My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

At Yongming Port, a ruined section of the city wall was engulfed by a ball of fire that fell from the sky. The rammed earth of the wall visibly began to melt into liquid.

In the distance, more flames dotted the turbulent surface of the sea, so numerous they made the water boil. There were also pockets of gray mist, which seemed to contain some kind of Spirit Monsters. Wherever they touched the water, the roiling sea would twist in a bizarre fashion.

On the shore, the sand along the coastline was visibly crystallizing. The vegetation was incinerated, only to regrow at an unnatural speed!

The sky...

The Five Elements Spiritual Qi intertwined and clashed, creating fluctuations that threatened to turn this entire space inside out. Added to this were the Thunder Techniques periodically unleashed by the great masters of the Yuqing Sect and the Blood-colored Array of the Taiyin Evil Cultivators. It was as if the entire region had entered the final countdown to armageddon.

Wang Ping and the others had already returned to their camp, but not everyone had made it back. Three Inner Sect Disciples had been caught in the aftershocks of the battle during the retreat, collapsing to the ground without even a cry for help. Six Jianghu Travelers were so affected by the impact on their Qi Seas that they lost even the courage to flee.

At this moment, no one mourned their deaths. The battle in the sky had captured their full attention, even though they couldn’t make out any of the details.

"It’s still not safe here. We have to keep retreating..."

Yu Lian’s voice snapped the stunned Wang Ping back to his senses. He shook his head, forcing himself to stop focusing on the battle between the Entering Cultivators in the sky.

"We have to keep retreating!"

As Wang Ping spoke, he saw the Government Soldiers and the Demon Race army in retreat, led by none other than the Ox Demon Envoy from the Court.

Beside him, Zhao Qing and Liu Shuang came to their senses at his words. They immediately gathered the other disciples to prepare for a further retreat.

Just then, Wang Ping saw Guangxuan returning to the camp with the disciples of Sanhe Temple. After a silent exchange between the two, Wang Ping animated two soldiers made of Thorny Vines and placed them among his disciples, so he could intervene and help if anything unexpected happened.

BOOM! A sound like the sky itself collapsing suddenly echoed, inspiring both fear and a morbid curiosity to see what was happening.

"Don’t look back!"

Wang Ping shouted, quickening his pace and clearing his mind of all unnecessary thoughts.

The Inner Sect Disciples managed to resist the temptation to look upon the unknown, but the Jianghu Travelers were a group driven by self-interest. Once desire took root in their hearts, it could not be suppressed. Many of them stopped and turned around to admire the ’beautiful scenery’ in the sky—a sight they would never witness again in their lifetimes.

All the disciples of Qianmu Temple and Sanhe Temple focused their minds and calmed their spirits, channeling their Inner Qi Seas at high intensity as they retreated north. Some even consumed several restorative Elixirs in a row.

「Half an hour later...」

They retreated to a town where the main army had been stationed several days prior. Only here did Yu Lian finally stop sensing danger.

Still uneasy, Wang Ping performed a divination, but the reading was inconclusive. A thought struck him. ’It feels like someone has been interfering with my divinations for the past few days... no, they must be interfering with *all* divinations.’

"What is it?" Zhao Qing asked, noticing the change in Wang Ping’s expression.

"Have you performed any divinations recently?" Wang Ping asked. Divination was a fundamental skill at Qianmu Temple.

"I have, but the results were all chaotic and meaningless. I tried other methods of deduction, but they were all in disarray too..."

"Have you ever considered that someone might be deliberately concealing something?"

Zhao Qing’s expression shifted slightly. "How is that possible? Can someone really obscure the secrets of heaven?"

Wang Ping couldn’t answer that question, as he wasn’t sure if any Secret Technique Cultivator possessed such a terrifying ability. But he made a mental note of it.

He silently performed another divination. Just as he was about to interpret the results, he sensed Guangxuan leading the disciples of Sanhe Temple into the town.

Before the two groups could even greet each other, they saw another party enter the town. The one in the lead was none other than Hong’an, followed by the disciples of the White Water Sect and the Iron Art Sect.

This was no coincidence. When fleeing for their lives, people instinctively choose familiar places, and they had all been stationed in this town before. Sure enough, just as the two sides were facing off, the Mars Taoist ran into town with his disciples. As for Leng Shan and Yu Shi, they had charged at the very front during the morning’s operation; if they were still alive, they were truly blessed by fate.

The Mars Taoist, who entered last, noticed the tense situation. Without a word of greeting or any thought of playing peacemaker, he immediately led his disciples around the two factions and headed deeper into the town.

One moment, Wang Ping and Hong’an had been fleeing in terror like stray dogs. The next, they were facing each other like proud roosters, ready to decide a winner right then and there.

Wang Ping was indeed entertaining such a thought. Both sides had traveled a long way, and their disciples’ Qi Seas were all but empty. But Qianmu Temple had Power Pills!

But...

Wang Ping’s gaze couldn’t help but fall upon the ordinary disciples. ’If I give the order, a lot of people will die!’

"Senior Brother, this is no time for mercy!" Zhao Qing whispered in Wang Ping’s ear. His thinking was simple: since they were already enemies, there was no turning back.

Sensing Wang Ping’s emotional state, Yu Lian’s body suddenly grew and coiled around him. She was helping him make his decision.

"You promised me you’d roast that eagle!" Her transformation made both sides of the standoff instinctively grip their weapons.

"Haaa..."

Wang Ping let out a breath and formed a Spell with his hand. Immediately, the two soldiers made of Thorny Vines behind him charged at Hong’an.

"Retreat!"

As Wang Ping was forming his Spell, Hong’an moved with equal speed, forming his own Spell with his left hand while uncorking the gourd at his waist with his right. A dense barrage of ice spikes shot out from the gourd, blocking the two charging soldiers. Then, he and the disciples behind him quickly fled toward the forest to the north.

"Hong’an is mine!"

Wang Ping sent a telepathic message to Guangxuan, Zhao Qing, and Liu Shuang as he gave chase. The scene descended into chaos, but Wang Ping only had eyes for Hong’an.

The two of them were astonishingly fast, leaving the town in the blink of an eye. Seeing Hong’an fleeing into the forest, a look of delight appeared on Wang Ping’s face. ’Hong’an was so focused on guarding against my Power Pills that he forgot I’m a Wood Spirit cultivator!’

But just as Hong’an was about to enter the forest, he suddenly changed direction, more than doubling his speed as he headed for a small stream that cut through the woods. At the same time, an eagle’s SCREECH echoed from the sky, and the giant eagle with a wingspan of over two zhang dove at Wang Ping’s head with lightning speed.

HUMMM—

Yu Lian executed the Sword Control Technique, sending the Longsword on Wang Ping’s back surging upward to intercept the attacking eagle.

A crisp clang rang out overhead, but Wang Ping didn’t even look. His eyes were fixed only on Hong’an. A few breaths later, having reached the stream’s edge, Hong’an formed another Spell. Another dense volley of ice spikes shot from his gourd toward Wang Ping. At the same time, the stream behind him began to churn, and influenced by the Spiritual Qi around the gourd, the water condensed into even more ice spikes.

"Shape!"

Wang Ping shaped a nearby cluster of thorny, unknown flowers into two soldiers holding spiked shields. After they blocked the first wave of ice spikes, he dodged into the forest, leaped to the top of a large tree, and swallowed two Qi Gathering Pills. He then condensed his spiritual sense to communicate with the Wood Spirit Qi of the forest.

Next, he pulled out two Power Pills, infused them with a trace of Spiritual Qi, and hurled them at Hong’an by the stream. The well-prepared Hong’an immediately swatted them out of the air.

Wang Ping seized the opportunity to connect with Yu Lian’s Qi Sea, and together, they used Sword Control to attack the giant eagle...