A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Back at the riverside courtyard, Hong Fu and Li Hejun hadn’t disappointed Lü Zhong. They had successfully printed five copies of the Talisman Making Book, free of any rudimentary errors like missing or misprinted pages.

"Excellent!" Lü Zhong was never stingy with his praise.

Nor would he forget their well-deserved reward.

When the two saw the sumptuous dinner on the table, they stared in disbelief.

The Spirit Rice, made from Cyan Bud Spirit Rice that cost one Spirit Stone a pound, was first-rate in every aspect—color, aroma, and taste. And that was to say nothing of the platter of Mud Shell Pork stewed with Spiritual Cabbage.

The aroma was intoxicatingly rich, the meat tender but not mushy.

Forget eating it; the smell alone was enough to make you devour a whole bucket of rice.

Li Hejun, who seemed to have been well-educated, managed to maintain a sliver of ladylike composure. Hong Fu, on the other hand, had completely lost control. She was drooling so profusely it nearly formed a puddle on the floor.

With a sweep of his sleeve, Lü Zhong portioned out their shares of the meal.

"This is your reward for a job well done. Each of you can take a bowl and go."

"Th-thank you, Master!" Hong Fu shouted happily.

Beside her, Li Hejun hesitated for a moment before offering the same thanks.

They say hardship makes one mature quickly, and she was no exception.

As she spoke, a fawning expression appeared on her face, seemingly against her will.

Lü Zhong took note of this, but remained completely unmoved.

’She’s just a tool. Why would I feel pity for her?’

After the two had finished eating, Lü Zhong dangled another carrot. "If you continue to perform well," he said with a smile, "I might even grant you the opportunity to cultivate!"

His words were directed mainly at Hong Fu.

As for Li Hejun, she didn’t have a Spirit Root. Even if he gave her the Breathing and Exhaling Skill, she would never be able to complete the first step of introducing Qi into the body, let alone formally set foot on the Immortal Path.

Li Hejun had the strongest reaction to his words.

She, of course, understood the meaning of the word "cultivation"—it represented the power to avenge her father!

Hong Fu, on the other hand, looked bewildered. She glanced down subconsciously at the rice bowl in her hands, and only then did a brilliant smile spread across her face.

’Cultivation... means I get to eat delicious food!’

...

「Late that night.」

Lü Zhong sat cross-legged in his Quiet Chamber, lost in thought.

’Once the Talisman Making Books go on sale, I’ll need to sell as many as possible in a short amount of time.’

’Otherwise, once the city’s major powers investigate me and start selling bootleg copies, my sales will be crushed by their established networks and immense strength.’

’It’s even possible my sales will dry up completely.’

Lü Zhong was, after all, a lone wolf. His cultivation was merely at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer. He would be lucky just to hold onto the profits from his book; he had no power to fight the pirates.

’I’ll go to the central district tomorrow. That’s the best place to sell these books.’

His plan set, he took out a Jade Solidification Pill and swallowed it.

As he refined the Pill’s medicinal energy, a worried look crossed Lü Zhong’s face.

The jump from the Qi Refining Sixth Layer to the Seventh Layer wasn’t just a simple progression from the Middle to the Late Stage of Qi Refining. It marked the very first step toward Foundation Establishment. Consequently, the amount of cultivation needed to break through—the sheer volume of Spiritual Power that had to be refined—dwarfed that of all previous Small Realms. The increase was practically exponential.

This sharp increase in cultivation difficulty was why the stage was known as a "bottleneck."

For cultivators with abundant resources, this bottleneck could be overcome simply by grinding through it over time. For most Loose Cultivators and some Family Cultivators, however, it was an insurmountable chasm.

When the cultivation difficulty was lower, they could get by with diligent cultivation—absorbing nature’s spiritual energy—and using their accumulated Spirit Stones to occasionally buy a Pill to speed things up.

But once they hit the bottleneck, everything changed.

They might maintain their resolve at first, but if the delay dragged on for too long, that resolve would inevitably erode due to numerous factors. This could lead to the bizarre phenomenon of their power not just stagnating, but actually regressing.

One factor was lifespan. A Qi Refining cultivator’s life expectancy was capped at 120 years. Their bodies peaked before the age of sixty; after that, their physical condition would begin to decline. This manifested as a slower rate of cultivation and an accompanying decay in strength.

Another factor was outside interference. The persistent failure to break through a Realm was bound to be demoralizing. Unless a cultivator’s resolve was as solid as a rock, few could resist the temptations of worldly pleasures.

This was why Loose Cultivators in the early and middle stages of Qi Refining were common, while those in the late stages were a rare sight.

Naturally, Lü Zhong was worried about these things.

He was only human, after all, and couldn’t remain indifferent to such temptations indefinitely.

’The best solution, of course, is to break through the bottleneck quickly by throwing enough resources at the problem.’

’And that requires a huge amount of Spirit Stones!’

...

Lü Zhong was out the door before the crack of dawn.

He had to leave this early. The central district was the commercial hub of not only Yongling City but the entire Yongling Region. It went without saying that a huge number of cultivators would want to set up stalls there.

If he got there late, he would likely only be able to find a spot in some forgotten corner.

This ran counter to his plan of selling a large number of Talisman Making Books quickly.

After taking a Beast Vehicle to the stall area, he saw that quite a few cultivators were already lined up at the management office.

Seeing this, Lü Zhong quickened his pace.

He handed over one Spirit Stone in exchange for a stall permit.

Thanks to his years of experience with stalls, and a bit of good luck, he managed to snag an excellent spot.

It was located not far from the entrance to the stall area. While not the absolute closest spot, a well-placed sign would absolutely be able to catch the eye of any cultivator who walked in.