There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

The instant the progress of the 'Stealing the Heaven Talisman' reached (80/100), Wang Ping's consciousness immediately reacted. The Jianmu phantom in the Wood Spirit World autonomously evolved into beautiful petals, and the connection between his primordial spirit and the Wood Spirit Qi in the starry sky became even closer.

It was as if every wisp of wood spirit energy was an extension of Wang Ping's consciousness. His consciousness could clearly perceive that the primordial spirit was reflected inside every wood spirit particle under the starry sky, just like billions of prisms refracting the same light source at the same time.

When Wang Ping's thoughts stirred slightly, the wood spirit energy scattered throughout the starry sky immediately resonated subtly. This connection no longer needed to be deliberately maintained, as if it had become one of the underlying laws governing the universe. It seemed that he controlled all wood spirit spells under this starry sky, and even all cultivators who practiced wood spirits were in the same situation.

In other words, at this moment, Wang Ping only needs one thought, and some low-level wood spirit cultivators can become his puppets in an instant. This is also why True Monarch Huishan did not cultivate to this level back then, otherwise all the wood spirit cultivators in the entire starry sky would become puppets.

What impressed Wang Ping the most was the connection between his primordial spirit and the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman'. Originally, the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman' felt to Wang Ping like a magic weapon that could be used at any time, but now it had a direct connection with his primordial spirit.

Wang Ping had experienced this feeling when cultivating other talismans. As he observed the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman' at this moment, a strange yet familiar memory suddenly spread through his sea of ​​consciousness…

Wang Ping first saw a colossal tree stretching across the starry sky, its roots piercing through several galaxies, its branches extending to the ends of space and time. For countless ages, it stood silently, like an eternal observer, witnessing the growth and destruction of all things in the universe.

Its consciousness extends with the growth of its branches, each leaf a single eye, gazing upon the flow of the laws of nature. It sees the trajectories of stars weaving a net in the void, sees Yin and Yang and the Five Elements endlessly rotating among all things, and sees time and space intertwined in a higher dimension.

At one point, it caught a glimpse of a fluctuation in the laws of nature, the fundamental order of the universe and the source of the birth and death of all things. So it began to try to touch these laws, but each time it approached, it was repelled by an invisible barrier.

Therefore, it stopped trying to break through and instead used its branches and leaves as a brush and its own wood spirit energy as ink to slowly outline the prototype of a rune in the void.

The rune was initially blurry, but as it continued to adjust, it gradually resonated with the fluctuations of the Heavenly Dao rules. It discovered that rather than forcibly stealing it, it was better to let the rules reflect themselves, like moonlight falling on the water. There was no need to plunder, only to record.

Therefore, it integrates its consciousness into the runes, allowing the wood spirit energy to flow within them, simulating the rhythm of the Heavenly Dao rules.

Finally, at the moment when the runes were fully formed, a silent tremor came from the depths of the universe, and the branches of the giant tree moved without wind, as if cheering, or as if in fear.

These memories, though seemingly simple, have spanned countless years. Although Wang Ping read them in an instant, his consciousness experienced those indescribably long years, making his face appear incredibly aged in that instant. However, in the next instant, he realized what had happened and used the memories from the previous instant to wash away the newly acquired memories.

Yu Lian's voice then rang out in the spiritual sea: "What did you do? Just now, it was as if you traversed endless time and space. Your primordial spirit consciousness was so powerful that I dared not look directly at you."

Wang Ping suppressed the urge to recall the events, took out a jade slip, and used coded language to briefly describe everything that had just happened. Then he completely cleared this part of the memory from his sea of ​​consciousness.

However, the subconscious influence of those memories still remained. As Yu Lian read the contents recorded by Wang Ping on the jade slip, Wang Ping casually extended his left hand. At this moment, he did not cast any spells, but the wood spirit energy spontaneously gathered between his palms, forming waves of energy.

Each energy fluctuation creates ripples, which are then transmitted throughout the starry sky via the Wood Spirit Qi, forming an endless energy loop.

Wang Ping could sense that his control over the Wood Spirit rules had transcended simple invocation, reaching a level close to 'words becoming law,' just like his manipulation of Wood Spirit energy.

From then on, he could define other cultivators with just a thought. If he combined this with the 'space-time' characteristic he had just mastered, he could even define a person from the past, present, and future dimensions, and this would be applicable to all the starry sky that the Wood Spirit Qi could reach.

This is the true power of a true ruler!

However, using this power at his current level of cultivation has significant side effects. For example, his definition of other True Monarchs will suffer a backlash from the Five Elements and Yin-Yang rules. The stronger the definition, the greater the backlash.

Wang Ping's first target was the chaotic storm that needed to be refined ahead. Soon, he locked onto a distorted space that stretched for hundreds of miles. There, the dark demonic energy writhed like a living thing, constantly devouring the surrounding stellar matter and turning it into filthy energy.

He raised his hand, but instead of forming a magic seal, he simply made a light stroke.

In an instant, the wood spirit energy gathered like a tide, condensing into a huge wood spirit rune in the void. As soon as the rune took shape, it resonated with the rules of the Heavenly Dao, as if an invisible hand had directly reached into the core of the chaotic storm.

The raging demonic energy within the storm suddenly stopped, as if frozen by some higher-level power. Wang Ping's consciousness extended along the veins of the wood spirit energy, directly defining this area, stripping away the pollution from the level of rules, and reshaping the five elements and yin and yang.

Then, the dark demonic energy inside the storm was cut apart as if by an invisible blade, disintegrating and turning into wisps of ashes.

The originally polluted Five Elements Yin-Yang energy, guided by the redefined rules, decomposes and recombines itself, transforming into pure Five Elements Yin-Yang energy, which is then rearranged according to the generating cycle of the Five Elements.

This process was not a slow refining, but an almost brutal rewriting. Every inch of the defined chaotic storm was forcibly defined by Wang Ping's will.

In just a few breaths, the storm area spanning hundreds of miles cleared up at a speed visible to the naked eye. The dark vortex receded, replaced by slowly flowing Five Elements spiritual light, like a magnificent nebula, suspended in the void.

However, just as the storm was about to be completely quelled, Wang Ping suddenly frowned. He sensed that the network of rules in the starry sky had detected his primordial spirit consciousness.

That is the judgment of Heaven!
An invisible pressure suddenly descended. The illusory Jianmu tree in the Wood Spirit World moved without wind, its branches and leaves rustling. The space around Wang Ping began to distort, and fine cracks appeared on his skin, as if some force was trying to tear him apart from the inside.

This is the backlash from the Five Elements and Yin-Yang principles.

Wang Ping's expression remained unchanged. He simply raised his hand, and the spatial particles within the Wood Spirit World immediately responded, forming layers of transparent barriers around him. The cracks on his skin, which had just appeared, were instantly repaired by the rich Wood Spirit energy. The next instant, the scrutiny of the Heavenly Dao intensified, and fine golden patterns began to appear in the void. Each pattern represented a backlash from a rule, attempting to erase his act of defining a storm.

With a thought, Wang Ping's Jianmu phantom roots suddenly plunged into the void, colliding head-on with the golden patterns. In an instant, the entire Wood Spirit World trembled violently, and countless spatial particles were annihilated in the collision, only to be reborn under the nourishment of the Wood Spirit rules.

After a stalemate of more than ten breaths, the backlash from the five elements slowly subsided.

"The backlash is much stronger than that from using spacetime properties," Wang Ping commented simply. This was within his expectations, since spacetime properties are at the level of magic, while the 'Heaven Stealing Talisman' is a direct theft of the Heavenly Dao rules.

However, despite such a powerful backlash, this definition did not increase the progress of cultivation in the slightest.

Wang Ping couldn't help but think of the sixth-stage advancement secret method he had deduced. The prompt given by the light screen panel was to use the ability gained in the third stage to steal the vitality of heaven and earth.

This is equivalent to interfering with the operation of the giant network of rules under the starry sky. The light screen panel also mentioned that the backlash would be very strong and would increase one's own karma. When the karma accumulates to a certain level, there is a high probability that a heavenly tribulation will descend. However, one's own karma can be eliminated through the Wood Spirit. This process will cause considerable consumption. The light screen panel indicates that each time it will take at least two Central Continent years to recover.

Yu Lian suddenly spoke up, saying, "It seems our previous guess was correct. The cultivation methods of Xuanmen and Tianmen are acquired creations, and their purpose is to evolve the five elemental spirits within the body. So, your ultimate goal in cultivation is to achieve the legendary Xuan Tree form in order to control the wood spirit rules of the entire universe?"

Wang Ping shook his head, banishing Yu Lian's question from his mind. He then reached out and gently stroked Yu Lian's head, saying, "We're just moving forward step by step. Don't think about anything else."

Yu Lian wrapped her arm around Wang Ping's and whispered, "Yes, I was overthinking it. We need to get out of this starry sky first before we can plan for the future."

Wang Ping didn't continue the topic. He quickly conjured a teleportation talisman with his right hand, and a second-realm Golden Cultivator appeared in front of him. This Golden Cultivator was seriously injured, and his body was about to be corrupted by demonic energy. He was a cultivator fighting on the front line, and also a puppet of Wang Ping.

The puppet was unaware of his own situation because his consciousness was in a state of flux and could disappear at any moment. Wang Ping transferred him here to experiment with what would happen if he stole the life force of heaven and earth to prolong his life.

Wang Ping stared at the dying second-realm golden cultivator puppet before him, while Yu Lian's eyes were also filled with curiosity.

A few breaths later, Wang Ping raised his hand and tapped lightly. The wood spirit energy condensed at his fingertips into a vibrant green rune, which was the power manifested by the 'Heaven Stealing Talisman'.

"Let's try for a century of survival first!"

As Wang Ping whispered, the runes suddenly lit up with a dazzling blue light, and countless fine emerald green threads appeared out of thin air in the void. These were the embodiment of the rules of heaven and earth. Wang Ping's consciousness followed these threads upstream and directly touched the life river of the origin of the universe.

In an instant, a surge of life energy was forcibly extracted, transforming into a tangible golden stream of light that flowed into the puppet's body along the runes. The puppet's body immediately trembled violently, irregular lumps of flesh bulged on its skin, and its bones creaked under the strain.

"what--"

The puppet let out a shrill scream.

The life force of a hundred years was too great, far exceeding the limit that this second-realm body could withstand. Moreover, he was still seriously injured. The next moment, his limbs began to twist and deform, his head swelled to three times its original size, and his eyeballs squeezed out of their sockets, yet strangely remained active, wandering around his body.

Even more terrifying is that the wounds corroded by demonic energy not only failed to heal, but instead proliferated wildly under the stimulation of life force, forming clumps of writhing flesh and blood tissue. In the blink of an eye, a cultivator who was originally humanoid turned into a monster pieced together from countless deformed organs.

Wang Ping and Yu Lian watched the whole process with cold eyes. After the puppet completely mutated and went berserk, Wang Ping raised his hand and waved his hand. The roots of the Jianmu phantom immediately emerged from the void and firmly entangled the deformed monster.

Then, with a thought, Wang Ping caused the roots of the Jianmu tree to suddenly contract. The deformed monster let out a final, inhuman roar before being completely decomposed, transforming into the most primal life energy and merging into the rules of the Wood Spirit World.

Throughout the process, Wang Ping clearly sensed that a faint, imperceptible dark aura had accumulated on the surface of his primordial spirit. This was the karmic burden resulting from stealing the life force of heaven and earth. Although it was barely perceptible, if it accumulated over a long period of time, it would eventually become a major problem.

Yu Lian watched the deformed monster dissipate, its scales slightly raised: "Directly stealing a hundred years of life force is too violent for low-level cultivators. Perhaps we should try a gentler method, such as a year, or even a day. Your followers would be incredibly obsessed with this power."

Wang Ping's heart stirred. He now had hundreds of millions of believers, so he could really try this. The karmic obstacles brought by a day or two of life force were probably negligible, but it would allow him to make progress in cultivating the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman'.

However, Wang Ping did not try immediately. Instead, he first used the wood spirit within his body to clear away the karmic obstacles caused by the theft of life force, which was an invisible mark attached to the surface of his primordial spirit.

The cleaning process was not complicated, just like cleaning dust. However, the wood spirit energy extracted in that instant caused his spiritual veins to deplete by one percent. You must know that he is now a True Monarch, representing one of the five elements rules of this starry sky. Even one percent of his energy is more than that of a cultivator at the fourth realm of perfection!

Moreover, the consumption was completed instantly, like some kind of equivalent exchange. Wang Ping did not feel any discomfort, but he knew that if this extraction were to happen ten more times, his physical body and primordial spirit would immediately wither, and the recovery time would be at least ten years.

However, his recovery at this moment is very simple. He can simply use the wood spirit within his body to collect a small amount of wood spirit energy from the past starry sky from the perspective of time and space. But this process will still take more than ten days.

When the wood spirit within him recovered, he clearly felt that the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman' was closer to his primordial spirit, but it did not increase his cultivation progress.

The next step is to try Yu Lian's suggestion and see how much wood elemental energy is consumed in clearing the karmic obstacles it generates. If the cycle can continue indefinitely, his future cultivation will be a game of hide-and-seek with the Heavenly Dao. (End of Chapter)