There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

That's how cultivation works for the demon race. As long as there are no external factors interfering and their will is strong enough, advancement will come naturally. However, the nature of the demon race makes most of them not so strong in their will.

In other words, their human desires are too inflated. Only a few people can understand the principles, and most of them act on their own instincts. This is fatally dangerous for cultivating the fourth realm. So even though their advancement is very simple, just another purification of the inner core, very few people can step into the fourth realm.

Hu Qianqian's Taoist cultivation is even more stable than her master Wang Ping's, and she also retains the characteristics of a fox demon, which is truly rare. Currently, no one outside can threaten the headquarters of the Taiyan Sect, so her advancement is highly unlikely to be a problem.

However, the four-realm advancement of the demon race is undoubtedly an irresistible temptation for the other demon races. Almost every day, members of the demon race are refined by their subordinates during the advancement. At this moment, Hu Qianqian's dojo seems to be in perfect harmony, but at critical moments, there is no guarantee that some demons will not be tempted by evil.

So once Hu Qianqian's advancement stabilized, Wang Ping's clone sat down at the dock to fish, while also protecting Hu Qianqian. His main consciousness remained only a small part of itself, with the majority returning to the Wood Spirit World outside the Chaotic Storm.

For Wang Ping, the most important thing right now is cultivation. Although the current chaos in the starry sky was caused by his orders, he doesn't care.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but Wang Ping's progress in cultivating the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman' had not improved. One day, he suddenly heard a voice transmission from True Monarch Baiyan, which made him wake up from his meditative state in confusion. He subconsciously stretched out his left hand to calculate the time. This time, he had been in meditation for several years, and now it was the autumn of the 1255th year of the Dao Palace calendar.

"what's wrong?"

Yu Lian, who was connected to the believers of the divine kingdom through Wang Ping's primordial spirit consciousness, was originally perched beside Wang Ping. When Wang Ping woke up, she straightened up and looked at Wang Ping with her huge head.

Wang Ping extended his left hand, and Yu Lian immediately shrank her body and wrapped herself around Wang Ping's arm, then climbed onto Wang Ping's shoulder and lay there. Wang Ping casually said, "Bai Yan told me to go find him, saying that he has discovered something that I will definitely be interested in."

Yulian rested her little head against Wang Ping's cheek and asked, "Is it here? What can we find here? Is it inside the Chaotic Storm?"

Wang Ping stood up, looked in the direction of Bai Yan, and his casual clothes changed into a blue wide-sleeved Taoist robe. Then, his figure flashed and appeared on the outer edge of a void Taiyin Grand Array.

As Wang Ping regained his footing, Bai Yan appeared in a purple light. He coldly and calmly pointed to the Taiyin Grand Array behind him and invited Wang Ping, "Come with me!"

Wang Ping subconsciously looked at the great formation and cautiously probed his primordial spirit into it. As soon as his primordial spirit touched the Taiyin Great Formation, he felt a bone-chilling cold. This great formation was a three-dimensional network constructed from countless intricate Taiyin runes, precisely filtering the violent energy in the chaotic storm.

The originally chaotic and disordered storm energy, guided by the power of Taiyin, flowed in layers like a tamed wild beast. It was then refined into a usable energy source by the most basic refining array and sealed with crystal. The efficiency was even faster than Wang Ping's refining array.

After confirming that the array in front of them was just a pure refining array, Wang Ping led Yu Lian deeper into it. Bai Yan led the way at a leisurely pace, always maintaining an indifferent demeanor.

Half an hour later, Bai Yan stopped at the edge of a magic array that was flashing with colorful light. Wang Ping's gaze was drawn to the corpse soldiers on the magic array. The aura they emitted was extremely powerful, some even close to the perfection of the fourth realm. However, in Wang Ping's 'Heavenly Connecting Talisman' vision, their vitality was not connected to the cosmic net.

In other words, these corpse soldiers are lifeless, special creatures from the Baiyan Taiyin World. They have constructed an independent magic array, within which a cold consciousness is penetrating the chaotic storm, seemingly searching for something. The colorful halos are substances that this consciousness has cleared out from the chaotic storm.

Most of these substances will be refined into dregs by the Taiyin Magic Array and then discarded into the nearby starry sky.

"Look..."

Bai Yan's cold voice rang in Wang Ping's ears. Then, he stretched out his right hand and gently moved the void in front of him. Immediately, a Taiyin aura swirled up, and strands of gray crystals drifted from the core of the magic array constructed by the corpse soldiers and gathered on Bai Yan's right hand.

"Fellow Daoist, take a look at what's sealed inside these crystals?"

He looked at Wang Ping, his tone still cold.

Wang Ping carefully probed into them with his primordial spirit, and then he was surprised, because these crystals actually sealed various characteristics under the rules of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, such as the 'burning' and 'explosion' characteristics of the Fire Spirit rule, and the 'order' and 'condensation' characteristics of the Metal Spirit rule.

Although these characteristics are very weak, they are still very real.

Bai Yan stared into Wang Ping's eyes and, seeing that Wang Ping's consciousness was wavering, explained, "The Taiyin rules are attached to everything positive. We can see more in the shadows. These chaotic energies contain various rule characteristics. These are good things. How many energy crystals do you think we could get if we sold them to Tiangong and the others?"

Wang Ping was taken aback. He met Bai Yan's eyes and, confirming that the deal he mentioned was not fake, replied, "These things are priceless to them. Fellow Daoist, please feel free to ask."

A slight smile appeared on Bai Yan's cold face as he said, "Aren't you afraid that they'll use these characteristics to break through the current bottleneck and shatter the advantage you've just gained?"

Yu Lian answered on Wang Ping's behalf: "It's a matter of one's gain at the expense of another. They will have to pay a corresponding price to obtain these characteristics, and our advantages will continue to exist."

Upon hearing this, Bai Yan flicked his wrist, retracting all the energy properties of the seal. Pointing to the energy storm in the distance, he said, "Fellow Daoist, you haven't mastered the 'space' property of the Wood Spirit Rules yet, have you? Coincidentally, I discovered a trace of the 'space' property when I peeled away a piece of void. Would you like to come and take a look?"

Wang Ping was naturally interested, but he didn't agree immediately. Instead, he cautiously asked, "What do I need to give in return?"

Bai Yan smiled nonchalantly, "Not for now."

"temporary?"

"What? With your current cultivation level, are you afraid I'll set a trap?"

Wang Ping carefully examined Bai Yan, then smiled and said, "Please lead the way, fellow Daoist." Although he disliked owing favors, he couldn't refuse the conditions Bai Yan offered.

He is now only missing mastering the 'space' property to construct a complete Wood Spirit World. Once he can complete this step, even if he turns against the Dragon Lord in the future, he can still escape if he can't win, and he will no longer have to worry about being besieged by other True Lords.

Yu Lian then said in her spiritual sea, "Bai Yan is clearly showing goodwill, so why is he doing this? Is it because of his dissatisfaction with the True Lords?"

"follow me!"

Without further ado, Bai Yan transformed into a streak of light, flying along the ribbon of light created by the magic array in the void towards the chaotic storm. In just a few breaths, Wang Ping saw a vast, intricately woven net of Taiyin magic arrays in the distance, spreading across the void like the trajectory of stars.

Countless silver rune nodes floated in specific locations within the magic circle, connected by flowing nether energy, forming a three-dimensional energy network.

At the core of the magic array, seventy-two corpse soldiers sat cross-legged in a circular formation, their bodies emanating a purple, ghostly aura that coalesced into a swirling mist at the center of the array.

When the energy of the chaotic storm comes into contact with these swirling smog, it immediately strips away the pollutants, which are then absorbed and refined by the refining array. During this stripping process, the state of the energy particles can be clearly observed.

Within a recently cleared polluted area lies a peculiar space stretching over a hundred miles.

This space presents a peculiar, ripple-like distortion; some areas suddenly cave into funnel-shaped vortices, only to flatten out again in an instant; while in other places, transparent crystal clusters rise up, refracting fragmented images.

The most striking feature is the edge area, where the space resembles a shattered mirror, with each fragment reflecting a different scene, surrounded by spiraling vortexes of energy.

The aura of the underworld formed a delicate network of light threads, locking this part of the starry sky in a peculiar way. However, despite this, the energy of this starry sky was still slowly dissipating, and it was feared that it would be repaired by the rules of this starry sky in a few decades.

This is precisely the characteristic of 'space'. Although it is already in a weak state, it is something that Wang Ping can only hope to encounter once and for all.

“It consumes a lot of energy in the process of removing the pollution,” Bai Yan said, noticing Wang Ping’s gaze, his tone filled with regret.

“It’s already very good. If it were me, I could only extract the basic energy; it would be impossible to preserve its unique properties.” Wang Ping’an replied to Bai Yan after carefully observing its emotions.

"Fellow Daoist, please make yourself at home!" Bai Yan gestured an invitation.

"Thank you very much then. I'll come to visit you again after I've digested it." Wang Ping looked Bai Yan over carefully again. He didn't refuse the deal, since the other party had already 'delivered' the goods.

However, Wang Ping did not act immediately. Instead, he cautiously observed the chaotic space again and extended his left hand to conjure two blessing talismans to test whether the pollution inside still existed.

Yu Lian just watched curiously, remaining vigilant so she could warn Wang Ping if anything unexpected happened.

Bai Yan patiently waited by the side for Wang Ping to 'inspect the goods'.

After a while.

A river of time swept past Wang Ping, instantly swallowing the chaotic starry sky that stretched for hundreds of miles. Then, the river of time began to shrink, and in just a moment, it disappeared again, along with the spatial turbulence and the auras of Wang Ping and Yu Lian.

Bai Yan simply smiled at Wang Ping's caution, then took out the properties of those seals, a slight smile unconsciously appearing on his face.

Beside the massive Jianmu phantom in the Wood Spirit World, time rapidly reversed, and in an instant, a river of time appeared. Then, Wang Ping appeared with Yu Lian.

As Wang Ping regained his footing, his physical body immediately transformed into a towering locust tree. The wood spirit energy within the wood spirit world instantly intensified several times over. Wang Ping's primordial spirit gathered at the edge of the spatial turbulence, and the 'Heaven-Piercing Talisman,' 'Heaven-Covering Talisman,' and 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman' appeared around him.

The rain lily, on the other hand, perched on a branch of a locust tree, occasionally swallowing the falling locust petals.

Next, Wang Ping conjured another river of time around him and controlled its energy to be equal to that of the spatial turbulence.

Then Wang Ping manipulated the River of Time to slowly flow over the spatial turbulence. The moment the two came into contact, the flow of time and the distortion of space resonated in a strange way. Ripples of the River of Time spread out on the surface of the spatial turbulence, and each ripple reflected the changing trajectory of the spatial characteristics.

As the river of time flows, the shattered spatial mirrors begin to reassemble at a speed a hundred times slower. Each reassembly process is stretched into a state that can be clearly observed, and the spatial fragments, like puzzle pieces manipulated by an invisible hand, reveal the most subtle connections under the erosion of the river of time.

Whenever two fragments of space are about to be pieced together, silver light threads appear at the junction. These light threads are spiraled and intertwined. What's even more amazing is that the connection angles between different fragments are also different. Some intersect at right angles, while others are interlocked with peculiar arcs.

All of these will be presented to Wang Ping's vision and reflected on the vast network of rules that intertwine in the universe.

Wang Ping attempted to use the 'Heavenly Talisman's' vision to find the end of the spatial characteristics arranged under the Wood Spirit's rules, based on the phenomena he had observed so far.

He observed that the way the fragments were connected corresponded exactly to the node distribution of the Wood Spirit World Network. The spatial characteristics arranged under the Wood Spirit rules were not a simple linear structure, but rather branched out like the roots of a tree. Each branching point was a place where characteristics converged, and the closer to the trunk, the denser the characteristics became.

As time continued to erode the space, a three-dimensional, silvery-white grid gradually emerged in the center of the spatial turbulence. This grid was composed of countless tiny hexagonal particles, each of which was slowly rotating.

Wang Ping discovered that the angular changes produced by the rotation of these hexagonal particles were exactly in line with the swaying frequency of the branches and leaves of the Jianmu tree in the Wood Spirit World.

The most crucial discovery was that there was a tiny singularity at the core of the turbulence, from which all spatial grids extended outward. This singularity constantly emitted and emitted silver light, and each emission caused subtle adjustments to the entire grid system.

This made Wang Ping realize immediately that this was the ultimate form of spatial characteristics under the Wood Spirit Rules, a self-adjusting spatial anchor point.

"Gather!"

Wang Ping's primordial spirit gathered incantations with both hands, peeling away the hexagonal particles from the river of time, attempting to reassemble a spatial singularity and build a new space based on it.

Unfortunately, the attempt failed, and the river of time had completely swallowed the spatial turbulence. However, this did not matter, as Wang Ping had already captured the key energy particles that generated the spatial singularity through the 'Heavenly Talisman'.

Just then, a golden light flashed in Wang Pingtian's eyes, and a light screen panel popped up the next moment... (End of this chapter)