I Just Wanted to Live, but I Somehow Became Better Than the Main Character
Chapter 12: Martial Artists Don’t Need Burdens

The Bamboo Lotus Forest was filled with mostly bamboo, and there was a pond with floating lotus flowers. In the center of the pond, there was a spacious open space where disciples of the Music and Art Hall could compose music and art while enjoying the bamboo grove and the lotus pond.

However, at this moment, there were only two figures in the open space. The tall and curvaceous one was Yi Bai, and the slender and flat one was Wu Xue, who was easy to recognize.

Yi Bai had a painting easel in front of her. Wu Xue stood a little further away, and unlike usual, she had tied up her long hair and was holding the Rank 5 Yellow Grade Blade that Ye Yong had given to her. Her skirt was dusty, and there was some dirt on her usually clean white face.

Ye Yong didn’t approach them and instead watched from a distance.

Soon, Yi Bai began to vigorously operate her pen on the paper, and with the ink gathering together, several ink shadow beasts quickly jumped out of the paper. Although there were no details, only ink shadows, they were all different in shape and felt no different from real beasts. They even had some spiritual power emanating from them, probably at the level of the 2nd layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Wu Xue looked serious as she watched those ink shadow beasts. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, adjusted her state, and then opened her eyes and nodded.

“Go.” Yi Bai waved her hand, and the ink shadows of beasts rushed towards Wu Xue. Three ran on the ground, and one flew in the sky. The leading ink shadow was as strong as a yak, and it lowered its head and rushed towards Wu Xue with a fierce momentum.

Wu Xue dodged lightly, and the blade did not fall on the yak’s body but instead turned around and swung towards the ink shadow monkey that was attacking her. The monkey was very agile, even jumping in mid-air to change its posture to avoid the sharp blade. However, Wu Xue’s speed was very fast, and she still cut off one of its arms.

Ink shadows don’t make any sound or feel pain. After landing, the monkey shook its tail and whipped towards Wu Xue, but Wu Xue was prepared and stepped back to avoid it.

At this time, the ink shadow bird in the sky saw an opportunity and flew down towards Wu Xue. Wu Xue used the Cloud Dispelling Blade Technique to force the bird back. The last ink shadow would fire shadow bullets, which Wu Xue would try to avoid and not block with her blade as much as possible. This was because when she used her blade, her vision would be blocked, and her movements would become rigid, which would make it easy for the bird and the monkey to attack her.

In the beginning, Wu Xue’s response was very smooth, indicating that she had faced this kind of attack many times before. However, she was only at the 8th layer of the Qi Refinement Realm and could only use a little bit of energy qi. Soon, she began to feel weak and was knocked down by a joint attack from the shadow inks.

The shadow ink yak’s attack was very frightening- a single charge could send a person flying a long distance. However, Wu Xue did not give up and was still trying to find a way to counterattack.

“Come back.” Yi Bai waved her hand and the shadow beasts disappeared. She looked at Wu Xue, who was crawling up from the ground with her hair in disarray and a trace of blood on her lips, feeling a little sorry but could only give her feedback.

“Lil Xue, you are really talented in terms of speed, reaction, and counter-attacking. I can see your improvement every time. Unfortunately, your cultivation level is too low, and you haven’t learned any footwork, so you can’t sustain a prolonged battle, which makes you fall behind and suffer. However, you were able to cut off a shadow ink beast’s hand this time, and I believe you will be able to successfully kill it next time, reducing the pressure from the group and creating opportunities for yourself.”

“Okay.” Wu Xue listened to the feedback, took the healing medicine, and recalled the details of the battle just now, conducting self-reflection.

From being directly hit by the yak and sent flying yesterday to barely being able to cope with 4 enemies today, Wu Xue’s progress was visible to the naked eye. Yi Bai could not imagine that she was a girl who had never fought with a blade before. Unfortunately, she couldn’t absorb spiritual energy. Otherwise, if she learned some spiritual blade techniques, she would definitely be a powerful blade cultivator. Regardless, her unyielding spirit and undying courage already gave her the qualifications to become a blade cultivator.

They had fought more than a dozen battles today and yesterday. If Yi Bai hadn’t taken the shadow ink beast back, Wu Xue probably wouldn’t ask to stop even once and would instead fought until she passed out..

The highest realm of a blade cultivator was [To Die with the Blade] and [To Advance Relentlessly], which was quite suicidal. Sword cultivators were a little better, with their highest realm being [The Sword Follows My Heart] and [Unification of Man and Sword], and they were very fanatic about the sword.

Wu Xue’s performance in the past two days has exceeded Yi Bai’s expectations, both in terms of spiritual aspects and combat talent.

Because her injuries were not very serious and the healing medicine was relatively advanced, as a cultivator at the 8th layer of the Qi Refinement Realm with physical fitness beyond that of an ordinary person, Wu Xue quickly recovered. She tied up her scattered hair again and only rested a moment for her energy qi to recover before she was ready to continue her training.

Ye Yong watched from above, feeling somewhat moved. Despite the changes in reality, she was still Wu Xue, the valiant female warrior who became stronger as she fought.

Ye Yong suddenly realized that he had overlooked Wu Xue’s cultivation. Because he had almost killed her when forging her physique, Ye Yong only wanted her to be happy and serve as his maid. Although he had given her pills to help her cultivate, it was only to improve her cultivation and intimidate the enemy. He had never thought of making her suffer and gain practical combat experience.

What was a martial goddess? Without actual combat, how could one become a goddess? In the novel, every step of Wu Xue’s journey to becoming a martial goddess was achieved through her own efforts, which could not be solved by simply gaining cultivation. Unlike cultivators who focus on the soul, martial artists focus on their physical bodies.

Even if Ye Yong hadn’t arranged it, Wu Xue still realized that just cultivating alone was not enough. So she actively took the risk of injury and pain to gain practical combat experience and allow her body to keep up with her cultivation…

Perhaps she wanted to protect me even more than I wanted to protect her. Ye Yong sighed and landed on the ground. Wu Xue immediately noticed him and happily ran over to him. When she arrived in front of Ye Yong, she noticed that her clothes were now dirty, and her face was covered in dust. She quickly took a few steps back and wiped her face with the back of her hand, but the more she wiped, the more she looked like a little cat.

Ye Yong took out a handkerchief from his storage ring, dipped it in the clear pond water, and wiped away the dirt on her face. His eyes were very gentle as he said, “Why did you come out and train without telling me?”

“I was thinking that Young Master would be in seclusion for a few more days, so I planned to secretly train a bit and give you a surprise when you come out,” said Wu Xue, her cheeks blushing. How can Young Master be so intimate while Senior Sister Yi Bai is right there watching?

Yi Bai had already known that Ye Yong was here. She was, after all, at the 9th layer of the Golden Core Realm. She also had some understanding of Ye Yong’s love for Wu Xue. After all, if he didn’t care for her, why would he bring her to a cultivator’s banquet? That was not the treatment for an ordinary maid.

At this moment, Yi Bai did not think that what Ye Yong did was inappropriate but rather thought that this was the gentle and considerate junior brother that she had always known. However, this did not stop her from being jealous of Wu Xue. Her eyes turned, and she walked towards Ye Yong, suddenly tripping on her left foot and falling on the spot. She deliberately wiped her face with dirt, making her clothes dirty as well.

“Ah~ Junior Brother Ye, I accidentally fell down~” Beautiful women were natural-born actors, and Yi Bai came to Ye Yong with a pitiful look. Even though she didn’t say anything, it was clear what she was trying to convey: “I also need to be wiped”.

Ye Yong’s gaze could not help but linger on the huge things in front of her chest for a moment. After all, Yi Bai had a very generous heart, and when she fell, her clothes were covered in dust and that area was probably the one that needed the most cleaning.

“Here it is.” Ye Yong took out a new handkerchief, wet it, and wiped the dirt off Yi Bai’s face, occasionally glancing down. Ye Yong thought he was hiding it well, but as a sensitive woman, and someone who didn’t have such a generous heart, Wu Xue noticed every one of Ye Yong’s glances.

“Mmm…” She pouted, unhappy, as she continuously repeated one thing in her mind. I am a martial artist! Martial artists don’t need burdens!