My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

The memories Wang Ping had received from Xiao Shan Lord contained the fixed Spell for activating the Celestial Sword’s Divine Technique Formation. To refine the Celestial Sword, he first needed to master this Array.

Wang Ping had a feeling that Xiao Shan Lord must have left something else for him within this Divine Technique Formation. He just wasn’t sure if he should activate it.

He looked up, as if trying to comprehend the Celestial Dao simply by staring at the heavens. But while its name might suggest it, the Celestial Dao’s existence was not confined to the sky.

After a long moment of silence, he took out a pair of divination blocks and cast a trigram.

It was a Holy Trigram!

Wang Ping stared at the resulting pattern on the ground, lost in thought. He figured it was highly unlikely Xiao Shan Lord meant him any harm. Otherwise, he would have acted long ago instead of going through all this trouble.

So, he collected the divination blocks, summoned his Heaven-Reaching Talisman, and with a stir of his consciousness, ten Celestial Swords shot out from it.

Wang Ping didn’t immediately activate the Divine Technique Formations within them. Instead, he used his Primordial Spirit Consciousness to inspect the structure of the blades.

’They’re just made of refined steel!’

Wang Ping could hardly believe what the swords were made of. They were forged from refined steel from the Mortal World, their divinity nurtured only through the worship of the masses, which formed the profound Divine Technique Formations on their blades.

When he probed them with a method from the Yuqing Sect, he found their energy particles numbered over a hundred billion, a structure nearly identical to that of Celestial and Earthly Treasures. It was a structure his current Primordial Spirit was incapable of observing completely.

"Its spiritual energy is so dazzling I can’t sleep!"

Yu Lian dropped from the eaves and perched on Wang Ping’s shoulder. She studied the Celestial Swords as intently as he did, then said with curiosity, "These are the Celestial Swords the Imperial Family uses to control the world’s destiny, aren’t they? Rumor has it they’ve always been enshrined deep within the Imperial Palace, guarded as a priceless treasure. To think there are ten of them!"

Her tone was mocking at first, but then shifted to one of wistful sorrow. "They toiled conscientiously for hundreds of years, for dozens of generations, only to end up as someone else’s pawns. How pitiful, how tragic!"

Wang Ping pushed those thoughts aside. The more he dwelled on them, the more insignificant he felt.

"Xiao Shan Lord’s memories contain the method for activating the Celestial Sword’s Divine Technique Formation. Why do you think he gave it to me? Also, if I activate it, will it cause a phenomenon like what happened in Shangjing City?"

"I have no idea why Xiao Shan Lord passed the Divine Technique Formation on to you, but I do know that activating it won’t cause any phenomenon. I don’t know how Divine Secret Techniques are cultivated, but their wondrous power is plain to see. All powerful Magic in this world has prerequisites. So if you activate it now, you’ll be a mere visitor at best, not its master."

After finishing her analysis, Yu Lian’s tone changed. "Since you have a way to activate it, what are you waiting for? Go on, hurry up! Let me see it. Back in Shangjing City, I didn’t even dare extend my Primordial Spirit to take a look."

"Alright!"

Wang Ping nodded, then deliberately stood up. He quieted his mind, casting aside all unnecessary thoughts, and called upon his Primordial Spirit Consciousness. He used his Primordial Spirit to channel the power of the Celestial Swords, then rapidly performed the fixed Hand Technique that Xiao Shan Lord had pre-established.

The instant he completed the Hand Technique, a silver-white sphere of light emerged from between his eyebrows. This was the ’key’ to the Divine Technique passed down through the Xia Royal Family. Wang Ping could feel it rejecting him, as he lacked the Xia Family bloodline.

As the curtain of light spilling from the silver-white sphere touched the ten Celestial Swords, Wang Ping formed another fixed Hand Technique that Xiao Shan Lord had designed.

As the Spell unfolded, fine golden threads materialized at Wang Ping’s feet. They connected to the ten Celestial Swords and simultaneously began to converge beneath him, forming an illusory map of Zhongzhou.

"So, it has come to this..."

A familiar voice spoke—it was Xiao Shan Lord. Startled, Yu Lian immediately dove into Wang Ping’s sleeve.

The figure of Xiao Shan Lord had appeared above the illusory map of Zhongzhou, but it lacked his aura. It was merely a rather intimidating wisp of consciousness, weaker than even a Qi Cultivator.

"Greetings, Lord!"

Wang Ping maintained a respectful demeanor.

Xiao Shan Lord turned to Wang Ping and hesitated for several moments. "So, in the end, I chose you?"

Unsure of his meaning, Wang Ping remained silent.

Xiao Shan Lord fell silent for over ten seconds before speaking again. "I left this wisp of consciousness to answer your questions and to show you the path forward. However, the path you take must be your own choice. That said, barring any surprises, this is the only path available to you!"

"I await your instruction."

Wang Ping cupped his fist in a bow. Since Yu Lian didn’t sense the overwhelming power of the Fourth Realm from Xiao Shan Lord, she boldly emerged from his sleeve. Watching Wang Ping bow, she lowered her head in respect as well.

Xiao Shan Lord looked up at the night sky, which was dotted with countless stars.

"It all began five thousand years ago, when Demon Emperor Yaoyi sought out the first elder of the Human Race to ascend to the Fourth Realm. This man was also the first Sect Leader of the True Yang Sect. His name has been erased from the annals of history, yet it has been preserved in another way. He was known as ’True Yang,’ and the True Yang Sect was named after him."

"No one knows what the Demon Emperor told him. I suspect that Yaoyi informed Elder True Yang that he would never be able to ascend to the Fifth Realm. As Elder True Yang’s cultivation deepened, he came to believe the Demon Emperor’s words, because I, too, discovered this problem when my own cultivation reached the Late Stage of the Fourth Realm."

"Is it an issue with the quota?" Yu Lian asked curiously.

"No. Whether it is the Mystic Sect or the Celestial Sect, there should be three positions available in the Fifth Realm. This is a conclusion I came to while investigating the Wood Spirit Origin. The obstacle to ascension stems from a bottleneck in our cultivation itself."

Xiao Shan Lord looked at Wang Ping. "You should know that for cultivators of Lishui Prefecture’s *Hundred Waters Secret Technique*, reaching the Third Realm requires refining one’s Primordial Spirit into the form of a flood dragon. Otherwise, ascension is impossible. The bottleneck I speak of is precisely that."

It dawned on Wang Ping. "We need to change our form of life?" he asked.

"I’m not sure." Xiao Shan shook his head decisively. "I don’t know the specifics of what happened, but my later divinations led me to one conclusion: Elder True Yang ultimately believed the Demon Emperor, even though the Demon Emperor had been dead for a long time. He stole a portion of Lieyang True Monarch’s fire spirits, which caused a schism in the True Yang Sect. Elder True Yang then vanished. All of this is from my deductions, not something I witnessed as fact."

"Afterward, a chaotic war that swept the world tore the Zhongzhou Continent asunder. The present-day Eastern Continent is the part that broke away. I ascended to the Fourth Realm during that time. Later, something of great importance happened..."

He paused for several moments before continuing. "Later, Huishan True Monarch attempted to turn every spiritual being in the world into a puppet. He intended to use them to stabilize spiritual energy and prevent similar wars from ever happening again. This elder had always looked after us Taiyan Cultivators, and I respected him from the bottom of my heart."

"But we could not condone his actions, yet no one spoke out to stop him. Not until Elder Yuxiao informed the other four sects of the Mystic Sect. This led to the Taiyan Sect’s name being struck from the records, and Huishan True Monarch was besieged by the other True Monarchs. His Primordial Spirit suffered grievous, irreparable damage!"

"Later on, Elder Yuxiao began plotting to attain the True Monarch Position. He told me that Elder True Yang hadn’t vanished, but had instead fused his Primordial Spirit with Lieyang True Monarch’s. In that incredible state, Elder True Yang ascended to the Fifth Realm."

"Furthermore, Xuanqing Taoist of the Yuqing Sect also took advantage of that world-sweeping war to fuse with the Primordial Spirit of Ling Mountain True Monarch. From what I know, however, Ling Mountain True Monarch did so willingly. He had been gravely wounded in that great war; if he hadn’t fused his Primordial Spirit with Xuanqing Taoist’s, he would have undoubtedly perished."

"So, Elder Yuxiao’s plan was also to fuse with Huishan True Monarch, whose Primordial Spirit had been damaged. But he failed..."

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