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

10

Just wanting to live well yet surpassing the protagonist – 09 The Protagonist’s Exclusive Weapon

Ye Yong was no greenhorn; he couldn’t rashly rush to the point, even if everyone here was a mortal or a martial artist. As a genius of the Ye family, a genius of the Great Zhou Dynasty, every move he made could be under scrutiny.

Whatever he bought here would soon reach the ears of other cultivator families. What Ye Yong needed to do was to first purchase other weapons, then pretend to find that piece of ‘scrap metal’ interesting, prompting the shopkeeper to gift it to him.

Things that didn’t cost money generally didn’t attract attention.

“I’ll just have a look around, and call you if I need anything,” Ye Yong said as he opened his fan and fanned himself with an elegant flair.

The shopkeeper quickly nodded, stepping back a distance, but his gaze remained fixed on Ye Yong. Should Ye Yong show interest in something or have any questions, he would immediately step forward to assist.

Ye Yong’s intention wasn’t on the wine, as the saying goes, but he had the patience. He strolled around the shop, feigning interest in some of the more formidable-looking weapons, and eventually selected a few human-level top-grade swords.

Weapons were divided into several grades, with top-grade being the highest, which was also the limit of what this mortal shop could offer.

Yellow-grade weapons were basically for cultivators to use, and to buy them, one would have to visit a better shop.

“I’ll take these, calculate the price,” Ye Yong said. His storage ring didn’t contain coins, only spirit stones. Although the mortals’ currency couldn’t compare to spirit stones, they could be exchanged with merchants for coins, so buying things with spirit stones was the same for Ye Yong.

Many individual cultivators couldn’t produce spirit stones, only currency. Buying things with spirit stones was also a symbol of status.

“Alright.” The shopkeeper wanted to give them to Ye Yong for free, but Ye Yong, obviously not an ordinary cultivator, would certainly not accept free items. The shopkeeper also didn’t dare to price them too low, fearing that Ye Yong would feel belittled, so he calculated the money fairly at half price.

“The total is 380 gold, but let’s round it down, I’ll take 350 gold from you.”

Ye Yong didn’t yet understand the exchange rate between spirit stones and coins, so he directly took out five lower-grade spirit stones from his storage ring.

“That’s too much!” the shopkeeper exclaimed, swallowing nervously.

One lower-grade spirit stone could be exchanged for 1000 gold, and five would be 5000 gold, which could buy quite a few weapons in his shop.

“You gave me a discount, so I’ll give you one too, take it,” Ye Yong said as he placed the spirit stones on the table.

The shopkeeper didn’t dare to push back against a cultivator, and since Ye Yong had given them, it was given. Not accepting it might instead offend the cultivator.

He quickly secured the spirit stones, and his attitude towards Ye Yong became even more respectful, almost to the point of calling him ‘father’.

With a wave of his hand, Ye Yong’s desired weapon was stored into his storage ring. He strode towards the door, then suddenly halted, as if he had discovered something.

“Why is there a broken stick here?” Ye Yong looked at the nondescript ‘iron rod’ propped casually next to the weapon cabinet and asked the owner.

“That’s a fire-poking stick passed down from my ancestors. Customers use it to test the strength of weapons,” the owner replied truthfully.

“I thought it was some kind of treasure. Turns out it’s just this,” Ye Yong shook his head. “But it might just be perfect to test out the sword I’ve bought…”

The owner immediately said, “How about I give it to you? Don’t look down on it, though it’s no treasure, its hardness has been tested. It might even withstand weapons of the yellow grade.”

Ye Yong seemed hesitant at first, then said, “Alright, I’ll take it.”

Having achieved his goal and with no reason to stay longer, Ye Yong didn’t linger and left in his carriage.

The owner and the warriors all came to the door to see him off, recognizing the Ye family crest on the carriage.

“It’s the young master of the Ye family! With his dragon-like stature, it’s very likely the rumored Young Master Ye Yong! Old Xu, you’ve really struck it lucky!” a warrior said enviously.

Setting aside whether the owner would have further dealings with Ye Yong, just having someone from the Ye family visit his shop was enough for him to boast for a lifetime.

Old Xu, the owner, was beaming with joy, announcing loudly to passersby, “Starting today, all weapons in the store are 30% off for seven days! Welcome, everyone!”

Hearing about the discount, the shop quickly filled to the brim with customers.

The warriors were happy, the owner was happy, but Ye Yong, who had left, was even happier.

‘Congratulations, host, for acquiring the protagonist’s frequent weapon [Tianxuan Stick], earning 300 reversal points,’ the system’s voice announced.

Holding the unremarkable stick, Ye Yong was puzzled: ‘Only 300? This is the weapon that Long Tian has used for so long, and it’s even a growth-type! How is it only worth 300?’

Ye Yong remembered that heavenly-grade weapons he had seen before were priced at a hundred thousand reversal points. The Tianxuan Stick, which could grow to the immortal grade, should be worth millions, if not tens of millions, right?

‘As the host has said, it is a growth-type. At this stage, it has no special features, and at most, it can only be rated as a yellow-grade weapon.’

‘That’s not how you calculate it, right? Without the Tianxuan Stick, Long Tian might have died many times over.’

‘Fate doesn’t work that way either. Without the Tianxuan Stick, the protagonist would still get other weapons. Perhaps not as good as the Tianxuan Stick, but it ultimately wouldn’t affect the big picture.’

‘I @##￥@#!’ On his first day of transmigration, Ye Yong didn’t know how many times he had been angered. But the system was right; the protagonist is the son of the plane, with a fate so astonishingly powerful that without the Tianxuan Stick, he would surely obtain other weapons.

—

One must know, within the jade pendant worn by Long Tian, resides the remnant soul of an old man, a fallen immortal. His perceptive abilities are terrifyingly formidable; it was he who first discovered the extraordinary nature of the Tianxuan staff.

Finding another weapon for Long Tian was hardly a challenge.

“Weapons can be replaced, but women are not so easily exchanged. Certain fortuitous events require the protagonist to develop a certain level of relationship with the female lead before they can be triggered. If the host were to steal the female lead away, seizing these fortuitous events, he would surely gain more reversal points.”

“I’ll consider it,” Ye Yong didn’t immediately agree with the system’s words.

How simple could it be to steal the protagonist’s woman? Take Qin Shimeng, for instance; Ye Yong fundamentally couldn’t interfere with her actions. She would meet the protagonist in two weeks. To forcibly take her would be akin to writing one’s own will in advance. As for the other female leads, they were all women of status, currently out of reach. If he couldn’t interfere with their actions, and they were to meet the protagonist according to the novel’s plot, Ye Yong would be utterly powerless.

After all, not all female leads were like Wu Xue. Because Ye Yong could confine Wu Xue, preventing her from meeting Long Tian.

Of course, Ye Yong didn’t need to go to the extent of locking Wu Xue away. As long as he treated her well, this girl would still know gratitude. Even if the protagonist wanted to kill Ye Yong in the future, he would probably have to fight her first.

“To Qianxiang Pavilion,” Ye Yong said to the coachman.

“Right away, young master.”

Speaking of Qianxiang Pavilion, the coachman was no stranger. It was a very famous large trading house on the Donglin continent, its presence visible in nearly every country and city, big or small.

As for Ye Yong’s reason for going to Qianxiang Pavilion, it was naturally to buy medicinal herbs for body forging for Wu Xue.

Wu Xue couldn’t cultivate immortality; she could only achieve sainthood through her physical body. Unable to cast spells or martial techniques, her growth would eventually allow her to cleave mountains and rivers with a single sword strike, a feat as terrifying as it sounds.

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