My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

Time passed quickly.

The temperature across the Zhongzhou Continent rose steadily, and before long, summer arrived. The Qi Army in Pingzhou Road and the Rebel Suppression Army assembled by the Court had just fought two battles when new rebel forces rose up in Beiyuan Road and Jianglin Road. They sought to follow the example of Pingzhou Road and Shangning Road, hoping to seize the imperial throne for themselves.

Fortunately, the Court had issued a Rebellion Suppression Order in advance. This turned most of these rebel armies into a stepping stone for the local gentry, giving the regional aristocratic families legal authority to recruit their own troops and a pretext for forging weapons and armor.

The Northwest Region, in contrast, had suddenly fallen quiet. Anqing, compelled by an order from the Court, had dispatched a small force that engaged in a few minor skirmishes with the Government Soldiers from West Stone Road and the Datong Army. Beyond that, there was no other activity.

「Early in the fifth month.」

A green ray of light suddenly descended from the clear skies over the Southern Four Roads, accompanied by wafts of an ethereal fragrance. When this green light touched the polluted land, all regions except for Mozhou Road began to recover their vitality at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Within the next half-month, Hai Zhou Road and Ningzhou Road swiftly quelled their rebellions. They joined the main army from Nanlin Road, which was marching south, to encircle the various rebel forces in Mozhou Road.

The three armies advanced with irresistible force, completely sweeping away the chaos in Mozhou Road before the end of summer.

「Early in August,」 the three armies converged at the foot of East Stone Mountain in Shujiang Prefecture, in central Mozhou Road.

Shuijiang Lake. As the name implied, the geography here was much like Sanhe Prefecture, with rivers and small lakes everywhere. East Stone Mountain, meanwhile, was named for a giant rock on a cliff at its summit that faced east.

Originally, there were three minor Water Cultivator sects on East Stone Mountain, but during the recent turmoil, they were destroyed by unknown parties. The mountain is currently occupied by the Demon Race and Taiyin Evil Cultivators.

The day after the armies converged, they launched an assault on East Stone Mountain from three sides. They reached the summit in just half a day. The giant rock on the mountaintop was gone, but the faint impression of where it once rested was still visible.

"I remember coming here when I first left the sect for my training. I even got into an argument with some scholars back then." Liu Shuang stood at the cliff’s edge, lost in reminiscence. After clearing the excess Spirit Veins from her body, she had answered the Daoist Scripture Hall’s call, leading several hundred Inner Sect Disciples from Qianmu Temple to the front lines.

Upon hearing the news, the other sects in Nanlin Road had immediately dispatched their elite disciples as reinforcements. Spurred on by their example, every sect in the other three southern roads registered with the Daoist Scripture Hall sent at least some disciples to follow the army to Mozhou Road and help quell the rebellion.

"I was standing right over there back then..."

Li Lin pointed to a dead tree. Near it lay some discarded bricks and tiles, and a few pillars with peeling paint indicated that an exquisitely crafted pavilion had once stood there.

Liu Shuang turned to look at Li Lin. In her memory, Li Lin had been a cheerful and elegant Gentleman. When away from the sect, he always wore a white, wide-sleeved scholar’s robe. Anyone who didn’t know better would have mistaken him for a man of letters.

But at this moment, he was dressed in gray martial attire, his hands covered by black gloves engraved with an Earth Spirit Array. His hair was bound tightly atop his head with a coarse strip of cloth. The sunny disposition and high spirits were gone from his face, replaced by a somber gloom and a faint killing intent. What’s more, there were hints of white at his temples. And behind him lay the corpses of dozens of Evil Cultivators in pools of blood.

"How quickly time passes!"

Liu Shuang sighed.

Li Lin, however, said nothing more. He only gave Liu Shuang a deep, cupped-fist salute. Then, he waved to the disciples following him, who immediately came forward to take away the Evil Cultivator corpses behind him. Memories could still be read from these bodies.

After they left, Liu Shuang did not linger for long, either. ’The past is something to be cherished, but the future holds even more promise.’

「Five days later.」

The disciples from the sects of Hai Zhou Road and Ningzhou Road left one after another. In just three days, the number of people in the large camp at the foot of East Stone Mountain was reduced by half. By the end of August, the camp was completely disbanded.

The original location of the Central Army in the camp was replaced by a pile of pre-carved giant stones. Zuo Xuan had decided to erect several golden statues here. The foremost, of course, was for Xiao Shan Lord, followed by Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu. Originally, she hadn’t wanted to create a golden statue for Xiu Yu, but his disciple, Qingjiang, had contributed a great deal during this encirclement of the Rebel Army.

Everything seemed to be over. All that remained was for the Earth Vein Cultivators and Wood Spirit Cultivators dispatched by the Daoist Scripture Hall to slowly restore the heavily polluted lands of the various prefectures and counties. Then, with the passage of time, this catastrophe would be slowly forgotten.

It was almost laughable. The turmoil that brought disaster to millions of common people in Mozhou Road seemed to be just a game to the Cultivation Realm. Whether there was chaos or not depended on a single thought from that Lord of the Six Heart Sect. After the rebellion was quelled, the common folk would only feel the Lord’s benevolence.

The solid golden halos in the Inspiration Realm were the best proof. Xiao Shan Lord’s peace of mind might have been slightly disturbed by this turmoil, but the faith in him throughout the southern regions had only grown stronger.

Those pale golden halos spread out along with the unsettling scent of incense, quickly dispersing the dark clouds that had gathered over Mozhou Road for many years. Warm sunlight once again shone upon the land, dispelling the dampness that had lingered for so long.

The common people were filled with gratitude, but the Cultivation Realm grew even more worried.

To the Cultivation Realm, Xiao Shan Lord’s thoughts were even harder to fathom than the turmoil in Mozhou Road. Sometimes he appeared benevolent, other times like a tyrant, or perhaps even a capricious person who ruled by non-action.

’And now he is spreading his Divine Techniques everywhere!’

After this rebellion suppression campaign ended, many minor sects began emulating those that had closed their gates two hundred years ago. They sealed their own mountain gates, choosing to withdraw from the world to weather the conflict. At the same time, ambitious individuals flocked to pledge their allegiance, hoping to get a piece of the pie in the changes to come.

「Mid-September.」

The Court’s rewards had not yet been distributed, so Zuo Xuan acted on the Court’s behalf, drafting the rewards for those who had rendered meritorious service in various regions. This was a right she had personally gone to the Six Heart Sect to demand.

Wenhai was promoted to be one of the three Patrol Envoys of Mozhou Road. Liu Shuang, as was customary, became the High-level Patrol Envoy for Mozhou Road, in charge of the Daoist Scripture Hall’s Barrier Formation and the forces of the guard unit.

「Meanwhile.」

In a Nameless Forest to the west of Mozhou Road, one that had not yet recovered its vitality, the ground pollution suddenly worsened.

Beneath this forest lay a magnificent palace shrouded in a grayish-white light. The palace was built from massive blocks of white jade, but perhaps due to its immense age, the surface of the jade was covered in mottled gray marks.

The grayish-white light emanated from the dome supporting the underground space. It came from rings of ancient, unknown arrays. The light they emitted illuminated most of the palace, creating this unique and strange region.

The palace appeared to be for sacrificial rituals. The floor tiles on the surrounding platforms were carved with the bold, rough lines particularly favored before the Xia Dynasty. This meant the place had been built over eight hundred years ago.

The interior of the great hall was exactly as it had been in the memories of those two Taiyin Cultivators: a complex array, with a Star God Core at its center, and a Fourth Realm True Spirit imprisoned on the ceiling.

"Master, it might not be safe here anymore."

The Third Realm Artifact Cultivator whom Liu Huai’en had investigated was now speaking respectfully, bowing to the Artifact Cultivator seated cross-legged before the Star God Core.

Meanwhile, Guanmao Daoist was leaning against the palace gate.

"This was to be expected, wasn’t it?"

"But..."

"You go first. If I succeed in my advancement, I will naturally come find you. If I fail... I will use the last of my strength to leave you the insights I’ve gained from this attempt, using the old method."

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