My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

The next day.

Before dawn, a message arrived from Ke Yue. She didn’t appear in person; the message was sent via a one-time-use Communication Jade Slip to Liu Shuang.

When Liu Shuang arrived with the message at the temporary Dao Field on the southern highlands of Moon Mountain, Zhang Xinghuai was in the middle of a Go match with Hu Yin. The others were all gathered around the board. Both Zhang Xinghuai and Hu Yin were rather low-key, so they were naturally deferential to each other in their game, which made the match particularly strange.

They began with standard, fixed opening patterns. In the mid-game, they each formed a large group in their own territory, and both tacitly left openings. However, neither of them moved to kill the other’s group. The game proceeded step by step to its conclusion, ending in a configuration that was aesthetically pleasing but nothing more.

The onlookers around them had figured out what was happening and watched the board with great interest, waiting for the final result. Only the two players themselves seemed a bit awkward.

Liu Shuang hadn’t intended to disrupt the game and had planned to report to Wang Ping privately. But when the embarrassed Zhang Xinghuai saw her, it was as if he’d been thrown a lifeline. He called out, "Senior Sister, did The First Day send intelligence?"

His shout drew everyone’s attention to Liu Shuang. Meeting their gazes, she calmly clasped her fist in salute.

Wang Ping took a step forward, and Yu Lian, who was perched on his shoulder, asked, "Is there news?"

"Yes!"

Liu Shuang respectfully handed over the Communication Jade Slip she had received.

As Wang Ping took the jade slip, the others tacitly remained silent.

A moment later, after reading its contents, Wang Ping turned to Wu Quan and said, "The Divine Technique Formation is carved onto the bodies of those Sacrificial Captains. To use it, they will sacrifice themselves. These people are currently scattered and hiding throughout Jianglin Road. The First Day has only managed to find one of them so far. He’s using the alias Liu Gu and is temporarily staying at an inn in the South City of Weishui County."

"The eighteen people escorting the Heaven-Chaos Pearl are also scattered. The First Day has located two of them: one in Shuanghe City on True Yang Mountain, and the other is also in Weishui County."

"On the day we worship Great Monarch Zhonghui, they will all follow the massive procession of worshippers up the mountain, find the right moment to activate the Divine Skill Array, and use it in coordination with the Heaven-Chaos Pearl to assassinate me."

After relaying the contents of the Communication Jade Slip, Wang Ping fell into thought.

After a brief silence, Zhi Gong was the first to speak. "This intelligence is basically useless. Even if we capture these three, we most likely won’t be able to find the others through their memories."

"That’s because you’re an idiot!"

Wu Quan immediately retorted, "They’ll have to contact each other eventually, or the Array won’t activate. We just need to capture or kill everyone who comes into contact with them, especially those who interact with them on the day of the worship ceremony."

The Mountain Guard reminded them, "That trail will be a long one!"

From his tone, it was clear he was no stranger to such matters.

Ganxing said with a smile, "So what if the trail is long? These are necessary measures. Compared to what Xiu Yu Zhenren did in Pingzhou Road, this is just a drop in the bucket."

Hu Yin glanced at the slightly annoyed Zhi Gong Daoist and spoke before she could. "There can be no disturbances on the day we worship Great Monarch Zhonghui. None at all!"

"Then reduce the number of people going up the mountain!"

"No, that’s already been decided."

"Fellow Daoist Changqing, perhaps you could use a puppet to take your place at the worship ceremony."

"Absolutely not! If Fellow Daoist Changqing’s puppet substitute is defeated in front of an army of over a hundred thousand and hundreds of thousands of common people, that would be even more disastrous than a disturbance!"

Everyone began offering their own opinions.

Wang Ping also fell into deep thought. He didn’t dare underestimate his opponent now; after all, his life was on the line.

After the debate had gone on for about fifteen minutes, Huaimo, who had been silent the whole time, spoke up. "I think that since we have clues, we should investigate them thoroughly now. While worshiping Great Monarch Zhonghui is meaningless for us cultivators, he already commands ten percent of Zhongzhou’s destiny. We can’t be the least bit careless about this. Why not..."

He looked at Wang Ping. "...ask Xiao Shan Lord for his aid? If the Lord is watching over us on the day of the worship, any petty schemers will be insignificant."

Wang Ping’s eyes lit up. He really hadn’t considered that. It wasn’t just him; none of the others had thought of Xiao Shan Lord either. They were all too caught up in the situation, while only Huaimo Taoist was looking at it as an outsider.

Worshiping Liu Zixiu was different from attacking True Yang Mountain. Xiao Shan Lord’s incense-fueled faith had already stabilized in Jianglin Road. With a single thought, he could wield the faith of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians to shatter the Divine Technique Formation constructed by the Court’s Sacrificial Captains.

’The Lord should agree!’

Wang Ping took out a Communication Jade Token in front of everyone. Xiao Shan Lord had given it to him; there were three in total, to be used at critical moments.

After sending the message with the Communication Jade Token, Wang Ping looked at Zhi Gong and Wu Quan. "You two Fellow Daoists are skilled in Earth Vein tracking," he said. "I’ll leave the task of capturing them to you."

"No problem!" Wu Quan said with a casual smile.

"You can rest assured, Fellow Daoist!" Zhi Gong replied, clasping her hands solemnly.

"Good. Fellow Daoist Zhi Gong, I’ll trouble you to capture the person in Shuanghe City. Fellow Daoist Wu, you’ll be responsible for the two in Weishui County," Wang Ping decided.

"Yes!"

After acknowledging the order, the two of them transformed into streaks of light and flew toward the eastern barracks. Liu Shuang followed close behind.

By this time, the Communication Jade Slip from Ke Yue had been passed to Huaimo Taoist. After reading it carefully, he said, "The most important part of this intelligence report is the last sentence."

In the report, Ke Yue’s final words were a warning to Wang Ping that the Court had implemented many plans to stop him; the assassination on Moon Mountain was just one of them.

Ganxing added, "From now on, it’s a life-or-death struggle. It’s not surprising that Shangjing City has a plan. All we can do for now is adapt to whatever they throw at us."

He was right. By this point, everyone could guess that Xiao Shan Lord intended to seize the destiny of the Zhongzhou World during the Xia Imperial Family’s succession. He planned to use Zhongzhou’s destiny and the faith of its people to ascend to the Realm of True Monarch.

Therefore, while Shangjing City could try to stop them, they could not make a move against Shangjing City. Not only could they not act, but they also had to pray that the enthronement ceremony would proceed on schedule!

It was a very passive position, but they had no choice but to brace themselves and see it through.

Wang Ping looked toward Hu Yin, who immediately declared, "I will arrange for my people to investigate our clansmen in Ningzhou Road at once and clean out any problematic strongholds and fortified villages."

As she spoke, she looked at the Mountain Guard. They both clasped their hands in a salute before flying off toward Ningzhou Road.

Wang Ping thought for a moment longer, then turned to Zhang Xinghuai and Huaimo with a smile. "It seems you two have never played a match. How about a game?"

"Alright!" Huaimo was somewhat eager.

"I’ll do as Martial Uncle says."

While the others were clearing the Go board, Wang Ping took out the Secret Technique for Artifact Cultivators to advance to the Fourth Realm that Ke Yue had given him. He needed more manpower right now, and this Secret Technique could provide it.

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