All Ai wanted was true love not love triangle. Now she has to choose between two CEOs her fiancée or her ex boyfriend will she ever find true love, who will she choose....

This book is a collection of inspirational quotes and passages on success .

Ars opened his eyes. He woke up with a sleeping position leaning against the wall of the cave passage.
He felt his head as he gets up.  
"The fk happened to this place?"
The reason why his head hurt because the surrounding air was getting thinner.
"[Spirit of the Dragon]!"
Ars called out Fafnir's spirit and filled the air with reddish mana.  
He could breath better than before. But then a question popped out on his head.  
"But why was the air getting thinner?"
They currently indeed inside the belly of the mountain which was very far from the exit. So maybe that was the reason the air gotten thinner.  
"Or this tunnel has been passed."
That is the most accurate possibility.
Indirectly he entered the original passage where they entered before entering the large cave.  
Plus, even though it was moving slowly, Ars could see the mana around was moving to the right from his position. The position where the large cave and his companions are.
The old diggers were terrified. It causes their breathing to become heavy and depletes all the limited oxygen present in the passages.
___________
Western Great Mountain / Thousand Underground Passages  
[29th day of the Expedition]
~
"Hey, wake up!"
One by one, the party members collapsed due to the oxygen running out.
"Stop being rushed! That will make us end sooner!"
"Then you stop shouting! You breathed a lot of air in that scream of yours!"
"Then what you want me to do?!"
Because of panic, everyone became restless and hard to think straight.  
Then a *slam* sound heard from the middle of the cave. The Map Creator shut everyone's voices.  
"How is it, Dwalin? It's already the third day and we'll really end up in this place at this rate. That kid might have been get out from this place and left us."
The supply also almost running out.  
"Even though we find our way back, not all of us going to make out."
They really were at the point of surrendering.  
Because Ars had left yesterday, the leadership automatically shifted to Dwalin. Even so, he couldn't do anything.
All that could save them at that time was a miracle.
"Wake up, old people!"
Someone suddenly shouted to them. That shout brings fresh air to the cave. The fresh air refresh their head. Came like a miracle come true.  
"Ars!"
Ars teleported to the table and sit to his chair.  
At first, they were going to be mad at him because he left them for one day. But he came back while bringing fresh air and a confident face.
"Did you find anything after one day of your departure, Ars?" asked Dwalin.
If he came back with that confident face, than he must had figured out something to get them out from there.  
Ars pointed to the passages which he just entered. "That hole is our way back."
Dwalin, Map Creator, and the rest of the member who are awake surprised at that.  
"Then let's get out from here!"
Map Creator became the first one who voiced the party's wish.
However, the expedition have different order.  
"No. If we enter that way, we won't be able to finish this expedition."
Ars was really arrogant with his order he did not think of his member.  
Of course that make Map Creator madness became higher.  
"So you mean we're going to take another path at random and get even more lost in this infinite passage?! Don't you think that's really stupid and you think we will follow your orders after all this?!"
Once again, Map Creator voiced the opinion of the party about Ars. Even though he is an Emperor, them, with high pride looked at Ars with a cynical gaze.
The will not follow Ars again and will fight to get their freedom if they had to.  
Despite being hated by all the member of expedition, Ars remain calm.  
"I see you won't follow my order."
Not wanting to be humiliated, Ars showed his power by emitting an aura that was stronger than all of them.
Of course that increased their awareness. They clasped their hands and some grabbed their weapons. In case Ars actually going to attack them.  
"But what if that order came from this old man?"
Surprisingly, Ars pointed at Dwalin with his words. That indirectly told them that Ars was no longer the expedition leader.  
"Ars, you mean..."
Dwalin a bit loss at the scenario. All the member also feel the same.  
So Ars explain the detail.  
"I just got out of here and met Alex."
"Alex? Do you mean King Alexander?"
___________
North Coast Palace /  
"You sure making your life happy, huh?"
"Master!"
Alex jumped from the office's sofa. In Ars's body, behaving like a worker who is lazying around and scared when the boss comes is really annoying.
Ars walked to his chair then asked: "Are there any signs of Echidna's appearance?"
"Uh, no. Not yet. Hilda with his warrior currently on an expedition to look over on all Floor 2 region to search for that Virtue. But there is no sign of her appearing yet. Or that Virtue already dead from the start, and Hilda just didn't want to let us down to 3rd Floor."
That may be true. But Ars still did not want to take the risk.  
"By the by, is your expedition success, Master?"
It had been one month since Ars left on the expedition to conquer the Great Mountain.  
But that is not the case.  
"No. I am back to ask you something."
To think Ars wanted to ask a favor from him once again, Alex felt proud of himself.  
"Ask me anything, Master!"
"Tell me the story when you conquer the Easter Great Mountain and found the Luminous Cave Town."
Alex a little confuses at Ars request. Because –  
"However, I conquered the territory, Master."
Ars forgot that he already asked about that.
"I want to hear the detail. How do you find that cave back then?"
If that the question, Alex can understand.
"About that!"
Alex was just trying to escape from the Spear Saint. By entering the Thousand Underground Passages as a monster from the territory until he found the location of what was now Luminous Cave Town.
"And to my surprise, that place is in the middle of the belly of the Great Mountain!"
__________
"We need to get into the Luminous Cave of this mountain."
Ars just finished telling about Alex and immediately gave that order.
"Wait, so, what are you telling is every Great Mountain has their own Luminous Cave? And we need to get to that middle cave to be able to get into the other side?"
That was the conclusion that Dwalin could get from Ars' story.
However, Ars did not answer Dwalin's question. He seemed want Dwalin to figured out the rest after all of that information.  
Dwalin begin to think while looking at the map.  
"Have you reach anything?"
Map Creators returned after marking their way back.
With his finger, Dwalin draw a line from their current position to the mountain's belly.  
"That mean we have to go south."
Now they know which direction they were.  
"So we have to enter that tunnel."
Dwalin pointed at the passages which next door with their way back.  
"Are you sure about this, Dwalin?"
Map Creator asked the expedition leader's decision. He was more able to trust Dwalin as an old friend than Ars. But he thought going back might be better idea.  
"I'm not sure either. But, looking back at our previous routes, none of them were actually pointing straight west. So maybe the path we took is correct, and I have a hunch, that we will reach the bowels of this mountain from that passages."
Dwalin's words fostered trust in his members.  
The trust once lost, comes back to finish what they started.
"Then let's fill our belly first before going."
Ars get up from his chair and took out two boxes of food supply.  
The chefs begin to cook for their hungry member.
At that time, Ars sit with the party. Even though he sits on a nice chair, while the other members are sitting on the ground or rocks.
~~~~~~~
[30th day of Expedition]
They continued the expedition. Their direction was to the south.
~~~~~~~
[31th day of Expedition]
Surprisingly enough, their current passages does not have many branch aisles like before. It increases their confidence that they are on the right track.
~~~~~~~
[33th day of Expedition]
"That end is so bright."
They got a view of an end of the passage which had a bright light.
There they suddenly realized one thing. Then begin to run to the end of the passages.  
After reaching the end of the passages, they found a cave that was bigger, and beautiful than the previous one.
"It's...."
"THE LUMINOUS CAVE! WOOOHOOOOOOO!"
One of them jump down to the cave. The others followed. All of them filled with joy and tears of happiness.  
"We did it!"
"Finally, after one month!"
"Yeaaaaaaahh!"
They hugged and jumping with each other. Some even fell in relief. Their fatigue, hard work, and the decision not to give up eventually led them to unmatched success.
"This place, have three passages."
Map Creator looking at three passages, the remaining two probably point east and west.
"Where do you want to go, Ars?"
Ars for some reason not stopping and still walking to the west passages.  
"To the other side!"
Even though they had arrived at a definite stopping point, Ars didn't want to stop and wanted to continue their expedition.
It invites the other members to follow him from behind. Because their expedition wasn't really over yet.
~~~~~~~
[35th day of Expedition]
Just like the south passages of Luminous Cave, the west passages directed straight forward without many confusing branches.  
Until they found the end of the passage which gave off a bright yellow light.
"IT'S MILD YELLOW STONE!"
Finally, they broke through the Great Mountain and were on the other side of their starting, the Northwest Region.


It is said, if you can enter the deepest place in Abyssal Terra, any wish can be granted. Arsen is not a young man who wants his wish to be granted, he is just a weak young man who is forced to make money on Abyssal Terra.
In an exploration, he met a dragon, Fafnir. Fafnir is one of the participants in Abyssal Terra. Because he did not accept being forced to become a participant, Fafnir used Arsen and gave Arsen a cheat as a [VIP Player].
With a cheat and a desire to prove the truth of Abyssal Terra, Ars began his fight to go to the deepest place in that hell.

Shi Mu looked around him and his heart flustered for a second. 

With him as the center, there were eight passages in the fog around them. All were high-rise gray walls on both sides with a hollow appearance in the middle.

After some observation, each of the passages looked exactly the same from the other passages around the entrance, which was quite strange.

Shi Mu's eyes condensed as he released his spirit sense out toward the passages.  

However, after going deeper into the never-ending passage, his spirit sense felt like it hit a soft wall. Although there were no signs of damage, he could not move forward. 

Shi Mu saw this and laughed bitterly.  

It seemed that he had been overconfident, thinking this would be another easy task that he could complete without a hassle. It was expected for the azure ancestors to leave such a difficult task for him. He just did not anticipate how difficult but would be.

Shi Mu's eyes flashed as his sight swept through the entrances of the eight passages once again. After careful observation, there was still no obvious difference that allowed him to see what was blocking his spirit sense.

Shi Mu bit his lips in frustration. After gathering his emotions, he chose a passage and walked in slowly. 

It did not take him long to encounter a layer of fog in the passage. The fog walls on both sides were much thinner. With a wave of his hand, it spread out into all directions, like a vapor.  

Seeing this, Shi Mu was intrigued and reached out toward the fog wall on his left. Trying to see if he could cross over it. 

However, as his palm touched cane into contact with the foggy wall, he could only feel a tingling coldness. The touch was different from a physical wall. 

It was obvious that these fog walls were made of fog but they seemed to be engraved with some kind of prohibition charm. 

He did not intend to use force just to test it out. If it was a charm cast by the azure ancestor.  Only a person with great strength and power could break it. If he tampered with it and the seal came off, who knows what kind of problems might erupt. It was definitely not worth the risk. 

He made his decision and continued to move forward though he was slightly disappointed. 

He walked straight through the fog passage for about a hundred feet when finally he arrived at a relatively wide area. Within the fog, there seemed to be an exit.  

Shi Mu's brows arched a little over the sighting. He quickly picked up his pace and walked over to the fog. 

Shockingly, as he exited the passage, he arrived at another area. He was immediately dumbfounded.

Around him, there seemed to be another eight foggy passageways. 

At first glance, Shi Mu was in awe. The passages were exactly the same as the ones he had seen before. Even upon closer observation with his spirit sense, all the passages were exactly the same.

Could it be that he had come back to where he started? 

Shi Mu was shocked and his expression immediately became stern. Although he did not understand what was happening in front of him, he did not panic. He observed me his surroundings more thoroughly.

Whatever it may be, it would be better if he retraced his steps back to the original path he came from and tried out another passage instead.

With such thoughts lingering in Shi Mu's head, he did not hesitate to turn back to the passage he initially took to go back to the original point in order to take another passage.

After a brief moment, Shi Mu walked out from the end of the passage and looked around. As expected, the situation after the first passage was generally the same.

Therefore, Shi Mu re-entered the original center again and chose the third passage this time. 

...

After three hours of going back and forth, Shi Mu once again walked out of a passage.
He looked at the eight gray passages in front of him and only then realized the seriousness of the problem. Cold sweat emerged on his forehead and dropped to the ground. 

He had tried to go through the eight passages. He had tried all the passages, but no matter how hard he tried, he would still be greeted by the same situation as the original center. 

There was no end to all eight passages. 

At this moment, he felt like he was trapped in an endless cycle, constantly bound to the same place. He was unable to leave even if he had arrived to the center where he originated. 

At this moment, he was unsure of what to do next.

After all, there was a certain time limit for the Primordial spirit to leave one's body. If it left too long, the spirit would lose its way back to the original body. It would be a huge problem if his own body was not able to leave and his spirit could not return to his body. 

In his mind, he could not help but regret his hasty decision of entering the maze.  

After a long time, Shi Mu let out a sigh of relief and his expression became firm again.

It was useless to regret now. The only way to go was to pass the test here. After all, if he could not get the second phase, he might forever be stuck here. 

After a while, he refreshed his memory again and returned to the starting point. His eyes looked toward the eight channels right in front of him. He had decided to go into the leftmost passage. 

Since he could not find the right path, he decided to try all the passages in the most primitive way, He would not believe that he could not find the correct passage. 

In the blink of an eye, half of the month had passed by. 

Shi Mu stood in a gray passage and his face looked gloomy.

In the past two months, he had persevered. He had tried every single passage available and there was a total of no less than 10,000 passages available. Shi Mu had even mapped out the passage at this point. However, he still did not manage to find out even the slightest information to help him escape from this labyrinth. Whenever he arrived at a passage, he would be greeted by another seven passages that looked exactly the same.

...

At the same time, Shi Mu closed the door to the secret chamber outside.

Cai was lazing on one of the giant trees outside the secret chamber. He squinted his eyes, as if he was about to doze off at any moment. 

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard. Cai sobered and looked up.

A tall, middle-aged man with a fat body like a ball came over. He had a small round hat on his head. It was none other than the attendant that was in charge of the management of the residence, Qi Feng. 

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Cai flew down from the roof and said.  

"Master Cai, it's almost the end of the month. There are some issues I would like to report to the young master. Would you mind sending him the message?" Qi Feng bowed respectfully and said. 

Ever since Cui Huan had been cultivating, all the management was handled by Qi Feng. 

"Oh, what's the big deal?" Cai asked. 

"It is actually not much of a big deal. Some of the herbs planted in the spiritual land are already partially mature. I was wondering what young master would like to do with them," Qi explained. 

"Shi Mu has been in his retreat recently. Small issues like this can surely be done by you," Cai said impatiently. 

Qi Feng saw that Cai seemed to be in a bad mood and quickly ended the conversation to retire. 

After ushering Qi Feng away, Cai flew back to his original spot and closed his eyes to rest. However, he felt slightly anxious.  

Since Shi Mu's retreat ten days ago, the connection between them had been more unstable. Whenever he passed down some information to Shi Mu, there was never a reply. 

This situation had never happened before. Even when Shi Mu was in his retreat back in the spirit fountain, Shi Mu would still respond to him. However, this time, it had been completely different. It made him quite worried. What if something had happened to Shi Mu and he knew nothing about it… 

...

Imprisoned and stuck in the labyrinth, Shi Mu had once again went back to the center origin. He quickly say down on his knees while looking at the eight passages right in front of him without saying a word, as if he was concocting a plan in his head.  

He had completely calmed down now. After many attempts, it dawned on him that it was absolutely impossible to get out of this labyrinth with brute force.

Now that he had been away for nearly 20 days, his time was running out and he must seize the mystery of this labyrinth.

Shi Mu closed his eyes and all the situations that he encountered in the labyrinth these days emerged.

Every passage and unpredictable terrain crossed his mind, forming a complex pattern. 

After a quarter of an hour, Shi Mu opened his eyes and his face was full of excitement. The golden light flashed in his eyes and he looked at the eight passage in front of him. He quickly went toward the second passage on the left and stepped in.

Shi Mu walked into the passage at an ordinary speed. His eyes shone as he looked around his surroundings from time to time. 
 
This time, he had walked for almost half an hour before he arrived in front of the eight identical passages.

There was a smile on his face and the golden awns flashed in his eyes. He looked at the eight passages again for a moment and began to mouth something, as if he was calculating something. 

This time, he watched for an hour and finally locked on to the second channel on the right and stepped in.

Stepping forward, his eyes swept away and his heart was filled with excitement. 

He took a deep breath and continued to move forward.

After a quarter of an hour, he came to the end again and there were another eight space passages in front of him. 

The golden light in Shi Mu's eyes flashed. He flexed and stretched the fingers of both his hands and began to calculate again. 

He stayed in front of the passage for a longer period of time. After a full two hours, he made a choice and stepped into a passage.

At the moment, he had a shallow confident smile across his face as he strode forward.

In the following time, the same situation appeared one after another. Altogether including the origin point, he had made a total of seven choices. 

"There should be a final layer to this..." Shi Mu sighed with relief, whispering in his mouth and continuing forward.

After a quarter of an hour, the passage had reached an end. He gazed as a huge space appeared in front of him. There were another eight passages in front of him. 

Shi Mu's face changed. It was not due to the eight passage but a young man in a green robe in front of him. He was going back and forth trying to figure out which passage to take.

This person's figure was thin and his face was clear and handsome. There was a sense of beauty exuded within him.  

Shi Mu's appearance obviously could not go unnoticed. The young man suddenly turned around and looked at Shi Mu. His expression showed he was somewhat puzzled yet furious. 

"Who are you? How was it possible for you to find this place?" 











A wonder falling down from heaven! A boy possessed by strange blood! Gods tremble! Demons flee! A boy from the land of Dong Zhou. A pink skull as his sworn friend until death. A story of a determined warrior struggling for power. A legend that shakes the galaxy and disturbs the worlds of god, demon and man.

This was actually a formation called "Commanding Mountains and Rivers Formation", and it concealed this particular valley while drawing upon the Demonic Qi of the mountain below, which served as the formation’s roots. Like any other ordinary formation, this one also had eight passages—also known as doors or entrances—which formed its foundation. They were categorized into three fortuitous passages of "preamble", "leisure", and "growth"; three misfortunate passages of "death", "fear", and "injury"; and two remaining neutral passages of "mundanity" and "terrain".
If someone who had entered the formation was able to identify the precise locations for each of these eight passages, they’d be able to use predictions and calculations to decipher the formation’s pattern and rotations. With this, they would be able to avoid any misfortunate passages in advance and roam freely within the formation without being harmed.
That being said, the first step of identifying each of these eight passages’ locations was extremely difficult. The eight passages formed the foundation of the formation, and as such they were usually well hidden inside the formation itself. Furthermore, the locations of these passages would constantly shift according to the time of day, sunlight, changes in the surrounding environment, and a variety of other factors. Even the same person who had placed the formation in the first place might find it difficult to locate all of these passages without the help of a formation-specific map, to say nothing of those who happened upon the foundation by chance and were trying to break inside using only their eyes and calculations without prior knowledge.
Only once a person had located all eight passages would they then be able to determine the rotational pattern of the formation itself and finally break into it to move freely within. The golden crow did have quite an advanced level of understanding in regards to the methods used for a formation’s calculations, but this particular formation—a three-turn formation linked to the surrounding landscape—had been left behind by a master cultivator in the Foundation Stage; the eight passages changed so often that it was extremely difficult to find even a hint. It was for this very reason that the crow had tried for the past month yet didn’t find success.
However, Fang Xing had been able to identify all eight passages with his [Book of Revelation]. It was as though by referencing the book about the formation, he had suddenly become a formations master himself who had come across the work of a new student. No matter how hard a student tries to hide the eight passageways, a master will always see through it with a single glance. 
Once all eight of these "doors" had been identified, the next step was of course to calculate its rotational patterns, which was much easier.
At first, Fang Xing wasn’t certain that what he saw was correct, and so the golden crow had been thrown into these doors for testing purposes. Some seven or eight trials later, Fang Xing finally believed that the judgment of the [Book of Revelation] was indeed correct, and he finally pulled the golden crow back out. By then, the crow had stopped cursing—or making any noise altogether, really—and a closer look revealed why; the crow had already passed out from terror, his body trembling with only the whites of his eyes showing.
Fang Xing poured some of the spirit wine from his gourd onto the golden crow’s head. The crow finally returned to his senses before crying out, "It’s better that you just let me die now. This is too scary…."
Fang Xing laughed. "How was that scary? Aren’t you completely unharmed right now?"
The golden crow was stumped for a moment as he studied himself. Aside from where Fang Xing had plucked his feathers, there really were no other signs of injury. Relieved, he then replied, "What you said was true? You really know exactly where the eight doors are?"
Fang Xing squatted down next to him and answered with excitement, "That’s right. Let’s make a deal: I’ll tell you the doors’ locations and you calculate the pattern?"
The golden crow shifted his eyes back and forth while swallowing some of his saliva. "Are you absolutely sure you can see the doors? Any small mistake would mean huge trouble…."
"How about I throw you inside for another try?"
The golden crow jumped up. "No need! But only under one condition!" he hastily answered.
Fang Xing smirked. "What condition?"
The golden crow shifted his eyes once again, thinking it through for a moment. "Everything we find inside the cave, I take half!"
Fang Xing answered without any delay, "Ok!"
Seeing how quickly Fang Xing had agreed, the golden crow actually felt a sense of hesitation. "Swear on it, then!"
Fang Xing held up a hand. "I, Yu Sanliang, swear that I shall do as I say or I shall be struck by all five bolts of lightning from the heavens!" he promised.
With this, the golden crow could no longer say anything further on the matter. He blinked his eyes and said with some unwillingness, "Then let’s go!" Just as they were about to take the first step into the smog, however, the crow considered something. "Are you really called Yu Sanliang?"
Fang Xing impatiently kicked the crow inside. "Just shut up and go!" 
—
The boy and crow entered the thick smog and—once inside—there wasn’t much more the golden crow could do. When Fang Xing was still outside the formation, he’d been able to pull the crow out with the snare; however, now that both of them were inside, the only safe way out would be to learn the formation’s patterns. Hardening his courage, the crow held up one of his talons while keeping himself steady with the other foot on the ground. "Tell me the locations of the eight doors now."
Knowing how dangerous the formation was, Fang Xing did not dare to be careless either. He activated the [Book of Revelation] and responded with the locations of the passageways, all while the golden crow began his calculations. The crow waved and pinched his talons and wings while rolling his eyes like a master fortune teller, and although those who were more aware would recognize that he was calculating the formation’s rotational patterns, to those who weren’t, it would look as though the crow was having a seizure….
After a few moments, the golden crow suddenly opened his eyes and spoke a series of clear instructions: "Ten meters to the left, turn right, then four and a half meters before jumping up ten meters. Then turn right again…."
Fang Xing’s gaze firmed as he held the crow up and followed the instructions precisely. He did not feel comfortable separating from the golden crow while inside the formation, particularly since the crow could decide to act against him by giving false coordinates or calculations. As a result, not only was Fang Xing holding onto the crow the entire way, but the [Book of Revelation] had been activated to its fullest, and Fang Xing would only move forward after confirming that the next step was not one of the three passages of misfortune. Even if it meant wasting a little more Qi than usual, it was always better to be safe rather than sorry.
That being said, Fang Xing really didn’t need to worry. Although the golden crow might be a slippery character, he didn’t dare to play any tricks right now. At this moment, both of them were inside the formation, and the crow had to rely on Fang Xing as well in order to determine the exact locations of the eight passageways. If anything were to happen to Fang Xing right now, the crow wouldn’t be able to get out safely, either.
Like this, the boy and crow’s journey inside the formation continued surprisingly smoothly. After enough time to burn a stick of incense had passed, the pair had already entered deep into the formation, and the thick smog in front of them thinned to reveal a cavern entrance.
The golden crow let out a long sigh of relief. "This is where the door of ‘terrain’ is located. Most of the Qi has likely come from this cave," he said with sparkling eyes.
Fang Xing already knew this even without the crow’s words. On the cavern entrance’s stone door, there were seven small holes patterned after The Big Dipper constellation, and faint hints of purple mist could be seen coming out from these holes—a sign that there were extremely rare spirit herbs growing inside. The Qi and the very faint mist that Fang Xing had been able to see within the smog must have also come from this place.
"Hidden so well…. This must be some kind of treasure." Fang Xing forced down his overwhelming excitement and took out his [Saber of Azure Dragon]. With a soft command, he activated an abnormal force within the saber’s blade and aimed the weapon at the holes in the stone door. The stone door was broken into pieces with a "bam" after being sliced open by the saber, and a thick cloud of purple mist began to drift out. The Qi inside was so pure and concentrated that Fang Xing could even taste it after a single breath, and all of his pores seemed to completely open up in welcome of such a pleasant encounter.
"Holy sh*t, there must be something good…" both Fang Xing and the golden crow agreed in unison, their eyes glistening towards the interior of the cave.
Beyond the broken stone door was a stone stairway that extended somewhere underground, and the sweet scent of medicinal herbs came from its depths. After a short moment of observation to rule out potential danger and additional formations, both Fang Xing and the golden crow immediately vanished inside. From the looks of it, it seemed that the crow was more anxious about what was inside than even Fang Xing was.
Once they’d stepped off the stone staircase and made a left turn, they went through a narrow passageway a hundred feet long to find a stone room in front of them. It was then that both of them were left dumbfounded, the silence breaking when one of them audibly swallowed their saliva.
"Oh my mother of lord, I’m gonna be rich…." The golden crow suddenly let out a cry of excitement and dashed towards the stone room. However, he soon felt a tightening sensation on his neck as Fang Xing grasped onto the [Immortal’s Snare] and dragged him back. As if that wasn’t enough, Fang Xing then tied the crow up like a rice dumpling once again; nevermind his talons and wings, the crow couldn’t even move his neck.
It was only then that Fang Xing let out a loud laughter of relief and clapped his hands in joy.
"What did you tie me up for? Are you going to take everything for yourself?" the golden crow cried out as he tried to escape.
Fang Xing just laughed. "Don’t just doubt my character without even getting to know me. I just wanted to have a look first!" With that, he stopped speaking and walked past the golden crow.
Inside was a pile of jade stones shaped as a long platform, almost like a tomb, with an item similar to a flower pot atop it. The pot was filled with a fine-looking yet dense black soil, and inside grew a foot-tall purple plant with three small blossoms and seven leaves. It was absolutely certain that the purple mist came from this plant and that it was the treasure of this place. With a deep inhale, Fang Xing focused his attention on the plant and activated the [Book of Revelation].
When Fang Xing had been training with Bai Qianzhang away from the Qing-Yun Sect, he had managed to learn how to use the [Book of Revelation] smoothly and with ease. After using up a tenth of his Qi, the information on the plant soon appeared in his mind.
‘Purple Mist Orchid. Mid-quality with one blossom of flower; high quality with paired blossoms; supreme quality with three blossoms. Can be used to craft Foundation Pellet, Upper Spirit Pellet, Purple Earth-Mother Pellet…’
Once Fang Xing digested all of the information from the appraisal, his eyes immediately grew round.
This was actually a supreme-quality spirit herb used to craft a Foundation Pellet.


Some say he is the bad apple in a basket, that he's rotting everything around him with disgrace and corruption. 
Some say he is the biggest scum of the southern continent of Jambu, that he's colluding with the dark sects to cheat, steal, and commit all manner of atrocities. 
Some say he is the most wanted playboy. "Lock your daughters at home to keep Fang Xing away!"
To all of those people, "That's right, I am that big rotten apple. Any problem with that?"
--on indefinite hiatus with the current PtH team. Last chapter: 425 on Dec 31, 2018. 

The sun had long since risen and any thoughts from last nights existential self debate had long since faded in the mind of Alleluia. The fourteen year old was currently sitting in class with only one thing running through his mind.

".... F*ck its hot....", the groan of Grise, the lanky boy sitting beside him was the only thought everyone in the class was currently thinking. 

The last week of spring was an absolute scorcher for the denizens of Lake Rail City whose current temperature exceeded 39 degrees..... and that was in Celsius!

Many of the rail lines entering and exiting the city had to be transferred or carefully monitored as they raced down the tracks. The affect of the heat caused some of the metal that went into creating the tracks started to either expand under the strenuous heat, or even distort some of the older rail roads.

It wasn't very common for this type of heat to occur at such an early time of year. Many of the people living in Lake Rail City foresaw a huge increase in rail road cancellations as well as an increased traffic in and out of the city. This also meant that many businesses inside the city would suffer. The economic drought might last over two months at the very most.

Alleluia let out a loud sigh as he adjusted his tie while staring up at the blackboard at the front of the class. The teacher was going over the history of life essence and life techniques, a subject that interested not just him, but many of the other students in the class.

After all, who didn't want to become a transcendent and gain eternal glory? Teenagers, especially teenage boys, dreamed about the possibility of becoming Knights and fighting for their country. 

The teacher, a middle-aged woman with a rather prominent hunch, started drawing a strange diagram that resembled the human body. The various major organs were added, but dozens upon dozens of strange and geometric lines covered the body. Some created spirals and others spheres. To most of the class, it just looked like a three year olds scribbles.

The hunched teacher spoke,

"This is a rough diagram of the human body. As you can see, the major organs can be seen as well as the various life passages that are present throughout the body. These passages contain the innate life essence that is within every living being. Currently, in all of you, it is completely stagnant. Knights however, have stimulated their life essence with life techniques, and can manipulate their life essence into life power, and use it to create feats of immense physical ability".

None of the boys even chuckled at the image of the male reproductive organ on the board. This class, was one of the few that no-one dared to muck around in.

She continued,

"As far as we have observed, there is exactly 720 life passages throughout the body. Their are 12 Primary Life Passages, and 59 Subsidiary Passages within each of the 12 Primary Life Passages. When Knights awaken their Life Power for the first time, one of the 12 Primary Life Passages are opened. After opening this first Primary Life Passage, the other 59 Subsidiary Passages can slowly be opened. This is a Rank 1 Knight".

All the boys looked on with awe at the teachers words. Most of them were familiar with the concepts of Life Passages and Life Power, but this was the first time they had ever heard the term, "Rank 1 Knight".

One of the boys, a freckled ginger kid named Russell, raised his hand with a huge smile on his face, 

"Does that mean that once all 60 Passages in the first Primary Life Passage are open, they have to open another Primary Life Passage?".

The hunched teacher nodded, a satisfied grin marred her lips.

"Correct. Every 60 Life Passages is what we call a bottleneck. It means that one has reached the peak of their potential in that particular Rank, and must prepare for breaking through to the next stage. This would be a Rank 2 Knight".

Another one of the boys, one sitting directly in front of Alleluia put his hand up with a curious look on his face.

"Teacher, is Mr Tobias a Rank 2 Knight?".

Alleluia went wide eyed for a moment and covered his mouth to stifle his laughter which thankfully went unnoticed by the boy in front of him.

The woman at the front smiled and merely shook her head at the young boy's question.

"No. Mr Tobias is a Rank 1 Knight. As far as I am aware, he has only opened 10 Life Passages. With these 10 Life Passages however, he could kill everyone in this school before the authorities get here. If it was someone with a high combat prowess, it wouldn't even take 10 minutes.... Alleluia, how about you explain the distinction between Life Techniques. Unfortunately, it seems that my student has exceeded my knowledge on the subject".

All eyes in the room turned to Alleluia who blinked several times before sighing and walking to the front of the class. He picked up a piece of chalk and gave a look to Miss Torii who nodded as he started his own drawing.

An exact replica of the drawing beside it.

He spoke,

"The difference in Life Techniques can mean the difference in life and death in a battle between Knights. They can influence the attributes of ones Life Power as well as the affects that Life Power has on others. For example....".

Over the top of the original drawing of the human body, the words [Burning Grass Technique] was written.

And over the top of the second drawing, the words, [Surging Flood Technique] was written. Both drew the eyes of all the boys in the room.

"The [Burning Grass Technique] is a Life Technique that emulates the sensation of burning grass. It does not create a flame like you may think, but gives ones Life Power the attribute of fire. Those touched by Life Power practiced by this technique will experience a heavy burning sensation as if they were on fire. It is a technique that is very useful when dealing with enemies who use wood attributed Life Techniques. In addition, despite its name, it is quite a passive fire attributed life technique, without the explosive, uncontrollable and powerful force of real fire".

He pointed to the second drawing.

"On the contrary. the [Surging Flood Technique] is quite the powerful technique. It possesses the insurmountable force of a surging wave behind it. Life Power awakened when practicing this technique gains an enduring and oppressive quality towards it. It can also not just make Life Power more fluid and adaptable, but also the body. Those who practice it experience a fluid and ever-shifting presence to their movements. For those you utilize a sword, especially a long sword, I would recommend this technique".

Alleluia stopped drawing and turned to the class and pointed at both pictures.

"Now, who do you think would win in a fight? Considering that everything is the same, age weapon, weight, height and the number of Life Passages opened, who would win? [Burning Grass Technique]? Or [Surging Flood Technique]?".

All the boys in the room gave each other a look and started muttering in their own small groups. Alleluia, who was standing up the front of the class sent Miss Torii a glance who nodded excitedly at the level of interaction the students gave during Alleluia's teaching.

The fourteen year old waited several more minutes before the class had split into two groups. Less than half stood on the side of the [Burning Grass Technique] and the rest stood on the side of the [Surging Flood Technique].

Alleluia turned to Ruto who stood on the side of the [Burning Grass Technique].

"Piggy. Why did you pick the [Burning Grass Technique]?".

Unfazed by the nickname the apparent piggy walked forward and puffed his chest out as he explained his reasoning.

"The pretty boy said that the [Burning Grass Technique] carries a flame attribute. It emulates the sensation of fire and people can get burned from being close with this type of Life Power. The damaging effects of the [Burning Grass Technique] would be able to defeat the opponent more quicker, as they would have to expend their Life Power more quickly in order to block the damage. If they chose not to block it, they have just dramatically reduced their overall power and in the best case scenario for me, I would've just killed you".

Alleluia nodded slightly at the reasoning the piggy gave and turned to Grise who was standing on the side of the [Surging Flood Technique].

"And you Q-Tip? How would you handle it?".

The tall and lanky boy ignored the nickname although did turn slightly red in the ears as he spoke.

"The [Surging Flood Technique] contrary to the [Burning Grass Technique] has an innate advantage due to its water attribute. Water subdues fire so it would have the upper hand from the get go. Additionally, it has a power enduring aspect just like a real wave. The defensive power of the  [Surging Flood Technique] is just as great as the offensive power of the [Burning Grass Technique]. Since it would become a battle of attrition, the one who can last the longest is the one that will win".

Most of the boys standing behind Grise agreed with his line of thought. Some appeared conflicted after Ruto's explanation and seemed more aligned to the [Burning Grass Technique] than the [Surging Flood Technique].

Everyone looked at Alleluia expectantly, eagerly awaiting his answer. In an in-depth analysis of Life Techniques, only the Professor could beat Alleluia. If he wanted to go into more detail he would've analysed the Life Passages as well as the affects of their attributes as well.

But considering that this was only a third year middle school class he restrained himself from voicing his actual opinion.

"You should all know that the battle could go either way. Factors like perception and combat awareness affect a Knight's combat prowess as well as their physical attributes. But considering that we made all of that stuff equal with the only differing factor being Life Technique I would have to say that the winner would most likely be..... the [Burning Grass Technique]".

Aggrieved and excited expressions rang out throughout the entire classroom as the minority standing closest to the windows jumped up in down as they spouted obscenities while harassing Grise and the others.

Said victims of harassment could only look towards Alleluia with a puzzled and questioning look in their eyes. They doubted the bias of his opinion considering his personality, so how did the [Burning Grass Technique] beat the [Surging Flood Technique]?

The fourteen year old cleared his throat and spoke.

"This may seem unfair to some of you, but the [Burning Grass Technique] is actually a Rank 2 Life Technique. Despite its passive appearance, the burning sensation would be able to burn right through the [Surging Flood Technique] despite its defensive powers. This entire simulated combat question was designed to show you the difference in Life Technique Ranks. A Rank 2 Life Technique means that it can bring one up to the level of a Rank 2 Knight. It also means that it can bring out more potential when compared to a Rank 1 Life Technique".

He smacked the diagram of the [Burning Grass Technique] causing some of the chalk and dust to fly up in the air. It stopped any retorts coming from the losing side but Grise just stood up and spoke anyway.

He wasn't upset or angry, just confused.

"So the final determinant in battle is Life Technique Rank? The higher the Rank the stronger one can become?".

Alleluia nodded in a serious manner.

"Yes. If two sides, equal in every way possible fight each other to the death, the one with the higher Ranked Life Technique will win. That is the general consensus of every Life Technique researcher".

Everyone nodded understandingly but a single hand raised itself amongst the crowd of young males. The freckled ginger kid, Russell, stood up from amongst the winning [Burning Grass Technique] boys and raised his hand.

"I understand if you don't want to answer it but I'd like to ask anyway..... if you fought someone using the [Burning Grass Technique], under the same conditions, you specifically Alleluia.... would you win?"

The class grew eerily silent and all eyes shifted from the nervous redhead to the calm and silent black haired boy standing at the front of the room. Many felt a extremely strong tension in the room and felt shivers run down their spines as the corners of Alleluia's mouth slowly curved upwards.

"Me? Against some using the [Burning Grass Technique?].... Every single time, no matter what circumstances favor the opposition, I have absolute confidence of winning. Better than that, I could do it in a single strike".

A foreign world in which the evolutionary pathways of beasts and humans alike have differed in only slightly. A single decisive factor being the cause of this change, allowing for all living creatures to pursue the path to absolute power.

Life Power.

The dormant energy which is found within every beings Life Passages can be stimulated and further awakened by the select few who have the talent. The talent to become Knights!

Knights were those who have surpassed the physical limits of the human body and attained transcendence. The Life Power inside them allowed them to cleave mountaintops and separate the seas.

It had been over a hundred thousand years since the era of Knights began and humanity was pushed back and a clear line was formed between them and the Wilderness.

A young man from a large city state awakens his potential and starts to walk the path of Knighthood. A terrifying secret hidden within the World was about to be unraveled and the age of Humanity was on the horizon.

-------------------------------------

*Expect a weak to strong novel were the protagonist is not overpowered like the other novels on this site. He does have his own advantages which obviously make him different but he not able to skip realms and fight those on a higher cultivation than him. The lines in the sand are clearly drawn in this novel.

In addition, don't think that every character belongs to a traditional character archetype like "friend", "enemy" or "love interest". I wrote this with character development in mind, as their views and values shift and change as the novel progresses (expect this a lot from the protagonist).

Lastly, this novel is not all about fighting and becoming stronger. Progression of strength is definitely present but not the end goal. Like I said before, "character development" is more important. I chose a relatively young age for the protagonist so his beliefs aren't yet fully formed. This is to introduce new ideas and other stuff to progress the story more.

Anyway, this isn't for everyone. Please enjoy and comment on whether you like it or if it could use some work!

I am 15 chapters ahead on my patreón check it out if you are interested
_______________________________________________
Winterfell 

Bran pov 

It been a few days since Jon came on his dragon to Winterfell after destroying the ironborn, he even got to meet Jon's dragon Nightfury in the godswoods, he never thought there would dragons in the seven kingdoms once again let alone meet one 

For the last few days the tales of Jon burning the ironborn ships and killing Balon greyjoy in pyke spread, So soon after they won the war and Jon become king 

All the minor lords who didn't go south with the army came here to greet him and were boasting about the war, they were talking about the victories of his brothers,saying things like there were meant to win anyway, that the old gods were with the Starks and boasting about Jon even when the don't know anything about him 

Maester Luwin said that these lords are just paying respect to their New king and came here because he is the cousin to the king now and Starks have become the closest house to the crown and King Aegon 

While he was happy about his brothers winning battle after battle in the south, that didn't matter to him while they went to war he was stuck here in winterfell with only summer and Rickon for company, at least Arya was training with the she-wolfs in Moat Cailin but he had no such luck because he is the lord stark of Winterfell until uncle Benjen comes back 

He heard that after Jon left winterfell he stopped at Moat Cailin and took Arya and Nymeria with him to Kingslanding, why is arya is the only one who gets to have all the fun 

The only good thing happening is summer is getting bigger and bigger pretty soon he big will be like greywind, maybe he too will have adventures wandering with summer by his side in few years 

Kingslanding 

Red keep 

Jon/Aegon pov 

With the Ironborn taken care off the north doesn't have to worry out raids from the sea, Robb, uncle Ned and northern lords were very happy when they heard how I dealt with the squids, soon the the rest of the seven kingdoms will hear of this and know that they are never far from dragon's wrath 

And with Arya here the red keep feels more like home now, we both were always odd ones of the Starks and were closer to each other than the rest 

Now Direwolves run around in the red keep and dragons fly over kingslanding, Lynix and Rhaenix mostly spend their time near the volcano of Dragonstone but for dragons the distance between kingslanding and Dragonstone is never far 

The three dragons all hunt together now but Nightfury spends the rest of the time with me and ghost around the red keep, he still has his personal time where he flies to wherever he wants and with his speed he could be anywhere in the seven kingdoms or Essos at that time 

The Red keep also changed a lot with me taking control, like the dragon skulls are once more proudly displayed in the throne room, but not all skulls are here some of the smaller ones were stolen by Varys and sent to me for the last few years to make wine in the various red temples across Essos, but I only used the smaller ones for that and the big ones are still in red keep 

I also removed Varys's little birds from the secret passages of the red keep, I know all the secret passages of the red keep due to the rats running around, so I put illusions across the passages of the red keep now Varys and his little can't use them to move around and spy on people even though they have been using these passages for years 

The illusion make sure that at worst that a person trying to use the secret passages might directly walk into a death trap or just walk straight into cell where gaurds are waiting to lock them up, I still left Varys few passages to go around because it is necessary for his work as Master of Whispers but he can't use the rest of them or spy on me 

While someone like tor of the children of forest who is a master at illusions can cast illusions with just the magic flowing in air ,I can't do that I can only use fire magic due to my dragon blood, so the biggest dragon skull Balerion's which is sitting beside the Iron Throne is lined with Dragonglass and Valariyan magic to gather magic and power the illusions lined across the red keep 

I made it so that only someone with Targaryen blood will able to walk the passages without being affected by illusions and even then the person has to know the layout of the passages to not get caught in the traps 

The red keep was built by Targaryens so only someone with our blood should be able to properly use it, 

Speaking of Targaryens grandmother coming has been a huge help in the court, I grew up in the north so like people from there I am brash and straight forward, so it a good thing I am the king because I can't stand the pointless blabbering of the courters, but with grandmother I can be straight forward and harsh with anyone I want as grandmother can be the soft side of the dragons, so grandmother can deal with people politely and politically and I can deal with anyone who wants to test me and not worry about the crown's image 

So these fools can think of me as serious unyielding King and grandmother as sweet sensible one but either they are dealing with the dragons and whatever approach they take the can't take advantage of the dragons 

At least the people from the north are enjoying this, they say things like the king might be a dragon but he is still of the north,the north is strong in the king, the crown has not changed the white wolf at all,etc 

When a ROB decides to give little Jon Snow a small blessing , this small change completely changed the song of ice and fire

if you want to support my work visit my patreon 
https://www.patreon.com/emperordragon
I am 10 chapters ahead there

Simon breathed evenly and slow, standing in one of the many corridors of rusting metal.

Once all the passages of the hive would be tubes of metal, but rust and time have caused a few of the lower levels to degrade. Now, just maintaining the passages is possible, as they put up sturdy supports for the rock the passages are built into, while the recoverable metals of the passages are stripped away to repair the higher levels.

Luckily the levels had layers of solid bedrock between them. Solid earth made a better floor and sturdier ceiling than a thin bit of metal when it has to last for centuries. Or at least, a more cost-effective floor and ceiling.

Simon was currently in a section half-cannibalized by the Hive's ever present need for metal to repair vital parts and machinery.

Patches of the metal walls and ceiling were missing, sections of paneling torn out with only the structured bracing the panels once fit into left to support the ceiling and prevent any cave-ins.

Simon could actually see a few bars of even the support had been cut out strategically, taken away as well.

His breath plumed out before him as he shivered. The lack of paneling meant no heat preservation systems, and deep underground in the dark surrounded by rock...

Simon tried to keep moving, rubbing his biceps with his hands in an attempt to stay warm.

'I wonder if we're going to need to start manufacturing some sort of second layer of clothing? If this keeps up and more and more passages are exposed to the cold...'

Simon grinned as his imagination went to work, imagining all kinds of crazy ideas for how to use fabric to stay warm.

He'd seen coats and sweaters in some vids of the Old World, but not in reality, so he did keep in mind it would probably look similar if the Board was forced to make their own for the employs.

But hey, why can't he have some fun with the idea, right?

He entered a doorway with no door, yet another removed decades ago, and made his way across the level to the elevator, taking a few side passages to avoid the known cameras.

'Course I have no guarantee there aren't hidden ones, but hey, can only do so much...'

Simon faltered a bit in his steps as his mind began to really consider what he was doing.

'What would happen if I was caught even? Would the board punish me somehow, tell me off, do nothing? I don't even know what THEY know, what they want! They keep us here and alive, make sure things run and are kept in order and everyone does work to make sure humanity survives.'

Simon took another step, still having thoughts rage within his head. 'For all I know, the Extinction didn't even happen, and the board is keeping us all here for some fucking reason! Or maybe Emily is right about fucking colors being sentient, who the fuck knows anymore.'

Simon shook his head, more confused than ever before. 'Why am I doing this?'

That one made him stop.

Why WAS he doing this?

So things didn't line up. Why hadn't he reported it to the board? 

So maybe a secret way to the surface existed, or maybe it was all just a crazy person's mind messing up the details. Why should he go check it out, investigate?

Wasn't life already simple and good?

Who cares how ruined the surface is, we're safe here.

'The Hive is safe, and I could just live here forever, happy in ignorance...'

'...ignoring the rust, the patched rubber, the slowly rising cost of certain goods as they get rarer and rarer in how much is made.'

'Ignore the outside world, the truth, and whatever may be.'

'Ignore the extinction of mankind, and stay safe in my little metal hole.'

Why not?

Simon took a step forward.

'Why?'

He took another, and another.

'Why?!'

He began to pick up speed, jogging down the metal/stone passages, filled with signs of the Hive's decay.

'Why can't I just turn away?! Why can't I leave it be? It could be hell out there, absolute hell!'

He was running, full tilt, head down as his eyes geared up and his vision went blurry.

'So why the hell am I still going there anyways?!'

He suddenly realized the elevator was there, and he was still running right into it!

Simon came to a crashing halt, turning sideways to shoulder-check the wall to finally stop as he'd realized too late.

Simon stumbled back from the impact as his shoulder stung a bit from taking the hit.

"Hah... hah... hah... pheeeew..." he bent over, hands on his knees as he heaved for air.

As his breath slowly stabilized, he tiredly swung his arm at the elevator, only for nothing to happen.

He cracked open an eye and looked, only to realize it had actual buttons, and wasn't wirelessly openable by the comm.

'When did they make the elevators use buttons?'

The news from tonight spoke once more in his head, and his mind began to churn once again.

Simon felt the need to see the surface, strong and beating in his chest.

'I can't ignore it... I just can't.'

Simon hit the button, and as he went inside his face was reflected off the dull metal of the elevator.

He looked at the helpless, wry smile on his face.

"Hell of a time to find out what kind of person you are." He spoke to himself, his own reflection.

"Y'know, it could be hell up there."

Simon almost didn't even blink when his reflection spoke back, a strange unreal-ness to everything making him just accept it.

"Yeah, I know."

"You're crazy."

Simon laughed. "Probably. But you know what any good psychopath should say before the unknown?"

The reflective pursed his lips, refusing to ask as he already knew the answer. After all, he was Simon too.

Simon smiled, teeth bared. "Give me hell. At least it'll be real, cause whatever this is? Whatever is happening here, right now? It's not real. The peace of the hive, this conversation, our sustainability-"

Simon took a deep breath. "It's all just bullshit."

The reflection stayed silent.

"So yeah. Give me hell. Give me the truth, no matter how awful, cause when I die, I'd like to at least know why."

*Ding~*

The doors slid open, and Simon stepped out, leaving his reflection behind, and walked down the corridors.

He didn't hide from the cameras, he just walked.

He came to rooms of housing, and went past the clusters and cells as he continued walking under the dark earth above.

It took 6 minutes to get to the right sector, and Simon grabbed a wheel and quickly turned it, loose as it was(it wiggled a bit in his hands just from having his weight put on it)opening one of the less-used service passages.

Simon ducked under a bunch of hanging wires behind the opening, moving through a few pitch-black passages.

He used the flashlight he'd stuck through his belt to see the way.

Simon stepped over a pipe as the flashlight's warm yellow/orange light dimly lit everything.

He and Matt had to replace the bulb, he remembered. Simon had found one that fit by taking it from a scrapped lamp that had fried it's wire. The bulb didn't actually fit the flashlight, so they'd cut away the metal of the cone surrounding the broken bulb, trading it for paper and resin.

After some interesting work, they managed to use oil and resin to create their own cone around the new bulb that was fitted in.

Simon laughed at the memory, before cutting his reverie short as he looked at the map on his comm, slowly turning around.

"It should be..."

He lowered the beam of light, and the orange-yellow circle fell on a grate on the lower part of the wall.

'Well shit. It really exists.'

-Artwork not mine, a placeholder until I can pay someone to get me an actual cover-

The world was destroyed by the Extinction, the skies went dark and the land forever changed.

Now, mutant beings roam the wastelands, people live in small settlements they carve out with their own flesh and blood, and the world seems dark and hopeless.

But some are Changed. They say they are chosen, by the gods, gods of each color, and that they must find something.

The Prism.

And when the Prism of the Gods is found... 

Salvation shall come at last.

Hecathe descended deeper and deeper into the secret emergency passages and eventually got used to the smell and the dust covering the place.
When he finally stepped down to the bottom of the long spiral staircases that seemed to have been going on forever, he sighed in relief before taking out something from his pocket.
It was the pocket-friendly suitcase that could expand with just a button and once he pressed the button, he took out the cloak and mask that he had kept inside the suitcase before closing the suitcase again and contracting it back to the size that could easily fit inside his pocket.
He wore the mask and the cloak before pulling the cloak up to cover his nose, trying to save himself from choking on the dust that seemed to fill this place.
He sighed as he looked up one last time and by now, the entrance that he had come from was so far away that it looked like a mere grain of dust.
Hecathe lifted his left hand and pressed a button on his watch before swiping and going to contacts as he left a message for Xanie, "You know, I just realized. Why don't I just send you a distress signal if things go wrong down here? You can come and help me sooner. It'll be much faster than waiting to see if I make it out alive or not."
He looked up and waited for a few minutes and as expected, a response came for him in the form of another voice message.
"Captain, you are right. This is a better idea."
"..."
"This is why you are the captain and I'm your worker!" The girl didn't forget to flatter Hecathe.
Hecathe pursed his lips and shook his head as he turned his watch back off and put his hand down before stuffing the small pocket-sized button of the suitcase back into his pocket.
He took out the map that he had kept away and looked at it carefully before raising the lamp in hand to see the three passages that went into different directions ahead of him.
"Hmm..." He muttered as he wondered what he was supposed to choose.
All three passages looked absolutely the same and he was a man who had no sense of direction. It was only now that he realized this big problem. Even with a map in hand, if he didn't know which direction was north and which was south, he was still going to end up getting lost in these passages.
He pressed the button on his watch again and contacted Xanie, "Yo, there are three ways here. What do I do?"
Soon enough, the response also came from Xanie who was still waiting in Hecathe's room, looking down at the bottom of the spiral staircase that could be hardly seen, "Captain, how am I supposed to know? I gave the map to you."
Hecathe scratched the back of his neck as he glanced at the map in his hand and then back up at the three paths that lay ahead of him.
"Damn it..." He cursed as he tried to come up with a way through which he could find the right passage he was supposed to choose.
Because of the spiral staircase, his sense of direction had worsened even more and he was completely helpless.
Just when he thought that he would have to depend on his luck and choose randomly, the speaker of his watch came to life as Xanie sent him another voice message.
"Captain, try using the direction map inside your QMS."
"Wait, there is a direction app inside this thing too?!" Hecathe cried out in shock as he immediately tried to find it.
He swiped through a lot of different programs that he didn't even bother trying out and soon enough, he was able to find the direction analysis app.
He turned the app on and held his hand out front. Because the main page of the app looked like a familiar handheld compass, Hecathe thought the arrow on it would move around to tell him the direction, however, he seemed to have been made a fool out of.
The arrow spun around once before it suddenly vanished and in its place came a sentence: You are facing the north.
It was also followed by a few numbers but Hecathe wasn't sure what the numbers were about. He knew that they were about the degrees of the angle he was facing but he wasn't exactly sure about it.
He looked at the map again and saw the direction given on top.
"Great!" He exclaimed as he suddenly found the passage that he was supposed to choose.
"Captain, did you find it?" Xanie's worried voice message came once again.
"I found it," Hecathe responded after a minute as he kept going deeper into the passage that he had chosen.
He walked for a long while and a turn came. This time he only had two passages to choose from. One going towards his right and the other going towards his left. It was much easier for him to make his decision this time and he didn't even need to depend on the compass tool this time as he turned right and continued on in that path.
He eventually started getting bored and the silence annoyed him a bit so he hummed an unknown melody to make sure that there was some sound around.
He walked for another few hours and kept on turning according to the map. After three or more hours of walking, he looked down at the map and checked to see how much distance he had covered. He hoped to see himself covering a lot of distance, however, the reality was rather pinching.
"That's it?!" He shouted in shock as he saw that he had only covered a bit lesser than twenty percent of the way that he had to cover.
He gulped as he immediately started regretting his decision. He definitely shouldn't have chosen such a risky option to run away from here.
"Captain, are you okay in there?" Xanie seemed to be dedicated to this mission. Every ten minutes, she would leave a voice message for Hecathe asking the man if he was alive or dead.
"I'm alive," Hecathe switched on the watch for a second as he responded to her timely checks.
He took a deep breath in as he continued to walk forward and followed the map.
If by the end of this, he was still alive, he would certainly want to pat himself in the back just for surviving these hellish passages that seemed to be slowly trying to break him down.
He seriously wondered what was going on in the head of the maker who created this thing. This was supposed to be the emergency passages, wasn't it? Why would someone make such small emergence passages that were more like tunnels that just went on forever?
Even if there was a real emergency, Hecathe would rather choose to jump through the fire and escape because that option sounded a lot better than entering these narrow tunnels again.
He hummed and continued on his path, ignoring the hunger and thirst he was suddenly suffered to feel.
It was too soon for him to eat or drink. Although Hecathe had packed both water and food, it would still be insufficient if he eats too much. Originally, he thought that it won't take more than a few hours to get to Ocasia so he only packed one tiffin filled with food and a bottle of water.
So if he was going to be stuck here for more than a day, it was better for him to save up on his resources and use them only when he was in dire need of them.
After another few hours, he could almost feel the muscles on his leg hurt from tightening up too much and he was sure that the veins on his legs had also managed to pop up like that of a marathon runner.
"I can do it," He reminded and motivated himself as he kept on walking forward.
"Captain, are you okay?" Xanie checked in on him again and once again, he responded with a dejected 'yes'.
After another few hours, it was probably near six or seven in the morning and Xanie had already stopped checking in on him.
Hecathe didn't mind it too much as he guessed that the girl had probably fallen asleep or something.
It was only natural that she did. Hecathe could never imagine himself sleeping on the floor of these dirty passages but Xanie was up there in Hecathe's room so of course, she succumbed to the drowsiness and tiredness that melted away on the soft mattress of Hecathe's bed.

Over-confidence can get you killed or in Hecathe’s case, it can get you transmigrated into a parallel universe that is trying to kill you.

It all started with a simple, “Mom! I want to be a villain!”
 
Years later, Hecathe stood at the top of the economy with his Zuex company squeezing out every last penny from the pockets of the helpless consumers.  

One day he looked over at his secretary and confidently questioned, “When the country runs on your money, do you really think it matters if I’m driving legally or not?”

The heaven’s laughed as they heard this. To think that a mere human was this arrogant?! 

The heavens: “Let’s pull a UNO reverse card on him!” 

Hecathe’s eyes were glued to his phone as he heard the loud screeching of tires that made him look up and... 

Ha. Ha. Ha. 

The heavens probably had the last laugh... Or did they?
 
Hecathe remembered getting hit by a car but instead of waking up in a hospital, he woke up in a stinky jail with heavy chunks of metal chains wrapped around his whole body as if it were a straitjacket. 

An expensive custom-made straitjacket.





Fantasy || God-complex || Sci-fi || Villain protagonist || Politics || Mystery || Adventure || Suspense || Parallel universe || Bromance || Rich and Arrogant protagonist || Elements and magic || MechaXMagic ||
Story by: Cherlyswan 
Cover art by: Cherlyswan

Chapter 112: Traps Everywhere
Just like Cech and Brooks' miserable previous encounter after taking the [Hulk Potion], Pierce and Drogba also couldn't digest the potion inside their body in time. Although the severe pain had gone away, their bodies still retained an obvious green color, which was even greener than Brook's and the others due to having inferior strength. The muscular men all stood there, and it looked like twenty or so green cacti popped out of nowhere in the Stone Hall all of a sudden.
"Don't worry, when you guys fully absorb the drug, this side effect will eventually disappear."
Fei called Essien, Shaquille O'Neal and Kahn out from the crowd, and then threw them a secret scroll about cultivating energy and a water elemental [Chipped Sapphire]. These three people were all blue water energy descendants, and there were three one-star level water elemental energy scrolls in Chambord City's royal collection, so it was just enough for these three men. After being refined and transformed by the [Hulk Potion], the width and toughness of the energy channels inside their bodies far exceeded an average person's, and they could even be regarded as being highly talented. Additionally, with the assistance of a sapphire of the same element, they could probably reach a breakthrough within a short period of time.
The other muscular men that didn't get equipment or other rewards could only scratch the back of their heads, drooling while laughing foolishly. They looked at Fei with watery, innocent and pure eyes, as if a bunch of babies wanted milk from their mommy Fei.
Fei had black lines going down his forehead as he waved his arm, driving out these cacti that were trying to play cute out of the stone hall.
In fact, these strongmen all understood deep down inside. The inventory of a sixth-class subsidiary country was too shabby, so His Majesty was probably poor after taking out these equipment and potions. Therefore, they didn't complain, and at least they all received a strength boost from the [Hulk Potion]. Besides, those people that Fei had named for a reward were all their companions that had the most prominent achievements. That was why they could only envy them and not get jealous.
After finishing that, Fei quietly stood in the stone hall.
Suddenly, with a single thought, Fei changed to [Assassin Mode].
A force of power different from the Paladin's "spiritual power", Sorcerer's "magic power", Necromancer's "dead air", Barbarian's "brutal force" and Druid's "natural energy", started surging up in the stone hall.
Assassins were a very special class in the Diablo world. According to Fei's past life memories, Blizzard said that this class was based on the foundation of the secret Chinese martial art, and now this was proven by Fei, because in [Assassin Mode], there was energy running in his body called [Spirit].
The spirit energy gave Fei the feeling that it fit very well with the description of the energy described in many Wuxia novels he read in his past life.
"A total of 18 channels!"
Fei closed his eyes and carefully felt the energy flow in his body, and he noticed that the so-called [Spirit] ran in his body through a total of 18 routes. Each route was a complete and independent path, but they also connected to each other, just like a maze opening up in his body. Warm air was circling this maze, constantly nourishing his flesh.
Also, the direction that the [Spirit] travelled was very similar to the energy flow in the channels on Azeroth Continent.
Fei thought for a moment and picked up a one-star water elemental energy scroll, which he copied down by hand for his own use. Fei carefully read through it and noticed that this scroll only described 8 passages, and these 8 passages were all included in the 18 passages that were running inside Fei's body.
"Could it be that these so-called energy passages in Azeroth actually refer to the paths that spirit travels inside the Assassin character? Then, does the quality of an energy scroll correspond to the number of passages it describes?"
This discovery made Fei vaguely aware of something.
If it really was like what he thought, then Fei maybe could maybe just study the 18 passages in his body and create sets of higher level energy scrolls out of thin air. One-star energy scrolls contained 8 energy passages, but Fei currently already had 18 passages in his body. He could imitate these 18 spirit flow paths to explore the 10 additional passages, and that would allow him to create high level energy scrolls of at least 3 stars!
If that really was the case, then obtaining more energy scrolls for Chambord City would be like gifting firewood to homes in the winter.
"However, this matter still needs further verification. Unfortunately, the best energy scroll in Chambord City is only at the one-star level, so I can't infer much…" Fei gently closed the manuscript in his hands, and suddenly his eyes lit up. "Oh right, Uncle Lampard is a three-star level master, so he definitely knows about more energy channels. I'll just ask him later and all the mysteries will be revealed."
Fei thought about this and couldn't help but feel rejoiced.
He got up and slowly walked towards the center of the stone hall, channeling the spirit energy inside his body and feeling every running paths' specific location. Suddenly, he lowered his waist and delivered a blow.
"Roar!"
A roaring tiger's phantom image vividly shot out from Fei's fist.
Boom!
That giant rock on the ground that was previously split by Pierce's Excalibur exploded, shattering into a pile of rubble. The room was filled with hot air.
This was assassin's skill [Tiger Strike].
This skill used spirit to channel successive charges which magnified the damage potential, and its power was incredible.
Then…
Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang!
The silhouette of a man flickered within the stone hall; Fei's fist were covered in a terrifying red flame. His fists were like shooting stars, while his feet were like machetes, moving faster and faster. In the end, his entire body turned into a black whirlwind, and his movement were no longer clearly visible. Only after ten seconds did the whirlwind dissipate. He stopped, and the dozen stone chairs on the ground already turned into black powder.
Fei had learned all the skills in [Assassin Mode].
Next, he would start his plan.
The assassin's skill [Burst of Speed] activated, and Fei's body was covered by a thin layer of thin fog. In a flash, he disappeared like a ghost from the stone hall.
In the underground stone cave, no one actually knew when Fei left.
Two hours later, a light breeze suddenly appeared in the stone hall. A thin fog lightly spread in the air, and Fei appeared in the stone hall again.
He quickly walked to the stone table, picked up the quill pen and started drawing on a parchment scroll. As his quill pen kept on going up and down, Fei's sketching skills from his past life showed its value once more, and a lifelike back mountain terrain of Chambord City gradually appeared.
Fei carefully checked the drawing, and after he confirmed that there was no problem with it, he changed to another red quill pen and started carefully labelling it with all sorts of strange marks.
After a dozen minutes, Prison Official Oleg was summoned to the stone hall.
"Carefully remember this picture, carefully remember it! At all the critical positions and intersections, I've already planted tons of lethal traps, covering all the blind spots the guards can't cover. There are only 3 safe passages to go in and out, which are outlined by these red lines…" Fei pointed at the map on the parchment. With a serious face, he carefully explained, "This mark means fire, this mark means thunder… remember, wherever you see this mark on the map means that there are many traps there. Tell the patrolling soldiers to avoid these places. As for the specific patrol routes and frequency, I will let you plan them. This is very important; you must complete it before tonight. Tell all the soldiers to retreat for now in order to avoid any accidental injuries!
Warden Oleg hid his inner horror, carefully held the map, and began to memorize all the trap marks on it to design the best patrol routes.
As for Fei, he left the underground stone cave riding his big black dog.
Under Fei's guidance, the big black dog continued jumping between the rocks and trees, slowly moving forward in a strange route. It had to carefully avoid some terrifying hidden traps.
Now, the entire back mountain region of Chambord City was a place of death.
Within the two hours Fei went out, he used all the trap-laying skills in [Assassin Mode] and planted a large amount of thunder and fire traps in the forbidden areas of the back mountain of Chambord City. Now, the back mountain was covered with large amounts of magic traps like [Shock Web], [Lightning Sentry], [Wake of Fire], etc., with each one containing terrifying energy. If someone invaded the mountain and triggered the magic traps, then a large amount of thunder and flame would immediately spew out. One-star warriors would be killed instantly, while two-star warriors would barely be able to hold on for awhile. If three-star warriors were lucky, they could possibly escape from the traps.
These were all the necessary preventive measures Fei took.
The Assassin class's trap-laying skill helped Fei out a lot, solving the problem of the lack of elites and guards in Chambord City. For Fei, he could now free his hands to prepare for the upcoming storm clouds. Chambord City was facing a huge unknown risk, so Fei had to completely exert himself.
Tomorrow would be the official date of the canonization ceremony. Riding on the back of [Black Whirlwind], Fei looked up towards the magnificent sight of the mountain under the sunset; this would be the place where the ceremony would be held.
He felt a wave of excitement, and then a wave of tension.
If he didn't guess wrong, then all the questions he had would be answered by tomorrow morning, at the top of the Eastern Mountain – that would be the moment when his enemies could remove their disguises and bare their fangs.
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Author: 乱世 狂刀 Mad Blade During Hard Times
(!) This novel does not come from me, I have just published it on Webnovel to share with you this novel that I find very good which is not available on this site! If the author ever passes and wants me to delete the chapters, I will!
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An ordinary student accidentally traveled into an other universe and became the king of a small kingdom. He had gotten a “Cheating Code” of life and was able to complete something extraordinary.
This is the story about a king that was able to conquer continents and leave behind him an ultimate legend that will be recited between every generation to come.

passages from novel

Passages of Time

Success and Failure

To the Depth of Abyss

The Portal of Wonderland

Plundering the Heavens

A World Of Myths And Legends

The Game of Ice and Fire

Prism of Extinction

The Legendary Pseudo-villain

Hail The King

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