There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

Mountain top ashram.

Wang Ping, Rong Yang, and Zhi Gong, who were paying attention to the battle situation in the sea east of Yunjiang Road, were not too surprised. Rong Yang smiled and said while holding the wine jar: "Ao Bing has not been devoured by his desire, or someone stopped him at the critical moment."

Wang Ping looked at the interlaced black and white pieces on the chessboard and lost interest in making further moves. He looked up at Zhi Gong and said, "Tell all your disciples to withdraw and wait for another opportunity to rescue Daoist Fellow Ao Hong."

Zhi Gong nodded silently and took out a communication jade slip and activated it.

Wang Ping put down the chess piece in his hand, looked at Rong Yang and changed the subject, "What about the Sun Cult?"

Rong Yang chuckled. "What else can we do? I asked them to find a way to cover up the fire spirit. Their idea is to guide the heat to outer space and use the gravity of outer space to affect the entire planet. For a long time to come, the temperature of this planet may rise slightly, but there is no need to worry too much. We can neutralize it with a simple fire spirit array."

After he said these words, he brought the topic back to the topic: "How are we going to deal with Ao Bing next? He is not a quiet person."

Wang Ping first glanced at the bow, thought for a moment and said, "We each do our own thing, there is no need to deliberately unite, otherwise the cultivators of the world will think that we are the ones who are stirring up the storm."

Hearing this, Rong Yang drank the wine in the jar and responded, "I almost forgot that you are still practicing magic. Okay, I am not as good as you in scheming against others, so I will listen to you.

After saying that, he turned into a stream of light and flew towards the north.

Wang Ping ignored Rong Yang who was leaving. He looked at Zhi Gong and asked, "When will the underground rock formations in Qingpu Road start to move?"

"Normally, the first autumn rainy day after the drought would have caused unusual changes. The reason why it didn't happen is that the cultivators of Linshui Mansion cleaned up the underground river and set up stable magic arrays in some important rock formations. However, these measures are only temporary solutions to the problem. What is supposed to happen will definitely happen."

Zhi Gong did not give a specific time. She knew that once the earthquake in Qingpu Road occurred, it would be a year of great disaster. With the current state of the court, they might not be able to survive a great disaster. That would mean the replacement of the divine weapon!
Wang Ping nodded slightly and did not continue the question.

Zhi Gong stood up and said goodbye.

Wang Ping bowed, and after Zhigong left, he stood up and walked towards the unchanged pavilion at the edge of the dojo. Yu Lian, who was lying on the tree branch, rose into the sky and followed Wang Ping to land on the beam of the pavilion.

"The current situation is tending towards balance, which is good for all of us. It would be great if it could continue like this." Wang Ping said softly as he looked at the disciples of Qianmu Temple who were practicing at the foot of the mountain.

"Oh." Yu Lian answered casually, showing no interest in the topic.

Wang Ping continued, "Lord Lieyang, Lord Xuanqing, Lord Yuanwu, and even the fallen Demon King, they clearly have some plans, and I have a feeling that their plans will be implemented during the Central Plains' divine weapon replacement."

Yu Lian opened her eyes, and Wang Ping's back was reflected in her pair of golden vertical pupils. She thought for a moment and said, "According to the intelligence we have obtained, if the plans of True Lord Lieyang and True Lord Xuanqing succeed, they will overturn the order of the world ruled by the True Lords. If you want to plan for the fifth realm, this is a good thing for you, but if you only want to stop at the fourth realm, this may be a disaster."

Wang Ping turned around and looked at Yu Lian, "I'm just afraid they will fail!"

Yu Lian was stunned and said nothing.

After a long silence, Wang Ping said as if talking to himself: "According to the information we have now, although Taoist Zhenyang helped the Demon King steal part of the Fire Spirit of True Lord Lieyang, the process of his fusion with True Lord Lieyang was not smooth. It seems that some conditions are needed to complete the fusion."

Yu Lian added, "After the war, Di Wen Zhenjun of Di Ku Men fell into a deep sleep because he was repairing the planet. Later, Hui Shan Zhenjun was besieged by other Zhenjuns because he wanted to make all living beings into puppets. His soul was injured and he went crazy soon. In addition, Ling Shan Zhenjun of Yu Qing Sect was seriously injured in the war with the demon tribe, which allowed Xuan Qing to take advantage of it and caused instability in Yu Qing Sect."

After she finished speaking, she looked at Wang Ping with a serious look and said, "You have missed a very important thing. According to the projection of Lord Xiaoshan, Taoist Zhenyang stole part of the fire spirit of Lord Lieyang, which led to the split of the Zhenyang Sect. Do you think... the legend of the 'True Fire Banner' of the Sun Sect refers to this incident?"

Wang Ping thought for a moment and said, "I was in the third realm at that time. When I heard Lord Xiaoshan talk about stealing, I really thought it was stealing. Now that I have been promoted to the fourth realm, I know that it is impossible to steal the fire spirit in a True Lord's body unless force is used to separate it!"

Yu Lian tilted her head, her eyes showing a look of sudden enlightenment, and said: "So, it was because of the betrayal of Taoist Zhenyang that the Demon King forcibly stripped away a part of the Fire Spirit of True Lord Lieyang, and then Taoist Zhenyang took away his consciousness?"

Wang Ping's eyes flashed, he looked up at the blue sky, and said softly: "His success made other cultivators eager to try. Lingshan Zhenjun and Huishan Zhenjun were affected one after another. So whether it is the Daozang Hall or the Dao Palace, they are tools used by the Zhenjun to restrain the cultivators of the four realms to prevent themselves from being affected. Liuyun Mansion Lord and Deyang Mansion Lord only had a little idea, but they were ruthlessly abandoned by them!"

When he said this, a trace of fear was born in the depths of his consciousness, and he continued involuntarily: "So when Lord Xiaoshan was promoted, the attitudes of all the four realms cultivators were ambiguous, and the True Lords..."

He did not say the last words, because when he spoke, a green light appeared on the "Heaven-Covering Talisman", which instantly penetrated his soul and made him understand who he was and where he was.

"Saint has mercy!"

Wang Ping performed a one-handed Taoist salute.

Yu Lian rose into the sky, landed on Wang Ping's shoulder, and rubbed Wang Ping's cheek with her little head.

In fact, Wang Ping had already guessed about these things in his mind, but human nature often makes people subconsciously block out some thoughts that frighten them.

He has been in a high position over the years and seems to be able to make things happen at the touch of a button, but every step seems to be arranged in advance, even the two allies around him. The only person who makes him feel real is Ao Hong, although he sometimes seems a little unreliable.

"It's useless to think too much. You have almost paid off the karmic debt you owed when you were promoted. You can try to lie dormant slowly. If the True Lords have any instructions, just follow them." Yu Lian suggested, "After all, we still have tens of thousands of years to plan."

Wang Ping reached out his hand and gently stroked Yu Lian's head. He knew that he had come to this point and had to bear a lot of consequences, which he had not yet paid off. Moreover, if he wanted to achieve the realm of True Lord, he would definitely have to get involved in some things.

For example, regarding the matter of True Lord Lieyang and True Lord Xuanqing, he must go all out to ensure that the two successfully merge their consciousnesses. Only then may he have a chance of survival.

However, he did not say this out loud, nor did he think deeply about it. Sometimes he needed to deceive himself, otherwise he would be in worry and fear all day long.

Wang Ping quickly suppressed some unnecessary thoughts, took out the metal ball he had made for Yu Lian and played with it, trying to tame the star god consciousness inside the metal ball as soon as possible.

...

After Ao Bing's disciples encountered obstacles in their preaching in the Liangjiang area, they wisely concentrated most of them in Pingzhou Road and Qingpu Road, thus temporarily avoiding an imminent conflict.

Chunsong, who was captured alive by Qianmu Temple and Zhenyang Sect in the last conflict, was sentenced to sixty years in prison by the Three-Section Meeting for providing shelter to evil practitioners.

The world returned to a brief period of peace. Ten years later, the court had to face the fact that the emperor had come of age again. Empress Dowager Liu Qing had to fulfill the promise the emperor made when he ascended the throne and return military and political power to the emperor.

Wang Ping used his "Dongtian Mirror" to control the puppets to go to court every morning, just like following a TV series. He observed the human consciousness of the officials, which benefited him a lot in the practice of his human consciousness.

On a sunny afternoon in late autumn, when wild flowers were blooming all over Qianmu Mountain, a familiar cat's cry woke Wang Ping up from his nap.

He saw a calico cat playing with Yu Lian.

It was the calico cat left behind by Zuo Xuan. "Haha, look, who's here to see you?" Yu Lian shouted happily to Wang Ping.

"Meow~"

"You can speak, can't you? Why do you need me to repeat it?" Yu Lian was puzzled.

"Meow~"

"Still shy!"

Yu Lian played with the calico cat for a while, and then said to Wang Ping, "Zuo Liang had the promotion materials left by her master, and with the help of Qianmu Temple, she was promoted to the third realm thirty years ago. However, she was promoted this time thanks to the help of the demon tribe, so she owed them a big favor, so now she is in the demon domain to repay the favor, and it will probably take a few years for her to come back."

Wang Ping couldn't help but nodded after hearing this and said, "Very good!"

Yu Lian continued, "The demon tribe elders hold an internal competition every sixty years. This time, Zuo Liang will represent the rat tribe to compete with other demon tribes."

Wang Ping asked in confusion: "Isn't this a competition among the demon tribe? Why is Zuo Liang allowed to go?"

"Zuo Liang's promotion this time relied on the soul of an ancestor of the Rat Clan. She didn't refine it by force, but used a secret method to combine the soul of the demon clan with her consciousness, similar to the contract between a cultivator and a spirit pet. Therefore, Zuo Liang is also considered half a demon clan."

"Can this still happen?"

"Meow~"

The calico cat meowed.

Yu Lian glanced at the calico cat, and then said to Wang Ping: "There are quite a number of human cultivators who practice the secret techniques of the demon race, and then join the demon realm to serve them."

This answer made Wang Ping frown slightly. Apart from the five sects of Xuanmen, the two sects of Tianmen, the side sects, as well as the cultivation methods of star gods, magic soldiers and weapon cultivators, the last way for human cultivators is to cultivate the way of demons. This path of cultivation is not recognized by the Taoist Palace, and the status of such people is the lowest within the demon clan, so very few people take this path.

This type of cultivators are the most frequently checked in Shanwu Road, which borders the demon clan. Once discovered by the Dao Palace, they will be killed on the spot. Their only way to survive is to hide in the territory controlled by the demon clan.

Moreover, the highest that this type of practitioners can do is to enter the country.

"Meow~"

The calico cat sensed Wang Ping's thoughts and barked first. Then, without waiting for Yu Lian to explain, it spoke in human language, "Zuo Liang's agreement with the Rat Clan will end after this internal competition. She is still a disciple of Qianmu Temple."

Her voice was more neutral, with some words spoken softly and others sharp, probably due to lack of practice.

Upon hearing this, Yu Lian also helped out and said, "The Rat Tribe in the Demon Realm has an agreement with Qianmu Temple, so I don't think it will be too difficult for Zuo Liang."

Wang Ping drove away the slight dissatisfaction in his mind, looked at the calico cat and said, "Ever since I met Taoist Zuo Xuan, she has always supported me. I will support her disciples no matter what."

He made a promise.

Then, he looked at the calico cat and asked, "You have advanced to the third level? Is it a secret ability? I didn't even sense your aura just now."

"Meow~"

The calico cat stopped talking.

Yu Lian answered for her: "It's similar to a stealth ability. It can hide one's own aura and then travel a short distance through space. It's very suitable for eavesdropping on some small secrets."

In the following time, the calico cat narrated the process of Zuo Liang's promotion. Wang Ping just listened to it as a story, but Yu Lian recorded it seriously. She has really been writing books in recent years, although very few have been sold.

When the calico cat left, Wang Ping suddenly asked, "What's your name?"

"Meow~"

"Zuo Xuan has always called her Mimi. Zuo Xuan had given her a name a long time ago, but he never called her that. Now she has forgotten it."

"... "

After answering, the calico cat left without waiting for Yu Lian to pass on the message. Her return added a little color to Wang Ping's dull and unchanging days.

Yu Lian also became much more lively every day, often taking the calico cat and Liu Shuang's spirit dog to the mountaintop dojo to play, and occasionally other spirit snakes from Sanhe Prefecture would come to visit.

Two years passed like this.

On a gloomy morning, Wang Ping's puppet on Qingpu Road passed him a message that the 'Marquis of Yong'an' who was in Zhao'an at that time succeeded in practicing Qi ten days ago. The Taoist Palace immediately sent monks to the Marquis of Yong'an's mansion and asked Yuan Qin to abdicate to his eldest son.

Now ten days have passed, and Yuan Qin has no intention of abdicating. He has found disciples from Linshui Prefecture and intends to resist the law with force.

At the same time, the puppets Wang Ping arranged in Pingzhou Road and Beiyuan Road brought him news that the people in many areas had become bandits, and there were even rebellions in some places. At the same time, rumors spread within the court that the Empress Dowager intended to depose the emperor.

Wang Ping remained patient this time and did not contact Rong Yang and Zhi Gong. On the one hand, he asked Liu Shuang to manage the southern cultivation world well, and on the other hand, he quietly observed the changes in the world situation. He also secretly sent out a number of puppets to monitor Linshui Prefecture.

It was also at this critical moment that Shen Xiaozhu seized the opportunity for promotion and prepared to advance to the third level.

Wang Ping and Yu Lian immediately arrived at the outskirts of Shen Xiaozhu's dojo, and their souls probed into the interior of the dojo. Shen Xiaozhu's dojo was not much different from the dojo on the top of the mountain, both of which used spiritual trees and spiritual herbs to construct a spirit gathering array.

Shen Xiaozhu was sitting under the eaves of a thatched hut at this moment. She was in good condition, with a blank talisman floating in front of her.

“It’s still pretty good!”

As Wang Ping spoke, he looked up at the sky. There were countless spiritual creatures attached to the surface of the barrier hidden in Qianmu Temple. They were attracted by the breath of Shen Xiaozhu's promotion. (End of this chapter)