My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar-Chapter 45: Preparing for Foundation Establishment
Wang Ping didn’t give the Jianghu traveler a hard time. He just had Zhao Qing arrange for an Inner Sect disciple from the Martial Arts Institute to follow him, and then he took Yang Zhiping back to the small courtyard on the mountaintop.
From Yang Zhiping’s account, Wang Ping learned the full story...
The victims in the string of murders in Sanhe Prefecture shared a suspicious connection: three months prior, during the night curfew, they had broken into a private residence, injured the husband, and humiliated his wife.
Even before Yang Zhiping and Cheng Ji arrived, the Prefectural Magistrate’s Office in the Prefecture City had already apprehended the true culprit behind the serial killings. It was none other than the husband from that private residence, and he had committed the murders with his own hands.
This was completely preposterous. According to the records, he was just an ordinary man, yet he had managed to sneak into the homes of four prominent local families and silently eliminate the head of each household!
Then, after just two days of investigation, Yang Zhiping and Cheng Ji discovered that the culprit had met privately with Shen Dong on two separate occasions.
Although they had no proof, the conclusion was obvious: the four victims must have learned one of Shen Dong’s secrets, something they should never have known.
Unfortunately, just as their investigation reached this point, the pair was ambushed that very night by a group of Jianghu Travelers. These assassins were covered from head to toe in hidden weapons. They avoided direct confrontation, instead coordinating to fire poison arrows at them.
Yang Zhiping was the first to fall. A poison arrow grazed his skin, and he lost consciousness. Overwhelmed by the assault, Cheng Ji could only watch helplessly as they abducted Yang Zhiping.
After hearing the story, Wang Ping offered Yang Zhiping a few words of comfort. He then sent someone to find Cheng Ji and, at the same time, wrote a reply to Xia Yao.
More than ten days later, a gloomy-faced Cheng Ji sat at the stone table in Wang Ping’s small courtyard, recounting a similar version of events.
"Those Jianghu Travelers must be retainers, specifically trained to deal with Qi Cultivators," Cheng Ji said fiercely. "Your average wanderer has no need for a body covered in poisoned weapons designed to incapacitate people!"
"I’ve noticed." Wang Ping nodded gently.
"He’s smart, truly clever. No wonder someone took an interest in him... But he’s also pathetic, spending his entire life as someone else’s dog." Cheng Ji was sneering at Shen Dong, the man who had caused his humiliating defeat.
Hearing this, Wang Ping remarked with sudden insight, "This is why one must cultivate the Great Dao, to escape the shackles of the mortal world."
"The Great Dao is far too ethereal. I think I’ll just stick to refining pills."
All of Cheng Ji’s former drive was gone.
The two men drank together in the courtyard all night. Early the next morning, Cheng Ji continued on his journey.
And Wang Ping had to continue preparing for his Foundation Establishment...
Three months passed. Wang Ping received Xia Yao’s reply. In her letter, she stated that she would personally visit Sanhe Prefecture after she completed her own Foundation Establishment.
After reading the letter, Wang Ping couldn’t understand Xia Yao’s persistence.
...
「Spring gave way to autumn.」
Wang Ping’s progress in Foundation Establishment and Qi Gathering finally came to a natural completion, reaching a perfect (100/100). All the meridians and his Qi Sea were fully developed. At the same time, his Lin Garden had transformed into a dense forest, with its Spiritual Qi concentration reaching (72/100). The panel’s evaluation was: Excellent.
When his Qi Gathering progress reached completion, a new stat appeared: Foundation Establishment Success Rate. His current success rate was (83/100).
If not for what had happened with Cheng Ji, Wang Ping might have just closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and begun his Foundation Establishment. After all, an eighty-three percent success rate wasn’t low.
Now, however, he knew to be cautious.
The only way to increase his success rate now was to improve the Spiritual Qi concentration of his Spirit Gathering Array.
So, Wang Ping walked through his dense Lin Garden twice, carefully observing the flow of Spiritual Qi, but he couldn’t spot any problems.
He then performed the Cloud Soaring Technique, flying to the maximum altitude he could currently handle to observe the Spirit Gathering Array he had arranged from a broader perspective.
In the world visible only to Spiritual Qi, the eight Spirit Gathering Towers served as anchor points, forming an Energy Vortex in the dense garden. This vortex locked the Spiritual Qi around the pagoda tree and the small courtyard.
The concentration was densest in the area around the pagoda tree, with all eight Spirit Gathering Towers working to gather spirit there. However, in the gaps between the towers, a small amount of Spiritual Qi was flowing outward, forming little currents that siphoned the mountaintop’s Spiritual Qi away.
He had found the problem, but he couldn’t immediately think of a solution.
’This is so damn frustrating...’
Just as he was stewing in his frustration, a voice reached his ears:
"The eight Spirit Gathering Towers are leaking a great deal of Spiritual Qi. They lack a Spiritual Object to anchor them..."
As the voice spoke, Yu Cheng Taoist appeared at Wang Ping’s side and continued his advice, "The best solution is to place a Centennial Spirit Wood Root inside each of the eight Spirit Gathering Towers. I already ordered Zhao Qing to acquire them last month. Knowing him... given his efficiency, we should have them in about a month!"
"Thank you, Master!" Wang Ping bowed deeply, but as he was using the Cloud Soaring Technique, the sudden movement almost made him fall.
Yu Cheng Taoist made a gentle gesture with his left hand, and an invisible force steadied Wang Ping’s body. "Spring is almost upon us," he said. "For someone cultivating Wood Spirit Qi, spring is the best time for Foundation Establishment. Adjust your condition and prepare to face it."
"Yes!"
It didn’t take a full month. Half a month later, Zhao Qing led more than twenty disciples up the mountain stairs, carrying eight large wooden chests. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
From a great distance, Wang Ping could hear their rhythmic chanting.
"This stuff is extremely heavy, and very expensive!"
After they set the chests down, Zhao Qing patted one of them. "The lightest one weighs at least three hundred catties, with a base price of one hundred thousand taels of silver. All eight cost one million taels!"
"How is the price calculated?"
"The more of these you buy, the more expensive they become. They say it’s to prevent people from purchasing them in large quantities for forbidden Magic experiments," Zhao Qing explained. "In a few days, someone from the Daoist Scripture Hall is even coming to inspect how we use them."
Wang Ping nodded thoughtfully. "I’ll cover half the cost from my personal funds," he said. "That business deal with Junior Brother Su last time was quite profitable for me."
Zhao Qing grinned widely upon hearing this. "So, where exactly do you want them?"
"Just leave them here. I’ll handle the rest myself!"
Wang Ping stopped Zhao Qing from helping. He stepped forward to test the weight; they were indeed quite heavy.
Once Zhao Qing and the other disciples had left, Wang Ping used his Transportation Technique, effortlessly placing the eight Spirit Wood Roots inside their respective Spirit Gathering Towers.
The Spiritual Qi concentration immediately rose by two points.
「Three days later.」
Sure enough, someone from the Daoist Scripture Hall arrived. They carefully checked the markings on each Spirit Wood Root and only left after confirming that everything was in order.
Wang Ping asked for the reason, and given his status as the sixth seat of the Daoist Scripture Hall, the inspector didn’t hide the truth...
It turned out that Centennial Spirit Wood Roots had the ability to both absorb and suppress Spiritual Qi. Evil Cultivators loved to use them to suppress the yin qi from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, allowing them to cultivate using the spiritual energy of flesh and blood. They also used them to suppress the Earth Vein Spiritual Qi at important feng shui locations in order to refine the corpses and souls of Qi Cultivators.
Half a month later, the Spiritual Qi concentration in the dense mountaintop forest settled at (91/100), and Wang Ping’s Foundation Establishment success rate had increased to (99/100)!
That was more than enough.
’If I can still fail at this point, I might as well go find a small pond and drown myself.’
「The eighth day of the second month.」
Wang Ping quietly spent his forty-eighth birthday alone. Early the next morning, he performed a solemn ritual of bathing and burning incense. He then went to the front hall to offer incense to the Ancestral Master, after which he went to inform Yu Cheng Taoist that he was ready to begin his Foundation Establishment.
When Wang Ping returned to his mountaintop Lin Garden, he ordered the gate-keeping acolyte to shut the main gate tight and forbid anyone from entering to disturb him.
「Late Morning.」
Wang Ping sat cross-legged in front of the pagoda tree. Yu Lian reverted to her original size, and the Spiritual Qi surrounding them fused in an instant.
CLATTER.
He cast a divination...
Favorable!
"Good!"
