My Cultivation Has a Progress Bar-Chapter 34: No Money

When Wang Ping heard Zhao Qing, his first thought was of the Spirit Wood and Spirit Grass he grew in his Lin Garden. The market for Spirit Wood and Spirit Grass in the Xia Country was almost entirely monopolized by the Daoist Scripture Hall. This wasn’t due to the difficulty of cultivation, but because the Daoist Scripture Hall was just so cheap—cheaper even than growing the seedlings himself. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"I suppose I could sell them, but my output won’t be very high!"

"Can others learn how to do it?"

Wang Ping paused, thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "It’s too dangerous. The karmic implications are too severe!"

If someone were to misuse this Secret Technique, a single mistake could lead to the destruction of an entire city. The karma involved ran too deep, and Wang Ping dared not take such a risk.

"Alright..."

Zhao Qing was somewhat disappointed, but he didn’t dare defy Wang Ping’s wishes. Since becoming the Internal Affairs Steward, he had come to understand clearly that all of Qianmu Temple’s efforts and management existed for the sole purpose of supporting Wang Ping’s cultivation. This was the will of the Yu Cheng Taoist, and no one could change it.

"There’s one more thing..."

Wang Ping said with a grave expression, "Keep an eye out for any Celestial and Earthly Treasures of extreme yin or extreme yang at the Daoist Scripture Hall. If you see any, buy one of each for me, no matter the cost."

This time, Zhao Qing looked troubled. "Senior Brother, given the Daoist Temple’s current financial state, Celestial and Earthly Treasures are likely a pipe dream. They’re priced at over five hundred thousand taels, and we almost never see them available. Even if they do appear, we’d have to win them at an auction!"

"..."

Wang Ping was taken aback. "How much money do we have?"

Zhao Qing’s face fell. "After repaying the Daoist Scripture Hall the one hundred thousand taels of silver, we only have about sixty thousand taels that we can mobilize. And we’ll only have that much once Sanhe Temple sends over the spoils from the demon extermination in Shu County."

It dawned on Wang Ping then that he had been a parasite, nearly bleeding Qianmu Temple dry.

"In that case, let’s postpone this matter... But the daily supply of ten portions of Spirit Medicine must continue!"

"Yes!"

Zhao Qing had arrived in high spirits, but he left burdened with worry.

Wang Ping didn’t explain further. ’If Zhao Qing proves capable, once I successfully set up the Body Refining Array, it’s not out of the question that I’ll give the first opportunity to him.’

’As for Liu Shuang and Yang Zhiping, their natural aptitudes are average at best. They don’t need it.’

That afternoon, a young disciple delivered the Spirit Medicine.

Wang Ping eagerly began the refining process. Failure was, of course, inevitable at the start.

「Three months passed.」

On the third day of spring, Wang Ping finally succeeded in refining one complete set of materials. He immediately began the fusion process, hoping his luck would be good enough for a success.

But in the end, he failed.

He returned to his bitter cultivation.

By the end of the sixth month, Wang Ping’s Foundation Establishment progress had reached (5/100). Liu Shuang had managed to sense the existence of qi with her Chang Chun Technique. Wang Ping had also refined about ten sets of materials for his ’Hand Grenades,’ bringing his refinement progress to (17/100) with a success rate of over ten percent.

Just as Wang Ping was about to attempt another fusion, he received a letter from Feng Miao.

The letter began with an apology. She could no longer provide the follow-up she had promised on the human trafficking incident. The Daoist Scripture Hall had decided that the investigation would go no further than the North Mountain Forest in Shu County.

What could Wang Ping do?

After putting the letter down, all he could do was let out a deep sigh and go into seclusion to fuse his ’Hand Grenade.’

「One month later.」

Wang Ping’s first ’Hand Grenade’ took form inside a simple Alchemy Furnace.

That very afternoon, he eagerly gathered a few of his junior brothers and their disciples, leading them to a small stream behind Qianmu Mountain to test its power.

A murky white light flashed, followed by a deafening "BOOM!" The blast rattled their eardrums and pulverized everything within its radius.

Zhao Qing stared in disbelief at the dust scattering on the wind and murmured, "That’s more powerful than a full-force strike from a typical Qi Cultivator!"

Wang Ping, also stunned by its power, shook his head at Zhao Qing’s words. "It’s only useful against Qi Cultivators initially. Once they discover its weakness and drain the surrounding Spiritual Qi while it’s trying to absorb it, the explosion will be about as harmful as a tickle."

"Even so, it’s still incredible!" Wang Kang said, looking at his senior brother with adoration. "Senior Brother, how did you even come up with this?"

Wang Ping ignored Wang Kang and asked, "Can we sell this?"

"Absolutely! With the war in the Northwest so intense, the Court is the perfect deep-pocketed buyer. The only question is, Senior Brother, can you mass-produce them?" Zhao Qing was visibly thrilled. Managing Qianmu Temple’s finances was a real headache.

"Forget about the Northwest war for now. We can talk about it in a few years, once I’ve completely mastered the refining technique. Also, get me a better Alchemy Furnace."

Lv Xin, who was in charge of the medicinal fields, chimed in, "I think we should use them to trade for more Spirit Medicine seeds. That way, we can cultivate more Spirit Fields and grow more Spirit Medicine. Only when we have enough Spirit Medicine can we refine more..."

"We’ll discuss this later!" Zhao Qing cut Lv Xin off.

"How can this be something we discuss later..."

Wang Ping ignored his junior brothers’ squabbling. He was contemplating the device’s safety. Once finished, it would detonate within five breaths if even a tiny bit of Spiritual Power was channeled into it, disrupting its internal balance.

’If someone were to be careless... that would be a disaster.’

’I need some kind of outer casing to insulate it from Spiritual Qi. Those materials are common enough, but it also needs to be something that preserves it well.’

Lost in thought, Wang Ping made his way back to his small courtyard on the mountain peak.

「Time flew.」

Winter arrived once more. On the third day of the season, just as Wang Ping finished his daily Foundation Establishment practice and was getting ready for breakfast, Zhao Qing entered the small courtyard holding a Longsword that had been custom-made for him.

It had been forged for Wang Ping from the melted-down spear of the Tiger Demon, a spoil from last year’s campaign against the demons of Shu County.

"I’ve been searching for an Artifact Refiner ever since I got back last year," Zhao Qing explained. "Last month, thanks to an introduction from Daoist Guangxuan of Sanhe Temple, we finally found an Artifact Refiner willing to join our Daoist Temple."

SHIIING!

Wang Ping drew the Longsword. Like Feng Miao’s long saber, its blade was entirely jet-black. Both the weight and length were a perfect fit for him.

After running through a set of the Qianmu Sword Technique, Wang Ping nodded in satisfaction. At that moment, Zhao Qing produced a letter. "Fellow Daoist Guangxuan asked someone to deliver this to you."

Puzzled, Wang Ping took the letter and opened it right there in front of Zhao Qing.

Just like Feng Miao’s letter, this one also spoke of the follow-up investigation in North Mountain of Shu County. Someone had suppressed the matter. The trail went cold at North Mountain.

...

Wang Ping didn’t refine the new Treasure Sword. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to use a sword yet. He did, however, place it in front of the pagoda tree, nourishing it with Spiritual Qi daily to make future refinement more convenient, should he choose to do so.

Before he knew it, another Spring Festival had arrived.

In the first few days of the twelfth month, several wealthy households from Shang’an Prefecture began sending their eligible concubine-born sons to the temple. The Daoist Temple held a grand apprenticeship ceremony before the Spring Festival, which both Wang Ping and the Yu Cheng Taoist attended.

During the festival, Wang Ping and his two apprentices stayed in the Yu Cheng Taoist’s courtyard for a full half-month before he returned to his own.

After the festival, Zhao Qing organized a team to expand the Daoist Temple’s front hall. Lv Xin selected some diligent young disciples to expand his medicinal fields and began developing a large, barren mountainside. Meanwhile, Wang Kang was busy with the new year of teaching.

「After the first lunar month.」

Wang Ping refined five more ’Hand Grenades.’ He decided to name them ’Power Pills.’ He created a safe outer casing for them using the peel of the Yin Yang Vine.

The Yin Yang Vine was a common climbing plant that naturally possessed a strong magnetic field capable of insulating against most Spiritual Qi. Cultivating it wasn’t difficult; they could outsource the work to the village below the mountain, and the temple could simply collect the harvest each year.

Zhao Qing was ecstatic when he received the items.

For a long time afterward, Wang Ping remained on the peak of Qianmu Mountain. His days fell into a routine: he woke early to meditate for his Foundation Establishment, studied interesting Magic in the morning, taught his two disciples in the afternoon, and spent the rest of his time refining ’Power Pills’ or resting in a meditative state.