There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

Chapter 1067 The Chessboard of the Stars

After hearing Wang Ping's explanation, Tiangong saw a tear appear in the starry sky around Venus's orbit, and then he appeared in the region where Venus's orbit met Jupiter's orbit.

"Since you are in the mood, I will keep you company."

His voice echoed throughout the universe once again, so that the disciples of the Vajra Temple and the Taiyan Sect could hear it clearly. Many disciples instinctively looked towards the starry sky where Tiangong was located.

Beneath the empty starry sky, endless Buddhist light suddenly burst forth!
The Buddha's light carried an indestructible and majestic sense of weight, illuminating a vast expanse of dark cosmic void as if it were daytime. Wherever the Buddha's light reached, the cosmic energy, which had been somewhat chaotic due to the clash between the two True Lords, seemed to be plated with a layer of gold.

Wang Ping was somewhat surprised by Tiangong's response. He could clearly sense that Tiangong's cultivation in the fifth realm was only equivalent to the second stage of his 'Stealing Heaven Talisman'. However, Tiangong had enough time to cultivate, and his mastery of the characteristics of the Golden Spirit was almost the same as Wang Ping's.

However, with such cultivation, he would only have a 30% chance of winning against Wang Ping, and that would only be if Wang Ping was careless.

However, Wang Ping was only surprised and would not back down. Moreover, his earlier attempt to test the waters was also intended to provoke Tiangong and make him do something irrational.

Just as Wang Ping was about to make his move, a giant chessboard spanning millions of miles was constructed from divine light in the starry sky, and Tian Gong's voice rang out again: "Having witnessed your divine kingdom's cultivation level before, I've come again today to seek your guidance. Would you be so kind as to grant my request?"

He appeared incredibly humble, just like Wang Ping had been before.

Having said that, he placed a chess piece on the chessboard with golden light gathered by divine magic. Then, the Buddhist Kingdom and the Divine Kingdom appeared and merged together around him. The moment the golden light appeared around him, thousands of phantom images of Buddhas wearing kasayas appeared.

Yu Lian's golden vertical pupils observed the changes in the world of inspiration. In the spiritual sea, she communicated with Wang Ping and said, "His cultivation in the divine kingdom is no weaker than yours. He is trying to transform the Buddha of the Buddhist kingdom into the divine generals and Rakshasa of the divine kingdom. When he completes the transformation, the cultivation of the divine kingdom will immediately enter the final stage."

Wang Ping nodded silently. The Heavenly Craftsmanship Buddhist Kingdom was actually a form of divine cultivation, and the consciousness separated from the Heavenly Craftsmanship Buddhist Kingdom could cultivate for more than a hundred lifetimes, even ten thousand lifetimes.

"It's alright. Unless there is external interference, it would take him at least tens of thousands of years to reach this level of cultivation, and he would also need to maintain a constant balance of consciousness. Otherwise, the cultivation time would increase exponentially, and any unexpected event would not only prevent his cultivation from progressing but would actually cause it to regress."

Wang Ping responded to Yu Lian in his spiritual sea. Their communication was completed in an instant. Then, Wang Ping's figure traversed the starry sky without any fluctuation and appeared at the edge of Jupiter's orbit. His divine kingdom unfolded silently, and he stretched out his right hand to gather a trace of faith and spirituality from his divine kingdom and gently touched the chessboard. A golden chess piece of the same kind landed on the chessboard.

The two chess pieces looked the same, but in reality, the faith power they contained was completely opposite. Just as Wang Ping placed the chess piece, a sharp golden spiritual aura suddenly appeared in the direction of Venus. Wang Ping's eyes were like torches. As he stretched out his left hand to deduce, his gaze passed through endless time and space and he saw a golden spiritual pillar of light piercing through the starry sky in the southern hemisphere of Venus.

This golden pillar of light is pure and sharp, seemingly capable of piercing through all obstacles in the universe. It contains countless phantom images of sharp blades, each radiating the ultimate golden spiritual brilliance. More importantly, its energy intensity has reached the critical point of the fifth level of gold.

Moreover, this pillar of light contained an aura that Wang Ping was familiar with; it belonged to Master Wangqing of Lingshan Temple. In other words, this was an unusual phenomenon caused by Master Wangqing entering the fifth realm!

Therefore, the moment this pillar of light appeared, all cultivators practicing the Metal Element Technique throughout the entire solar system, regardless of their location, felt it.

The golden spiritual energy within their bodies became unusually active and joyful, as if worshipping their king. The proportion of golden spiritual energy suddenly increased in the originally peacefully flowing five elements spiritual energy in the void, and even spontaneously condensed into tiny crystalline particles that floated in the starry sky.

Wang Ping withdrew his gaze and looked at the Heavenly Craftsman in the center of the Buddhist Kingdom, saying, "You went to great lengths to help Wang Qing advance to the fifth realm, which may lead to your destruction. Have you thought about that?"

His tone was joking, yet it was filled with chilling murderous intent.

Tiangong remained in a state of indifference, casually placing a piece. The next moment, the 'order' characteristic appeared on the chessboard, successfully integrating the rules of Go into the board.

Then Tiangong said, "I answered your question before. Everything in this world is like this game of chess. Nothing can be perfect. We can only make the best moves."

As he spoke, he gestured to Wang Ping, inviting him to make his move, and then added, "Moreover, now that Buddhism is unified, the faith of all Buddhists under heaven is now under my control, which naturally includes the faith of detachment."

After saying this, he clasped his hands together and whispered, "The sage is merciful!"

The next moment, under the endless starry sky, billions of Buddhist believers felt something and clasped their hands together, whispering, "The saint is merciful."

Their voices seemed to penetrate the universe, followed by boundless Buddha light!

These Buddha lights are no longer merely solemn and profound, but also possess a strong assimilative quality that can transform all things. Like a tide with life, they condense into clearly visible golden torrents, heading directly towards Jupiter and its surrounding star system, especially the area shrouded in the Taiyan religion!

Above the ecological zone where Taiyan sect believers gathered, the originally formless and intangible power of faith was now faintly revealed under the illumination of the magnificent Buddha light.

The Buddha's light, like a gentle yet persistent warm current, attempted to distort the worship of "nature," "growth," and "Taiyan" by the followers of the Taiyan sect into a yearning for "Buddha," "sage," and "Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."

Some lower-ranking disciples and ordinary believers of the Taiyan Sect whose minds were not firm enough began to look confused, and they seemed to hear faint chanting in their ears. Their adherence to the doctrines began to waver.

"Dang~"

Wang Ping immediately placed a piece, and Yu Lian transformed into her true form, circling around the map of the divine kingdom. The divine kingdom's envoys under the starry sky simultaneously gathered their own consciousness, and then his billions of believers instinctively stopped what they were doing and prayed to him.

A pure spiritual faith gathered in the divine kingdom, and then these mighty torrents of will flowed upstream along the threads of faith, colliding violently with the Buddha's light that was trying to erode it!
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a fierce, invisible struggle between two completely different belief systems.

The scene on the starry chessboard suddenly changed...

Centered on the chess piece that Wang Ping had just placed, a warm and vibrant emerald light rippled outwards, quickly dispelling the golden Buddhist light surrounding the chess piece. Within the light, countless illusory figures of grass and trees seemed to grow, wither, and grow again, enacting the cycle of nature and the changes of Taiyan, steadfastly guarding the faith domain belonging to the Taiyan Sect.

Tiangong's expression remained unchanged. He once again gathered divine golden light at his fingertips and calmly placed another piece. As soon as the piece was placed, the corresponding area on the chessboard shone with even greater Buddhist light, which became more condensed and transformed into countless tiny golden Buddhist characters. These characters, like chains, coiled around the emerald light, attempting to decompose and assimilate it, incorporating it into the order framework of the "Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."

Without hesitation, Wang Ping made another move. His piece carried a subtle, pervasive power, and as the emerald light shimmered, the golden Buddhist chains were quietly decomposed and transformed into nutrients that nourished the illusory image of vegetation, making the area even more vibrant.

The divine work then made its move, and the Buddha's light no longer attempted to forcibly convert Wang Ping, but instead transformed into a gentle drizzle, penetrating every nook and cranny, searching for any tiny crack or wavering in Wang Ping's network of faith.

Wang Ping responded with another move, and the power of the divine kingdom manifested, like building a solid dam and a well-developed root network on the earth, firmly anchoring faith and channeling the fine rain of Buddha's light.

And so, the two True Lords sat at opposite ends of the starry sky, using a chessboard spanning millions of miles as their battlefield and divine arts and faith as their army, engaging in a silent yet extremely dangerous confrontation.

With profound knowledge and exquisite control over the power of faith, a single move can trigger a chain reaction, building a vast network of salvation.

Wang Ping's advantage lies in the solid foundation of God's Kingdom and the pure and unwavering faith of his believers.

The game of chess progressed slowly but steadily. Each move signified a fierce clash and calculation between the two sides on the level of faith. At the intersection of the Buddha's light and the divine light in the starry sky, energy surged violently, revealing various strange phenomena. Sometimes lotus flowers bloomed and were entwined by vines, and sometimes ancient trees reached the sky and were covered with gold paint.

Time slipped away in the silent exchange, and before we knew it, it was January.

During this month, the two True Lords focused their minds on this, constantly probing, exhausting, and searching for each other's weaknesses through the divine arts on this chessboard.

Although millions of believers do not understand why, they can sense the fluctuations in their faith and pray more devoutly, thus providing a continuous source of power for their respective deities.

At this moment, cultivators from both factions and the four realms gathered at their respective headquarters. On an independent Ascension Platform within the Taiyan Sect's headquarters, Daoist Tongyu's wide Daoist robes swayed gently in the breeze brought by the aftershocks of energy.

He gazed up at the enormous chessboard stretching for millions of miles deep in the starry sky, his aged eyes filled with unbelievable awe and an indescribable complex emotion.

His thoughts drifted involuntarily back to the distant past…

Back then, in his primordial spirit form, he witnessed firsthand the naive and inexperienced Wang Ping as he entered the path of cultivation. Then, after a long slumber, when he awoke, he was astonished to find that the junior he had once looked down upon had leaped to become a Fifth Realm True Monarch.

Now, he has witnessed firsthand this junior True Lord and the Heavenly Craftsman, who has been the subject of countless legends since the day he began his cultivation, engaging in a divine duel of such scale, using the starry sky as a board and faith as pieces!
"How long has it been..." Tongyu Daoren murmured to himself, a mixture of indescribable admiration and a touch of melancholy.

Just then, the intertwined chessboard in the starry sky seemed to suddenly become somewhat erratic. This was because the game between Wang Ping and Tian Gong was about to be decided, and with the current intertwined state of the game, Wang Ping clearly had the advantage.

Just as the game seemed to be in a volatile state and Wang Ping held a subtle advantage, a tiny ripple finally appeared in the indifferent eyes of Tian Gong. He did not admit defeat, but his hand seals suddenly changed, and the Buddhist and divine kingdoms that merged around him burst out with unprecedentedly intense light!
"Pure Land!"

The grand vision of the universe, accompanied by the increasingly fervent chanting of hundreds of millions of believers, swept across the starry sky.

The golden divine chess pieces representing the will of the Heavenly Craftsman on the chessboard suddenly shone brightly. The Heavenly Craftsman intended to use this unparalleled divine power to forcibly define an absolute "Buddhist Kingdom" domain on this starry chessboard!
Wang Ping's gaze sharpened as he forcefully distorted the rules of the chessboard with his divine power, and the overflowing power had even begun to affect reality!
"The Pure Land is not what people seek!"

Wang Ping placed a golden chess piece imbued with the Taiyan faith. It no longer emanated a confrontational sharpness, but rather a pervasive force of infinite evolution.

As the chess pieces shimmered with light, they seemed to transform into billions of tiny star seeds, spreading, growing, and intertwining rapidly along their edges and the gaps in their energy flow, like the most agile vines!
Two immense forces of faith, both originating from divine arts but representing completely different ideologies, have lost all boundaries on this chessboard spanning millions of miles, engaging in the most direct collision and fusion!

"Om-"

There was no deafening explosion, only the humming of consciousness that pierced the depths of the soul from the ultimate collision of two divine powers!
The chessboard could no longer fully contain the torrent of divine power of this level. The light of the two energies instantly engulfed the star field where Wang Ping and Tian Gong were located. The next moment, the vast starry sky between Venus and Jupiter was illuminated by the light of the collision originating from the divine chessboard.

The millions of believers on both sides immediately sensed something. Just as they were about to fight each other, the geography of the border region suddenly summoned the palace of the divine kingdom. The believers at the cave gate in the orbit of Saturn, which is close to Jupiter, immediately sensed something, and endless divine light immediately filled the starry sky of Saturn's orbit.

Almost simultaneously, the scorching planet in the direction of Mars seemed to transform into a giant heart, throbbing violently once!
The next moment, a pure and violent crimson divine light burst forth from the depths of Mars like a supernova explosion. The aura of the Sun Lord swept across the area like a solar storm, and all living beings on Mars prostrated themselves on the ground, their souls filled with nothing but awe and submission to this extreme light and heat.

Not to be outdone, the Moon Star shone with gentle yet resolute light on its cold and desolate surface, quickly covering the entire planet and flowing into the surrounding space, transforming into a hazy and mysterious silver light domain. The phantom of the Moon God Kingdom's palace appeared and disappeared within the light domain, exuding an inviolable majesty amidst its tranquility.

The Jade Purity Star was enveloped in a pure and flawless radiance, with jade trees and flowers blooming within the light, carrying a transcendent and ethereal immortal aura, but its power seemed slightly weakened, because True Lord Xuanqing was not on the Jade Purity Star.

Immediately afterwards, two dazzling streaks of light pierced the starry sky, which had been illuminated by various divine lights!

A beam of light shot into the sky from the Jupiter's public Ascension Platform, piercing through the void and landing precisely beside Wang Ping. When the light faded, the figure of Xuanqing Zhenjun was revealed.

Almost simultaneously, another bolt of purple lightning tore through the golden Buddhist light from the Venusian Ascension Platform and instantly stopped beside the Heavenly Craftsman. When the lightning dissipated, True Monarch Baiyan stood proudly, with purple electric snakes running around his body and his eyes cold.

At this point, apart from the Dragon Lord, the seven True Lords of the five sects of Xuanmen and the two sects of Tianmen have manifested their magnificent divine palaces under this starry sky!

Beneath the starry sky, countless cultivators bowed their heads, while only the True Lord and his manifested divine kingdom stood tall amidst endless divine light, like the backbone supporting the universe, determining the future direction of this starry sky.

Wang Ping seemed not to have seen Xuan Qing and Bai Yan appear. The mysterious light emanating from him still carried a strong sense of confrontation, but his gaze was fixed on Mercury in the deep starry sky.

(End of this chapter)