26 Chapter 26: The Struggle of Loose Cultivators

He, who made a living by cooperating with others to hunt demonic beasts, still had some savings.

His successful breakthrough this time filled his heart with unspeakable joy.

Thus, even if it meant treating his friend to a feast at the Osmanthus Pavilion, he didn't mind at all.

Osmanthus Pavilion.

It was the most expensive restaurant in Bamboo Mountain Immortal Pavilion, without a doubt.

The dishes in Osmanthus Pavilion.

Used spirit rice for the rice, spiritual materials for the vegetables, and demonic beast meat for the meat.

Moreover, they were meticulously selected, and only the best parts were used for cooking.

Most importantly, after having a meal here, the spirit power absorbed from the dishes could be worth several days of hard cultivation.

You can increase your cultivation just by eating.

As a result, the consumption at the Osmanthus Pavilion was extremely high.

Just having a meal for two people alone would cost at least several spirit stones!

And this was the cost for just two people, ordering dishes that were not particularly rare.

If there were more people and the dishes were of a higher quality, it could possibly even cost tens to hundreds of spirit stones.

Such terrifying consumption made the Osmanthus Pavilion's status in Bamboo Mountain Immortal Pavilion unparalleled.

Ordinary loose cultivators would not usually go there unless it was a special occasion.

Those who could casually eat and drink at the Osmanthus Pavilion were mostly noble family members or sect disciples.

The difference between them and loose cultivators was as vast as a chasm.

"Then we shall drink till we're drunk." Facing Lin Cong's invitation, He Song didn't have any intention of refusing and agreed directly.

Lin Cong's decision to invite him to the Osmanthus Pavilion was his own choice.

It wasn't because He Song had forced him to go for a meal there.

If the one treating wanted to go,

He would just go with them.

Rather than pretending to refuse, it was better to be straightforward, otherwise, it would make him look too pretentious and not good.

As friends, there was no need for pretense.

Seeing He Song agree, Lin Cong nodded satisfactorily, immediately put down the teacup, and dragged He Song out with him.

At this moment, it was lunchtime.

Soon.

They crossed the bustling street,

and arrived at the famous Osmanthus Pavilion in Bamboo Mountain Immortal Pavilion.

As soon as they entered, a waiter dressed as a "little two" came up to them, and at the same time, his voice rang out.

"Welcome, Immortal Masters. Would you like to be on the first or second floor?"

"The second floor, the view is better." Lin Cong casually replied.

"Alright, please take a seat."

Osmanthus Pavilion's second floor.

He Song and Lin Cong sat at a table near a window,

which was so well positioned that they barely had to twist their heads to see the street outside. The view was excellent.

If they looked far away, they could even see the towering mountains in the distance.

Streaks of mist adorned the mountains,

making them appear even more lofty and towering.

The little two had already left, and Lin Cong had placed their order.

At this moment, the two were chatting idly.

"Mr. He, do you know why it took me so long to break through this time?" While waiting for the food, Lin Cong lowered his head and asked in a slightly depressed tone.

"I don't know. Was it hard to break through the bottleneck?" He Song thought for a moment and hazarded a guess.

"That's not it. I've always heard other loose cultivators say that it's hard for loose cultivators, but I didn't really care until now, after experiencing it myself." Lin Cong shook his head, his words trailing off before he sighed.

But then he continued.

"During the month of my breakthrough, I spent over half of it preparing to break through the bottleneck. But who would have thought that when I finally got everything ready and began my breakthrough, I'd realize that my four spirits root made it actually quite easy."

As he spoke, Lin Cong gave a bitter smile, his feelings hard to express in words.

In order to break through to the Qi-refining mid-stage, he had made a lot of preparations and heard various things about what would be needed to break through.

But when he finally bought everything one by one and started his breakthrough, he suddenly found that these things were absolutely useless to someone with his four spirits root.

With his four spirits root qualification, breaking through the bottleneck from early-stage Qi refining to mid-stage Qi refining was actually quite easy.

Fortunately, he did succeed.

It was just that he had wasted the spirit stones spent on buying those items.

Although the things he bought turned out to be useless,

his own cultivation had indeed successfully reached the Qi-refining mid-stage.

Hence, he was able to casually recount these events to He Song as if they were jokes.

If he had failed the breakthrough, things might have turned out differently.

Moreover, after experiencing it all, Lin Cong truly understood the hardships of loose cultivators.

Loose cultivators.

Most of the time, their information channels relied on hearsay, but who could guarantee the accuracy of what they heard?

Take his own experience as an example.

If he hadn't gone through it personally, he wouldn't have believed it either.

Loose cultivators faced many issues during their cultivation journeys, such as how to break through bottlenecks, how to practice cultivation skills, how to learn skills, and how to choose artifacts.

Almost all loose cultivators had to figure these things out for themselves.

In comparison to sect disciples and noble family members, it is extremely difficult for loose cultivators to keep progressing in their cultivation journey.

This was the drawback of having little knowledge and no guidance from elders.

"It's not difficult for someone with a four spirits root to break through to the Qi-refining mid-stage?" He Song marveled, then his eyes lit up.

He himself also had a four spirits root!

According to Lin Cong's words, when he reached the fourth stage of Qi refining, breaking through the bottleneck should not be too difficult as well.

At this thought, He Song's eyes sparkled with gratitude when looking at Lin Cong.

He had initially thought that when Lin Cong successfully broke through to the Qi-refining mid-stage, it would somehow benefit his own future breakthrough to the Qi-refining mid-stage.

But he never expected

that Lin Cong—who had experienced the breakthrough himself—would bring him such news.

This meant that when it was time for his own breakthrough to the Qi-refining mid-stage, he wouldn't have to take the same detours as Lin Cong.

In the Cultivation World,

everyone knows how important wealth, partners, skills, and land are.

Wealth refers to cultivation resources.

For partners, it's Daoist partners or knowledgeable friends with whom you can discuss your path.

Skills are cultivation skills, spells, and other practices in the Hundred Skills of Cultivation Truth.

As for land, it's the place with abundant spirit Qi.

He Song had always thought that wealth, partners, skills, and land were important, yet it was only after hearing Lin Cong's words did he truly understand just how crucial they were.

If he didn't know Lin Cong, he wouldn't have received this information.

If he didn't know this, when breaking through to the Qi-refining mid-stage, he might have had to make the same mistakes Lin Cong had made.

If Lin Cong didn't have such a good relationship with him and didn't tell him the truth, he still wouldn't have known about these things.

In this regard, He Song felt he owed Lin Cong a favor.

Being able to tell him all this showed that Lin Cong was indeed a good friend!

"Thank you for sharing this with me. When I break through to the Qi-refining mid-stage in the future, I will definitely invite you here to catch up!"

He Song didn't hesitate to make a promise in the face of such kindness.

Spending some spirit stones was nothing.

It was showing his gratitude to Lin Cong that mattered to He Song at that moment.