There is a progress bar in my cultivation of immortality

Cangyue was still wearing the well-fitting leather armor. The rough leather fit his thin body, making him look not like a cultivator in the fourth realm of Tianmen, but rather like a down-and-out soldier or a casual cultivator from some border area.

He stared down at the communication token in his hand which gradually turned into a wooden spirit light spot, and a trace of emotion flashed in his eyes that perhaps only he could understand.

After the token completely dissipated, he raised his head and looked at the giant flying boat as tall as a mountain in the distance.

The feeling of weightlessness suddenly came over him, and his consciousness shook slightly, but he quickly lowered his head in a humble manner. When he felt the solid touch of the deck under his feet, he carefully raised his eyes and looked forward.

Wang Ping was standing on the upper deck, wearing a blue Taoist robe, with an indifferent expression and eyes as calm as water.

Cangyue immediately clasped his fists and bowed, his voice loud and respectful: "Greetings to the True Lord Changqing!" After bowing, he knelt down without hesitation and kowtowed as a junior disciple.

Wang Ping frowned slightly. He didn't like such etiquette, thinking it was too exaggerated and even a little hypocritical, but he didn't say anything to stop it. He just watched Cangyue's lowered body quietly.

Yu Lian, however, had no such patience. She coiled around Wang Ping's shoulders, staring at Cang Yue with her golden vertical pupils, and said bluntly: "We don't like these empty formalities. The key is to do things well. No matter how important the formalities are, if things go wrong, you will still be punished."

"Yes!"

Cangyue was still kneeling, his voice extremely respectful, as if he was already accustomed to such admonitions.

Wang Ping reached out and gently stroked Yu Lian's little head, signaling her not to say anything more. Then he looked at Cang Yue and asked, "Is it done?"

Cangyue responded loudly: "Everything has been done!"

As he spoke, he respectfully held up a black communication token with both hands, as if he was offering some precious treasure.

Wang Ping's soul consciousness scanned the token, and after confirming that it was correct, the wood spirit energy surged and lifted it in front of him. He did not reach out to take it, but continued to ask Cangyue: "What's the time?"

Cangyue was still kneeling, and his voice was loud and clear: "There are two dates, one is March 16th of this year, and the other is June 3rd of next year. The specific time is 15:00 noon."

"Is this the new calendar of the Dao Palace?"

"Correct."

There was a hint of flattery in Cangyue's tone, "The border outside the territory has also been using this new calendar recently. It really solves the problem of timekeeping very well."

He seemed to want to take the opportunity to flatter Wang Ping, but Wang Ping did not give him this chance.

"Okay, I'll give you credit."

Wang Ping interrupted Cangyue's flattery in a calm tone.

Before he finished speaking, he raised his hand and pointed into the void. Several lustrous jade tablets condensed out of thin air, then turned into streams of light, crossing the starry sky and flying towards the place where the second seat of the Taoist Palace was.

"From now on, you can walk in the light with confidence."

Wang Ping fulfilled his promise.

There was an imperceptible fluctuation in Cangyue's eyes, which seemed to be joy, but also seemed to be some deeper and more complicated emotions. He was about to kowtow and thank Wang Ping, but Wang Ping suddenly changed the subject: "I have something I want you to do, are you willing?"

Cang Yue did not hesitate at all, his voice was still loud and clear: "Just give me your orders, Master. I will do my best!"

Wang Ping was silent for two breaths, his eyes lingered on Cang Yue for a moment, as if examining him, and finally he slowly spoke: "Monitor everything in Jiutian Pavilion, I need detailed records of every major sacrifice they make."

Cangyue's breathing stagnated slightly.

But he hesitated for only a moment before answering decisively, "Yes!"

Wang Ping nodded slightly, as if he was satisfied with Cangyue's performance, and added: "You only need to communicate with Ziluan about this matter, and you don't need to ask me for instructions."

"Yes."

Cangyue responded again, his voice still respectful.

His fate didn't seem to have really changed, he just changed his master.

This is the sorrow of being rootless.

"Go back."

Wang Ping waved.

Cangyue quickly stood up, bowed and retreated to the Dengxiantai, then rode on the auspicious cloud and left the flying boat.

Yu Lian looked at his receding figure, tilted her head and suddenly asked, "He has been practicing for nearly ten thousand years, and his future is already cut off. Why is he still struggling like this? What's the point?"

Wang Ping did not answer immediately. He lowered his head and stared at the black communication token in his hand, rubbing it lightly with his fingertips. His soul consciousness sensed the subtle resonance between it and the Yin energy in the star space. Through the perspective of the "Tian Tong Fu", he quickly locked onto the area it was connected to.

After a long while, Wang Ping responded to Yu Lian: "Some things... maybe we will only have the courage to do them when the deadline comes."

Yu Lian was thoughtful.

Wang Ping did not continue this topic. He disappeared from the deck of the flying boat with Yu Lian and returned to the wood spirit world he built on the border outside the domain.

It is now January, and there are still two months until the first agreed date of March 16th.

After Wang Ping reported the matter to other True Lords, he once again entered a state of hard training.

Yu Lian was happily wandering around the map of the Kingdom of God, observing those devout believers, and occasionally looking back at Wang Ping who was sitting in meditation.

...

March 16th, the first quarter of the morning.

Wang Ping slowly opened his eyes, the spiritual light in his eyes gradually faded, and he looked at the light screen panel in front of him. The progress of practicing the "Heaven Stealing Talisman" still remained at (8/100). He stared at this number with a very calm expression.

The morning of the universe is always monotonous. There are no flickering clouds, no clear glow of morning dew, only the eternal black and white light interweaving in the void. The stars in the distance still emit dazzling light, and the surrounding star fields are so quiet that it makes people panic, with only subtle fluctuations of spiritual energy and wandering spiritual creatures.

“Which star gods do you think will come for this meeting?” Yu Lian coiled around Wang Ping’s shoulders, her golden vertical pupils moving slightly with a hint of curiosity.

Wang Ping tapped his fingertips and summoned the 'Golden Exploration Ball'. While controlling Qianmuguan's puppet to continue to deduce the structure of the new flying boat, he answered nonchalantly: "Cangyue deliberately concealed it. I think the other party didn't want to make it public."

Yu Lian spit out her tongue and said no more. She just lay quietly on Wang Ping's shoulder, occasionally brushing his neck with her tail. Wang Ping was concentrating on the deduction in his hand, and a tacit silence was maintained between the two.

It was almost noon. Wang Ping put away the "Golden Ball" and flicked his fingertips. A green wooden puppet appeared. He injected his basic consciousness into it, and the puppet suddenly came alive. Its empty eyes glowed with light. This was the best medium to enter the projection space. "It's time." Wang Ping said softly, and then established a connection with the puppet. In an instant, part of his consciousness passed through the void and entered the projection space constructed by Cangyue.

The first thing that catches your eye is the most common black and white light in the starry sky, cold and monotonous. These lights interweave to form a simple stone hall with three high-backed metal chairs in the center. The intricate patterns on the backs of the chairs appear particularly eerie under the illumination of the black and white light. The whole scene looks like a gathering place of a secret sect.

"Greetings to Master Changqing."

Cangyue's voice came from the side. He stood respectfully beside the high-back chair. His figure was more hunched than before, and the wrinkles on his face seemed to have deepened. There was only awe in his cloudy eyes. But what he didn't know was that Wang Ping distrusted such people the most.

"They will be here soon." Cangyue said in a low voice.

As soon as he finished speaking, the space opposite Wang Ping suddenly distorted, and two slender figures gradually solidified. They were both wearing standard leather armor unique to the foreign border, and helmets with a green halo on their heads, revealing only a pale face. The fine patterns on the leather armor were much more complicated than those on Cangyue.

Cangyue hurried forward, bowed and introduced: "This is Taoist Pei, who specializes in the way of secrecy; this is Taoist Liang, who is good at the art of censorship."

Wang Ping's eyes moved slightly, and he understood in his heart that these two names were the first criminals to be exiled to the border. He nodded slightly as a greeting, with a perfect smile on his face.

Then, the scene fell into silence for a moment.

Cangyue tactfully bowed and retreated, his figure gradually fading out of the projection space. In the huge stone hall, only three people were left standing facing each other.

Wang Ping had his hands behind his back, looking calm. He was not in a hurry to break the silence, but patiently waited for the other party's reaction.

After a long time, Taoist Pei finally couldn't hold back any longer and gestured with his hand, "Master Changqing, please sit down." His voice was a little dry, and he was obviously not used to such occasions.

Wang Ping calmly sat down, spreading his wide Taoist robe on the metal chair, then placed his hands lightly on the armrests, his posture relaxed yet dignified, as if this was his own Taoist temple.

After the three of them sat down, there was another round of polite greetings.

This meaningless polite conversation lasted for about half a quarter of an hour, until Liang Daoren and Pei Daoren looked at each other, and Pei Daoren took the lead in getting to the point:

"This time I asked Master Changqing to come here to clarify some misunderstandings." Pei Daoren's speech speed suddenly increased, as if he was afraid of being interrupted.

"Misunderstanding?" Wang Ping interrupted Pei Daoren again, his tone flat and without any emotion.

Taoist Pei looked at Wang Ping and continued, "For thousands of years, the cultivators and common people in the outer borders have been resisting the monsters from outside the domain, and have never thought of breaking away from the True Lords. It's just that in the past two thousand years, some people have bewitched people and tried to split the cultivators of humanity, which has led to the current situation."

"Bewitched?"

Wang Ping chuckled, his expression still showing no emotion, and then he slowly said, "If I remember correctly, when I just advanced to the fifth realm, Qian Xi, Wei Ling and others ambushed me, True Lord Lieyang, and Master Tiangong near Jupiter."

His voice suddenly turned cold. "At that time, we did not punish you immediately, but gave you time to explain. But your response was to ignore you."

While he was speaking, Pei Daoist tried to interrupt him twice, but was stopped each time by Liang Daoist next to him.

After Wang Ping finished speaking, Liang Daoist immediately explained: "So there is a misunderstanding here. At that time, the border was in chaos. Qian Xi, Wei Ling and others took advantage of the mercy of the True Lord and escaped unscathed. However, most of our ecological areas were destroyed by the wrath of the True Lords Bai Yan and Xuan Qing!"

His words seemed to tell Wang Ping that they had already paid the price for this matter.

"The outer border and the inner star ring are originally one, and have been integrated for thousands of years." Liang Daoist leaned forward slightly, "But after that incident, we became enemies with each other, and Yuanwu Zhenjun no longer paid attention to us. This is exactly what Qian Xi, Wei Ling and others want to see. Zhenjun, please don't be deceived by them and wrong us!"

Wang Ping listened to this impassioned speech calmly, with a faint smile on his face all the time, but he didn't agree in his heart, because he didn't come here to listen to these excuses of old things.

"What do you want?"

He asked bluntly, "What else can I give?"

Taoist Liang avoided Wang Ping's gaze and looked at Taoist Pei beside him again. There seemed to be thousands of words in their eye contact.

Finally, Yuriyoshi spoke:
"We can continue to guard the border outside the domain." He paused and lowered his voice a bit. "The condition is to end the blockade of the border. The ownership of the outer planet can be negotiated."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ping leaned back slightly, leaning against the back of his chair, his eyes scanning the two men's faces. This action seemed casual, but it brought invisible pressure to the two people opposite him.

"you."

Wang Ping spoke slowly, with obvious doubt in his tone, "Can you represent everyone outside the border?"

Liang Daoren straightened his back and said solemnly: "Not yet. But it will be possible soon."

There was a flash of determination in his eyes.

"Oh?"

Wang Ping smiled meaningfully and asked, "Do you need any help?"

Taoist Pei immediately shook his head: "This matter should not be known to too many people. Many people inside the border are dissatisfied with Qian Xi and Wei Ling's choice. We are humane cultivators. We can use the demonic energy from outside the domain to practice, but we cannot be controlled by them."

Wang Ping's eyes flickered, and he suddenly changed the subject: "Can you tell me more about the extraterritorial life forms?"

Pei Dao was stunned for a moment, then he sorted out his thoughts and said, "Extraterritorial life is a collection of energy. It has consciousness, but the state of consciousness is elusive." He frowned, as if looking for the right words, "Extraterritorial demonic energy is not generated by them, but the basic energy rules of the universe, just like the five elements, yin and yang, but this energy is full of negative emotions."

Liang Daoren took over the conversation at the right time: "It is like the opposite of the five elements of yin and yang. The five elements of yin and yang bring vitality, but it brings destruction. Chaos is its idea, not its consciousness."

Wang Ping's eyes moved slightly. Liang Daoren's words were very obscure, but the meaning was very clear. The consciousness of the extraterritorial life forms was clear, but their instinct was only to destroy, while the instinct of the creatures in this starry sky was to build and nurture.

"Have you seen them?"

Wang Ping suddenly asked, his eyes piercing Taoist Liang like swords.

The good Taoist subconsciously avoided his gaze and shook his head, saying, "We don't want to have any contact with them, fearing that they might be possessed by the Tao and become as paranoid as Wei Ling and Qian Xi."

Wang Ping glanced at the Taoist priest standing beside him and said, "You don't even know your opponent, but you come to discuss the conditions for victory with me?"

Just as Liang Daoist was about to retort, Pei Daoist raised his hand to stop him. He gave a forced smile and said, "If you can agree to our terms on behalf of all the True Lords, the problems within the border will be solved within a decade at the latest."

Yu Lian sneered in Wang Ping's spiritual sea: "The longer this matter is delayed, the less hope it will have. It is just as you expected. These people are good at making plans but not making decisions. They can't accomplish anything."

Wang Ping did not respond to Yu Lian, nor did he make any comments on the plans of Liang Dao Ren and others. He just smiled and said, "I can agree to your request on behalf of the True Lords. As long as you can continue to perform your duties at the outer border, the issue of the outer planet can be discussed later."

It would be right to agree to it first if it can weaken the strength of the outer border. As for how to discuss it in detail, we have to wait until they deal with Wei Ling, Qian Xi and others first. (End of this chapter)