There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

When Li Miaolin faced Zhi Gong, his expression remained that of someone chatting casually with a friend. However, when Zhi Gong suggested taking Wen Hai away, he showed an exaggerated surprise and said, "You just mentioned a thousand-year friendship. Daoist Wen Hai and your many disciples from the Underground Cave Sect also have a thousand-year friendship, right? They were ready to fight to the death right from the start."

He exchanged a glance with Que Cai opposite him, then stared at Zhi Gong with a half-smile and asked, "Did you ever think about a thousand-year friendship back then?"

As soon as Li Miaolin finished speaking, Que Cai immediately replied, "Our Taiyan Sect only has the Changqing True Lord. To be honest, we have also received the True Lord's decree that from now on, any Taiyan Sect disciple who has any dealings with the cultivators of the Earth Cave Sect will be punished as a traitor!"

She pointed to the teacup beside her and said, "Now that we are drinking tea with you, fellow Daoist, it is already a violation of the True Lord's decree. Please don't make things difficult for us."

Zhi Gong's smile was already somewhat awkward, but some things she knew were impossible, she still had to grit her teeth and do them. If she hadn't reached the fourth realm, she would have wanted to join the Taiyan Sect like Wen Hai, which would have saved her a lot of trouble.

“Since that’s the case, I won’t force you.” Zhi Gong stood up and said to Li Miaolin and Que Cai, “In the past, the disciples of our two sects often sparred. Now that the thousand-year friendship between our two sects has come to an end, I have not yet had the chance to fight with you, which is truly a pity. I wonder if you could offer me some guidance?”

Li Miaolin was taken aback, then burst into laughter.

Zhi Gong and Yun Song watched Li Miaolin laugh, and the atmosphere among the four of them immediately changed from calm to tense.

After laughing, Li Miaolin flicked his sleeves, and his wide Taoist robe transformed into a dark, narrow-sleeved combat robe with a flash of emerald light. He cupped his hands to Zhi Gong and said, "I have long wanted to learn the secret techniques of the Underground Cave Sect from you, fellow Daoist. Please!"

Two figures tore through the void in an instant and stepped into the endless starry sky. Que Cai and Yun Song followed closely behind, and Zi Luan, who was in seclusion, also opened his eyes.

As the two moved away from Jupiter, they tacitly steadied themselves. A yellowish-brown halo appeared beneath Zhigong's feet, and with each step, a piece of floating rock material condensed beneath his feet.

Li Miaolin's sleeves fluttered, and he was surrounded by emerald green talismans. With each step he took, a phantom tree branch and leaves sprouted beneath his feet.

"Please advise!"

Zhi Gong was very polite.

Li Miaolin did not return the greeting. He flicked his finger, and three 'sword talismans' shot out from the air. The emerald sword light slashed towards Zhi Gong like a meteor. Zhi Gong neither dodged nor avoided. He raised his hand and pressed down, and a thick 'wall of earth' suddenly rose in front of him. The sword light entered it as if it were a mud ox entering the sea, and disappeared in an instant.

Then, Zhigong clenched his right hand, and the void beneath his feet suddenly cracked open, unleashing countless sharp earth spikes that rained down on Li Miaolin. Li Miaolin remained calm, and a talisman flew out from his sleeve. The talisman's light transformed into a defensive barrier, withstanding the impact of the earth spikes. Then, he used the force to retreat, widening the distance between himself and Zhigong.

Li Miaolin stepped back and made hand seals. Three 'military talismans' flew out from his sleeves. With a flash of light, three wooden spirit puppets rose from the ground. Each of them was ten feet tall, with a green body, and held a giant axe. They attacked Zhi Gong.

Zhi Gong remained calm, clasped her hands together, and uttered a low shout: "Seal!"

In an instant, three earthen-yellow chains emerged from the void and wrapped around the puppet, attempting to suppress it.

However, Li Miaolin smiled slightly, pointed his finger, and the three puppets suddenly exploded, turning into a sky full of wood chips. Each wood chip then transformed into tiny talismans, which swarmed towards Zhigong like locusts!
"A curse of bad luck, a curse of violent death, a curse of shortened lifespan..."

Zhi Gong's expression changed slightly. Although they were all low-level talismans, the number was too large, and they were set up by Li Miaolin while they were in battle. She immediately summoned the pagoda, and the pagoda shook, spewing out turbid dust light that annihilated all the talismans. However, a few talismans still seeped into her body. She groaned, and the skin on her forehead cracked rapidly, clearly indicating that she was affected.

However, the crack on Zhi Gong's forehead returned to normal in an instant. It was clear that the awakening of Di Wen Zhenjun had stopped the earth spirit in her body from acting violently, and her previous experience in suppressing the earth spirit in her body had allowed her to make rapid progress in her cultivation in recent years.

She suddenly stepped into the void, and a huge earth spirit array appeared beneath her feet. She commanded, "Destroy!"

It's the 'Life and Death Light Curtain'!
A grayish-yellow light curtain swept out, causing the void to decay wherever it passed, even eroding starlight.

Li Miaolin's pupils contracted. He clearly hadn't expected Zhi Gong to use such a spell. In his haste, he summoned the 'Armor Talisman,' and the talisman's light transformed into a barrier to withstand the impact of the light curtain.

However, the true killing move of the archer was not the light barrier itself, but what followed immediately afterward—

"Seal of Life and Death!"

Nine chains emerged from the void, so illusory as to be like a dream. They easily passed through the barriers surrounding Li Miaolin and quickly wrapped around his limbs. The chains contained the life and death energy of the earth, and once locked, his primordial spirit would be permanently suppressed!
Sensing Zhi Gong's determination, Li Miaolin's cold eyes swept across the starry sky where Zhi Gong was, and then he calmly summoned a 'teleportation talisman'.

The moment the chains tightened, Li Miaolin's figure turned into a talisman and was torn to shreds, while his true body had already teleported behind Zhigong using a 'teleportation talisman'!

With a single hand gesture, the 'Heaven-Covering Talisman' floated in front of him, and the vast net of heaven and earth within the 'Heaven-Piercing Talisman's' vision instantly caught sight of Zhi Gong.

In an instant, the starry sky in front of Zhigong distorted slightly. She suddenly became alert, only to find that her perception of spiritual energy had become blurred, as if the secrets of heaven were being obscured by some force.

She instinctively wanted to back away, but her thoughts inexplicably faltered for a moment.

Seizing the opportunity presented by that fleeting opening, Li Miaolin condensed a beam of emerald light at his fingertips and uttered a low shout: "Borrowing Luck Talisman!"

With a flash of light, a wisp of Qi was forcibly drawn from Zhi Gong's body, causing her to sway slightly and her earth elemental circulation to stagnate briefly.

Taking advantage of the situation, Li Miaolin pressed closer, a 'Wantong Talisman' appearing in his palm. The talisman transformed into a sharp blade and stabbed straight at Zhi Gong's back!

"Pfft!"

The talisman blade pierced through the protective aura of the bow and penetrated her spirit body, the power of the wood spirit frantically eroding her meridians like a poisonous vine.

Zhi Gong let out a muffled groan as she forcibly suppressed the spiritual meridians within her body. Then, she quickly formed hand seals.

"Open the pulse!"

As the decree resounded through the starry sky, a rich earth elemental aura suddenly appeared, followed by a surge of earth power.

The next moment, the entire starry sky seemed to be dragged into the ground, forming a terrifying gravitational distortion space, and even Li Miaolin's figure was forcibly imprisoned.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhi Gong broke free from the talisman blade, retreating rapidly while simultaneously forming hand seals and issuing a command: "Dust Light!"

A sandstorm surged from the void, each grain of sand containing the power to erode the primordial spirit, sweeping towards Li Miaolin like a storm.

Li Miaolin quickly summoned the 'Armor Talisman', its light transforming into a barrier to block the sand and dust. The erosive power of the Dust Light Technique was extremely strong, but fortunately, it possessed the property of wood overcoming earth. No matter how strong Zhi Gong's 'Dust Light Technique' was, it could not penetrate the barrier around Li Miaolin.

"Fellow Daoist, shall we continue fighting?"

Various thoughts surfaced in Li Miaolin's mind, and in the end, he chose to stop there.

Zhi Gong steadied himself, and the surging earth elemental energy around him dissipated. He clasped his hands in response and said, "Fellow Daoist's cultivation is profound. I am ashamed to admit my inferiority. I will take my leave now."

As she spoke, her facial skin cracked continuously, with earth spirit bubbles constantly emerging from the cracks. Li Miaolin made an inviting gesture, "This humble Taoist will not see you off."

Zhi Gong cupped his hands in greeting again, then looked at Yun Song, who hadn't spoken a word. Yun Song immediately transformed into a streak of light and landed in front of Zhi Gong. After silently cupping his hands to Li Miaolin and Que Cai, he led Zhi Gong to a nearby public teleportation array.

"Sigh, this situation..."

Li Miaolin sighed as he watched Zhi Gong's retreating figure, but he couldn't bring himself to say the rest of his words, a result of his instinctive fear.

Que Cai remained silent. She saw her former self in Zhi Gong, lost and helpless, only able to follow the trend and abandon everything to save her life.

She seemed confused.

"Her confusion is only temporary; hasn't she already made her choice?"

After leaving those words, Li Miaolin transformed into a streak of light and returned to the Taiyan Sect's headquarters. Que Cai watched as Zhi Gong and Yun Song left using the teleportation array, and then followed them back to the Taiyan Sect's headquarters.

...

At the public teleportation array on Saturn.

On the Ascension Platform, which shimmered with an earthy yellow halo, a distorted space flashed by, revealing the figures of Zhi Gong and Yun Song.

"Are you okay?"

Yun Song asked.

Zhi Gong's body trembled violently in the starry sky, his skin cracking inch by inch, revealing the rough, yellowish-brown rock strata beneath. Deep within those strata, the yellowish-brown earth veins could be faintly seen churning.

Suddenly, her spine began to bend abnormally, a huge mound of earth rose up on her back, its surface covered with tortoise-shell-like patterns, her limb joints made a teeth-grinding "crackling" sound, and her fingers and toes were slowly fusing together to form webbed rock slabs.

The most bizarre thing was her head. Her face was completely covered by earth and stones, and her features were blurred. Only her eyes remained human-shaped, flashing with a painful light between the cracked clods of earth.

"I'm fine!"

As she responded, all the strange changes in her body suddenly stopped, and she returned to her original state in the blink of an eye. "The earth spirit of this starry sky is already exceptionally stable, and these minor injuries will heal quickly."

As she spoke, she offered a devout prayer in the direction of Saturn. Then, a beam of earthy yellow light descended upon her, cleansing away the remaining abnormalities within her body, which deepened the piety on her face.

Seeing this, Yun Song also adopted a devout posture and bowed towards Saturn.

"Let's go, don't keep the True Lord waiting."

Zhi Gong whispered to Yun Song, then stepped on auspicious clouds and headed towards Saturn.

The ecological zone around Saturn's orbit, shrouded in Saturn's halo, presents a unique vitality. As the bow and cloud pines approach Saturn, the first thing to see is the floating island suspended in space.

The ecological zones on these floating islands are still in the early stages of development, clearly built after the Earthly True Lord awakened, giving them a desolate feel. However, as the auspicious clouds of Zhigong and Yunsong approach Saturn's main body, the scenery gradually becomes magnificent...

The thick rock layers on Saturn's surface have now been transformed into a continuous palace complex. Each palace is carved from a single piece of spiritual earth, with mysterious runes flowing across its surface. The most eye-catching is the central main hall, which is tens of thousands of feet tall. It is dark gold in color, and nine bright pearls made of pure earth spirit float on its roof, slowly rotating according to the trajectory of the earth's veins.

Tens of thousands of disciples knelt on the circular plaza surrounding the main hall, their foreheads pressed deeply against the jade bricks engraved with scriptures, their bare backs covered with earth vein patterns carved with stone knives, their dried blood mingling with the earth spirit energy, congealing into cracked scabs on their skin.

Twelve living human statues stand on either side of the main hall steps. These stone statues, formed from the most devout disciples, remain in a kneeling posture, with fine dust constantly spilling from their cracked lips—the result of teeth worn down from continuous chanting.

Everything these disciples did was to prove their piety to the Earthly True Lord, which shows that the Earthly True Lord had a morbid requirement for the piety of the disciples of the Earth Cave Sect. They escaped the chaos of the earth veins and entered into another kind of chaos.

Zhi Gong and Yun Song landed below the towering main hall in the center. There were still thousands of steps to the main hall's entrance. They needed to climb the steps step by step with a devout attitude in order to have any chance of seeing the Earthly True Lord.

The moment Zhi Gong and Yun Song stepped onto the jade steps, fine earth spirit runes immediately appeared on the surface of the steps.

With each level they ascended, the runes lit up a little more, accompanied by a burst of divine golden light that washed over their entire bodies like a tide, testing their level of devotion.

When they reached the thousandth step, the steps suddenly became transparent, and countless struggling figures appeared below. These were disciples who had failed to climb the steps in previous attempts, forever imprisoned inside the steps and becoming part of the staircase.

Zhi Gong and Yun Song remained calm, climbing upwards with a devout attitude at a leisurely pace.

Half an hour later.

Zhi Gong and Yun Song finally reached the top step and saw a half-open gate, which was ten zhang high. They knelt down in front of the gate.

"come in."

There were sounds coming from inside.

Zhi Gong and Yun Song then stood up. The moment they stepped into the palace, the heavy earth spirit aura made their spiritual veins and earth spirits in their bodies extremely excited.

In the center of the main hall stands a magnificent altar, and Diwen Zhenjun sits atop the altar, his figure shrouded in a thick aura of primordial chaos. He is not seated, but rather hovers in the void, his hundred-foot-tall primordial spirit appearing and disappearing.

The True Lord's face was hidden behind the churning earth vein qi, only two gazes pierced through the mist, watching the two people slowly walk into the hall. When the two people stood twenty feet away from the altar, a deep voice echoed in the hall, "Another fruitless return?"

"Please punish me, True Lord!"

The two men clasped their hands in a fist and bowed as they spoke, appearing willing to accept punishment.

The illusory figure of the Earthly True Lord quickly solidified, landing atop the altar and looking down at the two. Only when the two felt a chill in their hearts did he say, "The rise of the Taiyan is not your fault. Now that you have returned, you should diligently cultivate your essential duties, prioritizing the affairs of the disciples in the four realms, and secondly carefully managing the propagation of the ecosystem. You cannot be negligent in the slightest."

"Yes, I will obey the True Lord's command!"

Both of them breathed a sigh of relief, but dared not show it.

Di Wen waved his hand and said, "In that case, all of you may leave. Remember, our infiltration of the outer realms must not be relaxed. Anything from beyond the realms is a mortal enemy of our Diku Sect." (End of Chapter)