There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

Chapter 1008 Tongyu Daoist's Advancement
When Wang Ping's consciousness descended, Zhang Xinghuai raised his cloudy eyes to look at him. Although it was not Wang Ping's physical body that had descended, he still cupped his hands and said, "Disciple greets Martial Uncle."

Wang Ping reached out and gently touched Zhang Xinghuai's brow. A golden light immediately entered Zhang Xinghuai's brow, and then Zhang Xinghuai's withered body became younger at a visible speed.

"This is only a temporary measure. If you come to my temple to cultivate, I can guarantee your lifespan for a thousand years. After a thousand years..."

"Thank you for your kindness, Uncle-Master. My remaining life has no meaning, and I don't want to continue living a wretched existence. It's too tiring."

Zhang Xinghuai looked down at his fully recovered body, a relieved expression on his face. "It's been so long since I've felt this relaxed, and it's been so long since the world has been this clear."

"You really won't consider it?"

Wang Ping spoke gently. His second senior brother had left behind a legacy that now had tens of millions of disciples, but Wang Ping felt no attachment to them. He only felt nostalgic for Zhang Xing, because his second senior brother would always ask him to take care of him whenever they met.

Zhang Xinghuai shook his head again, and said with his fists clasped, "What's the point of living another thousand years? It's just like the glaciers on this mountain, nothing more than an inanimate object."

Yu Lian, who was connected to Wang Ping's primordial spirit consciousness, said to Wang Ping in the spiritual sea: "His consciousness is in despair, and he is determined to pass away peacefully."

Wang Ping stared into Zhang Xinghuai's eyes and asked, "What are your ideals? You once aspired to follow the path of a sage and bring lasting peace to the people."

"I have devoted thousands of years to this, traveling to many places and trying countless methods. In the end, I even tried the orthodox Xuanmen sect, but I discovered that within the Xuanmen..."

Zhang Xinghuai met Wang Ping's eyes. "Uncle should know these things best. Even a saint... perhaps a saint indeed, cannot control the human consciousness of billions of living beings, otherwise there would be no destruction of the universe."

His face was as calm as a still pond. He shifted his gaze from Wang Ping to the undulating mountains in the distance. There was no anger or sadness in his eyes, only a kind of indifference that came from seeing through the ways of the world. A thousand years of wandering and trying had long since worn away his passion.

The cold wind ruffled his newly grown hair, but it couldn't dispel the gloom in his eyes. He had witnessed too many dynasties rise and fall, sects prosper and the people struggle to survive in hardship. Every change brought a brief glimmer of hope, but ultimately returned to chaos. The benevolent policies he had personally supported were devoured by greed in the blink of an eye; the disciples he had painstakingly taught ultimately became slaves to power.

What drove him to despair was not failure, but knowing that this road had no end!

"The words of sages and the great principles of Buddhism are nothing more than things that practitioners use to fill the emptiness in their hearts; they never think about putting them into practice."

Zhang Xinghuai's eyes dimmed. "I really want to go back to those days, back to the era when we knew nothing."

As he said this, he slowly closed his eyes, a sense of relief appearing on his face. His thousand-year obsession was finally released at this moment, but the price was his life.

Wang Ping watched him pass away peacefully, but did not step forward to stop him.

More than ten breaths later.

Zhang Xinghuai's breath began to flicker like a candle in the wind.

His newly formed skin lost its luster at a visible speed, wrinkles crept back onto his face, his jet-black hair turned gray inch by inch, his upright body gradually hunched over, and the life force dissipated from every pore of his body, turning into specks of light that drifted into the void.

Then his primordial spirit began to dissipate.

First, wisps of pale golden mist rose from the top of his head, twisting and turning in the cold wind, unwilling to leave. Within these wisps of mist, fragments of his memories of a thousand years of cultivation could be vaguely seen: his focused study of the classics in his youth, his piety when he first entered the Taoist sect, and his passion when he spoke out for the people. Each memory lingered briefly in the air before bursting like a bubble.

Then, fine golden light began to seep from his seven orifices. This light was not as dazzling as that of an ordinary cultivator when he passed away, but rather dim like a dying ember, flickering on and off.

What's most heartbreaking is the smile that always lingered on his lips.

The smile was terrifyingly calm, as if mocking his own absurd life. As his primordial spirit disintegrated, his body began to become transparent, like a melting ice sculpture, gradually merging with the surrounding snow.

As the last wisp of his primordial spirit was about to dissipate, it suddenly coalesced into a blurry figure, which was his appearance in his youth. He bowed deeply to Wang Ping and then dispersed like smoke and dust in the mountain wind.

Only a rapidly frozen shell remained, sitting cross-legged, its face frozen with a final sense of relief. Before the golden spirit veins within him were about to go berserk, Wang Ping sealed them with great power. Then he activated a transfer talisman, transferring his body back to the Thousand Wood Temple.

"He is worthy of being called a sage by the common people!"

Wang Ping looked at Yu Lian and said those words.

Yu Lian immediately understood and said, "You're right. The humanistic teachings he left behind for the people are enough to earn him the title of a sage. I will have Xiao Zhu handle this matter. The incense offerings in Zhongzhou will not be missing his share."

After she finished speaking, she used the teleportation array at the top of Mount Jiuxuan to return to Zhongzhou Star.

After Yu Lian left, Wang Ping glanced at the calico cat chasing butterflies among the spiritual herbs. Sensing her carefree mood, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Then, he opened his third eye between his brows and began to deduce.

After a short while, he confirmed that Zhang Xinghuai had passed away peacefully and sighed again.

"Meow~"

The calico cat appeared beside Wang Ping at some point and meowed softly.

Wang Ping couldn't understand her words. She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then spoke in human language: "Yu Lian said that every cultivator is fighting against fate. Your junior nephew lacks courage to some extent and is not worth regretting."

She ran away as soon as she finished speaking.

Wang Ping didn't blame the calico cat. She probably knew about this because Yu Lian had just talked to her, and it was highly likely that Yu Lian was the one who was going to say these words.

However, their limited time made it impossible for them to comprehend Zhang Xinghuai's despair.

After thinking for a while, he sat cross-legged under the spirit tree and entered a meditative state. Only then did the calico cat peek out, tilt its head, and carefully examine Wang Ping for a moment before continuing to play in the grass.

Three hours later, Yu Lian returned to Jiu Xuan Mountain. She did not disturb Wang Ping, who was in meditation. After playing with the calico cat for a while, she transformed into a stream of light and flew towards Hu Qianqian's dojo.

Ten days later.

Wang Ping awoke from his meditation because he sensed that something of great causal significance related to him had occurred.

"what happened?"

Yu Lian, who was sleeping coiled up on the spirit tree behind, leaned down and asked.

Wang Ping shook his head, then stretched out his left hand to deduce. After more than ten breaths, he smiled and said to Yu Lian, "It's Daoist Tongyu. Judging by the time, he has probably completely transformed that Netherworld body." Yu Lian was surprised for a moment, then said, "That old man is quite lucky. So he has already advanced to the fourth realm? This period has been really interesting, with people constantly advancing to the fourth realm."

"I'll take you to see him!"

"it is good!"

While they were talking, the calico cat lay in the grass watching, seemingly wanting to ask Yulian something, but before it could ask, Yulian left through the teleportation array.

When she reappeared, she was already underground at the Winter Water Mountain of the Thousand Trees Temple. With the activation of an 'illumination spell', an underground cave shrouded in a ghostly aura gradually came into her view.

Wang Ping also observed Tongyu Daoren's current state through the transfer array. His original human body had completely disappeared, and his Netherworld body in front of him had turned into dust, replaced by an Asura body.

Yu Lian felt displeasure, because at this moment, the ghostly energy in the underground cave was churning like a thick black fog.

The walls and stalactites hanging from the ceiling around the cave were riddled with holes by the ghostly energy, and the surface of the walls was covered with purple-blue ice crystals, radiating a bone-chilling cold.

The new body of Tongyu Daoren was over ten feet tall, with skin that was a dark jade-like grayish-red color. The surface was covered with natural blood-red patterns, and the muscle lines were neither bloated nor thin. Every undulation contained explosive power.

With each breath, the pores of his body continuously exhaled and exhaled the aura of the underworld. With each inhale, the black mist in the cave surged into his body like rivers flowing into the sea.

“His primordial spirit and physical body are undoubtedly at the fourth level of Taiyin cultivator, but his consciousness is extremely deep and shows no signs of waking up.” After carefully observing Tongyu Daoist for a while, Yulian spoke directly to the air, knowing that Wang Ping would definitely be able to hear her.

Through Yu Lian's consciousness and the transfer talisman, Wang Ping saw Tong Yu Dao Ren's state under the Starry Sky Rule Net. He had indeed officially advanced to the fourth realm, but as Yu Lian had said, his consciousness had fallen into decline due to long-term slumber. He could only wait for himself to wake up in this state. Interference from outsiders would damage his consciousness, causing his memory to become distorted and leading to madness.

"He lacks a trigger to wake up, but that trigger should be coming soon."

As Wang Ping spoke, he had already transferred the network to create several talismans around the cave walls to ensure the future safety of Tongyu Daoren, and then sent Yulian back.

Upon returning, Yu Lian immediately asked, "After his advancement, will he be considered a disciple of the Taiyin Sect or the Taiyan Sect?"

Wang Ping laughed and said, "Let him choose for himself."

"Given his lingering attachment to the Taiyin Sect, he will likely choose to return to it."

"That's alright..."

Wang Ping looked up at the sky. It was late afternoon on Jupiter. He chatted with Yu Lian while activating the mirror array he had crafted. Through the mirror array, he controlled the puppets scattered throughout the starry sky and studied more power and communication artifacts.

Indeed, the communication and power devices that are gradually becoming popular in the cultivation world were all secretly developed and promoted by him using puppets. Otherwise, they could not have spread so quickly. His next plan is to launch a short-distance transfer device to achieve linkage between various ecological zones in outer space.

By doing these things, he can not only accelerate the development of civilized society, but also use these technologies to plunder the wealth and resources of the entire starry sky.

The topic of conversation between Yu Lian and Wang Ping also turned to the development of the outer sky ecosystem because of what Wang Ping was doing. Yu Lian did most of the talking on this topic, describing the changes in the ecosystem around Jupiter.

Wang Ping listened quietly, occasionally interjecting with a word.

"As ecological zones in various regions become more and more complete, some conflicts have also broken out. The magical artifacts you have created will make their wars even more brutal."

Yulian steered the conversation toward the current conflicts between various ecological zones.

Wang Ping laughed and said, "I've just sped up the pace. The space developed in this starry sky is only a drop in the ocean, yet there are already so many disputes. In thousands of years, there will definitely be all sorts of civil wars breaking out, and the Dao Palace..."

He shook his head as he said this. The Dao Palace is a collective entity and does not have the power of absolute authority. To some extent, the existence of the Dao Palace is what creates these conflicts, because it is through these conflicts that the interests of the True Lords can be guaranteed to the greatest extent.

Zhang Xinghuai saw through the true nature of the True Lords, which is why he was filled with despair for this world. He didn't even want to sit down and talk to Wang Ping properly, because Wang Ping was also one of the True Lords. Five hundred years ago, the extraterrestrial war he presided over caused rivers of blood to flow in the starry sky.

Yulian sensed Wang Ping's emotions and chuckled softly. The calico cat followed with a "meow," and then they changed the subject.

Time passed by unnoticed, and thirty years have gone by in the blink of an eye.

...

It was the morning of the ninth day of the fourth month in the Daogong calendar year 801.

But it was still night on Jupiter, where Wang Ping was. As usual, he meditated and cultivated himself at night to maintain a balance between humanity and rationality.

Suddenly, a thin golden line flashed beneath his feet, a message from the divine messenger monitoring the state of Zhongzhou. Then, energy ripples appeared continuously on the mirror array in front of him, the puppet monitoring Zhongzhou Star sending him feedback.

Yu Lian, who was in a deep sleep, woke up before Wang Ping. She flicked her tail, and the thin golden line immediately merged into her brow. Then her gaze fell on Wang Ping, who had also woken up from his meditation and was reading the message the puppet was sending him.

"A disciple of the Jade Purity Sect has officially advanced to the fourth realm!"

Yu Lian said softly.

Wang Ping nodded slightly, which meant that the task of cleaning up the pollution in Xuan Qing's body would soon be put on the agenda.

This happened faster than Wang Ping had imagined. Just ten days later, Lie Yang hurriedly summoned Bai Yan, Tian Gong, Xuan Qing, and Wang Ping to a small gathering in the projection space to discuss the matter of cleaning the pollution from Xuan Qing's body.

The final result was the same as at the beginning: Wang Ping forcibly defined Xuan Qing's status, Tian Gong was responsible for the outer defense, and Lie Yang was responsible for monitoring the status of Xuan Qing and Wang Ping.

"The fresh fruit I've cultivated will ripen at the end of this year. Fellow Daoists, you can come back then and also taste my fresh fruit," Xuanqing said to Wang Ping, Lieyang, and Tiangong in an inviting tone after the matter was settled.

Tiangong showed appropriate anticipation on his face and said, "Then it's a deal. The last time I tasted the fresh fruit you personally cultivated was three thousand years ago. Three thousand years is truly a blink of an eye."

Lieyang quickly said, "Leave some for me, I need to brew wine!"

Upon hearing this, Tiangong looked disgusted and said, "Don't waste good stuff. You might as well brew some wine for me, and I'll share some with you later."

Lieyang also expressed his disdain, saying, "Your wine has no taste."

(End of this chapter)