There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

Wang Ping reached out to feel the wood spirit particles passing through his body, trying to grasp the network of cosmic rules that had just surfaced in his consciousness, but he could only have a vague impression and could no longer feel the specific state.

In that instant, he felt as if he had embraced the entire chaotic nascent universe, touched the fundamental rules that constitute all things, and a strong sense of melancholy gripped him.

Like someone who has lived in darkness for a long time, suddenly seeing the sun's radiant light, even briefly feeling the warmth and power within that light, only to be instantly pushed back into eternal darkness.

He felt like an ordinary person who had just exhausted all his strength, with lingering excitement and shock in his mind, but feeling waves of indescribable exhaustion and fatigue in his body.

Yu Lian nuzzled his cheek with her head in concern, the cool, smooth touch pulling Wang Ping back to reality from his daze.

Wang Ping took a deep breath, and the spiritual energy from the starry sky surged into his lungs, nourishing his body, but it could not fill the "void" that suddenly appeared deep in his consciousness.

"I am fine."

Wang Ping's voice carried a hint of elusiveness that he himself was unaware of. He gently stroked Yu Lian's little head, as if to comfort her, or perhaps to confirm his own presence.

He then raised his head, his gaze falling once more on the metal sphere that had returned to calm, suspended at the core of the magic array, and on the illusory figure in the starry sea beside it.

A subtle sense of alienation arose spontaneously. He was still standing here, still the Changqing True Lord of the Taiyan Sect, in control of the Wood Spirit Rules, but deep in his heart, a part of his consciousness seemed to remain in that chaotic and vast ocean of rules, unable to fully return.

He needs time to process this complex feeling of "gaining" and "losing" and to adapt to the sudden improvement followed by a return to "normal".

Just as Wang Ping was about to say something, the network of rules in this starry sky suddenly fed back a surge of energy, causing his primordial spirit to feel a momentary sense of weightlessness. Then he clearly felt that the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman' and his primordial spirit became closer under the nourishment of this power. Then a light screen panel popped up, showing that his cultivation progress had increased by two points, reaching (85/100).

"I suddenly have an urge to fall asleep," Wang Ping said unconsciously.

"With your current cultivation level, you actually want to sleep?" Yu Lian asked, puzzled.

"This reminds me of taking a nap in my mortal days, just like needing to rest after a full meal, so that I can feel refreshed after resting," Wang Ping responded.

"Your cultivation has improved again?" Yu Lian realized.

Wang Ping nodded slightly and looked at Xinghai, saying, "Senior, I plan to refine this magic artifact with my Wood Spirit World first, and then try to stabilize your consciousness. What do you think?"

Xinghai replied, "Since you think it's feasible, then let's do it your way. I was unable to suppress the humanity and desires that arose in my consciousness before because I suddenly sensed the full aura of this starry sky. Next time, I will definitely be able to control myself."

Wang Ping nodded slightly upon hearing this, but did not speak further. He then reached out and put away the metal sphere that was suspended in the wood spirit particles, and then traveled through time and space to the outer starry sky.

The next moment, the Wood Spirit World around him continued to expand, covering 20,000 miles of starry sky in the blink of an eye. The fortress celestial body was naturally drawn into the Wood Spirit World. Then, the Jianmu phantom behind him continued to grow taller, and its outstretched branches affected every corner of the Wood Spirit World.

Then a blinding golden light rose beneath Wang Ping's feet, and the Divine Kingdom Palace appeared out of thin air. Wang Ping sat on the throne in the palace. As the Divine Kingdom's star map took shape, Yu Lian rode the clouds past, and her consciousness communicated with the billions of believers within the star map.

Wang Ping has now entered a state of 'self-discipline'. This is not because refining the fortress star body will affect his consciousness, but simply because he wants to stabilize his consciousness and speed up the refining process.

The refining process is not difficult, because the fortress planet is currently just a slightly stronger magic weapon. The refining process is to integrate it with the Wood Spirit World, just like refining ordinary magic weapons.

At this moment, Wang Ping's eyes no longer held any trace of the previous daze and melancholy, only absolute calmness and control. With a slight thought, the rules of the entire Wood Spirit World responded accordingly.

The massive fortress star hovered near one of the main branches of the Jianmu phantom, like a fruit waiting to be picked. The wood spirit energy that was everywhere in the world seemed to be summoned, converging from all directions and transforming into tangible emerald green light bands that gently yet firmly wrapped around the fortress star.

These light bands, like gentle roots, attempt to establish the deepest connection with the runic armor on the surface of the fortress planet, which incorporates the properties of wood spirits, and the active crystalline network within it.

With a light tap of Wang Ping's left finger, the light band wrapping around the fortress suddenly brightened, and the runes on it began to flash synchronously with the runes on the fortress's surface.

A few breaths later, a root of energy from the Jianmu phantom slowly descended, ignoring the distance in space, and directly touched the top of the fortress. The moment the root of energy made contact with the fortress, the vitality of the Jianmu surged into every corner of the fortress along the crystal network and energy channels.

The core magic array inside the fortress, originally designed by Wang Ping to connect to the starry sea, now glowed with a soft light, becoming the best channel for injecting the rules of the Wood Spirit World.

The next step is to wait quietly, waiting for the fortress planet to be assimilated by the Wood Spirit World and become part of it.

This process was quiet and efficient, without violent energy conflicts or earth-shattering phenomena. Within the Wood Spirit World, Wang Ping's will was the highest law. He was not using force to conquer this magical artifact, but rather using the "principle" of the Wood Spirit World to assimilate it, making it a natural part of this world.

Yu Lian hovered above the star map. Through her connection with Wang Ping's consciousness, she could clearly see that the massive fortress star was shedding its independent attributes as an "outsider" in a gentle but irreversible way.

After an unknown amount of time, when the last independent energy fluctuation completely subsided, and when the light of the fortress star was no longer indistinguishable from the background radiance of the Wood Spirit World, the refining was complete.

Wang Ping slowly opened his eyes. He could feel that a war fortress had appeared in the wood spirit world beneath his feet, which he could mobilize at will.

With a slight thought, the massive fortress star quietly disappeared among the branches of the Jianmu tree, completely merging into the background of the Wood Spirit World, waiting to be summoned at any time.

Then, with a gentle tap, the fortress celestial body returned to its original orbital gravitational field through the spacetime array set up beneath the starry sky, continuing its orbit under the gravitational pull of the star.

The refining process was now complete, taking only a month in Zhongzhou. After this month, Wang Ping's drowsiness had intensified. At the same time, he sensed that new energy feedback from the starry sky rules was imminent, which would further accelerate the progress of his 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman.' He also anticipated that he would become even more drowsy then. "Senior, this time I will first set up a stabilizing array. I myself will be the core of this array. The array will fix your state of consciousness, and I will most likely fall into a deep sleep. While asleep, I will manifest my true form to connect with the wood spirit energy of this starry sky."

Wang Ping looked at Xinghai's illusory figure and gave him instructions.

Xinghai only said one word: "Okay".

Then Wang Ping stretched out his left hand, and Yu Lian immediately flew over and wrapped her arm around his. Wang Ping took the opportunity to stroke Yu Lian's little head and said, "This time my slumber will not take too long. I will leave an avatar in Jiuxuan Mountain. You can announce to the outside world that I am in seclusion for cultivation."

"Oh!"

Yu Lian softly agreed.

As soon as she finished speaking, Wang Ping gently pointed his right hand towards the starry sky, and a surge of wood spirit energy appeared out of thin air, imprinting mysterious arrays around the fortress star. These arrays spread across tens of thousands of miles of starry sky in the blink of an eye, but then disappeared into the wood spirit world. Then even the aura of the fortress star disappeared.

Wang Ping has combined his Wood Spirit World with this magic array, and concealed them both within the Wood Spirit Qi. In this way, almost no one in this starry sky can detect the aura here.

After confirming that there were no problems with the magic array, Wang Ping appeared in the core of the fortress star in a flash. In a state of 'self-discipline', he did not hesitate this time and placed the metal ball directly in the core.

The energy overflow was only momentary and quickly returned to normal. After Wang Ping confirmed that there were no problems with the runes in all the magic arrays, Xinghai's illusory figure appeared and said to Wang Ping, "I can maintain my current state for a long time. You can try it slowly."

"Ok!"

Wang Ping simply nodded and appeared at the core of the magic array he had set up with Yu Lian. He first activated a 'clone talisman', separated a part of his consciousness to construct a clone, and arranged for it to be stationed at Jiuxuan Mountain through the space-time channel.

The next moment, Wang Ping's physical body transformed into a locust tree that soared into the sky at the core of the magic array.

The moment the locust tree appeared, the concept of this star field was redefined. Its canopy spread out in all directions, as if to fill the entire universe. Countless branches as thick as the main veins of a galaxy stretched out freely, and each branch branched out into countless tiny twigs. Together they wove a huge green dome that covered tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of miles of starry sky.

At the base of this giant locust tree, countless thick, dragon-like roots pierce through the void, probing directly into the folds of space, connecting to the veins of wood spirit energy in Jupiter's orbit and even more distant star regions.

The fortress celestial body hovered quietly beside a relatively low branch, appearing as insignificant as a fruit hanging on the branch, waiting to ripen.

Yu Lian perched on a small branch slightly closer to the main trunk. The diameter of this "small" branch was far greater than her main body. At the same time, Wang Ping's primordial spirit, in human form, appeared. At this moment, his primordial spirit was in physical form. After exchanging a glance with Yu Lian's golden vertical pupils, he reached out his left hand and plucked several branches and leaves.

As a stream of wood spirit energy flowed, these branches and leaves transformed into a 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman'. Hidden beneath the rules of the wood spirit, it stole a portion of heavenly secrets and then acted upon the consciousness of the starry sea below.

The moment the "Heaven-Stealing Talisman" took effect, the expected feedback arrived as scheduled. The energy was still vast and immense, but Wang Ping was using the wood elemental energy of the entire starry sky as a buffer. However, when the feeling of fullness reached the depths of his consciousness, the solid figure of Wang Ping's primordial spirit still trembled violently.

The overwhelming feeling of fullness and dizziness from information overload forcefully breached the dam of his consciousness; it was a feeling as if he were about to be assimilated by endless "perfection" and "joy".

He felt his thoughts become sluggish and fleeting, and then his perceptions became blurry and distant, as if separated by an ever-thickening layer of warm amber made of pure energy.

In this state, he saw the network rules of the universe intertwined, and the information feedback increased in an instant. Wang Ping immediately dispersed his consciousness among the wood spirit energy in various parts of the starry sky, digesting it with the wood spirit rules of the entire starry sky.

Just as the light screen panel popped up again, Wang Ping could no longer suppress the drowsiness in his mind and called out to Yu Lian, "If you encounter any emergencies, you can call for me in your spiritual sea."

"it is good!"

As Yu Lian responded, Wang Ping's primordial spirit had already merged into the locust tree rooted in the starry sky.

Just as Wang Ping's consciousness completely sank into hibernation...

hum! ! !
The vast array he had set up in advance suddenly lit up, and countless extremely complex runes emerged from the void. They intertwined and formed a huge three-dimensional array that covered the fortress star field. At the core of the array was the giant locust tree that stood tall and firm, followed by the boundless world of wood spirits.

The vast wood elemental energy was frantically drawn in and fed into the array, maintaining the continuous definition of the star sea consciousness.

Each successful definition triggers subtle feedback from the rules of the universe. The energy of this feedback does not dissipate, but is precisely guided by this magnificent magic array, flowing like rivers into the sea and pouring into every inch of the giant locust tree's branches, every leaf, and every root!
The giant locust tree radiated a warm and profound light, as if it were carved from jade. Its pulse, the breath of the starry sea, and the operation of the magic array gradually synchronized. Vast energy flowed within it, gently cleansing Wang Ping's sleeping primordial spirit and the locust tree itself, accelerating the deep fusion of the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman' with the primordial spirit.

Then, the white locust blossoms in the void became even more abundant, like an endless spiritual rain, containing pure life essence, transforming this star field into a true fairyland.

The rain lily perched on a branch, gazing at the grand and tranquil scene before her. Then, she curled up, her golden vertical pupils alertly watching her surroundings, faithfully fulfilling her duty of protection.

After more than ten breaths, she connected with Wang Ping's primordial spirit consciousness, sensed the peace in Wang Ping's consciousness, and used the authority that Wang Ping gave her to summon the divine palace. She flew to the edge of the palace's star map, communicating with millions of believers while waiting for the day Wang Ping would awaken.

The magnificent array that covered tens of thousands of miles of star field gradually dimmed its radiance after completing its initial activation and guidance. Countless profound runes disappeared into the void, leaving only a deep and harmonious rhythm flowing silently, perfectly synchronized with the breathing of the giant locust tree in the center.

The giant locust tree's own radiance was no longer dazzling, but became gentle and profound, like an ancient deity lost in thought, quietly absorbing the power of the starry sky and undergoing an inner transformation.

In the blink of an eye, everything returned to a state of utter tranquility. (End of Chapter)