There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

Chapter 1119 Exploring the Extraterrestrial Realm with Consciousness

After Wang Ping finished speaking, he put away the bead that sealed the Wu Nian Yuan Shen. Xing Hai sensed Wang Ping's consciousness, and his solidified figure quickly disappeared. Then, Wang Ping traveled through time and space and appeared at the Daoist temple on the top of Jiu Xuan Mountain with Yu Lian.

Upon returning to Jiuxuan Mountain, Wang Ping first took out his communication tokens with his disciples. During the years he had been in seclusion, his disciples and their descendants would send him greetings every Spring Festival. He carefully read each message, which gradually restored the humanity that had been dormant during his seclusion.

After reading this information, Wang Ping took out the communication token for the meeting and found that Tian Gong, Di Wen, and other Five Realm True Monarchs who followed the Dragon Lord had cut off the communication signal for the meeting. Bai Yan had contacted him several times in the past hundred years, all to inquire about his status.

Yu Lian glanced around before taking flight and heading towards the spirit-gathering array where the calico cat was practicing.

Wang Ping watched Yu Lian's departing figure, his consciousness sweeping over Liu Shuang's dojo. He found no one inside or outside the dojo, but the courtyard was quite tidy, indicating that someone lived there. Then his consciousness landed on the asteroid where Hu Qianqian's dojo was located in outer space.

At this moment, Hu Qianqian's dojo was quite lively. Xia Wenyi, Liu Shuang, Hu Qianqian, Xuan Ling, and Shen Xiaozhu were having a gathering. They lit a large bonfire outside Hu Qianqian's colorful main hall.

It seemed like this wasn't their first gathering. Hu Qianqian was currently teasing her two younger relatives, her gaze occasionally drifting to the row of roast chickens sizzling with oil beside her. Xia Wenyi and Xuan Ling were playing chess, Liu Shuang and Shen Xiaozhu were talking quietly, and in the distance, several little demons were performing an unknown dance.

After observing for a while, Wang Ping withdrew his primordial consciousness. He did not disturb his disciples' pleasant gathering. He looked up at the sky, his gaze traversing time and space to land on the barrier of this starry sky.

When he awoke from his meditation, he glimpsed the edge of the Wood Spirit Rules of this starry sky, beyond which lay the outer starry sky. He had a premonition that with his current cultivation level, he could extend his consciousness outward based on the Wood Spirit Rules of this starry sky.

Before that, Wang Ping first manifested the Divine Kingdom Palace and read the information of the Divine Kingdom believers over the past hundred years. He quickly captured the aura of the Gray Daoist. Over the past hundred years, he had prayed ten times, almost once every ten years, and Yu Lian had responded on his behalf each time.

"What news did the Gray Taoist bring back?"

Wang Ping directly captured Yu Lian's consciousness and communicated with her in his spiritual sea.

Yu Lian, who was playing with the calico cat, looked up towards the direction of Jiuxuan Mountain, then led the calico cat back to Jiuxuan Mountain, replying in her spiritual sea at the same time:

"At first, he was not used to the environment outside the realm, and he did not get used to it later. The demonic cultivator from outside the realm who had contacted him several times before tried to contact him again using a secret method during this period. Fortunately, he found a starry sky full of demonic energy and cleared the mark of demonic source in his body, thus getting rid of the entanglement of the fifth-realm demonic cultivator. Later, he built his own power and joined an alliance, which can be considered as temporarily establishing a foothold outside the realm."

At this point, Yu Lian had already returned to Jiu Xuan Mountain with the calico cat. She landed in front of Wang Ping on auspicious clouds and continued, "According to the information he obtained, there are a total of twelve forces adjacent to our starry sky, and each force has powerful fifth-realm demon cultivators within it."

"Not all of these demonic cultivators want to destroy this starry sky. Most of them just want to use the stable characteristics between the rules of destruction and the rules of order to cultivate. Only three forces have explicitly stated that they want to occupy our starry sky, but due to the interference of other forces, they have not dared to go too far."

"Wu Nian is one of the three forces that attempted to destroy us. Their original plan was to use Wu Nian to open a passage, but after Wu Nian entered, he reached an agreement with another force, codenamed 'Nine.' Their goal is to cultivate using the rules and order of this starry sky as nourishment. Therefore, the purpose of contacting and cooperating with Wu Nian is only one: to eliminate the five realms in our starry sky that threaten their existence."

Yu Lian paused here, her eyes flashing, and said, "The Dragon Lord has cooperated with this alliance called 'Nine.' The Gray Daoist found out that this alliance helped the Dragon Lord remove the mark left by Yao Xi in his body."

"Only this?"

Wang Ping asked.

Yu Lian continued, "That's mainly it. There's also some scattered intelligence, such as the specific information about the twelve forces surrounding this starry sky. Unlike us, they don't have any sects or towns. They are just twelve forces that rely on the cultivation of the sixteen demon lords. Among the three forces that are trying to seize this starry sky, there are two fifth-realm demon cultivators. Now, Wu Nian is missing. These three forces only cooperate with each other and have no alliance relationship. Usually, they fight even more fiercely than other forces."

Then Yu Lian told Wang Ping the basic information of the remaining fifteen fifth-realm demon cultivators. This information mostly included only their names and basic status, with nothing else.

After hearing these comments, Wang Ping said, "It seems that sending Gray Daoist to the outer realms was an absolutely correct decision. Only a demonic cultivator like him could have obtained so much information."

Yu Lian said, "However, after he switched cultivation, there were obviously some problems with the demonic source in his body. Otherwise, how could the switch have been so easy? I even suspect that his consciousness has already been controlled by that unknown demonic cultivator."

Wang Ping laughed and said, "There's no doubt that he has been secretly observed. When Wu Nian destroyed Qian and Wei, he probably had this in mind."

"then you…"

"It's nothing more than mutual exploitation."

Wang Ping extended his left hand to deduce, and after more than ten breaths, a smile appeared on his face. Then, he saw the mirror array around him continuously unfolding, and said, "If you want to leave this starry sky, you must first deal with the remaining fifteen fifth-realm demon cultivators outside."

As he finished speaking, Wang Ping sensed the aura of the puppets he had placed outside the realm. Although it was very faint, they were still alive and none of them were damaged. This made Wang Ping raise an eyebrow. Thinking of the information that Wu Nian had gathered earlier, it seemed that the consciousness of a normal demonic cultivator was indeed very valuable outside the realm.

After more than ten breaths of silence, Wang Ping entered a state of 'self-discipline', and then his aura instantly merged with the omnipresent network of wood spirit rules in this starry sky.

At this moment, in his vision, the universe transformed into a giant net woven from countless threads of rules. The emerald green threads representing the wood element were the brightest, and his consciousness climbed infinitely along this incredibly familiar network until it touched the barrier at the very edge of the starry sky.

Ordinary cultivators, even those at the fifth realm True Monarch, would be instantly repelled by the conflicting rules contained within when their consciousness touched this barrier.

But Wang Ping was different. He completely integrated his consciousness into the extension trend of the Wood Spirit Rules. Then, his consciousness, like an infinitely slender yet incredibly resilient vine, penetrated into the Starry Sky Barrier.

"it is as expected!"

Wang Ping sighed inwardly. This star barrier was also part of the rules of order, but only when the wood spirit within his body grew to a certain level could he possibly penetrate the network of rules to extend his consciousness into it.

As Wang Ping's consciousness cautiously traversed the star barrier along the veins of the Wood Spirit's rules, an unprecedented sense of stripping and erosion instantly washed over him.

The feeling was as if one had suddenly plunged into icy, bone-chilling ice. The orderly network of rules came to an abrupt halt, replaced by a chaotic, tyrannical, and destructive torrent of demonic energy. This demonic energy itself was a manifestation of distorted rules, frantically attempting to assimilate and corrupt Wang Ping's consciousness, an anomaly from the world of order.

On the surface of Wang Ping's consciousness, a layer of warm and resilient emerald green light naturally emerged, forming a stark contrast with the surrounding destructive demonic energy and constituting the most effective protection.

At that moment, he directly 'saw' the starry sky beyond the realm.

As far as the eye could see, there were endless, churning dark clouds composed of the purest demonic energy, displaying dark purple, black, and murky colors. Occasionally, enormous shadows would roam deep within the demonic energy in the distance, emanating a chilling aura.

Coldness, deathly silence, chaos, and darkness are the eternal themes here.

Jiuxuan Mountain.

The mirror array around Wang Ping, which had previously had a vague connection with the puppet, became clear at this moment. He could even sense the fluctuations in spacetime. If Wang Ping wanted to, he could directly cross spacetime and appear in the outer starry sky.

However, Wang Ping wouldn't act so impulsively. He first investigated the condition of the puppets and found that the puppet that had entered the realm had already reached the perfection of the first realm, and the other puppets were also on the verge of entering the realm.

Subsequently, Wang Ping separated a portion of his consciousness and invested it into the puppet that had reached the perfect state of enlightenment. Instantly, a perception completely different from that of the ordered starry sky filled his vision.

The puppet was in a relatively stable extraterrestrial region. Beneath its feet was a massive, dark continent forcibly compressed from countless star debris. The surface of the continent was covered with a thick layer of demonic sludge that writhed slowly like a living thing, emanating a nauseating aura of decay and destruction.

In certain areas of this continent stand some relatively well-organized buildings. They are directly cast from solidified demonic energy and unknown dark metals, with twisted and grotesque shapes. The tops of the buildings point to the chaotic sky like bone spurs, and dark runes flow on their surfaces. The magic array formed by these runes is constantly operating, emitting a faint halo, and stubbornly resisting the all-pervasive demonic energy from the surrounding area.

Wang Ping manipulated the puppet to look up, gazing into the distant depths of space.

Deep within the churning torrent of demonic energy, his senses detected an extraordinary presence: a massive fortress suspended directly within the demonic energy. Its overall color blended almost seamlessly with the surrounding darkness, making it nearly undetectable were it not for the faint light occasionally emitted when its outline absorbed the demonic energy.

The fortress's structure exudes a cold, austere beauty, quite different from the distorted style of the surrounding demonic strongholds. Its surface is covered with countless extremely complex geometric patterns, which slowly rotate and adjust, like a precision instrument.

Wang Ping could clearly sense that the fortress was drawing upon a meager but continuous force of order and rules from the distant starry sky in a mysterious way.

This power of order acts like a stabilizing force, creating a relatively balanced area at the core of the fortress and effectively neutralizing the chaos and erosion from the external demonic energy.

"interesting…"

The way this fortress exists is clearly far superior to those demonic cultivators who only know how to brutally utilize demonic energy; it seeks a balance between order and chaos.

Just as Wang Ping was carefully sensing the hidden fortress, a powerful and cold consciousness, like an invisible tentacle, suddenly swept out from one of the largest twisted structures deep within the Crimson Continent, precisely passing over the location of Wang Ping's puppet.

This consciousness was filled with greed, tyranny, and a coldness that scrutinized the goods; its intensity had reached the level of the fifth realm!

Without any hesitation, Wang Ping quickly extinguished the consciousness remaining on the puppet.

"The world of demonic cultivation is more complex than we imagined."

He looked at Yulian and said those words.

A knowing glint flashed in Yu Lian's golden vertical pupils. Although she had not witnessed it herself, she was of one mind with Wang Ping and could already sense the strangeness and danger of that extraterrestrial land.

Next, Wang Ping's consciousness once again followed the veins of the Wood Spirit Rules, probing into the outer starry sky like an invisible spider silk. This time, he randomly selected a puppet that was still on the verge of entering the realm as an anchor point.

The moment consciousness descended, a completely different perception surged in.

This was no longer the relatively open dark continent, but an extremely vast and oppressive enclosed space. As far as the eye could see, there was a boundless sea of ​​people, countless demonic cultivators of various forms, but with equally weak auras, sitting cross-legged like statues, densely packed, stretching to the very edge of perception.

They were all placed on nodes that flickered with dark runes. These nodes together formed a giant magic array that covered the entire space. The magic array drew in dense, violent demonic energy from the outside world and then forcibly injected it into the body of each demonic cultivator, like grout.

The puppet possessed by Wang Ping is currently receiving this kind of nourishment, and the puppet is using some basic operating method to try its best to refine this demonic energy and transform it into pure demonic essence.

The entire process was tedious, painful, and left no room for resistance. All the demonic cultivators were like parts placed on an assembly line, undergoing uniform processing.

According to the puppet's memory, this high-intensity infusion and refining would last for about ten Central Continent days, followed by a ten-day rest, and then another ten days of refining, repeating in this cycle.

Only the lucky few who break through the critical point and successfully enter the country will be allowed to leave this huge "incubator". However, many more may have their consciousness completely assimilated by the demonic energy during a certain infusion, becoming monsters without a self, or they may explode and die, becoming nourishment for the magic array.

There is no communication, no emotion, only the most primitive devouring, refining and survival. Countless low-level demonic cultivators struggle here, like raising venomous insects, using numbers to create a very small number of "successful ones" to maintain the cruel but efficient underlying operating rules of the demonic world.

Wang Ping was in a state of 'self-discipline' at this moment and did not have any particular emotions because of this scene. At this moment, his consciousness extended to the area outside the domain, and a black figure quickly gathered. Under the dark starry sky, a pair of scarlet eyes seemed to appear, observing this starry sky.

(End of this chapter)