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

Qin Shimeng nodded seriously.

“Uh… yeah…” Ye Yong managed a slightly awkward yet polite smile. I’m sorry, but I really haven’t seen anything profound or undiscovered; it’s purely for the hall master. I feel bad for letting you all down with your expectations.

——

By the time they returned to the sound and painting hall, it was already evening. However, day and night held little significance for cultivators, so the senior and junior sisters immediately began preparing a feast to celebrate Ye Yong’s victory as the top newcomer. This time, Qin Shimeng and Liang Xiaorou also joined in.

Ye Yong thought the sound and painting hall should be renamed the Feast Hall, as they seemed to celebrate every little thing with a banquet.

But with everyone’s good intentions, Ye Yong naturally wouldn’t dampen the mood; he even helped out in the kitchen, cooking alongside them.

27 A Modicum of Sincerity

The first to truly showcase their skills, leaving several confident senior sisters in the culinary arts feeling inadequate, was Ye Yong. The crafting of the third-grade spirit dish was no small feat, yet he succeeded with surprising ease.

“Ye Shidi, speak honestly, is there anything in this world that you cannot do?”

“Since meeting Ye Shidi, I feel as though I’ve lost the capacity to be astonished.”

Ye Yong merely smiled, offering no reply. His earlier bravado was but a fleeting moment; as his cultivation deepened, maintaining the guise of an omnipotent being would demand a hefty expenditure of reversal points. And reversal points were not so easily acquired. Preventing Long Tian from claiming second place in the competition had cost him a mere few thousand points.

In the system’s terms, the rewards for second and third place from the Tian Luo Sect were not vastly different. Hou Lixie was not the female lead; although Ye Yong had inadvertently interfered with their first encounter, in the narrative, Hou Lixie did not immediately become a friend of the protagonist post-competition. There was a passage of time. Unless he and Long Tian became friends at a later point, confirming their paths had truly diverged, only then could it be said that he had severed the opportunity.

The female lead could push Ye Yong into risky ventures, but the male supporting characters could not. A single misstep could cost him dearly. He was already on the verge of being regarded as a friend by the protagonist, wishing only to vanish for a while until the storm passed. How could he possibly seek to obstruct Long Tian’s connections with the male supporting characters?

“Brother… the Master requests your presence at the cave.”

Halfway through the banquet’s spirit dishes, a painting floated into the kitchen. It did not approach the stove, maintaining a respectful distance, and spoke in a sultry, melodious female voice.

It was Hua Ming.

Hua Ming was not accompanied by Hua Xin, which was quite rare. In Ye Yong’s memory, the two painted beauties were always inseparable.

“Does the Hall Master have business with me?” Ye Yong had already surmised the situation; it was undoubtedly those elders seeking out Mu Qingyin.

Though Mu Qingyin was a formidable figure of transformation, she was still a young woman just over six hundred years old, and she had to show deference to those elders who had lived for over a thousand years. It would be too direct to refuse them outright. Summoning Ye Yong was likely a way for her to let him decide his own fate.

Ye Yong understood Mu Qingyin well. Having secluded herself for centuries, she rarely ventured out, and her social interactions were minimal. Yet this did not mean she was self-centered; on the contrary, she was quite perceptive, attuned to the emotions of those around her. Her actions were also a means to confirm whether Ye Yong had any regrets about joining the Yinhua Hall and if he wished to continue his stay.

“It must be that you’ve secured the title of Newcomer Champion, and she intends to reward you personally. It has been ages since any disciple of ours placed in the top hundred of the newcomer competition, let alone claimed the championship.”

Hua Ming was evidently unaware of the details, and Ye Yong had no intention of elaborating, which only heightened the tension among the surrounding senior sisters. Nodding, he departed the kitchen alongside her.

As they made their way to the mountaintop cave, Hua Ming was in high spirits, chattering about the newcomer competition, expressing how Ye Yong had brought glory to the Yinhua Hall and would surely receive a splendid reward.

“Did Sister Huaxin go to the cave dwelling early?”

“Mm, to host you, and trivial matters shouldn’t trouble the master directly, so naturally, it falls to Huaxin.”

“Actually, it might not be a reward for me. Didn’t Sister Huaming notice that several elders from Echo Peak have arrived?” Ye Yong felt it was better to inform Huaming in advance, lest her current joy be shattered by the harsh truth later.

“No, who came? It’s not common for elders to visit here, is it? Are they here to congratulate you on winning the top spot?” Echo Peak was different from other halls; the art of sound and painting was literary, not martial, enjoying a PVP exemption. To put it bluntly, they were somewhat excluded by other halls. Aside from young cultivators occasionally coming to pursue the female disciples here, instructors, managers, and elders rarely visited.

Now, with several elders arriving at once, it was only natural for Huaming to feel confused.

“Perhaps it’s not as simple as congratulations; they are here to persuade me to cultivate another path.”

“Why?”

“As a disciple of the Sound and Painting Hall, I should showcase the way of sound and painting on the competition stage, yet what I displayed was a different path. They probably think continuing to cultivate sound and painting is a waste of talent.”

“…” Huaming was momentarily speechless. After a moment of silence, she asked, “So, will you leave?”

“What do you think?” Ye Yong was uncertain if Mu Qingyin was observing them, so he didn’t answer directly. After all, some things were more effective when said in the presence of the person involved.

He didn’t find the elders’ visit troublesome; rather, he saw it as an opportunity to enhance Mu Qingyin’s favor.

“I’m not sure. But I can say for certain that with your talent, you would shine wherever you go. If you truly leave, I hope you can come back to visit when you have the time. Although we haven’t known each other long, at least we’ve met; let’s not make our next encounter a farewell, turning into strangers.”

Ye Yong was slightly taken aback; Huaming’s emotions had clearly deepened since they first met.

In the novel, she had little interaction with Huaxin, giving the impression of being a tool, devoid of much feeling, merely obeying Mu Qingyin’s commands. Now, Ye Yong realized she seemed no different from a person… No, it was more accurate to say that his time spent with them had made them more human, even giving rise to emotions indistinguishable from those of people.

Another butterfly effect; thus, he could not allow them to perish as they did in the novel.

Watching Huaming’s graceful silhouette, Ye Yong even pondered when he might ask Mu Qingyin to take them into his possession.

No ulterior motive, just a painter wanting to study their brushwork structure. Yes, that was it—purely innocent.

——

Upon reaching the mountaintop, the once tightly shut cave door stood wide open, faint voices of conversation drifting from within.

Huaxin was waiting at the entrance. As soon as she saw Ye Yong, she rushed forward: “Brother Ye, did you do something during the competition? Several elders hope the master can persuade you to cultivate another path, urging you not to waste your talent on sound and painting. It’s as if they are… forcing the master to make you leave the Sound and Painting Hall.”

When it came down to it, Huaxin lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Forgive me, it was my oversight…” Ye Yong recounted the duel’s events in a simple manner.