There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

Xuanqing agreed with Wang Ping's idea, but he did not act rashly.

Having identified the target, the next step is to strip and imprison it. Although this "Netherworld Demon Source" is weak, its core essence of the vicious rule of "sinking into the myriad streams and drowning the true spirit" still remains. Like a lurking venomous snake, it can easily disappear into the deeper chaos without a trace if one is not careful.

Xuanqing's consciousness, enhanced by the "Heaven-Stealing Talisman," was as still as water. In the blink of an eye, the billions of seven-colored rays of light that were focused on the dark vortex suddenly changed their formation!
These rays of light intertwine and merge, weaving rapidly like living things, carrying simulated rules of the Five Elements and Yin-Yang.

In an instant, it enveloped the constantly spinning, ominous dark vortex, transforming it into countless extremely fine 'rule carving knives' that cautiously cut into the outer structure of the demonic source core.

The stripping process has begun!

Under the precise cutting of the seven-colored light, the dark vortex seemed to sense a fatal threat, its rotation suddenly intensified, and it emitted a silent shriek that pierced straight at the primordial spirit.

Wang Ping stood by, watching intently. With the 'Heavenly Talisman' fully open, he saw that the vast net of rules simulating the Xuanqing Golden Core world, despite being battered and torn, remained firmly bound and was peeling away the impurities on its periphery at an even faster speed, exposing the pure Netherworld Demon Source at its core.

It was a deeper, more concentrated darkness that seemed to devour all light, with a faint glow flickering at its core, radiating a chill that could freeze one's consciousness.

"It's now!"

Xuanqing's thoughts were like a cold imperial edict.

The Dark Core let out a final, silent roar of defiance, attempting to detonate its own rules. Xuan Qing was prepared, and his vast net of Golden Core rules suppressed it immediately.

Then, the seven-colored net that enveloped the completely sealed core of the Netherworld Demon Source rapidly shrank and condensed, eventually transforming into a crystal sphere the size of a fist, with seven-colored rays of light and countless fine golden sealing runes flowing across its surface. At the core of the crystal sphere, a point of extreme darkness quietly floated, like a solidified eye of the abyss, with no further fluctuations leaking out.

Then the seven-colored light subsided, and the crystal ball transformed into a stream of light, steadily landing in Xuan Qingxu's palm.

"It's done."

Xuanqing's voice carried a rare hint of joy as he sensed the state of the demonic source.

Wang Ping's gaze fell upon it, and the vision of the Heavenly Talisman expanded, causing that point of darkness to suddenly magnify and be analyzed in his eyes.

It was extremely weak after being stripped of the chaotic storm, and any Xuanmen cultivator who entered the realm could subdue it. It was like a spiritual body cultivated within the body of a Xuanmen cultivator.

Its core structure carries an unpleasant viscous feel, like a rotten seed growing in the deepest, most filthy swamp, instinctively emanating a weak yet extremely pure will to "devour" and "drag," which is most likely the prototype of "sinking into the myriad streams."

However, this power was far too insignificant. In Wang Ping's perception, it was as weak as the fangs of a newly hatched venomous snake. Let alone shaking the water veins of the star field, it would probably be powerless even to stir up a surging river.

Then, he caught a faint, almost extinguished light, hidden deep within the vortex, emanating a sense of "drowning" at the level of consciousness. This aura penetrated the many seals set up by Xuan Qing, like an extremely fine ice needle trying to pierce Wang Ping's primordial spirit.

However, the moment this chill touched his vast, star-like primordial spirit barrier, it evaporated instantly like dew hitting lava, leaving only a tiny, insignificant "filth" sensation at the level of rules, like a finger stained with a barely perceptible bit of greasy oil.

"A very strange energy source. Its very existence is a blasphemous distortion of the rules of order. If it were allowed to grow to the True Lord stage, it would become an adversary of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements energies..."

Wang Ping shook his head, clearing these thoughts from his mind, and looked at Xuan Qing, saying, "Its existence can indeed effectively stabilize the rules of the Five Elements and Yin-Yang."

As he spoke, he raised his finger and gestured lightly. In an instant, a warm and vast azure aura flowed through the void, like a cascading galaxy, carrying the vibrant life force that nourishes all things, and silently surged toward the crystal that imprisoned the abyss.

This is the water elemental energy he generated using the Wood Spirit World.

hum!
The crystal ball suddenly sank in Xuan Qing's palm, and the seven-colored light and golden runes burst forth with dazzling light. Then, thick, ink-like filthy black energy surged out, churning and twisting into countless silent, shrieking drowning vengeful spirits. With a will to sink into oblivion that freezes the soul, they frantically rushed towards the flowing azure water spirit energy, trying to drag this river of life into an eternal, icy abyss!
The gentle blue light of the water elemental energy instantly intensified, the water flow solidified, swirled, and transformed into a formidable, crystal-clear vortex that crashed violently into the turbid black tide!

Chi chi chi——

A piercing sound of annihilation suddenly rang out, like boiling oil splashed on snow. The murky black gas crashed into the azure vortex and was instantly torn apart and dissolved by the high-speed rotating water. The twisted phantoms of vengeful spirits shattered and dissipated like bubbles in the pure water, leaving only the lingering echo of silent wails.

At the same time, the water elemental energy suddenly softened, as if two opposing forces had canceled each other out.

A delicate balance, imbued with a dangerous rhythm, quietly solidified around the small crystal ball, where pure azure and deep darkness intertwined, radiating a strange luster that was both unsettling and incredibly stable.

Xuan Qing felt the strange sensation coming from his palm, looked up at Wang Ping and said, "Even the gentlest water can be a shackle. This violent thing has become the heaviest anchor of the water spirit's rules."

Wang Ping withdrew his finger, and the watery spiritual energy flowing in the void quietly dissipated. He said solemnly, "Perhaps this is the cosmic balance that the two sages desired."

Xuan Qing raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "I don't like this conclusion, but it has existed for many years, and many facts have proven it to be correct."

He sighed, revealing his usual sentimentality, and handed the crystal ball to Wang Ping, saying, "I have read his energy rules and will try to cultivate a new demonic source. You can try to plant this demonic source with your puppet now, and then wait for Fellow Daoist Yuanwu to send back the secret method before cultivating it."

Wang Ping didn't stand on ceremony. He reached out and took it, and immediately sensed a faint pollution penetrating the sealed barrier, seemingly polluting his spiritual veins. However, the energy of his spiritual veins was connected to this starry sky, so this pollution was like a drop of water falling into a vast ocean.

Xuan Qing looked at Wang Ping and said with a hint of warning, "Don't underestimate it. We must eliminate any possibility of making mistakes, understand?" Wang Ping looked up and met Xuan Qing's serious gaze, assuring him, "Don't worry."

At this moment, Bai Yan's primordial spirit swept over. He made no attempt to hide it, but only swept over briefly. Wang Ping and Xuan Qing's auras made brief contact with it. After exchanging a few polite words, the two returned to the core of their respective formations.

Wang Ping first concealed his aura, then activated the mirror array, connecting it to the border ecological zone he, Lieyang, and Xuanqing had jointly built to experiment with demonic cultivation techniques.

The ecological zone is still under construction and is not completely isolated from the cold.

It was suspended in a solidified, inky void, with a massive, dark barrier stretching across the vast expanse of the starry sky in front of it, like a cold tombstone at the end of the universe. Even the faint starlight beneath the barrier had been swallowed up, leaving only an eternal, suffocating silence.

The massive base of the ecological zone has a warm, smooth texture like mutton fat jade, upon which palaces with flying eaves and brackets, corridors with blue bricks and gray tiles, and exquisite pavilions are laid out in a well-organized manner.

Wang Ping's puppet had already taken up residence here. This puppet was specially selected because it had successfully established its foundation with demonic energy. At this moment, the puppet was cultivating with demonic energy outside the barrier of the ecological zone. Two members of the True Yang Sect, who were at the third level of the side sect, were protecting the puppet, or rather, monitoring it to prevent it from doing anything that violated the rules.

Through the puppet's vision, what Wang Ping first saw were the mysterious runes flowing along the edge of the ecological zone's base—traces of the array used by the Jade Purity Sect to stabilize the space and isolate it from external invasion.

As the puppet stood up, the two True Yang Sect disciples of the third realm also immediately stood up. When the puppet passed through the soft yet tough energy barrier on the outer edge of the ecological zone, a stable and warm aura instantly enveloped his cold body, followed by a solid sensation under his feet.

He landed silently on a wide platform, in the center of which stood a huge bronze square cauldron, its body simple and heavy, engraved with ancient patterns of mountains, rivers, sun, moon and stars.

Inside the cauldron was not incense, but a pure red flame that burned silently. The flame leaped without a sound, and the light it emitted formed an eternal pillar of light. This was a method of the True Yang Sect, and this beam of light was the foundation for the existence of this 'isolated island' in the dark wilderness.

Around the platform, there were three puppets cultivating, each protected by a cultivator from the True Yang Sect's third-realm side sect. Wang Ping paid no attention to them and instead controlled the puppets to fly to his secluded cultivation location.

It was a detached courtyard. The puppet landed next to a pavilion in the courtyard, then flicked its sleeves and said, "You all wait outside the courtyard."

The two disciples of the True Yang Sect who were following the puppet felt a blur before their eyes, and they were already at the gate of the courtyard. They looked at each other and immediately guessed what was going on. They were so frightened that they quickly lowered their heads and respectfully clasped their hands in a gesture of respect towards the courtyard.

At this moment, Wang Ping did not have the cultivation secrets of the 'Netherworld Demon Source', so all he could do was establish a certain connection between the demonic energy in the puppet's body and the 'Netherworld Demon Source', and then wait for Yuanwu Zhenjun to transmit the corresponding entry secrets.

Wang Ping referenced the process of nourishing the locust tree with his divine soul when he entered the realm, but before attempting this, he needed to set up some stable magic arrays to prevent accidents from happening.

Once the stable magic array was formed, he summoned two more puppets over, and the True Yang Sect cultivators who were responsible for protecting the other two puppets were also driven out of the courtyard by him.

The purpose of these two puppets is to collect 'Netherworld Demon Source' in time when an attempt fails, and to refine the failed puppet to prevent energy pollution.

Without much preparation, Wang Ping directly and forcibly defined the consciousness of the three puppets.

The puppet attempting cultivation sat in the center, slowly raising its palm covered in demonic energy. The crystal ball, shimmering with seven-colored light and golden runes, silently appeared on the puppet's palm.

A faint glimmer of light representing Wang Ping's will flickered deep within the puppet's eye socket. Instead of acting immediately, he raised his other hand, his fingertips swiftly tracing patterns in the air. Runes shimmering with emerald light appeared out of thin air, imprinting themselves precisely on the ground, stone pillars, and even the eaves of the pavilion, carrying a rich sense of vitality and stability.

These runes interlocked, instantly reinforcing the previously set up sturdy magic array and tightly enveloping the pavilion area, isolating it from the outside world.

Then, the main puppet turned its gaze to the crystal ball floating in its palm, and its divine consciousness guided the demonic energy within its body to cautiously and slowly enter the crystal ball.

Wang Ping immediately sensed the consciousness of the demonic source through the puppet's consciousness. This was almost identical to the consciousness of the locust tree's divine soul that Wang Ping had sensed when he cultivated the "Taiyan Talisman." Its consciousness was also chaotic and repulsive.

Wang Ping did not rush in. Instead, he first let the puppet's demonic energy circulate on its body surface to stabilize the spiritual meridians within its body. Only then did he slowly release a wisp of the gentlest divine soul fluctuation, like a tentacled probe gently touching the source of the demonic energy.

The darkness within the crystal ball trembled slightly, both repelling and attracting the foreign demonic energy, as if hesitating whether to accept this outsider. Wang Ping patiently maintained this ambiguous connection, keeping the demonic energy and the demonic source in a delicate balance.

Suddenly, the faint light deep within the Demon Source flashed!
A depraved will, far more violent than it appeared, suddenly erupted. The dark power of depravity, like a deadly poison, eroded the puppet's consciousness in reverse, seemingly attempting to seize control of the puppet's consciousness and break free from the seal!

A slight smile appeared in Wang Ping's mind. His smile was like that of a child playing with an interesting toy, naturally severing the lingering connection to his corrupted soul.

However, while the escape of the demonic source was prevented, the puppet's consciousness was corrupted. That wisp of decadent power spread rapidly like ink dripping into clear water. Wang Ping did not spend time cleaning up the puppet's consciousness, because he still had thousands of such puppets.

The other two puppets waiting in the pavilion immediately sprang into action. One puppet lunged forward with lightning speed, its hand covered in demonic runes piercing the main puppet's chest like a knife. The main puppet's body convulsed violently, and the demonic energy covering its entire body dissipated like a punctured bubble.

The other puppet formed a hand seal, and a point of pure white light shone from between its brows. The light quickly spread, transforming into countless fine rays that instantly pierced the main puppet's seven orifices. The rays intertwined in the skull to form a net, firmly locking away the corrupted soul and consciousness.

The puppet's struggles came to an abrupt halt, and its body, covered in demonic runes, went limp as if drained of all its energy. Then, its body began to dry up and crack at a visible speed.

Then a verdant rune spread from the palms of the other two puppets. These runes crawled all over the main puppet's body like living things, turning the puppet's body to dust wherever they passed, and forcibly drawing out the demonic energy from its spiritual veins.

Wang Ping, within the Wood Spirit World, showed little expression. Such failed attempts were common; he would simply be more cautious next time. (End of Chapter)