My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

Wang Ping finished reading the intelligence brought back by the Puppet Bird. The regret and sorrow in his eyes were but a fleeting flash.

"WOOHOO!"

A cheer echoed from the sky.

It was Yu Lian.

Her massive body somersaulted twice in the sky, and a torrential downpour immediately fell upon True Yang Mountain. Then, she summoned the Purple-Blue Treasure Bottle to hover above her head. A dense stream of Water Spirit Qi surged from the bottle's mouth like a spring, which was then absorbed by the Mysterious Array on the surface of her Scale Armor.

She had been playing with her newly refined Purple-Blue Treasure Bottle whenever she had nothing to do these past few days, possibly imitating a character from some storybook.

Wang Ping was infected by her cheerful mood, and the unease in his heart easily dissipated.

"There are fish and shrimp in the nearby rivers again. I estimate the river's ecosystem will recover in about another six months."

When Yu Lian landed, she shrank her body and rode a cloud before Wang Ping, controlling the Purple-Blue Treasure Bottle to circle around her.

Wang Ping pointed a finger, sending out a Talisman that absorbed the recent rainfall and dried the surrounding area. Then, the water-logged Talisman, along with a pine seed, shot into the nearby soil. As Wood Spirit Qi emerged, a pine tree shot up from the ground in the blink of an eye.

"Is something wrong?"

Yu Lian sensed the trace of regret in Wang Ping's heart. She rode her cloud to his side, her gaze falling on the Puppet Bird next to him.

She immediately recognized it as Zi Hong's Puppet Bird, because Zi Hong would use it to bring back the memories he had gathered over the year after every Spring Festival.

She immediately read the Puppet Bird's memories.

Shangjing City had been quiet this past year. Two things in these memories were noteworthy: first, the Shangjing Court was gathering all the slaves together, and second, the final ambush.

"Is the Shangjing Court cleaning out our people?" she asked.

"Not just our people. Anyone who isn't completely loyal to Xia Yao is probably on the chopping block."

"We've had operations in Shangjing City for hundreds of years. How could a major event like this happen without a single piece of intel leaking out?"

That was the same question Wang Ping was pondering. Qianmu Temple not only had internal spies in Shangjing City, but also the Yang Clan and the Wang Clan, which was personally managed by Yu Cheng Taoist, as well as their subordinate collateral branches.

An operation of this scale should have been impossible to keep secret, unless some other intelligence was used to cover it up, or... they've been turned.

Even if they were turned, what about the others?

For example, spies belonging to people like Zhi Gong, Wu Quan, and Ganxing. And what about intelligence channels like Zi Luan's or the Six Heart Sect's? They all should have provided some kind of warning!

But what was the reality?

"Is Zi Hong... gone?"

Yu Lian asked softly.

After that fleeting moment of sorrow, Wang Ping couldn't muster any more grief, only a faint regret. Perhaps, deep down, he had never considered Zi Hong to be a normal person.

Besides, he wasn't one to parade his own kindness and righteousness, and he didn't need to put on an act in front of Yu Lian.

"That old man Tongyu was just talking about Zi Hong not long ago. Said he wanted Zi Hong to continue guarding his Earth Palace."

Yu Lian said, gazing northward.

With Qianmu Temple's help, Tongyu Taoist had already refined a new Spiritual Body from a Taiyin Cultivator. He had returned to his slumber beneath Dongshui Mountain, awaiting the chance to advance to the Fourth Realm. However, given Tongyu's luck, his chances of advancing to the Fourth Realm were slim without outside intervention.

Wang Ping said, "Zi Hong's memories and consciousness were synchronized with this Puppet Bird. When I get the chance, I can resurrect him by creating a new puppet with better aptitude."

He looked at the Puppet Bird flapping its wings in front of him as he spoke.

Yu Lian also looked at the Puppet Bird. After a brief silence, she said, "Maybe you shouldn't. That would be very strange, like something one of those villainous Evil Cultivators from the storybooks would do. If you really must remake him, you can use his memories to create a new puppet, but don't try to bring him back as Zi Hong."

Wang Ping nodded silently. Yu Lian's meaning was clear: since Zi Hong had already returned to dust, they should accept the finality of fate. To resurrect him would be to twist the very nature of life. After all, a resurrected life is never the same as the original, even if it is a perfect copy.

After putting the Puppet Bird into his storage bag, Wang Ping wrote three letters in succession. One was to Zi Luan, asking about the situation in Shangjing City. Another was to Yuan Zheng Taoist, asking him to inquire about Yue Ziyu's situation. The last was to his master, Yu Cheng Taoist, asking about the Wang and Yang Clans in Shangjing City.

Watching the three Puppet Birds fly away, Wang Ping's Primordial Spirit Consciousness descended upon Moon Mountain. He summoned Liu Shuang, who was in charge of building the new Daoist Temple on Moon Mountain, and also instructed her to contact 'First Day' to ask about the situation in Shangjing City.

The next day, on the morning of March sixth, an Entering Cultivator stationed on Xinhe Road submitted a formal calling card and two letters of recommendation.

"Le Xin? That name sounds so familiar!"

After she and Wang Ping finished reading the card, Yu Lian searched for the name in her memory.

Wang Ping, however, immediately remembered who it was. "He's a disciple of the Rongyang Monarch. I heard he's the only one to have cultivated the Rongyang Monarch's original 'Fenhuo Art' to the Third Realm. He was among those who besieged me in Shangjing City."

"It's him?"

The hostility in Yu Lian's heart was plain to see.

Wang Ping, however, turned his gaze to the other two letters of recommendation. One was from Zhang Xinghuai, and the other was from Ruan Chunzi.

Yu Lian said, "He seems to be quite popular."

She said this sarcastically, expressing her dissatisfaction with both Zhang Xinghuai and Ruan Chunzi.

Wang Ping first opened Zhang Xinghuai's letter. Most of its contents were familial greetings, like a letter home. Only at the end did it explain the situation at Changtong Mountain and the matter of Le Xin's disciples entering the Grand Commandant's Mansion.

"I can't make heads or tails of what these people are doing!"

That was Yu Lian's assessment. Her little mind was working furiously.

Wang Ping gently stroked Yu Lian's head, and this time she didn't pull away. He then opened Ruan Chunzi's letter. It also began with all sorts of pleasantries before finally getting to the matter of Le Xin.

Ruan Chunzi was very clever. He wasn't recommending Le Xin so much as explaining Le Xin's situation to Wang Ping in detail.

Le Xin and Ruan Chunzi were Cultivators from the same generation. In Ruan Chunzi's eyes, Le Xin's talent was extremely high; whether it was Qi Cultivation, Marrow Cleansing, or Foundation Establishment, he was the fastest among his peers. But he did not cultivate the 'Three Yang True Inheritance', as that would have meant binding his life to the True Yang Sect. Instead, he became a disciple of the Rongyang Monarch and cultivated the 'Fenhuo Art' that he created.

Now, a thousand years later, Le Xin was the only Fire Cultivator to have cultivated the 'Fenhuo Art' to the Third Realm!

Ruan Chunzi also specifically mentioned that for the past thousand years, Le Xin had almost always been a shut-in, cultivating in his own Daoist Temple and only occasionally inviting a few friends over for drinks and chess. In other words, the attack on Wang Ping in Shangjing City was the first time he had emerged from his seclusion.

After reading the letter, Yu Lian sniffed the air around Wang Ping and said, "What kind of grudge does he have against you? He doesn't leave his mountain for a thousand years, and the first thing he does when he comes out is try to kill you?"

"…"

Wang Ping picked up Le Xin's calling card and smiled. "When we see him, you can ask him for me."

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