My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar

Chapter 365: Chapter 94: Sudden Seclusion

As Xiao Shan Lord spoke, he extended a hand. Two small jade slips appeared in his palm, and he tossed one to Zi Luan and the other to Xiu Yu.

Zi Luan instinctively caught the jade slip. Since Xiu Yu was kneeling, his slip landed on the ground in front of him. Just then, Xiao Shan Lord continued speaking.

"The jade slips record the Secret Technique passed down by Huishan True Monarch. They come with a built-in Sealing Array. If my ascension succeeds, I will remove the seal for you myself. If I fail, the seal will break on its own when my Primordial Spirit dissipates. However, if your own Primordial Spirits are afflicted by my curse, you won’t be able to read the contents."

Upon hearing this, both men were about to declare their loyalty, but Xiao Shan Lord spoke first. "Don’t waste time on pointless words. This matter is of the utmost importance. In principle, I trust you, but you don’t seem to trust me. Especially you... Changqing."

"That little fellow, Yu Cheng, must have been through too much. He’s taught you to be a coward, paranoid all the time, trusting no one, yet you still want to stick your nose in everything!"

"Since that’s the case, I’ll be blunt. I can make you two promises. First, if I succeed in my ascension, you will get what you want. Second, if I fail, you will still get a portion of what I leave behind!"

"What do you say to that deal?"

After speaking, Xiao Shan Lord stared intently at Wang Ping.

Wang Ping remained focused while Xiao Shan Lord was speaking about him. He felt that the Lord seemed more real now than before, yet within that realness was an ephemeral, illusory quality.

"This junior will naturally comply!" Wang Ping did not kneel like Zi Luan and Xiu Yu. After all, he was not Xiao Shan Lord’s disciple, and kneeling would be inappropriate for their respective statuses.

"Good!"

Xiao Shan Lord lowered his eyelids, the smile vanishing from his face. He said, "This time, I will use the world’s fortune as a catalyst to draw upon the Wood Spirit Qi of all Zhongzhou. When that happens, countless Wood Spirit True Spirits will run rampant. To that end, I have developed a suppression Array. I need the three of you to act as the eyes of this Array, using your Primordial Spirits to drive the Heaven-Reaching Talismans and unleash an even greater power to suppress the True Spirits’ rampage."

"This Array must be refined beforehand. With your cultivation levels, it should take about seven or eight years to complete. The new emperor’s ascension to the throne is also about that far away. Therefore, from now on, you will all need to enter seclusion here."

"However, there’s no great rush. I’ll give you three days to arrange your affairs."

As he spoke, he extended his right hand. Three rapidly spinning, dark green halos of light appeared around his wrist. Within the halos, Array Runes were faintly visible. Between the runes were Wood Spirit materials Wang Ping had never seen before, all linked together to form an exquisite Array.

The moment the three Arrays appeared, they each flew toward Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and Xiu Yu.

The three of them tacitly caught the Arrays.

The instant he touched the Array, Wang Ping felt as if his Primordial Spirit was being lifted by an invisible force. But it wasn’t unpleasant; on the contrary, it felt quite comfortable. Moreover, this power was actually strengthening his Primordial Spirit!

The next moment, he sensed the source of this power: Zi Luan and Xiu Yu beside him, and Xiao Shan Lord in front of him.

This set of Arrays fused the power of all four of them. Wang Ping even felt that within this Array, he could wield a portion of Xiao Shan Lord’s own power!

Sensing more closely...

Wang Ping perceived that their four powers were linked together by three Talismans within their Primordial Spirits, and the medium for this connection was, naturally, the Array.

"Once you have fully refined this Array, you will find it even more wondrous."

Xiao Shan Lord waved his hand. "We’ll meet again in three days."

Wang Ping set aside his complicated thoughts, suppressing the issue of the Kongshan Association for now, and bowed to Xiao Shan Lord along with Zi Luan and Xiu Yu.

...

「Outside the main gate of the Six Heart Sect.」

The Inner Sect Disciples were still standing in formation. As Wang Ping led Zhao Yu’Er out of the mountain gate, an old man walking up the mountain happened to arrive at the gate at the same time.

"It’s a Third Realm Cultivator from the Earth Cave Sect!"

Yu Lian was the first to sense the old man’s aura.

When Wang Ping met his gaze, the man politely performed a cupped-fist salute. Wang Ping instinctively returned the gesture, while Zhao Yu’Er performed a junior’s bow. The old man then stepped aside to let them pass.

The next moment, Wang Ping and Zhao Yu’Er transformed into a streak of light and vanished over the horizon.

「After leaving Jinhuai Prefecture City.」

Wang Ping brought out the Pocket World Mirror to conceal his and Zhao Yu’Er’s auras, then landed at the shaded base of a mountain. He took out the jade slip he had just received and opened it.

Inside were two Sealing Arrays that even his Primordial Spirit Consciousness couldn’t penetrate.

"Just now, Xiao Shan Lord’s consciousness seemed like that of an ordinary person." Yu Lian sounded perplexed. Meanwhile, Zhao Yu’Er dutifully moved to the side to keep watch.

"To me, it felt like a deep, bottomless, starry sky."

Wang Ping murmured softly, then extended his palm, revealing the Array he had received.

The Array no longer brought about any change in his Primordial Spirit. He took it out to see if the light screen panel could read it.

He observed outward from the Magic Array Core—the area where he himself was located. The first thing he saw were complex Rune Lines connecting to a series of small, dark-green spheres.

The surfaces of the small spheres were also etched with Rune Lines, layered one on top of the other, with at least three layers in total.

Probing deeper, he detected the presence of a living consciousness deep within the spheres. The feeling was familiar—it was the life consciousness of a puppet. And within that consciousness, he could sense the aura of a Spirit Communication Talisman!

These were consciousnesses nurtured by using puppets to cultivate the Taiyan Talisman! And almost all of them were at the Second Realm or higher!

’What an extravagant move!’

Wang Ping was shaken to the core.

Yu Lian was also observing the Array, and she was even more shocked than Wang Ping.

He continued his observation. When the edges of the Array had been fully taken in by his Primordial Spirit’s consciousness, the light screen panel actually popped up:

[Incomplete Unknown Array: A linked Array constructed using the properties of the Taiyan Talisman. It gathers the consciousness of several individuals into a single point and can suppress most True Spirits!]

[Note 1: This Array was constructed post-creation. Its variability coefficient is too high to calculate the incomplete portions.]

[Note 2: After connecting to this Array, Cultivators with relatively lower cultivation can draw upon its energy to slowly enhance their own cultivation.]

[Note 3: Do not use this Array to read the consciousness of others. Doing so will trigger the Array’s innate defenses, resulting in permanent damage to the Primordial Spirit.]

Wang Ping let out a breath after reading the strategy panel.

His main goal had been to see if there were any traps in this Array. As it was, he was already being held over a fire with no way to retreat. Even if he knew there was a pitfall, he would have to jump in. He just needed to make some necessary preparations—preparations to escape with his life at the critical moment.

"Looking at you now, I’m suddenly reminded of Xiao Shan Lord’s assessment of you earlier."

Yu Lian tilted her head, looking at Wang Ping.

Wang Ping was unconcerned. "People all call me a genius, but I truly started from nothing. If I weren’t cautious, I’d have been dead long ago."