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

“Not at all, I just delivered the items and offered them a few pointers,” Ye Yong replied, pulling out several plates of spirit food prepared by the system, placing them on the table, and sitting beside it, patting his thigh.

Wu Xue’s face lit up with joy as she skillfully hopped onto his lap, her earlier sulkiness vanishing like mist.

Xia Shiqi occasionally tugged at Ye Yong’s pants, letting out soft whines to indicate she wanted to be fed too. Annoyed, Ye Yong tossed her a piece of rib he had bitten into, and Xia Shiqi immediately caught it in her mouth, munching away with delight.

After dinner, Ye Yong held Wu Xue and continued sketching the pet little XX, but abruptly stopped as soon as Da Zhi stepped into the competition venue, declaring it was late and urging her to sleep early.

How could Wu Xue possibly sleep? She couldn’t help but fantasize about what kind of opponents Da Zhi and She Lan Mouse would encounter in the competition. At such a young age, she was already experiencing the pain of waiting for updates and abrupt endings.

—

07 Everything is in Calculation

The two days of rest passed swiftly. Qin Shi Meng and Liang Xiao Rou were both in seclusion, so he hadn’t seen them, but Ye Yong had Wu Xue and Hua Ning Yan to tease and bully, so he wasn’t lonely. Even if Wu Xue and Hua Ning Yan were also in seclusion, there was still Xia Shiqi to play with; he could always find a way to relieve his boredom.

With the rest over, it was time to resume the drug-taking and cultivation phase. After giving Wu Xue and Hua Ning Yan their cultivation instructions, Ye Yong returned to his seclusion chamber and sat cross-legged.

In just a month, the sect competition would arrive. In the novel’s plot, he would face Long Tian at the last moment. Whether reality would unfold this way, Ye Yong was uncertain, but being cautious and careful wouldn’t be a mistake. He set a small goal for himself: to reach the sixth layer of the Stone Realm in a month.

Breaking through from the fourth to the sixth layer in a month was quite a challenge. For ordinary cultivators, even with abundant resources and without focusing on their foundation, breaking through wasn’t something one could simply will into existence. First, the speed at which the body could absorb and transform spiritual energy was a concern; second, there was the notion of bottlenecks in cultivation. Forcing a breakthrough was possible, but it would leave significant hidden troubles. Cultivation was like building a tower; each layer built upon the last. To reach great heights, the foundation below must be solid. Even if it wasn’t perfectly stable, it at least couldn’t have cracks or holes, or else the risk of collapse loomed.

Ye Yong possessed a divine body, and currently, there were no bottlenecks to speak of. His foundation was as solid as could be. The reason for his slow progress had always been the same: the eighth spiritual vein.

Seven spiritual veins already required a considerable amount of energy, and adding an eighth that demanded several times more than the first seven combined was quite a burden.

Yet, no matter how difficult it was, he had to persevere. With spirit liquid on his left and pills on his right, Ye Yong shouted, “Let’s go!” He poured the pills into his mouth, then chugged the spirit liquid, circulating his heart method to transform the spiritual energy and dive into his cultivation.

——29 days later;

“Almost crystallized to the sixth layer. The progress bar for my heart method is at 69 on the first layer. If I could just reach a higher level, the speed of converting spiritual power would surely increase significantly.” Ye Yong gazed at the piles of empty bottles surrounding him, letting out a sigh.

With abundant spiritual veins, the reserves of spiritual power were plentiful, making battles more enduring—a clear advantage. But only those who had to stockpile knew the hardships involved.

“Hmm?” Ye Yong suddenly caught a whiff of conspiracy: “Just a little more, and wouldn’t it be just my luck to break through during the competition, conjuring some bizarre phenomena, divine thunder descending, and ultimately being celebrated to death?”

Ye Yong felt that his failure to break through to the sixth layer as he had envisioned, right at the critical moment, was likely due to the Heavenly Dao meddling behind the scenes.

Though the last time an anomaly appeared was when he reached the twentieth layer of foundation building and the first layer of crystallization, who could say if such phenomena might suddenly rear their heads again?

“Damn it, just give me two more days, and I’ll definitely break through.” Ye Yong was anxious, yet powerless, for today he had to go out.

This year, Tianluo Sect had accepted over ten thousand new disciples, nearly eighty percent of whom would participate in the competition. It was a grand event, akin to an opening ceremony.

As a highly regarded seed contestant, Ye Yong was also expected to speak on stage, so he naturally couldn’t miss it.

“During the competition, no real moves can be made; I must suppress my spiritual power.”

Unlike meditative cultivation, real combat fosters growth. In the heat of battle, spiritual power is in a highly active state; some individuals who have been stuck at a bottleneck for centuries might find it loosened and break through due to a single fight.

Currently, Ye Yong was at the critical point of nearing the sixth layer; once he crossed it, he would smoothly enter the sixth layer. With the aid of pills, he could gradually accumulate spiritual power and cross over in about two days. But if he unleashed his true power during the competition, the surging spiritual energy could very well push him over the edge.

It was common to break through mid-battle, but Ye Yong feared the Heavenly Dao’s sabotage.

A breakthrough during crystallization that drew attention would undoubtedly ignite the fuse, exploding the atmosphere and elevating the spotlight to unprecedented heights.

“Encountering other cultivators shouldn’t pose much of a problem; I can handle them easily. But if I run into Long Tian…”

Even in casual sparring, Long Tian’s pride wouldn’t allow him to hold back and lose; he would go all out. In this sect competition, he would showcase his crystallization strength, flaunting it fiercely, transforming from an outer disciple to an inner disciple, then catching the eye of some elder for protection, leading to participation in subsequent joint competitions. And “Ye Yong” would lose to Long Tian in this very contest, his mindset shattering, hastening his demise.

“In the novel, Long Tian’s cultivation reached the sixth layer of crystallization. In reality, I’ve obstructed many of his opportunities; even if they were minor, they should have somewhat delayed his progress, right? If he’s only at the fifth layer, triggering the butterfly effect could very well mean we miss each other… No, even if he’s still at the sixth layer, the ‘Ye Yong’ in the novel hastily pushed himself to the seventh layer without regard for consequences. I’m currently at the peak of the fifth layer; it should be me triggering the butterfly effect, causing us to miss each other… Wait, if we’re both at the fifth layer of crystallization, wouldn’t the chances of us crossing paths be even greater?”

Ye Yong’s blood pressure surged in an instant. Was this him picking up a stone to smash his own foot? Or was everything part of the Heavenly Dao’s scheme?

——Sword Pavilion Hall, a certain courtyard of outer disciples…

Long Tian emerged from the mysterious jade pendant space. He looked at his hands, refraining from using spiritual power, and threw a punch into the air.

08 Is This Really Happening?

The first peak buzzed with an unprecedented liveliness, half a year into joining the sect. Newcomers discovered that many senior brothers and sisters, who had long been in seclusion and only known by name, had finally emerged.

After all, such grand events occurred only once every few years. The life of a cultivator was generally quite dull, with little entertainment to be found. This large-scale competition was undoubtedly the most favored activity among them.

This year was particularly special, featuring the so-called number one prodigy of the Eastern Continent, Ye Yong. Senior brothers and sisters, who had been oblivious to the happenings around them during their years of seclusion, emerged to find everyone discussing him. It would be strange not to be curious, so they arrived early at the grand square, awaiting the newcomers.

Ye Yong arrived at the square, surrounded by a throng of sisters from the Sound and Painting Hall. The hall was known for its beauty, with few members but many stunning women. Ye Yong stood at the center, a vibrant green amidst a sea of blossoms, the moon cradled by the stars.

In the balance of yin and yang, if one side becomes too heavy, it shatters the equilibrium. Logically, being surrounded by so many women would make Ye Yong appear particularly effeminate, yet he did not. Clad in white as pure as snow, sunlight danced upon his face, as if he bore a halo of divine light. He exuded an aura of ethereal grace, his deep-set eyes and striking features overshadowing the hundred or so female cultivators from the Sound and Painting Hall.

“This entrance certainly carries weight,” some senior brothers murmured, unsure if they were praising or mocking.

“I thought he’d be some celestial being, but it turns out he’s just this?”

“Ugh, what an ugly freak! He should take a look in the mirror first! Regardless of whether he’s reached the level of a celestial being, compared to you, he’s practically divine!”

“Could it be that the Sound and Painting Hall cultivator you pursued a few years back is among them? Is that why you’re feeling sour?”

There are always ignorant beings daring to challenge the might of the villain’s aura. That elder brother, whose appearance was unremarkable, certainly not ugly, uttered a single sentence, and what followed was a storm of response—a torrential downpour of harsh words that battered him from all sides.