A Journey of Black and Red - Chapter 101: Tempus Fugit

“I lost everything again...?”Kain had to work hard to feed himself, in a small village on the edge of the forbidden lands. Unlike the others, he hated Keepers, the only people capable of fighting the creatures from the Astral Dimension. Everyone saw them as heroes, but Kain blamed them for the greatest tragedy of his life - the death of his parents.Ironically, the sacrifice of one Keeper allowed Kain to obtain a Rune Brand - the key to begin a trial, the outcome was either power or death.Facing another world, Kain discovered that his blood was cursed, and misfortune would always haunt him.But death would avoid Kain, wanting to keep such a valuable sacrifice for a god. Only failure would await him, but if it was possible death would pass by.Now, Kain must break his curse and take fate into his own hands for the first time in his life or remain a nameless offering.

[Fishing novel, light-hearted daily life, welcome everyone to enjoy reading]Chu Mingcheng, who was nearly thirty, encountered workplace PUA. Working overtime not only meant no extra pay, but also his date for a prearranged blind date had run off.Returning to his coastal hometown to clear his mind, he unexpectedly discovered a mountain of mud shrimp on the beach and accidentally awakened a “Golden Finger.”[Currently unlocked methods of capture: Hand, Fishing Rod][Mud Shrimp, also known as Mantis Shrimp (Level 18)][Current Experience: 0/190][Size +19%][Deliciousness +19%][Capture Probability +19%]...“Go to work? That's just wasting my life.”“Date me? Beauty, I only fish, I don't raise fish!”Conquering the ocean, fishing for crocodiles, venturing into the Amazon; wherever there's water, there's the figure of Chu Mingcheng.

It's simple. A vengeful wildfire of a woman. A tyrant who begs to be burned.When Aria crashes into Kael’s empire, hellbent on making him pay for taking her job away, she’s met not with defiance—but a dare. “You want revenge?” he taunts, voice dripping with dark invitation.“Then ruin me. Take your pound of flesh exactly where it hurts.” His proposition is a trap laced with sin: As expected he calls the shots in his bed, her contempt is his twisted aphrodisiac.“Hate me until your hands shake,” he growls. “But do it on top of me, where I can watch you savor every cut.”Their arrangement is a collision of dominance and delirium. Aria wields her fury like a blade, determined to break him. Kael? He thrives under her wrath, goading her darker, deeper, hungrier.But vengeance turns slippery when every command she hisses ignites his obedience, and every cold glare melts into bruising kisses. Soon, the bed becomes a battleground—her nails carving victory into his skin, his whispers a serpent’s promise: “Chain me with your rage, darling. I’ll still come back for more.”The rules are simple: No mercy. No surrender. But as their games spiral into something ravenous, who’s destroying whom? And when hatred burns this hot, what’s left when the ashes cool?

Anton is a great-grandfather. He is living quite a happy life, despite his advanced age and declining health… until a group of cultivator bandits moves into the area. The nearby guardians of the area, the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, are unable to track them down as they continue to ravage nearby towns. During one desperate winter Anton is out on a hunt when his family- his entire village- is killed or taken as slaves by the bandits. He lacks the strength to fight them, and he wasn’t even present for their arrival to die with his loved ones. At the pit of his despair, he wonders if he ever had any chance to change things. What could he even do? He cannot even pull his best bow, and his eyesight is failing. If he had been a cultivator… perhaps there might have been a chance, but he was decades- perhaps even most of his life- too late.Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge (2022)Notes on cultivation levels:There are five general stages of cultivation, though the fifth is extremely rare. Each cultivation style might have their own name for the stages.1. Body Tempering2. Spirit Building/ occasionally System Creation (Ninety-Nine Stars)3. Constellation Formation (Ninety-Nine Stars)4. Life Transformation/Galaxy Construction (Ninety-Nine Stars)5. Ascension