There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

Chapter 844 Each Purpose

Wang Ping entered the clouds with Yu Lian and his bow, and saw Taoist Gong Wu standing on a ball of fire. He was wearing a gray Taoist robe with wide sleeves, a red jade crown on his head, and holding a whisk in his hand.

The dazzling sunlight shining on his body seemed to merge with him, making him look ethereal and mysterious.

When he saw Wang Ping and Zhi Gong, he bowed politely, then turned into a beam of fire and came in front of Wang Ping and Zhi Gong, bowed and said, "Greetings, three Taoist friends."

He is still as cool as before.

Wang Ping stepped on the auspicious cloud and returned the greeting politely together with Zhigong and Yu Lian.

"You have come from afar, why not come to my temple and have a cup of tea?"

Wang Ping made the invitation.

The previous few times he met Taoist Gong Wu, he just greeted him hurriedly, and didn't even say a word. However, Qianmuguan and the "First Religion" have had a friendship for hundreds of years. Although the "First Religion" has been disbanded now, the friendship still exists, and his disciples still have friendships with some of the former disciples of the "First Religion".

Taoist Gong Wu seemed not good at speaking and just bowed in response to Wang Ping's invitation.

Wang Ping didn't care. He took Yu Lian and descended from the clouds first. In a blink of an eye, they landed at the dojo on the top of the mountain. Ao Hong, who was standing in front of the old locust tree, frowned slightly when he saw Gong Wu, but for Wang Ping's sake, he didn't say anything unpleasant.

When Wang Ping invited Taoist Gong Wu to sit down, Taoist Gong Wu waved his hand and said, "I will not disturb you three Taoist friends. I am here to bring a message to Lord Changqing."

Ao Hong said with an unhappy look on his face: "Do you want me and Daoist Zhigong to avoid it?"

Gong Wu seemed to not care about Ao Hong's expression at all. He still had a calm expression and responded: "That's not necessary. Anyway, you will know this news later."

His emotions seemed to never fluctuate. After responding to Ao Hong, he continued to say to Wang Ping: "The Vajra Temple planned the split of the Jade Purity Sect, but the split of the Jade Purity Sect was carried out with the tacit approval of Xuanqing Zhenjun. Although the Shangqing Sect now relies on the Vajra Temple, Xuanqing only needs to release a fourth-level quota, and the Shangqing Sect will immediately submit."

After saying this, Taoist Gong Wu added: "These are the original words of the True Lord. You can figure out what he meant by yourself." After that, he continued: "The True Lord also said that you should plan as soon as possible in the Jade Purity Sect and not be promoted to the fourth realm at the same time as the Upper Purity Sect, otherwise you will definitely fail."

Not only did these words make Wang Ping fall silent, the displeasure on Ao Hong's face also disappeared, replaced by thought, and the same was true for Zhi Gong.

The figure of Taoist Gong Wu was imprinted in Yu Lian's golden vertical pupils. She asked, "Did Qu Xuan advance to the fourth realm on the first day? Also, what is Rong Yang's current state? What benefits did he gain from the last fire in Zhongzhou?"

Gong Wu looked at Yu Lian and replied, "Qu Xuan was promoted to the fourth realm twenty years ago. He is now stationed at the outer station of the Sun in place of Senior Brother Wu. As for Rong Yang's condition, I can only say that he is only one step away from reaching perfection in the fourth realm. He is currently in seclusion. Perhaps in a few hundred years, he will be able to take the last step."

Ao Hong frowned and snorted coldly when he heard this.

Zhi Gong's eyes flashed, and then he lowered his eyelids, looking as if it had nothing to do with him.

Wang Ping nodded, cupped his hands and said, "Congratulations to Daoist Fellow Rong Yang for me."

Taoist Gong Wu bowed and said, "I will definitely bring it there." After that, he said goodbye to everyone and then turned into a streak of fire and disappeared into the sky.

Zhi Gong was the first to ask after Gong Wudaoren left: "What did he want to do by telling us these things?"

Wang Ping did not answer Zhigong immediately. He invited the two to sit down first. Ao Hong, who was closest to the coffee table, threw off his gorgeous wide-sleeved robe, sat cross-legged beside the coffee table, and said unhappily, "They are all despicable and shameless people who have calculated everything. Xuanqing is like this, and so is Lieyang."

He picked up the wine glass and drank the wine, exhaled a breath of alcohol and continued: "The True Yang Sect has taken all the benefits this time, and it is estimated that it will not be able to continue to make moves. They want us to ensure that the four realms of the Shangqing Sect can be promoted smoothly. We have to do this because we want to obtain enough benefits in Xizhou, and helping the Shangqing Sect is the best way."

Wang Ping thought of more. Lord Rongyang had told him before that Taiyan Sect, Zhenyang Sect and Yuqing Sect had long been allies tied together. Whether he was willing or not, he had to admit it.

There was a second half to Rong Yang's words that he didn't say, which was that if Wang Ping didn't admit this, he would lose all support.

So just as Ao Hong said, he must support Xuanqing's arrangements in Xizhou, regardless of whether there are interests involved.

Perhaps the Zhenyang Sect was aware of this, so they chose to talk about this matter when Zhi Gong and Ao Hong visited, in order to gain two allies for Wang Ping.

"The True Yang Sect is now very powerful, with eight fourth-level cultivators. The station near the sun only needs two people, which means that they can mobilize six fourth-level cultivators at a time, plus the third-level cultivators of the four sects. But they choose to close the mountain gate at this time. What do you think they are going to do?"

Ao Hong said very unhappily.

Wang Ping picked up the wine glass and drank, without any intention of responding. Zhi Gong first glanced at Wang Ping, then said to Ao Hong: "It is precisely because of the great power that there is no need to continue to show your teeth and claws."

Ao Hong was stunned, then fell into deep thought.

Yu Lian lay on Wang Ping's shoulder, looked at the bow, then looked at Ao Hong, and then seemed to feel bored, so she flew up to play with the calico cat behind the locust tree.

Wang Ping put down the wine glass in his hand and asked the two people directly: "What exactly do you think? Let's talk it over first, so that we can work together when the time comes."

There was an indifferent attitude in his tone, as if planning Xizhou was just helping the two of them.

Ao Hong was the first to express his opinion: "Although this is not my original intention, I am willing to support Xuanqing Zhenjun's arrangement in Xizhou, but where should we start? You know, the Shangqing Sect is very close to the Vajra Temple now."

Wang Ping did not answer Ao Hong's question immediately. He turned his gaze to Zhi Gong, waiting for Zhi Gong's answer.

Zhi Gong met Wang Ping's gaze and said, "Since the future artifact is destined to be in Xizhou, in order to prevent history from forgetting the Cave Gate, we can only be forced to deal with them. So I am willing to support Master Xuanqing's arrangement in Xizhou."

Because of the slumber of True Lord Diwen, the Diku Sect is now like a rootless duckweed, just like Wang Ping, and needs to rely on others to have a say. She is a smart person and has long seen the vague alliance between the Taiyan Sect, the Zhenyang Sect and the Yuqing Sect. Naturally, she is happy to live under this alliance.

Wang Ping nodded, and fixed his eyes on Ao Hong, saying, "Since the True Yang Sect has spoken, the situation in Xizhou will probably change soon. We just need to intervene in time then."

Ao Hong looked at Wang Ping seriously, knowing that Wang Ping wanted him to charge into battle, but he didn't care. He said immediately: "Okay, I will always pay attention to the movements of Xizhou. It would be good if I can disgust the Vajra Temple and Taiyin Sect."

He had a clear distinction between gratitude and resentment. His hatred for the Vajra Temple and the Taiyin Sect mainly came from the previous siege. Without the help of these two sects, Ao Bing would not have been able to trap him for hundreds of years.

The second reason was interest. Linshui Prefecture was in a remote corner, which made it difficult for him to practice magic. The third reason was that Linshui Prefecture needed an enemy, otherwise both the common people and the cultivators would mention that he killed Ao Bing. Ao Hong picked up the wine jar, and then he realized that he had not poured wine for Zhigong. He apologized while pouring wine, and then the three of them talked about some things in Xizhou.

When they had almost finished drinking half of the wine, Zhigong and Ao Hong looked at each other, and Zhigong said, "During the hundred years when you were in seclusion, the Vajra Temple and the Taiyin Sect were very aggressive. We originally wanted to weaken them through the demon tribe, but the Vajra Temple obstructed us, so this plan did not succeed."

Wang Ping ignored the previous nonsense and asked curiously, "What are the conditions of the Vajra Temple?"

Ao Hong said angrily: "When they want to trade, they must use the gold cakes they make, and the exchange rate between gold cakes and silver is decided by them."

Wang Ping raised his eyebrows, "It's indeed a bit excessive." He commented first, then asked: "What is the attitude of the demon tribe?"

"Humph!"

Ao Hong said angrily: "They are more incompetent than I thought. They dare not even make a fart about their request to the Vajra Temple. They are completely lacking in the demeanor of their ancestors."

Wang Ping did not comment on Ao Hong's remarks. To be honest, the three of them were the ones who truly let down their ancestors. At this moment, cooperating with the demon clan felt a bit like selling the father's land without feeling any regret.

"Is there no intention for the Vajra Temple to give in?"

He looked at Zhi Gong and asked. His puppet had investigated and found out that Zhi Gong had had many contacts with the demon tribe in the past hundred years. The internal affairs spies of Tai Yan Sect also had the same investigation report.

Currently, the demon clan has reached a secret agreement with the Underworld Gate, and many demon clans in the Jindan realm have begun to travel around the Zhongzhou continent under the name of the Underworld Gate.

The Taiyan Sect is also doing the same thing. Zi Luan has used the demon clan to do a lot of things over the years. The same is true for Linshui Prefecture. To put it in one sentence, all the dirty work done by the "First Day" and the Taiyin Evil Cultivator has now been transferred to the demon realm.

Having tasted the sweetness, Zhi Gong and Ao Hong wanted to further expand such cooperation.

For some reason, when Wang Ping looked at the two of them, he suddenly had an urge to stop the demons from entering the Zhongzhou Continent. This was his instinctive thought.

He personally had no opinion about the demon race, but after experiencing the "Burning of Zhongzhou" incident, he had a new understanding of the demon race's war that blew up the entire planet. He instinctively wanted to suppress the demon race to prevent similar things from happening again.

Zhi Gong answered Wang Ping's question without much thought, "No, but Kai Yun has been asking you when you can come out of seclusion. He wants to talk to you alone."

"Oh?"

Wang Ping was slightly surprised. This Kaiyun was quite interesting. He specifically pointed him out. He smiled calmly and said, "What do you have to talk to me about?"

Zhi Gong shook his head and said, "I don't know about that. You might as well talk to him and see what he thinks."

Ao Hong followed up with an advice: "That's right, if you have enough time, why not go to the Vajra Temple?"

Wang Ping just nodded but didn't say anything or make any promises. Then the three of them chatted for a while, and Ao Hong said goodbye first, followed by Zhi Gong.

After they left, Yu Lian came over with her calico cat Teng Yun and said to Wang Ping, "Your alliance will fall apart sooner or later. I feel that the two of them are not as reliable as Rong Yang."

Wang Ping smiled without saying anything, then expanded his spiritual consciousness, preparing to take a good look at the land of Zhongzhou a hundred years later.

Under Zi Luan's instruction, a small princely state was established in the south, called Lan State. The prince was the Zhao family, who was selected by everyone from the many aristocratic families in Zhonghui City. They were the bloodline left by Zhao Qing, Wang Ping's junior brother.

The Lan Kingdom governs the four directions with the hereditary three dukes and nine ministers, governs the country with the "harmony" left by Liu Zixiu, and promotes the "ritual" that Jiang Cun has been promoting among students. The country is in a state of recuperation, and there are no enemies outside. The current political environment is clear.

In the past hundred years, with the help of Tai Yan's military commanders, cities have been built in the south, including Qianjiang Road, Houjiang Road and Yunjiang Road, and a lot of wasteland has been reclaimed. However, these cities have a great deal of autonomy, equivalent to local princes. This was also the promise made by the Lan State to reclaim these three lands. It is also one of the crises in the future political situation of the Lan State.

It can only last for another hundred years at most. The conflicts among the classes will plunge the entire country into civil strife. This is the inevitable path of civilization. Even Wang Ping cannot intervene excessively, otherwise the social form will become even more distorted, just like the previous Xia Dynasty.

Zhonghui City is not only not more prosperous than it was a hundred years ago, but also shows signs of decline. This is due to the stagnation of trade in Shang'an Port.

Moreover, the capital of Lan State is located on the original site of Jinhuai City, now called Xindu. This city is currently the center of the entire southern civilization. The crisscrossing waterways and official roads are all built with it as the hub. Whether officials, gentry, or businessmen, they are unwilling to go far away.

This was done intentionally by Liu Shuang and Zi Luan after consultation. They understood Wang Ping's attitude and deliberately downplayed the cause and effect and existence of Qianmu Temple.

"Master!"

Liu Shuang appeared in front of the old locust tree again, "The blockade around it has been lifted."

Wang Ping nodded casually, stretched out his hand and performed a "cleaning technique" to clean the area around the coffee table. When he was about to talk to his apprentice, Ao Hong's presence appeared again in the southern sky.

The next moment, Ao Hong appeared outside the barrier of Qianmuguan Mountains.

"What's he doing here again?"

Yu Lian asked in the spiritual sea.

The calico cat ran and hid behind the old locust tree.

Wang Ping and Ao Hong looked at each other and waved their hands gently, opening a hole in the barrier.

With a flash of green light, Ao Hong appeared in front of Wang Ping and bowed, saying, "Sorry to bother you again. I just want to ask you one thing. I have been fighting with the Taiyin Sect for many years and have always been suppressed by them. Now that you have come out of seclusion, I want to teach them a lesson. Will you help me?"

This was so straightforward that Wang Ping didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Seeing Wang Ping's expression, Ao Hong continued, "The other True Lords are too busy to care about us right now. As long as we don't go too far, it won't be a big deal. Even if something goes wrong, I will take the blame. It has nothing to do with you."

(End of this chapter)