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

“What is this…” Lacking petals, it took Long Tian a moment to recognize it: “Dark Shadow Flower?”

“Dark Shadow Flower? Where!? This thing is quite rare! Long Tian! We’re going to get rich!” Qiu Li Gao was unusually excited, but when he fixed his spiritual sense, which could only reach three meters, on the Dark Shadow Flower, his ecstatic laughter abruptly halted: “This…”

“By the looks of it, it’s close to maturity. There should be other Dark Shadow Flowers growing here, but this one was likely eaten by the spirit beast living here after it matured early. This one was probably nibbled on after the beast had its fill.”

“What a pity; if only we had come earlier.” Qiu Li Gao, a novice in the foundation stage, had never seen such treasures. To him, this rare second-grade spirit flower was undoubtedly a gem.

“Better to have than not,” Long Tian said, though he felt a pang of regret in his heart. He uprooted the incomplete Dark Shadow Flower, intending to take it back to plant, having recently dug up some spirit soil in the century-old secret realm.

With only a single incomplete Dark Shadow Flower, Qiu Li Gao had no intention of competing with Long Tian. Still, he was a bit reluctant and began to wander around, hoping to find other treasures. However, after a round, he found nothing and instead stepped into some unknown sticky substance.

“Long Tian?” After a while without hearing Long Tian speak, Qiu Li Gao felt a bit anxious.

“What’s wrong?”

“Shall we go out?” Hearing the response, Qiu Li Gao felt much more at ease.

“No, though there are no spirit plants, these remains, some bones, hold great value.”

The hunting grounds of the earth bear were quite expansive, littered with the bones of beasts in the crystallization and foundation stages, ripe for processing into weapons and gear, their worth indeed substantial.

“Right!” Qiu Li Gao flicked off the sticky residue from his shoe, bouncing down to scavenge eagerly.

Half an hour passed, and the two had gathered dozens of intact bones, unmarred by time or decay.

“We’re going to strike it rich!” Qiu Li Gao exclaimed, his excitement rekindled. This was his second venture into the secret realm; the last time had been the century-old secret of Tianluo Sect. Unfortunately, he had been ambushed by Bai Gui and others, collapsing into unconsciousness before he even grasped what had happened. When he awoke, Long Tian had insisted he leave the realm immediately, robbing him of the joy of treasure hunting. Now, he finally felt that thrill.

“Just a small fortune,” Long Tian replied, his mood lifting considerably. Had he not seen the dark幽花, he might have felt even better, but discovering a damaged specimen left him somewhat disheartened, regretting he hadn’t arrived sooner. Perhaps he could have gathered more dark幽花 and slain the spirit beasts dwelling here, acquiring fresh spirit beast blood and other resources.

Yet, finding these beast bones now was no small feat. Long Tian shook his head, choosing not to dwell on it further.

——

“Blocked the protagonist’s minor opportunity, reversed the point, adding 20,000.” Ye Yong heard the system notification, aware that Long Tian had now reached the cavern.

He could not know that without the dark幽花, Long Tian still obtained other resources, even if they paled in comparison to the flower’s worth.

After all, in the novel, Long Tian fought fiercely against the earth bear, the battle raging for a full half-hour, leaving the cavern pockmarked and the beast bones shattered in the fray. In the end, he only collected the earth bear’s corpse and the dark幽花.

Had he thought of the bones left by the earth bear as resources, Ye Yong would have surely broken them all, leaving only one for Long Tian—no, two, one for Qiu Li Gao as well.

It might seem cruel, but Ye Yong was the villain; not opposing the protagonist didn’t mean he couldn’t secretly undermine him. Ye Yong’s cultivation was already slow at the twentieth level, while Long Tian possessed a miraculous jade pendant space. If he didn’t slow Long Tian’s progress, what if they clashed later, and Long Tian’s cultivation outpaced the novel’s narrative? Ye Yong would undoubtedly have a better chance of survival.

Long Tian was the chosen one, blessed and fated to survive, with opportunities falling from the villain’s grasp. Ye Yong was merely a villain, always at risk of meeting his end. Now, defying fate without being struck down by divine retribution, he couldn’t help but smirk.

“Apologies, I got lost in thought for a moment. Let’s continue.” Ye Yong approached the marsh serpent, trapped in a formation and unable to move, its cultivation at the ninth crystallization level.

He needed to end this quickly; without a fight, Long Tian would soon catch up.

The marsh serpent’s defenses were no match for the earth bear. Ye Yong unleashed his perfected profound technique, dispatching the marsh serpent in an instant.

Easily overcoming the ninth crystallization level with his fifth, Ye Yong didn’t let pride swell. With a foundation of twenty levels in Qi refining and foundation building, if he couldn’t manage this, he might as well seek help from Hua Meiren to smother himself with a deadly weapon.

Swiftly, he stowed the marsh serpent’s corpse and collected the spirit plant used as bait from the empty space behind it, leaving only a damaged spirit plant behind. Ye Yong set off toward his next destination.

115 The Foundation Builder and the Crystal Overlord

“How lucky! It’s a third-grade spirit plant! Snail Grass!” Qiu Li Gao exclaimed, his eyes gleaming as he spotted a solitary spirit plant swaying in the breeze on the marshy clearing.

Long Tian, seeing Qiu Li Gao’s eagerness to rush over and harvest it, quickly blocked his path: “In such an obvious place, a third-grade spirit plant hasn’t been devoured… don’t you think that’s suspicious?”

“Uh, indeed.” Qiu Li Gao was the epitome of a novice cultivator; many greenhorns, upon spotting a resource, would think of nothing else but to snatch it up at once, only to foolishly stumble into traps and meet their doom.

Long Tian was undeniably proud, but he never let arrogance cloud his caution when it mattered.

The marsh’s muddy depths hindered the penetration of divine senses. With Long Tian’s strength, he could only probe about five meters deep, and even then, the bottom remained unseen. At two or three meters down, he had already discovered numerous skeletal remains—clearly, predators lurked here.

Under the watchful eye of the old immortal, Long Tian advanced slowly, nearing the third-grade Snail Grass, and the old immortal detected no immediate danger.

“Perhaps the entrance to the secret realm has opened, and the spirit beasts have all rushed inside to hunt. Or maybe some treasure has appeared within the realm, drawing them all away,” the old immortal speculated.

Long Tian nodded in agreement; he shared the same thought. Encountering spirit beasts absent from their territory once was a coincidence, but twice suggested something was amiss.

As for whether someone had beaten them to the secret realm? Long Tian deemed it unlikely; after all, who would be so kind as to leave a third-grade spirit grass behind?

Though scarce, Snail Grass was still a relatively rare spirit plant. Securing one was a decent haul for Long Tian, but as he bent down to examine it closely, he discovered the core—the most vital part—was missing.

The name “Snail Grass” derived from its appearance, resembling a snail: the front curled like a snail shell, while the back stood upright, mimicking a snail stretching its neck. The most precious part, of course, was the core, protected by the shell, which served as a key ingredient in many alchemical concoctions.

Without the core, the Snail Grass’s value plummeted.

Long Tian felt a twinge of disappointment, while Qiu Li Gao remained blissfully unconcerned. This was a third-grade spirit grass, a treasure he had never even dreamed of; he was too busy cradling it in his hands to entertain any thoughts of disdain.

“Eh? This clump of mud radiates a wondrous energy. If applied to the skin, it should enhance its hardness.” Just as Long Tian was about to pocket the Snail Grass and leave, the old immortal noticed a small patch of unusual mud nearby.

There were no signs of battle in the vicinity; if a fight had occurred, the mud would have been disturbed, diluted in the marsh. This was why both the old immortal and Long Tian believed the spirit beasts had fled on their own.

Long Tian collected the small clump of mud and continued onward with Qiu Li Gao. After traversing a stretch, they stumbled upon a small island-like patch in the marsh, and upon landing, they discovered yet another third-grade spirit plant. Of course, it was either incomplete or missing its most valuable part.

“It seems the spirit beasts guarding this place left in quite a hurry, not having the time to consume all the spirit plants before rushing off to some destination. This secret realm must be unveiling treasures, compelling the powerful spirit beasts to abandon their territory,” Long Tian explained as he plucked the spirit plant.