There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

Chapter 1004 Each on Their Own Path
Shen Xiaozhu's gaze remained calm. She extended her right hand and made a few calculations before instructing Leng Kezhen, "Go and see if there is any unrest like last time, which could affect our southern cultivation community."

Leng Kezhen immediately stood up and said, "Yes."

Then Qingjiang, who was standing next to him, also stood up, cupped his hands to Shen Xiaozhu and said, "I will also go and take a look."

Shen Xiaozhu nodded casually.

Leng Kezhen, who was about to leave, stopped when he heard Qingjiang's words. After Shen Xiaozhu agreed, he bowed to Shen Xiaozhu again before turning into a streak of light and flying towards Mozhou Road with Qingjiang.

At this moment, the people of Zhonghui City were gathered on the streets, and all the windows in the pavilions were open, their eyes fixed on the colorful lights on the horizon. When Leng Kezhen and Qingjiang passed over the city, they could clearly hear a commotion.

They flew to the Sky Harbor on the west side of the city, piloting a flying boat covered in golden spirit patterns. They traversed the vast sky at a speed that tore through space, and in just over ten breaths, they arrived above the intersection of Nanlin Road and Mozhou Road.

A divine rune has risen here, seemingly monitoring something. At the place where this divine rune converges, there are two divine messengers dressed in blue short-sleeved Taoist robes. They are the abbots of Wang Ping's temple. After five hundred years of development, Wang Ping's divine kingdom now has divine messengers all over every inch of land within the influence of the Starry Sky Taiyan Sect.

They usually preach in various places as temple priests, and if anything happens, they will immediately set up divine runes to monitor and record it.

"It's the Three-Striped Envoy!"

Qingjiang communicated telepathically with Leng Kezhen and projected his identity token below the clouds.

Leng Kezhen also immediately revealed her identity and then clasped her hands in a salute to the two divine magic envoys.

The term "Three-Striped Messenger" refers to the three golden markings on their foreheads. They can borrow the power of the three realms of the divine kingdom and are currently the most powerful divine magic messengers.

Moreover, there are no more than five Three-Patterned Envoys in the entire Central Plains, yet two have appeared here. These two ignore Leng Kezhen's bow, because in their eyes there is only the Lord of the Divine Kingdom whom they serve, and they must maintain this faith forever, otherwise they will instantly lose the power they have gained.

These people have their own independent spiritual world and are indifferent to everything in the outside world. If you look closely, you will find that they are actually just mortals, but their bodies are protected by the divine kingdom and their meridians are filled with rich faith and spirituality.

Leng Kezhen and Qingjiang paid no attention to their disregard. After bowing, they continued flying rapidly towards Haizhou Road and soon arrived at the border between Zhongzhou and Hushan Kingdom.

At this moment, beneath the vast sky where the two places meet, thousands of flying boats hover like stars, some floating above the clouds and others hidden in the mist, reflecting the entire sea of ​​clouds with dazzling light.

At a lower altitude, amidst the clouds, two azure figures stood on the void. They were two envoys from the Three-Pattern Divine Kingdom. Brilliant divine runes surrounded them, outlining a massive array stretching for miles in the void. This array, breathing and undulating like a living thing, enveloped the entire border region in divine light.

Leng Kezhen and Qingjiang's flying boat did not stop and passed through the area where the two places met in the blink of an eye. After more than ten breaths, they appeared at the edge of a mountain range. This place was the place where colorful light emanated. The sky here was even more magnificent. Hundreds of giant flying boats formed a nine-palace formation. The ferocious bronze beast heads on the bows of the boats swallowed and exhaled clouds. The spiritual power wings that spread out on both sides of the boats covered the sky and blocked out the sun.

This is the Jade Purity Sect's flying boat, presumably to prevent any villains from causing trouble. This is quite necessary because, since some time ago, there have been rumors in the cultivation world that when a cultivator advances to the fourth realm, a True Lord's blessing will descend, and what they seek is for the True Lord's blessing to extend to them.

When the cultivators of the Jade Purity Sect noticed Leng Kezhen and Qingjiang's identity tokens, one of them immediately flew out to greet them. Before the other party could speak, Leng Kezhen took the initiative to cup her hands and greet them, saying, "Fellow Daoist Qinghe, how have you been?"

Qinghe Daoist is now the leader of the Yuqing Sect. The former leader, Yueyang Daoist, is advancing to the fourth realm. When he saw Leng Kezhen taking the initiative to greet him, he immediately returned the greeting and said, "How have you two been?"

He was very polite, but deliberately showed a hint of doubt in his expression. His 'doubt' was asking what business the two of them had come here.

Leng Kezhen cupped her hands and said, "The commotion you caused in the past has affected the mortals of Nanlin Road. This time, I came here on the orders of Fairy Yuxi to check on things and avoid any misunderstandings."

Master Qinghe replied with a smile, "You can rest assured this time, no one will dare to cause trouble."

Leng Kezhen's gaze swept quickly across the starry sky. This time, they had indeed worried too much. It was estimated that anyone who tried to stir up a little trouble would be suppressed by the Yuqing Sect.

"In that case, we will not disturb you any longer, fellow Daoist."

Leng Kezhen bowed and took her leave.

Qinghe Daoist was even more polite and said, "Let me see you two off."

Leng Kezhen did not refuse, because he knew that when Qinghe Daoist said he was giving them a ride, he was actually worried that the two of them might do something else.

Qinghe Daoist escorted them for a long distance, all the way to Haizhou Road before returning.

"The war on the front lines may seem to have stopped, but I'm sure you True Lords won't give up so easily. In recent years, there have been many new cultivators at the Fourth Realm in the Xuanmen and Tianmen. I've only ever seen this in the historical records of the demon race's wars."

As Qingjiang watched Qinghe's departing figure, she uttered these words, her tone filled with worry. All she wanted to do now was focus on passing on her mantle; she had no interest in anything else.

Leng Kezhen replied, "Worrying is useless. Master Wu is right. The merits we accumulated on the front lines have been stored in the Taiyan Sect. If all else fails, we can follow Master Ziluan's path and ask for a piece of space around Jupiter to develop an ecological zone. Although it won't be as free as it is on Zhongzhou Star, it will be relatively more stable."

Qingjiang nodded. "Alright."

They didn't claim their achievements immediately because they wanted to return to Zhongzhou Star and manage it for a while, but the results weren't as good as in outer space.

"Are you all truly going to abandon Zhongzhou Star?"

Qingjiang was in low spirits.

Leng Kezhen looked her over carefully and said, "On the contrary, the True Lords value Zhongzhou Star too much, which is why they let cultivators above the fourth realm leave. You have been in seclusion for too long. I suggest you take your disciples to outer space and take a trip. It would be best to visit the extraterrestrial planets."

“I’ve been paying attention, but sometimes my mind just gets confused.” Qingjiang looked up at the sky. “Only at times like this can I understand the wisdom of True Lord Changqing. He is truly an existence beyond our reach.”

Leng Kezhen simply nodded silently upon hearing this.

As their cultivation level increases, their experiences and knowledge also expand, giving rise to countless questions and attachments known only to themselves. Their human nature is naturally influenced, which is the most crucial step for cultivators. When the two returned to Liu Shuang's small courtyard in the Thousand Trees Mountains, they heard a burst of hearty laughter. Old Daoist Wu's laughter was the loudest; he was probably the most open-minded among all the cultivators present, besides Shen Xiaozhu. They were laughing because of the playful antics between Yuan Yuan and Liu Shuang's spirit dog.

What followed was casual conversation.

After a day, Leng Kezhen, Qingjiang, and Wenhai took their leave first. After they left, Yuan Zheng looked at Shen Xiaozhu and said, "I received a message from Tian Shan's disciple three months ago. Tian Shan is going into seclusion. If he doesn't advance in his cultivation, he probably won't come out of seclusion. His disciple will take over his place at the gathering."

A moment of silence fell over the scene. After a long silence, Shen Xiaozhu nodded and said "yes." Although cultivators have a much longer lifespan than mortals, they will still reach the end of their lifespan before reaching the True Monarch level. When they leave, they are just as silent and unnoticed as mortals, and are forgotten in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, Yuan Zheng looked at Old Daoist Wu and changed the subject, saying, "Old man, is your disciple named Wang Qian going to advance to the fourth realm? I've heard you talk about this for hundreds of years, why is there still no movement?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Laodao unconsciously smiled and said, "The power of the earth veins has been unstable over the years. He hasn't found a suitable opportunity, but he has the highest chance of being promoted within the Earth Cave Sect. More than ten years ago, the two Lords of the Earth Cave Sect personally acknowledged his promotion. It should be a result within sixty years at the latest."

Yuan Zheng said disdainfully, "I said he's your disciple, and you're really going to admit it? Have you ever cared about his cultivation? All your attention is on your precious disciple. If he really advances to the fourth realm, don't try to get attention by shamelessly asking for it. Not everyone is as magnanimous as True Monarch Changqing."

Old Master Wu was a little embarrassed by what he was being said, but he said firmly on the surface, "How can it not count? He is a disciple who came from my temple, and I personally taught him his initial cultivation for several months."

The two inevitably started arguing, and Yuan Zheng eventually lost his game against Xia Wenyi. Liu Shuang and Shen Xiaozhu chatted quietly about their own things, showing no intention of ending the gathering.

While Wu Laodao and Yuan Zheng were playing chess, Xia Wenyi went to the side and began to read a book on humanity on his own.

Noon arrived, and a flash of light appeared in the sky, followed by three figures appearing above the courtyard.

Xia Wenyi was the first to look up and saw Xuan Ling in his blue Daoist robes. He sensed the active wood spirit energy within him and sighed inwardly.

Liu Shuang's gaze, however, fell on the two people beside Xuan Ling: Yang Rong, her personal disciple, and Zhao Mingming, Zhao Yu'er's disciple.

"Greetings, Senior Sisters." Although Xuan Ling had already reached the fourth realm, he still maintained the demeanor of a junior brother when facing Liu Shuang and Shen Xiaozhu. Then, he looked at Xia Wenyi, cupped his hands, and said, "Senior Brother, it's been a long time since we last met, hasn't it?"

"It's only been a few hundred years." Xia Wenyi tried to keep his tone calm.

"Alright, you brothers, calm down a bit." Liu Shuang interrupted their open and covert struggle, her gaze falling on her disciple and grand-disciple.

"Where is my apprentice?" Yang Rong searched for her apprentice in the courtyard.

"Do you remember you have a disciple? He's currently in the front yard of the dojo with his friends. Let's not disturb him for now," Liu Shuang said, her tone tinged with reproach.

"I thought he had good aptitude, and he was also a descendant of Uncle Zhao. Who would have thought he wasn't very bright? Now that he has advanced to the second realm, it's all thanks to my grandmaster." Yang Rong commented softly. It was not a problem for a master to say this to his disciple.

"Don't say that about him in front of Lei'er," Liu Shuang said, frowning.

"Don't worry," Yang Rong assured her.

Xuan Ling then took out three storage bags and said to Liu Shuang, "These are congratulatory gifts from Daoist Zi Luan, Daoist Que Cai, and Daoist Li Miao Lin. They have been very busy lately and have not had time to come and congratulate us in person, so they asked me to convey their apologies."

Liu Shuang maintained her smile and gestured for her disciple Yang Rong to accept the gift, saying, "The three Daoist masters are too kind. I am just a junior, and they still need to mention it to me."

Xuan Ling smiled without saying a word upon hearing this. After chatting with Liu Shuang for a few more minutes, he walked to the side and invited Xia Wenyi to play a game of chess. Xia Wenyi naturally did not refuse.

Yang Rong accepted the gift and quickly bowed to Shen Xiaozhu, saying some auspicious words. Then Liu Shuang inquired about her situation in outer space, and Yang Rong recounted the changes in the outer space over the years as if telling a story.

“I visited the Dao Palace headquarters last year and discovered that over the past hundred years, more and more people from the unorthodox sects have been attempting to reach the fourth realm. This has even received the support of the Dao Palace, and we can apply for some of the Dao Palace’s resources on the condition that we observe your advancement in person and record the process.”

Before Yang Rong knew it, the conversation had drifted to the topic of the four realms of unorthodox cultivation. “I used my connections with the Taiyan Sect to make a copy of all the documents that the Dao Palace had previously recorded. Everyone believes that cultivating a stable four-realm spiritual body is the only way. Furthermore, the spiritual veins within the body of an unorthodox cultivator need to undergo a qualitative change. The only way is to cultivate a piece of natural spiritual energy that matches one’s own attributes to evolve the spiritual veins within the body, or… directly switch to cultivating demonic energy.”

Liu Shuang nodded and said, "This is similar to the result of your experiments with the demon race's bloodline magic back then, so have you made up your mind now?"

Yang Rong shook her head and said, "It's still early. I'll wait until the Dao Palace collects more cases before we talk about it. Besides, my primordial spirit needs to be strengthened, at least to the critical point of the fourth realm."

Shen Xiaozhu smiled and encouraged, "With your primordial spirit cultivation, you should be ranked in the top ten among all the cultivators in the third realm of the side sects registered in the Dao Palace. However, you are still not close to the threshold of the fourth realm. This will take time, and a very long time." She paused and added, "If you have any difficulties, feel free to bring them up. Your master and I will do our best to help you."

Yang Rong smiled calmly, "Cultivators of the Wood Spirit side sect are good at nothing but living long enough. With the powerful Wood Spirit energy of my master's star, I think their primordial spirit cultivation will eventually improve given enough time."

After she finished speaking, she looked at Liu Shuang and said, "Master, now that Lei'er has also advanced to the second realm, why don't you come with me to cultivate in outer space?"

This is her purpose.

Liu Shuang met Yang Rong's eyes, reached out and gently stroked her cheek, and said with a smile, "You don't need to worry about me, just focus on your cultivation. I also have a master."

Yang Rong was taken aback, and didn't say anything more.

Just then, the ground suddenly shook slightly.

"It's the power of the earth's veins!"

Xuan Ling looked up towards the northwest and saw a cave cultivator attempting to advance to the fourth realm.

Yuan Zheng looked at Old Wu and asked, "Is that Wang Qian from your sect?"

(End of this chapter)