There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

Time flies, and a century passes in the blink of an eye.

The border star field that was once ravaged by the two supreme beings has, under the great power of the universe's own Heavenly Dao and the intentional or unintentional guidance of the True Monarchs, had mostly healed the shattered spatial cracks and the rampant chaotic currents of rules had gradually subsided.

But the bone-chilling cold still lingered, telling the story of the battle's brutality.

Deep in Jupiter's orbit.

Within a Wood Spirit World constructed from pure Wood Spirit energy.

The illusory image of the Jianmu tree seemed to support the starry sky, its branches and leaves connecting the past and present. Every gentle sway caused the wood spirit rules of the surrounding starry sky to pulsate accordingly.

Wang Ping's figure hovered silently in front of the Jianmu phantom. His eyes were closed, his face was calm, and his aura was completely integrated with the entire Wood Spirit World. The passage of a hundred years had not left any trace on him, but instead made his connection with this world even closer.

Yu Lian's petite body was perched on his shoulder, also fast asleep with her eyes closed. Her jade-colored scales rose and fell slightly with her breath, perfectly blending with Wang Ping's aura. In front of them, the map of the divine kingdom, which had been in ruins a hundred years ago, had now been mostly restored and was radiating rich spiritual energy.

New vines entwine the surface of the fortress artifact suspended in the illusory image of the Jianmu tree. The flowing light transformed from the consciousness of the star sea flows smoothly in the Wood Spirit World. A hundred years of nurturing has shed the ferocity of this creation of war, making it look like a fruit born in the Wood Spirit World.

Suddenly, the slowly flowing spiritual energy in this secluded world hidden under the starry sky quickened. As if sensing something, Yu Lian opened her eyes, her vertical pupils reflecting a bright green light. Then she looked at the map of the divine kingdom in front of her, her eyes filled with doubt.

"You're not mistaken, he's about to wake up."

As Xinghai's voice rang out, his body materialized beside the map of the divine kingdom.

Yu Lian immediately tilted her head to look at Wang Ping, and immediately sensed that Wang Ping's dormant emotions had become extremely active at this moment.

A few breaths later, Wang Ping's active consciousness suddenly returned, and then he opened his eyes.

The moment he opened his eyes, the wood spirit core within him, which had been dormant for a hundred years, suddenly throbbed. This throbbing resonated with the wood spirit energy scattered throughout the entire starry sky through some mysterious connection.

"Om~"

A deep humming sound, disregarding spatial distance, resounded deep within the hearts of all cultivators who practiced the Wood Spirit Path and reached a certain level.

Within the Wood Spirit World, the phenomenon of resonance is even more pronounced.

Centered on Wang Ping, visible emerald green ripples spread out, and countless crystal flowers, purely condensed from the rules of wood spirit, bloomed out of thin air beneath his feet, only to wither away in an instant, repeating the cycle endlessly.

The towering, illusory Jianmu tree behind him moved its branches and leaves without wind, causing the wood spirit rules within a larger scope to resonate in rhythm.

Feeling the surging vitality around her, Yu Lian stretched comfortably, gently nuzzled Wang Ping's cheek with her little head, and asked, "How are you feeling now? It looks like your cultivation has improved?"

Wang Ping replied, "I could have fully integrated the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman' before, but I had to stop because of the Dragon Lord's awakening. I forcibly suppressed the feedback from the Heavenly Dao. Later, when I was fighting the Dragon Lord, I used the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman' to define the Dragon Lord, which caused an overload of feedback information. I had to continue to sleep and digest it."

Upon hearing this, Yu Lian tilted her head as if deep in thought, and then said, "It startled me at the time. If we couldn't damage the Dragon Lord's consciousness, we would have been doomed to defeat."

Wang Ping reached out and gently stroked Yu Lian's head, replying, "In the countless future scenarios I've predicted, although the endings differ, the outcome of my battle with the Dragon Lord is predetermined!"

"Huh? What do you mean? What does this mean?"

Yulian asked two questions out of curiosity, her tone tinged with worry.

Wang Ping stood up and smiled, "I'm just stating a fact."

Xinghai looked at Wang Ping and asked, "Are you saying that the Heavenly Dao rules of this starry sky have also developed human consciousness?"

Wang Ping shook his head and said, "That's impossible. Otherwise, the rules of this starry sky would be extremely chaotic, and there wouldn't be such a prosperous cultivation world. It gives me the feeling that someone has locked our fate at that time."

Who has that ability?

Yulian asked curiously.

Wang Ping did not respond. After remaining silent for more than ten breaths, he asked in return, "Think carefully, who could possibly be that person?"

Yu Lian tilted her head in thought, and Xinghai's consciousness became incredibly rich at that moment.

"Are you referring to Yao Xi? Did he foresee the future ten thousand years from now before his fall?"

Xinghai was the first to provide the answer.

Yu Lian's golden vertical pupils suddenly contracted. "Is this possible? If he had such an ability, he could directly lock in his own fate and wouldn't need to go through all this trouble."

Having traveled through billions of years and witnessed countless things, Xinghai looked at Yulian and further explained, "No one can lock the fate of billions of beings over tens of thousands of years. At most, one can lock the fate of a certain moment, and there are all sorts of prerequisites."

As he spoke, he looked at Wang Ping and said, "Perhaps when Bai Yan takes over Su Xin's fragmented consciousness, her fate at that moment in the future will be locked in."

Yu Lian rose into the air and landed in front of Wang Ping, meeting his gaze and saying, "So, Yao Xi might really have glimpsed the future, then what about our Thousand Wood Temple's patriarch…?"

She looked at the starry sea.

Xinghai responded, "Yuxiao has always been very thoughtful. Although I have spent a long time with him, I have never been able to figure out his thoughts."

"Let's leave it at that. Thinking about it further won't do us any good."

Wang Ping lowered his eyelids slightly as he looked at the light screen panel that had popped up. At this moment, his cultivation progress of the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman' had reached perfection, reaching (100/100). Now, he had completely mastered the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman'. Through the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman', he could glimpse a more complete network of the Five Elements rules and could intuitively sense the presence of other True Monarchs within this network.

At the same time, through his cultivation of the 'Heaven-Stealing Talisman', he strengthened his control over the wood spirit energy and enhanced the strength of his primordial spirit. The wood spirit within his body also grew to a great extent.

If his previous manipulation of the wood elemental energy was like a skilled general directing troops, where he could command his troops with ease but still needed to communicate through various arrays, incantations, and runes, then now, with a thought, he could draw upon all the wood elemental energy of this starry sky in a fraction of a second, just like the Dragon Lord before him.

"Your cultivation has really improved!"

Yu Lian sensed the change in Wang Ping and her tone was filled with surprise.

Xinghai commented calmly, "The Heavenly Eye can see through the essence of all matter, which can easily help one avoid most crises and detours in cultivation."

Wang Ping nodded slightly, and as his consciousness flowed naturally, the vast and complex network of rules in the starry sky naturally appeared in his vision.

Countless emerald green threads representing the Wood Spirit rules intertwine with the veins of the other four elements to form a giant net covering the starry sky. Every subtle fluctuation and flow is as clear as observing the lines on one's own palm.

At the same time, every place within the galaxy that contains the spirit of wood, whether it is the underground of a barren planet, the rushing essence of grass and trees in a forest of an ecological zone, or even every breath of a wood cultivator's spiritual veins, is like an extension of his own consciousness, and is clearly perceived by him in the same instant.

This is the first step of the Five Realms, where one's own spiritual body resonates completely with the corresponding elemental energy of heaven and earth, achieving a near-control over authority, yet still unable to reach true control over the rules, because the strength of one's primordial spirit and physical body is not yet sufficient.

However, for Wang Ping at his current level of cultivation, he could forcibly control the rules, but the price might be the simultaneous destruction of his primordial spirit and physical body.

The next stage of cultivation will definitely involve the cultivation of the primordial spirit and the physical body, but Wang Ping needs to slowly deduce and explore how to cultivate in detail.

Sensing the familiar aura within the Five Elements rules, a smile appeared on Wang Ping's face. He then calmed his mind, severed all senses, and with a flick of his left hand, a black bead appeared in his palm.

The bead contains chaotic energy, which has gathered a complete consciousness, seemingly trying to express something. However, due to the sealing runes on the surface of the bead, all its expressions cannot be conveyed.

"Is it the primordial spirit of Wunian?" Yulian leaned closer to examine the bead, and after a couple of glances, added, "Why does this power feel somewhat familiar?"

Wang Ping stretched out his other hand and gently tapped the space beside him. Instantly, a golden-armored puppet appeared, holding the 'Armor Zero Two' demonic sword in its hand.

Yu Lian's gaze was instantly drawn to the demonic sword, and she said at the same time, "So it's the aura of the demonic sword. So the demonic sword was forged by the primordial spirit of a demonic cultivator from beyond the realm?"

Xinghai then said, "It should be naturally formed, and the accompanying demonic cultivator's primordial spirit is at least at the fifth realm. Moreover, it is not a single primordial spirit. When it is used, there will be a huge pulling force. Ordinary cultivators, even a fifth-realm True Monarch, may be banished to the outer world by it."

Wang Ping nodded in agreement. At the same time, his 'Heavenly Eye' between his eyebrows opened, and a golden light swept across the mindless primordial spirit inside the black bead.

Under the golden light, the dust of time was brushed away layer by layer, and the past, devoid of thought, unfolded like a scroll, clearly appearing in Wang Ping's consciousness.

Its origin lies in that chaotic realm beyond the domain, where even the concept of time and space is blurred. Here, endless demonic energy follows a certain primal will to destroy. In the churning and collision of billions of years, by chance, a 'bewitching demonic source' was born from the chaotic demonic energy.

The newly born Demon Source is like a nascent star core, possessing only pure rules and characteristics. After countless years, the Demon Source began to absorb the chaotic thoughts around it during its long journey. This process lasted for tens of thousands of years, and the Demon Source gradually began to condense its initial spiritual imprint from a purely rule-based phenomenon.

Then, after a long period of time, these chaotic thoughts collided and merged within the source of the demon, and finally, at a certain moment, the first instinctive consciousness was born. This consciousness was like a newborn baby, with only the most basic desire to devour and grow.

However, as it absorbed more and more thoughts, this consciousness began to become clearer. It learned to observe and imitate. In the warm bed of the rules of destruction, it slowly grew into a demon lord with a complete consciousness, and finally called itself "Wu Nian" (meaning "without thought").

Wang Ping pondered for a while after seeing this, and only after he understood some things did the scene of recollection continue to flow.

Wu Nian, whose consciousness had fully taken shape, lured one powerful demon and fallen cultivator after another, gradually building up a force that could not be underestimated. Most of the scenes in this process were very blurry, which was obviously because Wang Ping's current cultivation level was not high enough.

When Wu Nian's strength expanded to a certain extent, his gaze naturally turned to the material starry sky, that is, the starry sky of Wang Ping. They tried many times, but all ended in failure. Wang Ping could only observe the beginning and the end, but could not see the specific process.

Later, some demon lords formed a cooperation, and the cunning Wunian projected part of his consciousness to the edge of the starry sky several times to communicate with some beings in that starry sky.

Wang Ping could guess that the being he was communicating with was most likely a part of the Dragon Lord's consciousness.

Wang Ping had personally experienced most of what followed, so it only passed by in a flash, and the recollection ended there.

Sensing Wang Ping's emotions, Yu Lian immediately asked, "How is he?"

Wang Ping digested the memories of his past, separated them from his consciousness, stored them independently in a crystal, and then told Yu Lian and Xing Hai about them without any concealment.

"You mean to say that extraterrestrial life forms are consciousnesses born from the source of demonic energy?" Yu Lian's tone was filled with disbelief. "This is completely different from our previous guesses!"

They had previously speculated that extraterrestrial life forms were most likely the consciousnesses of other star systems that had been destroyed and then turned to the demonic path.

Xinghai said, "This is just one of the paths to the birth of extraterrestrial life forms. It is not surprising that such things happen under the rules of destruction, but there are more life forms that are transformed from material stars."

Wang Ping nodded and said, "I agree. Just like Wu Nian, he lured countless life consciousnesses in this starry sky to cultivate the demonic path. And it seems that he used some kind of secret method to transfer these life consciousnesses to the outer realm. They attach great importance to such life consciousnesses, and various forces even use them as currency."

After he finished speaking, his gaze involuntarily turned to the 'Demon Sword' beside him. Seeing Wang Ping's action, Xinghai immediately said, "I suggest you don't use your Heavenly Eye to observe it yet. The chaos inside is more terrifying than you imagine. With your primordial spirit strength, you may not be able to withstand it."

Wang Ping listened to the advice and immediately closed his Heavenly Eye and put the 'Demon Sword' away again.

Yu Lian landed on Wang Ping's shoulder, looked at the Wu Nian primordial spirit sealed inside the crystal, and asked, "What do you plan to do with this primordial spirit? Can you turn it into a puppet?"

Wang Ping pondered for more than ten breaths, then extended his left hand to deduce the situation. He then said regretfully, "The success rate isn't high. The puppets of the Taiyan cultivators simulate ordered life using 'Heaven-Reaching Talismans,' while Wunian already possesses a life network with established rules of destruction. Transferring it would cause huge problems. However, I feel that the Taiyin Sect should be able to do it." (End of Chapter)