My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

Chapter 357: Chapter 86: New Puppet Disciples

After Yuan Zheng Taoist took the Samadhi True Flame, Le Yuan and Wang Ping had a brief discussion. Then, Wang Ping led the two of them into the Gold Institute.

"If you wish to advance here, I can switch the core of the Nine Extremes Array at any time to provide the Gold Institute with sufficient Spiritual Qi." As Wang Ping spoke, he looked toward the Energy Light Pillar created by Yang Hou’s advancement.

Le Yuan also looked toward Yang Hou’s advancement, sensing the inexhaustible Wood Spirit Qi from that direction. Comparing it to his own situation, he said, "This is a good place. I’ll probably need three to five years to plan for a spot in the Third Realm."

"Do you need any help?" Wang Ping asked.

"No need. I’ve been planning this for nearly sixty years. There won’t be any problems," Le Yuan replied confidently.

Next, the three of them discussed a few more details, after which Le Yuan and Yuan Zheng departed silently.

「Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.」

Yang Hou successfully broke through to the next realm.

There was no celebratory ceremony, as a long period of quiet was required after breaking through with the Essence Wood Technique.

Meanwhile, Wang Ping had yet to receive any of the updates he was waiting for, including the results of Jiangcun’s assassination investigation in Shangjing City and Guan Xi’s follow-up on the Kongshan Association.

Of course, what he was most concerned about was the recent contamination incident, but no news had come from either Zi Luan or Li Lin.

Everything seemed to have returned to a state of peace.

As time entered March, the earth grew warm, and the common people busied themselves with the new year’s planting.

Wang Ping finally finished repairing the meridians inside a Corpse Soldier with an upper-mid grade foundation. All that remained was to nourish its body with Wood Spirit, restoring the basic vitality of its organs and the nerves in its head.

The process wasn’t complicated, but it required the Corpse Soldier to first regain basic consciousness.

Wang Ping selected a relatively stable Second Realm True Spirit and organized its consciousness. Then, down the mountain at Zhonghui Academy, he found a rather intelligent student, copied a portion of his consciousness, and, after slightly modifying the persona, imprinted it onto the True Spirit’s consciousness.

Finally, using an Enlightenment Skill activated by three Talismans, he merged the True Spirit’s soul with the Corpse Soldier Puppet.

BOOM!

The instant the physical body and the soul combined, a clap of thunder suddenly echoed across the sky.

Wang Ping felt his Primordial Spirit tremble. He instinctively activated the Heaven-Reaching Talisman, connecting his Primordial Spirit to the power of heaven and earth. With a mere thought, he formed a hand seal and cast several All-Purpose Talismans, transforming them into Blessing Talismans to distort the impending Thunder Tribulation.

’You can do that?’ Yu Lian wondered, her curiosity piqued.

’The Thunder Tribulation itself isn’t strong. It only appeared this time because I granted him an unnatural intelligence. However, his life was created with the power of the Heaven-Reaching Talisman, which has already given him a pass to exist in this world.’

’The Taiyan Talisman is truly amazing!’

As Yu Lian marveled at this, the Corpse Soldier’s consciousness awakened.

"Greetings, Master, Martial Aunt." As the Corpse Soldier’s human consciousness returned, it saw Wang Ping and Yu Lian and immediately performed a cupped fist salute, but then collapsed weakly to the ground.

"You were gravely injured. Go rest in the side room for now. I will heal you slowly."

Wang Ping formed a hand seal, using the Cyan Wood Technique to restore a bit of the man’s vitality. He then pointed to an empty side room and gave his instructions. Out of his own wicked sense of humor, Wang Ping had implanted the Corpse Soldier with the memories of a scholar whose family was massacred by his enemies. His name and family background were the same as the academy student from down the mountain: Song Qu.

Yu Lian watched his back as he entered the room and communicated with Wang Ping in her Spirit Sea, ’This is truly a wondrous thing.’

In the following days, Wang Ping had a new daily task: nourishing Song Qu’s body with Wood Spirit Qi.

「In the blink of an eye, it was May.」

It was unclear if someone had intentionally fanned the flames, but the turmoil in Mozhou Road had actually spread to Hai Zhou Road. Meanwhile, Song Qu’s ’injuries’ had more or less healed, and he was now almost indistinguishable from an ordinary person.

Song Qu’s Qi Sea could already sense Spiritual Qi. Following the memories Wang Ping had given him, he circulated the Spiritual Qi in his body for one Grand Circulation and successfully reached the Qi Cultivation Realm. Wang Ping did not have him proceed with the subsequent Marrow Washing.

Wang Ping planned to wait until Yuan Zheng Taoist advanced to the Third Realm, then have Song Qu seek him out to improve his foundation.

If Yuan Zheng Taoist failed to advance, he could also find his disciple, Wu’an. Wang Ping believed that given the favor he was owed, Wu’an would find it difficult to refuse.

He wasn’t to practice cultivation techniques, but he could work on his character. Wang Ping sent him off to Shen Xiaozhu’s Dao Field to cultivate his character alongside Xia Wen Yi.

As for Wang Ping himself, he had to finish laying out the Rune Lines for the Barrier Formation. This time, he didn’t need to do it himself, as he now had more than enough Tool Puppets to use.

However, to be on the safe side, he still needed to supervise on-site.

「This kept him busy for two months.」

Just as the Barrier Formation was nearing completion, news arrived from Ruan Chunzi. It wasn’t about sharing the spoils of war from Yuan Hu, but rather the payment for the earlier exchange of Cang An’s Primordial Spirit. Ruan Chunzi had a disciple deliver this payment and did not appear in person.

The first item was the seeds and cultivation method for the Vine-Wood Tree.

This was one of the most important sources of Wood Spirit-type Celestial and Earthly Treasures. Its native habitat was the Far East Continent, and the success rate for transplanting it was extremely low. Even if a transplant was successful, it would take at least a century to form a ’Vine-Wood Root’.

Currently, the most successful at artificially cultivating it was Lishui Prefecture. It seemed the True Yang Sect must have made some kind of deal with Lishui Prefecture to get Cang An’s Primordial Spirit back.

Wang Ping set aside Cang An’s Cultivation Technique for the moment. While supervising the puppets at work, he began to read the cultivation method for the Vine-Wood Tree.

To Wang Ping’s surprise, a light-screen panel popped up once again:

[Notes on Vine-Wood Tree Cultivation: In their spare time, the Linshui Prefecture cultivators relied on a combination of a Wood Spirit Array and a Water Spirit Array to simulate the growth environment of the Vine-Wood Tree.]

[1. Prepare an area with relatively abundant Water Spirit Qi and Wood Spirit Qi. Base standard for Wood Spirit Qi: (50/100). Base standard for Water Spirit Qi: (50/100). Monitored area Wood Spirit Qi: (95/100). Monitored area Water Spirit Qi: (2/100).]

[2. You need to draw a suitable combination Array according to the description in the ’Notes’. Reference diagram: ...]

[Note 1: After constructing the combination Array, you must let it self-nourish for at least ten years. The seeds can only be sown when the land reaches a standard of (65/100). Current area standard: (2/100).]

[Note 2: Celestial and Earthly Treasures created through artificial intervention are easily destroyed. You need to simulate the four seasons of the Far East Continent to reduce the chance of destruction.]

[Note 3: Celestial and Earthly Treasures are so named because they are generated by the natural environment. Those created through artificial intervention can only be imitations, with only half the efficacy of naturally grown ones.]

Wang Ping skimmed through the guide panel, his gaze finally resting on the combination Array Map. The Array wasn’t complex, but he knew that meeting the basic requirements would be very difficult.

Moreover, it would be very time-consuming, and the resulting product wouldn’t even be as good as one bought directly.

’This seems like a bad deal!’

Wang Ping planned to revise the ’Notes’ and hand them over to Zhao Wan to handle the initial Array preparations. This small matter should be manageable with the cooperation of the disciples from the Wood Institute and the Water Institute.

Next up was Cang An’s self-created Cultivation Secret Technique...