongyang Monarch were watching the spectacle unfold.

’No matter how he looked at it, victory was impossible.’

After a moment of thought, Wu Ma Daoist acted decisively. He put away the Crystal Ball in his hand and summoned the Heaven-Covering Talisman, simultaneously linking his Primordial Spirit to the Heaven-Reaching Talisman, preparing to borrow the vast power of heaven and earth.

But Xiao Shan Lord was faster. Ten puppets, which had long been lying in wait nearby, simultaneously activated, constructing a Wood Spirit Sealing Array. The array dragged Wu Ma Daoist’s Spiritual Body and Primordial Spirit into a Sealing Array woven from dense vines.

This was a critical juncture for Xiao Shan Lord’s own advancement. He still needed Wu Ma Daoist to stabilize the Wood Spirit; killing him would be a greater loss than a gain.

With Wu Ma Daoist sealed, Xiao Shan Lord turned his gaze to where Cang Ji and Master Kaiyun were being held back. Then, decisively, he used his Primordial Spirit Consciousness to connect with the Heaven-Stealing Talisman!

At that moment, all the Spiritual Qi in the world trembled.

"That wretched Xiao Shan!"

Master Kaiyun roared, blasting away the seven ancient, cyan longswords surrounding him. He was about to rush over and stop Xiao Shan Lord, but Rongyang Monarch blocked his path. Min You had also fallen back to stand before Xiao Shan Lord, ready to erect a barrier at a moment’s notice.