There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

The twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month.

The front hall of Qianmu Temple is full of people at this moment, and it is several times more lively than before. One reason is the arrival of disciples from various sects, and the other is that during this period of time, the outer gate disciples are allowed to enter the inner gate, which makes the outer gate disciples stay around the front hall square almost all day long.

At this moment, a high platform for martial arts competitions has been built in the square of the front hall. Powerful barrier arrays have been arranged around the platform and on the ground to ensure that even if the incoming monks use their full strength, they will not be able to destroy the platform in the slightest.

There are 20,000 seats built around the stage, and there are large standing areas behind the seats. At this moment, both the sitting seats and the standing areas behind are already overcrowded.

In the seat with the best view to the east, Liu Shuang, wearing a gorgeous blue Taoist robe, sat upright on a chair different from the other seats, with a black spirit dog crawling at his feet, looking around.

On the left and right of Liu Shuang were Fenhuo, the representative of the Zhenyang Sect, and Liu Shuibin, the representative of the Diku Sect. The three of them basically represented most of the cultivation world in Zhongzhou.

"This time, five inbound disciples from Qianmu Temple have entered the final. It seems that they have a great chance of winning the first place!" Taoist Fenhuo of Zhenyang Sect stared at the sixteen people on the podium and said with a somewhat jealous tone. Since the elite disciples of Zhenyang Sect had important tasks, the disciples who came to participate in the competition were very young, and only two of them entered the final.

In addition, because the Zhenyang Sect's last plan to reach the fourth realm failed, two of its core disciples, Hua Yun and Ji He, entered a state of death not long after. This also led to the decline of both sects, and the young disciples seemed to be in a state of disarray.

For example, the Taoist Master Fenhuo in front of him had just been promoted to the third realm less than a hundred years ago, but he was promoted to the position of the head of internal affairs. The biggest reason why he was able to take the position was because he was the young disciple of Lord Rongyang. However, due to his insufficient cultivation, he lacked the confidence and self-assurance of Taoist Master Huayun in his dealings with others.

Upon hearing this, Liu Shuang just smiled and did not respond to the Taoist Fenhuo's topic. Liu Shuibin remained silent throughout the whole process. He was not a talkative person.

The topic was not continued.

The final crucial match of this competition is the ring match where the incoming monks compete for the top spot. At this moment, the sixteen people on the stage have fought their way through a group of more than eight hundred incoming monks.

With a burst of cheers, the first round of fighting began, and the ones who took the field were the inbound disciples from the Zhenyang Sect and Qianmu Temple.

The disciple from Qianmu Temple is Yang Rong's apprentice, named Wang Yuqin. She is the descendant of Wang Ping's two younger brothers, and also practices "The Art of Gathering Wood". Liu Shuang's lineage has summarized the cultivation methods of the three realms of "The Art of Gathering Wood" and wrote them down as a secret method for inheritance.

For the righteous Xuanmen, "The Art of Gathering Wood" may not be too great, but for ordinary practitioners, it can definitely be called a treasure. In the Taoist Palace, its entry method has been hyped up to one million taels.

After the game started, Wang Yuqin first brought out ten daggers that were all snow-white. They attacked his opponents alternately at an extremely fast speed. The Zhenyang Sect disciple on the opposite side blocked them with a magic weapon similar to a shield, and then bits of fire appeared on the surface of his body.

At this time, Wang Yuqin threw down another handful of seeds. When the seeds grew thorny vines, he cast the spell of "Every Grass and Tree is an Soldier". Suddenly, more than a dozen grass soldiers quickly formed in front of him.

The Zhenyang Sect disciples on the opposite side remained calm and controlled the flames to attack, but they were all stopped by the grass soldiers. Although the grass soldiers were quickly burned to ashes, Wang Yuqin's storage bag seemed to have endless seeds, and he could also control ten long swords.

"I heard a long time ago that your disciples are good at the 'sword-controlling technique'. Today I see that it is indeed well-deserved." Taoist Fenhuo praised sincerely.

"It's really amazing. Mu Xiu's body has abundant spiritual energy in its sea of ​​​​qi, and he can accurately control the speed of using spiritual energy through vegetation. He is very suitable for this kind of spell that can fight a protracted battle." Liu Shuibin also nodded in agreement.

Yang Rong, who was sitting behind Liu Shuang, had a smile on her face, while Liu Shuang modestly said some polite words.

Speaking of this 'sword-wielding technique', it was during the Yongming Port incident that Zhao Qing's disciple Yang Hou figured it out after Hong An's death, when he collected two small daggers from him.

When Yang Rong was building his foundation, he saw Yang Hou's apprentice using a secret technique and thought it was very practical, so he shamelessly asked for advice. Later, as Yang Rong's cultivation level improved, he did not give up this set of secret techniques, but continued to improve it according to the characteristics of wood cultivators. Now, this set of secret techniques has become a system, which, when combined with some specific magic soldiers and the spiritual energy filled in the wood cultivator's sea of ​​​​qi, has great lethality.

Things in the world are sometimes so magical. Hundreds of years have passed, and the disciples of Zhao Qing's lineage have long since declined. There are only a few new disciples in the inner sect who are barely supporting the sect. However, the secret method they left behind became very popular in the cultivation world because of Yang Rong.

At this moment, the Zhenyang Sect disciple on the high platform roared a little madly. He was very aggressive and had been suppressing Wang Yuqin with fire since the beginning of the fight. However, this was a fight among their own people and they could not use prohibited items to increase the intensity of the flames. In addition, his internal spiritual energy was consumed too quickly and he would be in a very bad state if he continued the fight.

So, after a roar of unwillingness, he waved his hand helplessly to admit defeat.

"Hmph, don't be too proud. If this weren't the case in the ring, I have many ways to defeat you!" The Zhenyang Sect monk was very unconvinced after admitting defeat.

Wang Yuqin was not proud. He clasped his fists and said politely with a smile: "Brother, you are right. I took advantage of the situation."

The Zhenyang Sect monk was stunned when he heard this, probably because he didn't expect his opponent to be so polite. He then left the platform without looking back.

Wang Yuqin also walked down the platform with a smile on his face, and then a bunch of fellow disciples came over to congratulate him. The winner of this competition would receive a full set of materials for promotion to the second realm, and this full set of promotion materials was prepared based on the actual situation of the cultivator who won the first place. This was an irresistible temptation for most of the cultivators entering the world.

The second duel began a quarter of an hour later. This time it was a duel between an equipment cultivator and an earth vein cultivator.

The result of the fight was decided not long after, and the weapon cultivator won. Weapon cultivators have a great advantage in arena fights, and if you want to defeat them, you have to take countermeasures in advance.

Under the gaze of tens of thousands of people, the third fight began...

Five days later.

The competition among various sects held by Qianmu Temple has come to an end. The first place among the incoming cultivators was taken by a weapon cultivator from Jiuding Sect, the second place was taken by Zhao Mingming from Qianmu Temple, and the third place was taken by a younger generation cultivator from Diku Sect.

After the competition, the thing that each faction wanted to do most was to climb to the top of Qianmu Mountain to pay a visit to Wang Ping.

But only Wenhai from Pingdongmen received this honor.

On the morning of the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, when all the disciples from various sects had dispersed and Qianmu Temple had returned to its former tranquility, Wen Hai climbed to the top of Qianmu Mountain.

The gate of the mountaintop temple had long been opened, and a clear and pleasant sound of a piano could be heard from inside. The disciple who had been waiting for a long time led him into the temple. The sound of the piano suddenly became more obvious, and then there was an intoxicating aroma of wine.

Wen Hai subconsciously looked up at the old locust tree that supported the sky, then quickly lowered his head and followed the steps of the guiding disciple along the path.

Soon, he heard someone talking, discussing chess moves.

He walked around a bend in the forest path and saw a scene that surprised him.

Under the old locust tree, Xia Wenyi and Xuan Ling, two people who didn't get along well with each other, were playing chess. Liu Shuang and Shen Xiaozhu were watching from the side and making comments from time to time. On a straw mat next to them, Hu Qianqian was playing the piano, and pleasant piano sounds continued to emerge from Hu Qianqian's fingertips.

On the grass on the other side, the younger generations were chatting and laughing under the leadership of Yang Rong. They also set up a few fire racks. Next to the campfire were grilled fish and shrimps with a sizzling smell. Yu Lian was lying on a branch nearby with her long body of five or six feet. She looked at the fish and shrimps with shining eyes, and from time to time she looked at Yuan Yuan who was playing with the black cat, calico cat and spirit dog next to her.

Liu Shuang, who was watching two junior disciples playing chess under the old locust tree, noticed Wen Hai's arrival and hurried over to greet him and waved to the disciple. After the disciple left, she smiled and said, "Come on, follow me to pay respect to the master first, and then play two games of chess."

"Yes!"

Wen Hai did not relax because of the harmonious atmosphere here. Instead, he treated everyone more cautiously.

Liu Shuang did not deliberately correct Wen Hai's attitude. She had seen too many similar people over the years, some of whom were her good friends from her previous training. Correcting them would make them feel uncomfortable.

Wang Ping was in the pavilion at the edge of the garden. Ruan Chunzi, Yuanzheng and Dong Can were all there. They were drinking and playing chess, chatting about some light-hearted topics.

Wen Hai instinctively lowered his head when he saw Wang Ping. When Liu Shuang pointed at him and said, "Wen Hai is here," he immediately clasped his fists and bowed, saying respectfully, "Greetings, my Lord. May my Lord be well."

"Well, sit wherever you want, I won't greet you."

Wang Ping's answer was very down-to-earth.

Wen Hai was perhaps a little surprised by Wang Ping's words which were full of human awareness. He did not straighten up until Liu Shuang reminded him, and then followed Liu Shuang back to the old locust tree.

"Time flies so fast. Two or three hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye. Some things seem like they happened just yesterday." Yuan Zheng sighed as he held up a glass of wine and watched Wen Hai's departing back.

"Is there anything that you can't forget?" Ruan Chunzi was playing chess with Wang Ping and asked subconsciously when he heard the question.

"My master followed the headmaster to outer space for more than a hundred years. I don't know what he is like now. When he left, he taught me the secret method of the fourth realm, but I am not destined to cultivate to the fourth realm."

Yuan Zheng's tone revealed longing, yet deep fear.

Dong Can asked in confusion, "Since there is a secret method of the fourth realm and no quota limit, why should you give it a try? You are luckier than 90% of the cultivators in the world, so why complain about yourself?"

Ruan Chunzi continued, "It's more than 90%, 99% right? Thanks to the Lord of the Mansion ruling Zhongzhou, there are millions of Qigong practitioners in this prosperous world. However, only one in every 100,000 people can enter the country each year. There are only one in ten thousand cultivators who can reach the second realm. It is absolutely rare to reach the third realm. There are only two or three people in the world who are qualified to reach the fourth realm. So, if you keep sighing, I will definitely fight you."

He inadvertently flattered Wang Ping by saying this, but he was not wrong.

Yuan Zheng shook his head, "I'm really not pretending. The first of the four realms of the Upper Dan Sect is 'Bright Eyes', which requires the practice of 'Furnace Fire Technique', which is to cultivate a fire in the true qi; the second realm is 'Spiritual Breath', which gathers the furnace fire in the body into a cauldron, and the practice is 'Furnace Opening Technique'; and the third realm is 'Return to the Origin', which is to use one's own cauldron to cultivate the Samadhi True Fire. Currently, there are no more than thirty people in the world who have reached this stage."

His voice was getting lower and lower. "As for the fourth realm, it is called 'Purification Method'. It requires the inner fire to merge with the body. I have seen the practice of that secret method. It is impossible for ordinary people to succeed. In the entire cultivation world, only the headmaster has succeeded. And it was an accident that he succeeded. So the secret method he practiced was also an accident. No one else has succeeded in all these years!"

Wang Ping dropped a piece, picked up the wine glass beside him, looked at Yuan Zheng and said, "With your third realm cultivation and the pills you made, you can live another two thousand years, right? I've given you two thousand years to prepare, don't you have confidence?"

Ruan Chunzi added: "Even if you are teaching the later disciples of the Dan Sect, it's okay to give it a try. But we don't even have the qualifications to try. After two thousand years, I estimate that we will be a pile of yellow earth!"

He dropped another piece while he was speaking.

These words are heavy.

Dong Can, who was standing next to him, had a strange look in his eyes. He would be nothing but a pile of earth in two thousand years. He was not as open-minded as Ruan Chunzi and could not bear to see his cultivation of thousands of years turn into dust. So he had been planning for the fourth realm all these years. The fourth realm magic soldiers he had obtained before had already filled in his most important material for promotion.

Yuanzheng asked, "You don't have a chance to go further?"

Ruan Chunzi shook his head and said, "No chance!"

Wang Ping remained silent. He didn't even have a chance to speak about the Zhenyang Sect's four realm quota. Even if Lord Rongyang had a good relationship with him, he would not give the quota to a person with ulterior motives when it came up.

So for the next period of time, everyone tacitly kept silent, until the middle of the game, when a noise came from the old locust tree.

Xia Wenyi and Xuan Ling were fighting each other using the "every tree and grass is an enemy" strategy. Liu Shuang, Hu Qianqian and others beside them not only did not stop them, but also watched with great interest.

Amid their cheers, Yu Lian flew over and landed on the beam of the pavilion, saying, "Rong'er's skill in grilling fish is really good, don't you want to try it?"

Wang Ping shook his head: "No, we have been following the rules for more than 800 years. There is no need to break the rules just to satisfy our appetite."

Yu Lian added, "Aren't you going to bet on the fight between Wen Yi and Xuan Ling? Shuang'er and the others have placed bets, and even the younger generations are joining in the fun."

"Let them play."

Wang Ping smiled and turned to look towards the old locust tree. His gaze passed through the dense spiritual trees and fell on Xia Wenyi and Xuan Ling. The more he looked, the more he felt that these two disciples of his looked very much like Xiu Yu and Zi Luan.

It was not until this time that Wang Ping could understand Xiaoshan Fujun's feelings. To be honest, it was difficult for him to intervene in their fight unless one of them gave up the idea of ​​going further.

Yu Lian sensed Wang Ping's concern, soared up to Liu Shuang's side, whispered a few words to Liu Shuang, and then when Xia Wenyi and Xuan Ling were about to win, Liu Shuang intervened and the game ended in a draw. (End of this chapter)