My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

Across the land and sky, the dense, somber qi and the scorching sunlight were sharply divided.

On a narrow battlefront stretching for miles, the warriors of the Demon Race and hundreds of thousands of Corpse Soldiers were locked in a bloody struggle. The Demon Race’s most common weapon was the Wolf Fang Club—not particularly refined, with most being little more than simple hardwood clubs.

But it was precisely this kind of weapon that proved most effective against the Corpse Soldiers. A single swing could shatter a skull or break bones, instantly rendering a Corpse Soldier unable to fight. The Corpse Soldiers’ attacks, in contrast, were rather one-dimensional; they could only rely on their superior numbers to swarm and tear at their foes.

The nastiest part was the corpse poison. But while you could mock the Demon Race for not being the sharpest at times, you could never call them weak. During the battle, their members would occasionally cast Magic to dispel disease and toxins. It looked chaotic, sometimes even resulting in the farce of two Spells being cast on the same spot.

Wang Ping had been patrolling the edge of the right flank with his disciples. Their job was to prevent any Taiyin Evil Cultivators from suddenly charging out and throwing the battlefield into chaos.

Four hours passed in a flash...

The Demon Race army had lost a fifth of its forces, but the Corpse Soldiers had suffered even greater losses. The miles-long battlefront was now covered in gore and blood, filling the air with a nauseating stench.

With everyone’s nerves stretched taut, time crawled by with excruciating slowness. At 3:00 PM, a brief moment of chaos erupted in the Corpse Soldier army. The elite Government Soldiers at the rear immediately seized the opportunity, dispatching one thousand Heavy Cavalry. They charged the flank, cut a path through the enemy, and then swiftly withdrew from the battlefield.

Then...

The battlefield returned to its previous state. This lasted until a deep, muffled THUD echoed from behind the Corpse Soldier lines, at which point the Corpse Soldiers on the field utterly collapsed.

The Heavy Cavalry, who had been waiting for an opening, charged the flank again. This time, they cut a swath straight from the left flank to the right. Then, under the cover of two thousand Government Soldiers who were already in position, they leisurely withdrew to the main camp in the rear.

By this time, the sky had grown dark.

Drums signaling a retreat sounded from the Central Army Camp. Some of the Demon Race, their eyes red with bloodlust, completely ignored the signal. However, the majority withdrew from the battlefield in an orderly fashion, led by their respective Mountain Gods.

The Qi Cultivators, who had watched from the sidelines all day, now stepped in to provide cover.

Today’s battle had defied Wang Ping’s expectations. The Qi Cultivators like them had remained on the sidelines, while fewer than half of the Demon Race warriors who had marched out returned.

The losses were staggering. Had it been the Government Soldiers, their morale would have shattered after losing just twenty percent of their men.

In a way, the Demon Race was even more terrifying than the Corpse Soldiers!

When Wang Ping returned to the Qianmu Temple’s encampment, he saw Guangxuan, who was already back. They shared a wry smile.

"The item controlling the Corpse Soldiers must have been completely destroyed."

The moment he stepped into Wang Ping’s tent, Guangxuan couldn’t help but sigh. "If not for the Demon Race army, our losses would have been horrific."

Wang Ping didn’t pursue the topic, nor did he dwell on it. It was useless and would only bring him unnecessary grief.

"The Demon Race is so much stronger than those Government Soldiers. Why don’t you use them?" Yu Lian asked from within his Spirit Sea.

"If someone was destined to grow up and fight you for shrimp, and you could stop them from ever growing up, what would you do?"

"I’d swallow him whole!"

Just as Wang Ping and Yu Lian finished their exchange, Liu Shuang and Zhao Qing entered the tent. Standing at the entrance, Liu Shuang reported, "Master, an Imperial Envoy has arrived. He’s from the Demon Race—a Great Demon!"

...

The Imperial Envoy from the Court was an Ox Demon.

Within the borders of Xia Country, Ox Demons were treated differently from the rest of the Demon Race. Because oxen were considered livestock, they tended to be more understanding of human nature after shapeshifting. As a result, most were recruited by the Court into the Demon Suppression Department.

Rumor had it that the Demon Suppression Department had a total of three Great Demons, two of whom were Ox Demons. They were specifically in charge of the investiture of Mountain Gods across the land.

Within the Demon Race, the title ’Great Demon’ specifically referred to a mighty being who had formed an Inner Core. Their combat prowess was comparable to that of most Third Realm Great Cultivators.

「Half an Hour later.」

News reached Wang Ping: the Imperial Envoy had come for the sole purpose of rewarding those who had performed meritoriously in the day’s battle. And who deserved the most credit for that battle?

The Demon Race, of course!

Anyone with eyes could see that the Court intended to recruit this Demon Race army. Perhaps the Court had already drawn up a plan back when the True Yang Sect and the Daoist Scripture Hall first deployed them. The timing was too coincidental otherwise. Or maybe, this had been a deal between the Court, the True Yang Sect, and the Daoist Scripture Hall from the very beginning.

This was undoubtedly a subversive decision for the Court, and it indirectly proved that the Imperial Family was truly powerless to salvage the situation in the Southwest Region.

Wang Ping merely smiled upon hearing the news. For now, matters of this magnitude were nothing more than gossip to him.

「The next day.」

It was just three quarters past 5:00 AM.

Wang Ping, who had been in his Spirit Sea practicing the Spirit Communication Talisman, was woken by the disciple on night watch.

"An order came from the Central Army Camp. We’re to head to the front lines immediately..."

「The front lines.」

Yesterday’s battlefield had been turned to scorched earth. The Taiyin Aura that had obscured everyone’s vision was gone, and Yongming Port was now faintly visible on the distant horizon.

However, to the Northwest of Yongming Port, an Energy Light Pillar pierced the heavens. It was formed from pure Taiyin Qi... ’No, that’s not right,’ Wang Ping realized. ’This isn’t Taiyin Qi. It’s Nether Qi, which can only be cultivated by Taiyin Cultivators of the Second Realm or higher.’ The pillar created a vortex high in the sky, visible to the naked eye. Far below, in some unknown area, a terrifying entity was absorbing all that energy!

The first person Wang Ping thought of was, naturally, the Taiyin Secret Technique Cultivator seeking to break through to the Fourth Realm. This was not good news for him at all.

’The war has reached a point where the higher-ups obviously aren’t going to waste any more time on regular troops,’ he deduced. ’That means it’s time to play their final hand. And their final hand is us—the several hundred elite Qi Cultivators.’

"Shuang’Er!" Wang Ping took off his own Inner Armor and handed it to Liu Shuang. "Put this on!"

"Master, what about you?"

"I have your grandmaster’s Armor Talisman..."

...

Liu Shuang had just finished putting on the Inner Armor when the order came down: Advance and search toward the area where the Nether Qi is gathering!

’The order is impossible to disobey, but I can be cautious in how I execute it.’

Wang Ping rode his cloud, Tengyun, and surveyed the area from low altitude. He quickly devised a plan. The scorched earth was still crawling with roaming Corpse Soldiers. He could deliberately head toward the areas where they were most concentrated, clearing them out as he slowly advanced toward the gathering Nether Qi.

A good number of other sects had the same idea as Wang Ping. Of course, there was also a contingent of battle-hungry madmen, the vast majority of whom were Artifact Cultivators and Cultivators who had merged with Demon Soldiers.

With them charging at the vanguard, Wang Ping wasn’t worried about the higher-ups giving him any trouble.

’The higher-ups ordered us to the gathering Nether Qi to force the enemy’s Entering Cultivator to make the first move. Whoever rushes in first will end up dead or crippled.’

As it turned out, Wang Ping’s line of thinking was correct.

Sure enough, before Wang Ping and his Qianmu Temple disciples could even get close to the region where the Nether Qi was gathering, the Entering Cultivators on both sides made their moves...

In an instant, the calm sky was filled with waves of dizzying sonic booms from the fighting.

Looking up... the first thing Wang Ping saw was that familiar Longsword, flashing with five different shades of azure light. ’The signature of a Second Realm Artifact Cultivator!’

"We need to get out of here, now..." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Yu Lian urged softly.

Wang Ping snapped out of his reverie. "Quick, with me!"

He shouted, pulling out two thorn vine seeds and instantly maturing them. He then used the "All Plants Are Soldiers" Spell to transform them into vine soldiers, guarding against any surprises.