I Just Wanted To Live but I Somehow Became Better Than the Protagonist

Qiu Li Gao was the quintessential male supporting character—simple-hearted, with ordinary talent, and the source of Long Tian’s gossip. However, any cultivator who befriended the protagonist and grew close would soon become anything but ordinary.

After gaining Long Tian’s recognition and assistance, Qiu Li Gao’s cultivation progressed faster than others. Yet, there was no free lunch in this world; while following the protagonist could lead to a life of luxury, one had to possess a strong enough life force to survive. Qiu Li Gao was not the type to make it to the grand finale; he would meet his end midway, transforming into the protagonist’s explosive energy.

“Hmm?” Sensing a subtle gaze, Long Tian looked over but found nothing amiss.

He had slipped away from the sect in disguise; Bai Song could not possibly keep track of his movements at all times. When he asked the old Immortal of the Fallen Star, the latter claimed not to have noticed any suspicious figures—perhaps it was just a figment of his imagination.

On the other side, Ye Yong, who had stepped back a few paces, held his breath, silently marveling at the protagonist’s keen ability to sense the gaze of the antagonist, just as he himself sensed the protagonist’s approach. It was remarkably sharp.

Fortunately, Ye Yong maintained his distance; otherwise, the aura of his presence would surely be detected by the old Immortal. Though being discovered wouldn’t be catastrophic, if Ye Yong were always present during Long Tian’s ventures into the secret realm, it would lead to minimal gains for him. Long Tian would undoubtedly grow puzzled, and that puzzlement would spiral into entanglement, and from that entanglement, wild thoughts might arise. What if one day he came to see Ye Yong as a stumbling block to his own strength, harboring resentment?

Ye Yong, ever the pragmatist, wished to avoid such a scenario, which is why he sought to conceal his presence as much as possible.

“It’s open! It’s open!”

At that moment, someone shouted, and a burst of light erupted from the hills of Luming Island, revealing the secret realm in its entirety.

The cultivators crowded at the front surged forward, like a swarm of ants rushing into a narrow cave, the scene nothing short of spectacular.

Some were anxious, while others remained calm.

The majority of the anxious ones were loose cultivators, while the calm belonged to the sect disciples.

Entering a sect indicated a certain level of talent and strength; the sect distributed resources monthly—perhaps not much, but enough for daily cultivation. Thus, sect disciples did not scramble for a single Spirit Gathering Pill as fiercely as the loose cultivators did.

The newly opened secret realm was shrouded in uncertainty; who knew what dangers lurked within? What if it was teeming with beasts like the Black Water Secret Realm?

As the saying goes, the wealthier one is, the more they cherish their life. They were all waiting for the loose cultivators who rushed in first to scout the way.

Indeed, those who entered first had a chance to seize resources, but whether they could bring them back out was another matter. Of course, disciples from reputable sects generally wouldn’t resort to murder and plunder; most would simply collect a protection fee, asking the others to hand over a portion of their gains, later claiming to escort them safely out of the secret realm—a win-win situation.

Once the entrance became less crowded, several mid-tier sects sent in a weaker disciple to enter the secret realm, who would then return immediately to ensure that the entrance and exit were connected. After all, some secret realm entrances only allowed entry, not exit.

These scouting disciples were hardly volunteers; weakness was a sin, especially in a world where the strong preyed on the weak. No one would pity them.

Not long after entering, they emerged successfully, confirming that the entrance and exit were indeed linked, and they described what they had roughly seen inside.

Ye Yong had no need to learn this information; he quietly slipped past the crowd and entered the secret realm.

Long Tian and Qiu Li stood a little farther back, eavesdropping on the information.

“Hey! Sneaky! What are you two up to!?” The disciples noticed the two weak loose cultivators, not clad in sect robes, eavesdropping on their conversation, and naturally, they were displeased.

Long Tian remained silent, leading Qiu Li toward the secret realm.

“Answer me!” Yet the mocking aura was ever-present, as Long Tian was blocked by a towering young cultivator.

“I don’t want to cause trouble.” Long Tian looked down on the other, sensing his cultivation was merely at the Crystal Stage, and felt a wave of disdain.

“Hey! Don’t want to cause trouble? With your trashy self, what trouble could you possibly stir?” The young man laughed, sensing Long Tian’s cultivation was around the fifth layer of Foundation Establishment.

——

After entering the secret realm, Ye Yong spent 100 reversal points to purchase a map of this place.

This secret realm, like the century-old secret realm of the Tian Luo Sect, was a small-scale one, not crafted by ancient powers, but born from abnormal spatial fluctuations. A thousand years ago, when it first emerged, two Nascent Soul experts happened to be nearby on Deer Call Island. Upon discovering it, they immediately set up formations to conceal the area, and together they transformed this cave heaven into their own abode, focusing on their cultivation and breakthroughs. However, talent does not change with the environment, and due to bottlenecks, both Nascent Soul experts eventually perished.

Yet before their demise, they arranged the place, leaving behind some trials and gifts…

Ye Yong gazed at the map, recalling the novel’s descriptions, and ventured deeper.

The earlier entrants had mostly been lured by the small favors of the secret realm, such as first-grade and second-grade spirit plants, leading to fierce competition among them. A few adventurers pressed on, inadvertently triggering traps—some died, some were injured, and some were trapped.

Ye Yong, now tentatively a fifth-grade formation master, though not particularly skilled, found the third-grade formation traps set by the two Nascent Soul experts to be as simple as learning multiplication and division before tackling addition and subtraction. He deftly avoided them one by one.

Near the entrance of the secret realm lay grassy fields and woods, the middle portion was a swamp, and beyond that were towering mountains. As long as he crossed the mountains, he could reach the deepest part.

Ye Yong was in no rush to reach the depths. The reason he bought the map was that the secret realm housed some spirit beasts. The weaker ones could be ignored; he only needed to slay a few powerful spirit beasts that would benefit Long Tian in the novel, taking their treasures as his own fortune.

“There should be a cave nearby, filled with some spirit herbs, and guarded by a Crystal Stage Seven bear…” Ye Yong shut the map, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

It felt good to play the script for his own gain.

—

113 Crime Scene

At the junction of the woods and the swamp, Ye Yong spotted an inconspicuous cave. Though it appeared like a rabbit hole on the surface, Ye Yong knew the space below was vast, littered with the bones of spirit beasts and sprouting a few second-grade spirit plants. A Crystal Stage Seven earth bear guarded the area, occasionally venturing out to hunt, nourishing the spirit plants with the blood and bones of spirit beasts, waiting for them to mature before feasting.

How did Long Tian discover this place in the novel? The reason was simple: he had a knack for attracting trouble. Before entering the secret realm, he had provoked a small sect, which pursued him and Qiu Li Gao. Initially, Long Tian chose to avoid conflict, but during their escape, an old man seeking immortality discovered a labyrinthine cave and suspected there was more to it below. He jumped down and, upon reaching the end, indeed found spirit beasts. After a fierce battle, Long Tian successfully killed the earth bear, which was a treasure trove in itself, along with the second-grade spirit plants and the bones of spirit beasts—quite a harvest. It was at this moment that Qiu Li Gao realized Long Tian’s true strength; he had been hiding his cultivation, revealing himself to be a big shot at the Crystal Stage, unlike Qiu Li Gao, a mere Foundation Establishment nobody.

—

In any case, this journey into the secret realm deepened the bond between Long Tian and Qiu Li Gao, while also pressing the accelerator for Qiu Li Gao’s impending chill.

After Ye Yong entered the cave, he released several puppet mice to scout the way. It was like a labyrinth, crafted by the earth bear to confuse intruders. Ordinary people could never reach the final nest; the soil was reinforced, and anything below the fifth layer of crystallization was indestructible. Thus, those who ventured here either wandered in circles, trapped to die within; or, if fortunate, found an exit; or, with a bit more luck, discovered the nest and encountered the earth bear. Of course, if they couldn’t defeat it, that would be the ultimate misfortune.

The puppet mice moved swiftly, and within ten minutes, Ye Yong observed their paths on the map. They had nearly traversed the entire maze. He infused them with varying amounts of spiritual energy, akin to laying down ropes at the entrance of the labyrinth. Soon, one of the puppet mice located the nest’s position, and Ye Yong followed the trail of spiritual energy, arriving at the nest without any detours.