My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

Wang Ping met Xiao Shan Lord’s gaze, sensing his determination. He cupped his fists and asked, "If I may ask, Lord, what exactly should I do?"

To most, this grand chess game unfolding across the world was a gamble, and everyone with chips to play was placing their bets in various ways.

If he had a choice, Wang Ping would have preferred to stay out of it. However, Xiao Shan Lord was a large part of the reason he had gained everything he now possessed. This was a transaction, and it was time for him to pay his due.

Xiao Shan Lord waved his hand lightly, dispelling the map made of fine golden threads. He looked up at the night sky and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, someone will be in a great hurry to proclaim themselves emperor and establish a new nation this Spring Festival!"

His words stunned Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu. Yu Lian tilted her head, looking at Wang Ping and sensing the shift in his emotions.

Xiao Shan Lord paid no mind to their shock. He reached out into the void, and with a fleeting aura of a Transfer Talisman, a small bamboo slip appeared in his hand.

This was the power of the Taiyan Fourth Realm. From hundreds of miles away, a mere thought was enough to transmit information from a puppet to his hand via a Transfer Talisman carved onto its body.

With such methods, he needed no one else to hold the world’s affairs in the palm of his hand.

At that moment, Wang Ping understood why Wen Yang had been so wary of Xiao Shan Lord. He looked at everyone as if they were his puppets.

After glancing at the contents of the bamboo slip, Xiao Shan Lord casually tossed it to Wang Ping. Wang Ping caught it and immediately read what was on it.

It was an intelligence report from Pingzhou Road.

The Yang Family of Pingzhou Road was actually planning to use Yunjiang Road and Pingzhou Road as their foundation to declare themselves kings and raise the first banner of rebellion against the Xia Dynasty.

Just as Wang Ping finished reading the intelligence on the bamboo slip, Zi Luan impatiently snatched it from him.

"Yunjiang Road is right next to the Liangjiang Region, and True Yang Mountain is nearby! The moment he declares independence, he’ll be dead on his throne by the next day under mysterious circumstances!"

Zi Luan said after reading the report.

"The True Yang Sect, as the state religion of the Xia Dynasty, has spent the last few hundred years filling the beautiful lands of Zhongzhou with the stench of sulfur. Many have long been displeased."

Xiao Shan Lord’s voice was filled with contempt as he spoke. He was likely referring to True Yang Mountain, which straddled the very core of Zhongzhou.

Wang Ping strongly agreed with this sentiment. He had always felt that True Yang Mountain’s position, sprawling across the middle of the Zhongzhou Continent, was jarring, and he often had the urge to see it cleared away.

"Is there anyone who can shake True Yang Mountain?"

Xiu Yu asked, his eyes full of anticipation.

It was clear that the True Yang Sect had unwittingly made many enemies. Plenty of people across the land bore it no personal grudge but would be delighted to see it fall from its high perch.

Xiao Shan Lord chuckled and asked, "Have you all heard of Demon Emperor Yaoyi?"

The three men nodded. Yu Lian nodded a moment later, but her eyes held more curiosity than anyone else’s.

"Legend has it that during the battle for the destiny of our two races, after Demon Emperor Yaoyi fell, his body was suppressed beneath the main peak of True Yang Mountain by Great Monarch Leiyang. Suppressed along with him was a Demon Soldier he once used. Its designation in the Daoist Scripture Hall is ’Jia-Shang-Ling-San’!"

"The Elder Council of the Demon Realm has always wanted to retrieve Yaoyi’s body and the Demon Soldier he used!"

Xiao Shan Lord’s tone was that of someone telling a myth, not recounting a historical fact. "Wouldn’t you say now is a good opportunity?"

But Zi Luan was the first to ask, "That Demon Soldier—why doesn’t the True Yang Sect use it themselves? Rumor has it that Yaoyi could use it to fight three True Monarchs to a standstill!"

Xiao Shan Lord chuckled and said, "That Demon Soldier is very strange. Anyone who uses it will have their Primordial Spirit instantly banished to the outer realms. Furthermore, activating it generates a terrifying spiritual pollution."

"Then how could Yaoyi use it?"

"Who knows? Perhaps he was special, or perhaps there’s some other way to circumvent it."

Xiu Yu then said, "The Demon Race cares so much about Yaoyi’s body and that Demon Sword. Is it possible that Yaoyi is still alive, that his Primordial Spirit was merely banished to the outer realms, and the Demon Race has a Secret Technique to summon it back?"

Xiao Shan Lord nodded and smiled. "Many people have thought the same thing!"

"Why not destroy Yaoyi’s body?"

This was Wang Ping’s question.

"A good question. I’d like to know that too. The longer I cultivate, the deeper my questions become. All sorts of questions swirl in my mind, making me very uncomfortable, yet I can’t find the answers. That’s why I must advance!"

This answer sent Wang Ping and the others into silence. Yu Lian, with her vertical pupils, boldly sized up Xiao Shan Lord, as if trying to see something clearly.

Xiao Shan Lord glanced at Yu Lian, who immediately hid behind Wang Ping. A smile on his face, Xiao Shan Lord raised his arm to straighten the corner of his robe and said, "Although the board in Zhongzhou is clear, the match has not yet begun. This is not the time for superfluous actions. But the path of cultivation is like rowing a boat upstream..."

His gaze fell upon Wang Ping again, returning to the original topic. "Tell your clansman in the Northwest that if the True Yang Sect does not move against the Yang Family, then he, too, can declare his own title."

Wang Ping’s expression turned serious as he quickly masked his true feelings. He cupped his fists and replied, "I will obey the Lord’s decree!"

He understood the principle that the nail that sticks out gets hammered down, but the current situation left him no room to object. What happened next would have to depend on Zhang Xinghuai’s judgment on the ground.

"Second, that Zuo Xuan you recommended has done a good job. Having the great clans recruit their own soldiers to quell the chaos is a good move, but she has forgotten one important thing."

Xiao Shan Lord’s eyelids drooped, his tone turning cold. "All who raise troops in response to the call must do so in my name and build golden statues in my honor!"

"Yes!"

Wang Ping bowed in response. Noticing the change in Xiao Shan Lord’s mood, Yu Lian quietly slipped back into his sleeve to hide.

Zi Luan and Xiu Yu also lowered their heads, for in this moment, Xiao Shan Lord was no longer an elder or a master, but a Cultivator who would stop at nothing in his quest for the Great Dao.

"Sigh!"

Xiao Shan Lord let out a long sigh. "They really do know me well. My state of mind has been affected again."

He looked up at the sky. "Let’s leave it at that. As for the matter of the Kongshan Association, none of us need to get involved. Let’s resolve it with a simple war."

"Yes!"

Wang Ping replied again. After confirming that Xiao Shan Lord had no further instructions, he took out three single-slip bamboo scrolls, wrote down the three tasks Xiao Shan Lord had assigned, and then placed each scroll into the belly of one of three Puppet Birds.

Before long, the three Puppet Birds flapped their wings and flew into the air on the night wind, vanishing into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

Everyone within the Six Heart Sect’s Array noticed the three Puppet Birds flying into the sky from the courtyard’s Dao Field. They watched in silence as the birds soared beneath the clouds, wondering what they signified.

「A quarter of an hour later.」

The Puppet Birds flew beyond the range of the Six Heart Sect’s Array. Led by Xiao Shan Lord, Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu once again began refining the Array.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!