There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

As soon as Wang Ping finished speaking, Yu Lian's primordial spirit suddenly sank down, perfectly merging with her physical body that was coiled at the bottom of the river.

In an instant, the flow of water in the entire river stagnated, and then a huge whirlpool formed around her. Countless blue light spots seeped out from the gaps in her scales and were absorbed back into the whirlpool in the next moment.

The calico cat was no longer concerned with absorbing spiritual energy. It stared wide-eyed at the increasingly bright "band of light" at the bottom of the river. Suddenly, a dazzling blue light burst forth from the center of the whirlpool, and a column of water shot into the sky. At the top of the water column, Yu Lian's slender figure finally appeared in full.

Her serpentine body was thicker than when she was asleep, and her scales were no longer simply snow-white, but shimmered with a mother-of-pearl-like iridescent luster. Her pair of golden vertical pupils seemed to have mysterious and profound runes appearing on them.

"Wang Ping!" Yu Lian's voice rang out directly in Wang Ping's clone's spiritual sea, filled with long-lost joy. She twisted her body and swam out of the water column, and the river water automatically parted to create a channel wherever she passed.

The clone chuckled and said, "It seems you've gained quite a bit from your seclusion this time?"

Yu Lian's tail tip twitched smugly, and as her primordial spirit expanded, she said to Wang Ping, "Isn't your true form on Nine Profound Mountain?"

Wang Ping immediately used his connected primordial spirit to synchronize the events that had occurred after Yu Lian went into seclusion with Yu Lian's spiritual sea consciousness. However, Yu Lian understood what was going on in an instant, but what she cared about most was: "Does Xiao Zhu really want to give up advancing to the fourth realm?"

"Her mindset is very stable. She doesn't advance to the fourth realm not because she's afraid of failure, but because she has learned to be content."

Wang Ping responded.

Yu Lian nodded and said, "I will have a good talk with her. Now, teleport me to your original body."

Wang Ping then activated a teleportation talisman, and a teleportation channel was instantly erected in the space above the river. Yu Lian called out to the calico cat, "Wait for me to come back."

Her voice was still echoing when her enormous body vanished.

"Meow~"

The calico cat got up, shook its head, and meowed at the area where Yulian had disappeared.

Within the Wood Spirit World on the outskirts of the chaotic storm, a tiny ripple flashed by, and in front of Wang Ping's star field, the enormous body of Yu Lian appeared.

When their eyes met, Yu Lian immediately shrank her body and transformed into a stream of light, landing on Wang Ping's shoulder, and then vigorously rubbed her cheek against Wang Ping's.

Wang Ping sensed a cool sensation floating on his cheek. It was the feeling of water spirit energy intertwined with the wood spirit energy within his body, which meant that Yu Lian's water spirit meridian had reached a certain level of cultivation.

As he gently stroked Yu Lian's head, he used his primordial spirit to sense the inner core within Yu Lian's body. It was similar to the spiritual core within a Xuanmen cultivator's body, but unlike the core, it had no consciousness. It was simply the core where the spiritual veins within Yu Lian's body intertwined, and it was not subject to any external contamination.

This is the difference between naturally born spiritual beings and ordinary cultivators. Ordinary cultivators need to defy fate at every step, while spiritual beings have their own growth trajectory. They only need enough spiritual energy or some simple conditions to achieve cultivation naturally. However, given the nature of spiritual beings, they rarely absorb enough spiritual energy to advance before their lifespan ends, unless the starry sky is large enough.

At this moment, Xinghai’s illusory figure appeared beside him and said, “Under the strict rules of the Heavenly Dao, spiritual beings are the only exception. Unfortunately, they are too favored by the Heavenly Dao, which makes other races extremely jealous. Countless spiritual beings in the outer starry sky were swallowed up by those crazy consciousnesses after the destruction of the universe.”

After saying these words, he disappeared.

Wang Ping knew that Xinghai was congratulating Yu Lian on her advancement in cultivation, but these words were somewhat inappropriate.

Fortunately, Yulian didn't care about any of that.

"You've reached the fourth realm of perfection this time, right? Do you have any new abilities?" Within Wang Ping's 'Heavenly Talisman's' vision, Yu Lian's vitality was connected to the vast network of rules woven throughout the starry sky, defining that such a life form would inevitably suffer the maximum backlash from the Heavenly Dao.

Upon hearing Wang Ping's question, Yu Lian felt a surge of joy and exclaimed, "I can now directly construct magic arrays in the Inspiration World, and the spells can directly affect the enemy's primordial spirit consciousness."

As she spoke, she left Wang Ping's shoulder and transformed into her two-hundred-foot-long true form. As the water spirit runes on the surface of her scales were activated, mysterious water spirit runes appeared in the inspiration world centered on her, and the next moment, violent acid rain formed in the inspiration world.

Because the world of inspiration is in a state of nothingness, space can be observed, yet space does not exist, leaving the boundless acid rain nowhere to land, and quickly forming a large area of ​​corrosion.

Wang Ping immediately sealed off the area and manifested his primordial spirit to observe Yu Lian's magic from the perspective of his primordial spirit. Suddenly, he saw a great net of five elements and yin-yang rules interwoven in the starry sky, which also had a faint projection. This projection was the world of inspiration, but the rules of this projection could only be observed when he connected with Yu Lian's spiritual sea at this moment.

But Wang Ping knew that this was not just a projection, but also a basic element for maintaining the real space. The two worlds complemented each other and neither could exist without the other. For example, when the acid rain created by Yu Lian was disrupting the balance of the inspiration world, the inspiration world would draw on the rules of reality to repair itself.

When the rules of the real world are broken, they will also draw on the power of the spiritual world to repair them. When both worlds are damaged, it will cause large-scale spiritual chaos. The two worlds will then cooperate to repair them, but this will slow down the process considerably.

And beyond the realm…

When Wang Ping thought of this, he seemed to suddenly understand something, but as he continued to think deeper, a fog suddenly appeared, making his thoughts chaotic.

Wang Ping simply smiled and let it go, then met Yu Lian's golden vertical pupils and heard Yu Lian ask, "What are you thinking about now?"

"Just some minor issues!"

Wang Ping reached out to touch the acid rain created by Yu Lian. Because he was connected to Yu Lian's primordial spirit, he was not harmed.

"Look again!"

Yu Lian cheered, and the raging acid rain in the world of inspiration vanished instantly, replaced by a boundless ocean. It appeared as Yu Lian's will and instantly filled a large area of ​​the world of inspiration. The surging water spirit greatly benefited Wang Ping's primordial spirit.

At this moment, Wang Ping had an idea. Through Yu Lian's primordial spirit, he locked onto a spiritual creature observing from a distance and used the power of the 'Heaven-Covering Talisman' to infuse the creature's consciousness with the instincts of a living being.

Then Wang Ping witnessed a miraculous scene: the bewildered eyes of the spirit creature suddenly revealed the brilliance of humanity. It looked at the surging ocean as if it were contemplating something, but its thoughts seemed to violate the rules of the creatures in the spiritual world. It was quickly discovered by the nearby spirit creatures and was devoured as nourishment in the blink of an eye.

"so amazing!"

Yu Lian's primordial spirit was incredibly sensitive at this moment, and following Wang Ping's consciousness, she also sensed the changes in the spiritual creature. Then she said, "In that case, could we use it to complete the advancement to the fourth realm of the unorthodox sect?"

Wang Ping was taken aback upon hearing this, and refrained from deducing its possibility, replying, "You want to use fourth-realm spiritual beings to enhance the primordial spirit cultivation of unorthodox sects?" Yu Lian answered, "Yes, I think it's theoretically possible to succeed, and the chances of success should be quite high. You can use this as a foundation to create a large-scale magic array." After saying that, she continued, "You can even directly use the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman' to define them, which might be even simpler."

Wang Ping shook his head. "I am using your primordial spirit to cast the spell. At present, your primordial spirit can only withstand the power of the 'Heaven-Covering Talisman,' while using the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman' will suffer the backlash of the rules. Using it once will severely damage your primordial spirit."

Yu Lian thought for a moment and replied, "You're right, then we'll just have to wait until I advance to the fifth realm."

Wang Ping asked, "What do you need to advance to the fifth realm?"

"Enough energy! With enough energy, I can evolve once again!"

Do you have specific data?

"Can you provide specific data when you get promoted?"

"... "

They chatted casually, and Wang Ping's dormant humanity became active again. After their conversation, Yu Lian began to try other spells in the world of inspiration.

Yu Lian's golden vertical pupils contracted rapidly, the iridescent light on her scales suddenly turned icy blue, and with a gentle flick of her tail, tens of thousands of ice cones instantly condensed within her world of inspiration. These ice cones were composed of pure spiritual chill, drawing eerie blue trails in the void.

Wang Ping sensed the chilling power of the ice spikes, which seemed to freeze consciousness. Yu Lian was pleased with Wang Ping's reaction. She raised her head high, and all the ice spikes instantly changed direction, shooting towards the same spot in the void. The moment the ice spikes collided, the spirituality of that area briefly froze.

Before the chill could dissipate, the watery spiritual energy around Yu Lian surged, and a roaring tide came from the depths of her spiritual world. In an instant, another boundless ocean emerged from nothingness, with giant waves carrying ancient spiritual memories as they swept across.

Then, the acid rain fell again, but this time Yu Lian controlled it even more exquisitely. Every drop of acid rain precisely created subtle oscillations in the balance between destruction and repair, causing the space of the real universe to collapse slightly. After the acid rain, her snake body coiled and contracted, and a semi-transparent water spirit barrier naturally formed, with ripples flowing on its surface that resonated with the wood spirit in Wang Ping's body.

Next, the water temperature throughout the void began to change drastically. The barrier sometimes steamed like a furnace, and sometimes froze like ice. For the first time, Wang Ping's primordial spirit felt the temperature in the world of inspiration. The extreme temperature difference tore a small crack in the world of inspiration, which was then repaired by the water net woven by the rain lotus in time.

After using all her innate spells, Yu Lian was still not satisfied, but she did not use them again. Instead, she shrank her body and returned to Wang Ping's shoulder. Wang Ping's primordial spirit naturally returned to his physical body as well.

"Such methods are already commonplace against ordinary cultivators at the fourth level of the Xuanmen realm," Wang Ping commented directly after observing the entire process.

“If I really wanted to face the four realms of the Xuanmen, I wouldn’t need such a complicated formation. The most direct way would be to invade his primordial spirit in the Inspiration World,” Yu Lian replied.

For a long time afterward, they chatted idly. After a while, Yu Lian asked Wang Ping to unfold the Divine Kingdom Palace. She lay on the map of the Divine Kingdom and communicated with the believers and divine magic messengers.

Wang Ping watched quietly, and his mood brightened considerably. The troubles he had been arguing with Tian Gong, Lie Yang, and the others seemed to have become insignificant to him.

A month later, Yu Lian got up from the map of the divine kingdom and said to Wang Ping, "I'll go find Xiao Zhu first and see how she is doing."

"it is good!"

Wang Ping's consciousness instantly connected with the transfer network that spanned the starry sky, creating a transfer array for Yu Lian to directly descend upon Qianmu Temple.

With a slight tremor in space, Yu Lian disappeared into the divine kingdom. When she reappeared, she was already above the Thousand Trees Temple. The Thousand Trees Temple had not changed much, except that the workshop in the mountains behind it where flying boats were being built had doubled in size, and the sky bridge and port had also been added.

Yu Lian paid no attention to the bustling flying boat workshop or the vastness of Zhonghui City. Instead, she descended directly to the mountaintop dojo. She first glanced at the long-lost old locust tree, swallowed a mouthful of locust petals that were falling from the sky, and then landed outside the small courtyard.

Shen Xiaozhu was drinking tea alone in the courtyard, holding a teacup in one hand and a storybook in the other, engrossed in reading. When Yu Lian descended, she immediately sensed it, turned her head to look at the courtyard gate, and saw Yu Lian floating there. She immediately put down her teacup and book, stood up, clasped her hands and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Martial Aunt Yu Lian."

After she finished paying her respects, she remembered that Yu Lian was in seclusion, and quickly said, "Uncle, your cultivation must have increased during your seclusion, right?"

Yu Lian swayed her snake tail and said smugly, "But you've only reached the fourth realm of perfection. Your master is already at the fifth realm, so it's nothing to mention." Then her gaze fell on the storybooks on the table, and she asked, "Are these all newly published storybooks?"

“Yes!” Shen Xiaozhu nodded.

"Let me take a look first." Yu Lian immediately sat down on a stone bench, and then she became so engrossed in those bizarre and fantastical stories that she couldn't extricate herself until it got dark.

"It's the perfect time to go to Zhonghui City to listen to storytelling. Do you want to come along?" Yulian suggested to Shen Xiaozhu as the last storybook ended, glancing at the sky.

"it is good!"

There are many places to listen to storytelling in Zhonghui City. Yulian and Shen Xiaozhu randomly chose a teahouse, where the storyteller was talking about how several disciples of Qianmu Temple went to the South China Sea to quell a rebellion by sea monsters some time ago.

After finishing the story, Yu Lian took a sip of tea and asked Shen Xiaozhu, "Have you decided not to get promoted?"

Shen Xiaozhu met Yu Lian's eyes and replied, "Uncle-Master, please forgive me..." She organized her words and remained silent for a moment before saying, "This disciple is inherently dull-witted. Everything I have now is thanks to the guidance of Master and Uncle-Master. I dare not presume to go any further. I am already content with everything I have."

"I was born into a wealthy family, but in my youth, I missed out on too many things because of my obsession with the path of immortality. A thousand years have passed in the blink of an eye. I have experienced the ups and downs of life, and suddenly I feel that there is no need to be so attached to some things."

Yu Lian looked Shen Xiaozhu up and down carefully and said, "You have a good attitude, but it's a pity that you've lost your ambition, unlike when I first met you."

Shen Xiaozhu quickly clasped her hands in a fist and said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Uncle-Master. I probably didn't even know what I really wanted back then."

Yu Lian stopped trying to persuade them. Many people in the cultivation world stop at the third realm, partly because of their limited aptitude and partly because they themselves do not want to make any further progress.

"You're welcome to visit Jupiter more often if you have time. If you change your mind, feel free to contact me anytime!" Yu Lian said before disappearing from the spot.

When she returned to Wang Ping's side, Wang Ping said, "Rong'er needs to prepare for the fourth realm. Why don't you go back to Jiuxuan Mountain and take a look?" (End of this chapter)