My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

Detecting Wang Ping’s intention, Hong’an immediately soared into the air. He formed the hand seals for the Sword Control Technique and roared, "How dare you!" As his voice echoed, two small daggers hidden in his sleeves shot out, streaking toward Wang Ping’s neck.

But just then, the magic formula for the Sword Control Technique in Wang Ping’s right hand suddenly changed. He quickly pressed his index and middle fingers together, pointed at the airborne Hong’an, and issued an Imperial Decree: "Suppress!"

Caught completely off guard, Hong’an plummeted straight to the ground. The next instant, the Defensive Spiritual Artifacts on his wrists activated automatically, forming an ice wall more than five feet thick around his body.

CRACK!

The moment the ice wall materialized, it began to crack. At the same time, Wang Ping felt a tug from the Earth Vein pulling at the True Essence within his Qi Sea. In an instant, it drained what little True Essence he had left. Fortunately, he had already condensed his spiritual soul to commune with the Wood Spirit Qi in the forest.

And so, a bizarre and grotesque scene unfolded before Wang Ping’s eyes. The ice wall shattered and collapsed in the blink of an eye. Hong’an, trapped inside, was crushed before he could even scream. His blood and flesh mingled with the ice shards, creating a macabre kind of beauty, while all the vegetation within a radius of several hundred meters around Wang Ping withered completely.

COUGH COUGH!

Wang Ping felt his breathing hitch, and he bent over, coughing violently. His earlier action had violated the principles of Wood Spirit cultivation, causing his Qi Sea to churn.

"Are you alright?" Yu Lian asked.

"I’ll be fine after resting for a short half-hour..." Wang Ping replied in a low voice. ’A Spirit Body’s memory is short. As long as you can evade the initial backlash, you can act without any scruples. Of course, it’s best not to try it recklessly without a good reason.’

SCREECH!

The giant eagle in the sky let out a mournful cry, then dove headfirst toward the spot where Hong’an had fallen.

Wang Ping heard a crunch of shattering bone. The giant eagle’s massive body gave one last death throe, and then it was still.

"Um, maybe we shouldn’t roast it after all," Yu Lian said, looking at the giant eagle’s corpse with a hint of disappointment. Then, she suddenly grew tense.

"Someone’s coming. They feel familiar, but not friendly..."

The newcomer was the Mars Taoist. His rapidly moving figure stopped several dozen yards away from Wang Ping’s position, and he approached slowly to show he had no hostile intent.

"Fellow Daoist..."

The Mars Taoist glanced at Hong’an in the deep crater, then cupped his fist toward Wang Ping and said, "That Defensive Spiritual Artifact he was wearing... I was wondering if you might be willing to gift it to this humble Daoist."

Wang Ping was taken aback. Only then did he notice that the Magical Artifacts on Hong’an’s wrists hadn’t been destroyed; they were glinting coldly in the pool of blood.

"Are you aware that taking this Magical Artifact means making an enemy of the White Water Sect? Besides, doesn’t it conflict with the Five Elements Secret Technique you cultivate?" ’The Talismans I’ll be able to craft after my next breakthrough will be far more useful than this,’ Wang Ping thought.

"But isn’t that exactly what you want, Fellow Daoist? If I take this Magical Artifact, I will be sure to watch my words when I return. I won’t breathe a single word of what happened here!" The Mars Taoist laid his cards on the table.

A glint flashed in Wang Ping’s eyes. ’The moment I finished off Hong’an, I was indeed wondering how to deal with the Mars Taoist. Some things can be done, but you can’t leave any witnesses, and the Mars Taoist was exactly that—a witness.’

’Just as I was trying to figure out what to do, he came to me with a solution, making himself my accomplice.’

"One more condition..." Wang Ping said, staring into the Mars Taoist’s eyes. "Help me burn their bodies!"

"No problem..." The Mars Taoist chose to compromise, resolving this sudden karmic entanglement in a rather undignified manner.

With the deal struck, the Mars Taoist gestured with his hand. Two solid azure bracelets followed the flow of Spiritual Qi and landed in his palm. A flame then flared up, completely burning away the bloodstains and ownership marks on them.

Just then, Liu Shuang leaped over, Longsword in hand. She first glanced warily at the Mars Taoist, then at the dead giant eagle, before landing beside Wang Ping. "Master, where’s Hong’an?"

"He’s dead..." Wang Ping didn’t want to dwell on the matter. "How are things on your side?"

"Near the end... the Iron Art Sect disciples went berserk... but we took care of them." Liu Shuang deliberately omitted mentioning their own losses.

「A short half-hour later.」

Wang Ping finished his meditation. Zhao Qing, Guangxuan, and the Mars Taoist had also finished cleaning up the scene. It was only then that he learned Sanhe Temple and Qianmu Temple had lost a total of eight disciples in the conflict—more than had died fighting the Corpse Soldiers. The result was undeniably ironic.

The group didn’t leave, as they were all still officially conscripted. The din from the direction of Yongming Port was still ongoing, but no one dared to get closer to see what was happening on the battlefield.

And so, another short half-hour went by. A deep voice echoed from the heavens, "Fellow Daoist Xiao Shan, since you have already obtained what you wanted, why not stop here? Otherwise, we will be forced to have a proper fight."

The voice seemed to boom right in their ears, yet it also felt as if it had materialized from nothing within their Spirit Seas, causing Wang Ping and the others to be momentarily stunned.

After the voice faded, the sky instantly fell silent.

The silence lasted for more than ten breaths before another voice spoke up: "Then let’s all disperse..."

A life-or-death battle had truly ended with a single, calm exchange between two individuals.

Wang Ping, Guangxuan, Zhao Qing, Liu Shuang, the Mars Taoist, and all the disciples were left sighing with emotion. Of course, some were particularly exhilarated, thrilled to have been part of such a battle.

After the sky had remained quiet for a quarter of an hour, Zhao Qing personally led two disciples to scout the previous encampment. They soon sent back word that it was safe.

The original encampment was gone. The Energy Light Pillar formed from Nether Qi had also vanished. On the horizon, Yongming Port looked as if it had been completely erased. As far as the eye could see, the land itself appeared to have been turned inside out.

...

「One day later.」

In the newly built encampment, the Demon Race army was the first to depart, followed by the Government Soldiers. The two forces seemed to have been reorganized into one, with the Ox Demon Envoy sent by the Court as their Commander-in-Chief.

Liu Qi came to see Wang Ping before he left. Wang Ping wasn’t at all surprised that the Mouse Demon was still alive. Liu Qi was now a Ten Thousand Men Commander in this new mixed army, having truly embarked on the path of officialdom.

Guangxuan’s guess had been correct. Liu Qi’s goal was never to become the insignificant Mountain God of Shang’an Prefecture. It was to replace his former boss and earn enough merit in the war against the Corpse Soldiers to secure a higher position.

’The Demon Race’s leadership must have known about the Court’s plan all along. Perhaps that was the real reason they fought to the death!’

Liu Qi certainly hadn’t come to reminisce. He tactfully made it clear that the previous turmoil in the Demon Race camp should never be mentioned again, which suited Wang Ping just fine.

After the two armies departed, most of the Cultivators left as well. Before long, a message came down from the Daoist Scripture Hall: all sects were now permitted to explore the subterranean palace of the Taiyin Evil Cultivator.

This time, Wang Ping was much quicker to act. No, it wasn’t just him—all the Cultivators who had been waiting moved with great speed, in stark contrast to their conduct during the battle.