Chapter 58: Victory

Lin Congcong never expected that he would actually… lose.

And he had lost thoroughly. Despite having a cultivation level that was a whole minor realm ahead, he had actually lost to someone with a Water-Fire Spiritual Root. This was even more agonizing than being killed!

He had not expected Bian Chunzhou to actually have some skill, let alone be so difficult to deal with. Was someone with a Water-Fire Spiritual Root really going to forge a new path?

Lin Congcong was utterly dejected. he did not even stay to watch the remaining matches, returning to his cave dwelling alone.

He was someone who cared deeply about his reputation, valuing face above all else. One moment he had been boasting to his fellow disciples that he would definitely win, and the next, he had lost the match. And he had lost… so embarrassingly.

Lin Congcong wished he could go into closed-door cultivation for twenty years right then and there, so that no one would remember… No, that fellow Bian Chunzhou would definitely remember.

“Lost again?”

Lin Congcong’s master was a Perfected Lord in the late Nascent Soul stage. He possessed the same single Earth Spiritual Root, was easygoing, and was only in his four-hundreds, yet in his youth, he had been a genius who dominated the Heaven’s Pride List with his Nascent Soul cultivation.

It was safe to say that his advancement to Soul Transformation was only a matter of time. Lin Congcong was his first disciple, so he naturally taught him with extra care. In truth, he had not planned to take on disciples while still in the Nascent Soul stage, but a disciple with a single Earth Spiritual Root was a rare find. Since one had appeared during this sect recruitment, he naturally had to strike first to claim him.

As a disciple, Lin Congcong’s talent was undeniable, but his character was still unformed. Perhaps because of his intelligence and good family background, he had plenty of arrogance toward cultivation but lacked reverence. Having now suffered two consecutive defeats, he was clearly devastated.

However, suffering a setback twice during the Qi Refining Stage was not a bad thing. On the contrary, for his disciple, it was a very good thing. After all, he was bound to fall into this pit eventually; doing so earlier at least meant it would hurt less.

It was simply a necessary path in cultivation.

“I am sorry, Master.”

“Sorry for what?”

“I failed your teachings, Master. I lost again.”

“Do you not have one more chance?”

Lin Congcong remained dejected. After all, a loss was a loss. It wasn’t as if he could take it back. In the future, he wouldn’t even have the face to mock that guy Bian. To think he had always said… Forget it, he never wanted to see Bian Chunzhou again.

“Do you know where you fell short?”

Where had he fallen short? Was it a lack of cultivation and spiritual energy? Of course not. Were his combat techniques inferior? Definitely not. So where exactly had he failed?

“Congcong, if you had won, how do you think your opponent would have reacted?”

They say the person who knows you best is your enemy. Lin Congcong answered almost without thinking, “He has always been carefree and thoughtless. He probably wouldn’t have taken it to heart at all. Furthermore…”

“So, why did you embark on the path of cultivation in the first place? Was it solely to compete with your fellow disciples? Or was it for fame and status?”

“This disciple…”

“Do not be in a hurry to answer. Haste makes waste, while patience brings peace. My disciple, you need to reflect on yourself.” He shouldn’t always focus on others. Cultivation was a personal journey. When one became strong, one would fear no enemy.

Like a twilight drum echoing over the mountains, this voice struck Lin Congcong’s heart. The anger and frustration that had filled his mind instantly subsided. He finally began to examine himself. Where exactly… had he failed?

Meanwhile, on the other side, Bian Chunzhou had also… experienced a repeat of his bad luck.

“How could this be!”

Chen Zui could not think of any words of comfort. “…How about you find someone to read your fortune?”

“…Look on the bright side, you still have one more chance,” Wen Xu’s comfort was rather brief.

“That’s right, you can still fight five more matches!” How great was that? Just thinking about it made Chen Zui feel excited.

Bian Chunzhou stared at his hands. “No! It’s not about the five matches! The problem is that after all my hard work to beat the one surnamed Lin, I actually got randomly matched with the last remaining senior brother at the peak of Qi Refining who hasn’t advanced to the finals yet! Is there any hope left for my luck?!”

A person shouldn’t, or at least couldn’t possibly…

“How is this a preliminary round? I’m clearly fighting this like it’s the finals!”

Chen Zui and Wen Xu: …They had no rebuttal.

Bian whined and cried, but two days later he was fully revived. Miraculously, his luck turned around (in truth, it was because all the high-level Qi Refining disciples had already advanced) and he won five matches in a row.

The moment he secured his spot in the finals, Bian Chunzhou almost shed tears on the arena stage. “My treat! I absolutely have to treat you guys to a meal!”

The two who were originally going to refuse: …Sure, why not.

As the saying goes, keep the wealth in the family. When Bian Chunzhou treated them to a meal, his first choice was naturally his own place, Gongshang Bistro.

It was worth mentioning that business at Gongshang Bistro had been truly excellent lately. After getting on the right track, Boss Bian had lifted himself out of poverty and achieved a comfortable life. The profits he earned now were fully capable of supporting his monthly extravagance in talisman crafting, and he could even save a tidy sum of Spirit Stones.

“Come, come, come, cheers!”

Wen Xu smiled and finished the carbonated juice in his cup. The taste was indeed very unique. According to Chunzhou, he had collaborated with a senior brother from the Refining Peak to create a low-grade, rank-one artifact to carbonate juice; the spiritual energy of a single low-grade Spirit Stone could power the device for seven days. “Congratulations, Chunzhou.”

“Hehe, I wonder if that Lin Congcong won? I heard that after he returned to the mountain that day, he was severely scolded by his master. Just thinking about it is so satisfying.”

Chen Zui: …I don’t really get it. Let’s just eat.

The hotpot was as delicious as ever. With a wider variety of dishes to choose from in the shop, all three of them ate until they were stuffed. Speaking of which, since the fish-stealing incident, the shop manager had become a bit paranoid, making his control over the ingredients increasingly strict. This, in turn, improved the quality of the food at Gongshang Bistro, attracting many wealthy merchants to sign up for membership cards.

With the gimmick of having a cultivator as the owner, those people did not hesitate at all when buying membership cards. Boss Bian had even toyed with the idea of opening a second branch, but on second thought, he decided against it. He was too busy for now, and the supply of ingredients wouldn’t be able to keep up.

Furthermore, scarcity makes things valuable. He had to ensure that there was only one Gongshang Bistro in each city. It would be better to wait until his cultivation was higher before opening branches. At worst, when the foot traffic increased in the future, he could just rent the two shops next door and expand the storefront.

“Why would you think that?” Wen Xu didn’t understand. “If it’s just a simple matter of expanding the shop’s space, I can help you.”

Bian Chunzhou: ???

“A spatial array, just like the inn we stayed at before the Mountain Exam.”

Bian Chunzhou came to a sudden realization. “Oh, right! I… my mind just hadn’t switched over yet, haha. But wouldn’t the cost of using an array be too high? No, I’ll put together a proposal later and talk to you in detail.” In any case, Wen Xuxu was also a shareholder. It was only right for a shareholder to put in some work.

“But you’re already learning spatial arrays? I thought spells involving spatial construction required a cultivation level of Foundation Establishment or above?”

Wen Xu shook his head. “I haven’t learned it yet, but I should… be able to, right?”

…As expected of Wen the overachiever. Bian Chunzhou gave him a thumbs-up. “According to the current schedule, the arena tournament for those below Foundation Establishment will end in three days. After that, it’ll be the under-Golden Core division. Chen Zuizui, are you really going to participate?”

Chen Zui nodded. “Of course. I never lie.”

“Then when the time comes, Wen Xuxu and I will go cheer you on!”

When the two of them signed up, Wen Xu had still been in closed-door cultivation. Hearing this now, he looked up in surprise. “Can you sign up for two tournaments at the same time?”

“Yes. And when I accompanied him to sign up that day, it seemed like almost all the disciples at the peak of Qi Refining had signed up for the under-Golden Core tournament.” Bian Chunzhou was indeed very well-informed. “I heard that in previous years, some disciples at the peak of Qi Refining found their breakthrough opportunity during the matches and advanced to Foundation Establishment. Of course, that’s just hearsay.”

Wen Xu suddenly felt a pang of regret. Had he known, he would have signed up too, even though he was only at the peak of the eighth level of Qi Refining.

“You don’t want to sign up too, do you?” Bian Chunzhou leaned back in mock alarm.

“No,” Wen Xu flatly denied it.

Bian Chunzhou: …Really? I don’t believe you.

After eating the hot pot, Boss Bian checked the accounts and decided to head over to the cultivation market street. He had no choice; after fighting seven matches in a row, his consumption of talismans had exceeded his budget. He needed to buy some materials to restock. For a talisman cultivator, if the talismans in their storage bag didn’t weigh at least two jin, they would feel completely insecure.

Bian Chunzhou bought materials often and already had a preferred shopkeeper. He quickly finished his purchases, browsed around a bit, and couldn’t resist buying a few useless but pretty trinkets.

“Sigh, I didn’t expect Senior Sister Jiang to perish just like that. What a pity. Is Eldest Senior Brother still blaming himself?”

Senior Sister Jiang? Bian Chunzhou stopped in his tracks. He turned to look. Oh, they weren’t disciples of Yonglu Mountain. That gave him a fright.

“Chen Zuizui, do you know which sect those disciples belong to?”

Chen Zui shook his head. “They should be from a small sect within the Yonglu Mountain Range. I haven’t seen them before. Do you know them?”

“No, I’ll go ask around.”

The assistant at the talisman shop was an excellent source of information, and sure enough, he knew. “Those cultivators just now? They are disciples of the Yunxia Sect. Their sect master is a Nascent Soul True Monarch, and they used to come to our shop to buy talisman paper.”

If even their sect master was only a Nascent Soul cultivator, they really were a small sect. Even someone as well-informed as Bian Chunzhou had never heard of the Yunxia Sect. However, he was somewhat concerned about the mention of “Senior Sister Jiang’s death” he had just overheard.

Gathering information on a small sect was quite difficult, but after spending a few spirit stones, Bian Chunzhou quickly figured it out.

“It really is Senior Sister Jiang Ying’s older sister, Jiang Baozhu! She actually joined the Yunxia Sect. Some time ago, she was severely injured, which damaged her spiritual roots, but why did those disciples say she perished?”

Could it be that the Jiang Family parents changed their attitude toward Senior Sister Jiang Ying so quickly because something had happened to their eldest daughter? But that didn’t make sense. If her own sister had really passed away, why hadn’t Senior Sister Jiang Ying requested leave to go down the mountain and offer her condolences?

After listening to all of Bian Chunzhou’s analysis, Wen Xu’s focus landed elsewhere. “Compared to what you said, I’m more curious about the fact that both of the Jiang Family sisters have spiritual roots. Don’t you think the probability is a bit too high?”

Chen Zui: …What are you two even analyzing? This is so boring. I want to go back to the mountain and practice my saber.