Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince - Chapter 145: A Challenge

Notice: This story contains R18+ themes, including violence, sensual and sexual content, blood-related addiction, and dark psychological elements. Reader discretion advised.I died in a library, crushed under centuries of forgotten knowledge. Fitting.Now I’ve woken up in a coffin, starving, undead, and very much not human.They call me a Fledgling—a bottom-feeder vampire barely above a ghoul. I’m weak, hunted, and tethered to a world straight out of a cursed tabletop campaign. It’s a classic fantasy realm—elves, knights, guilds, and dungeons—but twisted by a dark, rotting magic. The moon shines red, the gods are silent, and every town smells like fear.To make matters worse, I’ve been bound to a LitRPG system called the Blood Codex.Level up by draining blood.Unlock skills by embracing your monstrous nature.Resist Corruption... or don’t.There's no prophecy. No chosen one nonsense. No noble title. Just fangs, rot, and whatever I can steal, trick, or kill to survive.But the deeper I sink into this world’s underbelly, the more I realize something is watching me through the system. The rules are breaking. Dungeon bosses are going mad. Entire towns are disappearing.And I think I’m supposed to fix it… or maybe finish the job.

Loose cultivator Shi Lang gradually found himself in the realm of invincibility. However, when he finally tried to ascend to the higher realm, the spirit of the world was nearly exhausted.

So, between his ascension to a new world or the well-being of his home, he chose the latter and sacrificed his life to save the world.

Nobody knew what he gave up for the world, and he told no one.

Although his sacrifice had gone unsung, there was still someone who witnessed everything. A treasured artifact he carried on his body preserved his soul and let it escape a tragic end.

Eons passed.

The human race stepped out from the age of cultivation into an age of stellar conquest.

The spirit energy in the world was now scarce, but humans found other means to excel.

In this highly-advanced time, Shi Lang's soul has found a chance to be reborn.

What happens when an ancient cultivator that neared the level of a deity before his first death gets a second chance at life in the space age?

BOOK TWO OF THE HAMILTON SERIESWARNING: A Regency Era novel. Adult content with detailed smut…Read at you own risk⚠️⛔️Genre: Historical Romance / Smut / Enemies-to-Lovers / Mystery / Comedy[Book Two of the Hamilton Series. Can be read as a standalone, but better enjoyed after Lady Ines’ Scandalous Hobby.]To the world, Duke Rowan Hamilton is the perfect gentleman. But in the bedroom, he is a man possessed.Rowan Hamilton has it all: a Ducal title, the face of a fallen angel, and a smile that makes debutantes faint. He is the “Golden Duke”—charming, responsible, and utterly adored by society.But it’s all a lie.Beneath the coats and polite manners, Rowan is a man haunted by a ghost. For three years, he has remained faithful to the memory of a masked woman who stole a kiss, bested him at a game of chance, and vanished into the night. He doesn't want any one as his wife; he wants her.When his domineering aunt tires of his bachelorhood, she hires London’s most notorious underground matchmaker to force the issue.Enter Miss Delaney Kingsley.She is sharp-tongued, infuriatingly competent, and entirely unimpressed by his title. Her mission? To drag Rowan to the altar with the season’s “Diamond,” Lady Celine, within three months to collect the juicy payment Rowan’s aunt had to offer.Rowan intends to fire the meddlesome woman. But when Delaney looks at him with those hazel, intelligent eyes and orders him around like a young lad, he feels the first spark of life he’s felt in years.He decides to play her game. He will let her “coach” him on how to woo a lady. He will let her teach him how to dance, how to flirt, and how to seduce.But he has no intention of using those lessons on Lady Celine.“You were hired to find me a Duchess, Miss Kingsley. But the only person I want in my duchy and in my bed... is you.”As the lessons turn into forbidden nights and the bickering turns into scorching passion, Rowan begins to suspect that his matchmaker is hiding a secret of her own.She moves like a shadow, handles a rifle like a soldier, and tastes exactly like the ghost he’s been hunting for three years.What to Expect:* The Golden Retriever Duke: Who turns into a possessive Alpha behind closed doors.* The Matchmaker Trope: She’s trying to marry him off; he’s trying to take her clothes off.* High Heat: Slow burn that explodes into intense smut.* Competence Kink: He falls harder every time she bosses him around.* Cameos: Featuring the chaotic domestic life of Duchess Ines and Duke Carcel (and their baby Harry!).Excerpt:“Your Grace, please focus,” Delaney snapped, adjusting his cravat with efficient, gloved hands. “Lady Celine is waiting in the ballroom. You must look at her as if she is the only woman in the world.”Rowan caught her wrist, stopping her movements. He stepped into her space, backing her against the heavy oak door of the study, his “Golden Boy” mask slipping to reveal the hunger beneath.“And how, exactly, does one do that, Miss Kingsley?” he whispered, his voice rough. “Show me.”“I—I cannot show you, I am merely the coach—”“Then teach me,” he growled, lowering his head until his lips brushed the sensitive skin of her neck. “Teach me how to pretend I am not burning alive every time you walk into a room.”

Bei Ran lay on the operating table, Gu Qingchen was her surgeon. His eyes, deep as the Aegean Sea, gazed at her: “Honey, it's been four years since we got married, and you're still afraid of me?”Honey? Last night he already threw a divorce agreement at her, what right does he have to call her that?In City A, Gu Qingchen is a long-lasting legend. He is a leading figure in the medical field and a major shareholder in a Fortune 500 company, capable of great influence in the business world.He only needed an obedient wife. Bei Ran was so 'obedient' that he never had to worry. The four-year marriage was just a matter of agreement, but who is the one lingering endlessly after the divorce?She accidentally fell into water at a wedding she was hosting, he said: “Beg me, you know I'm always responsive to your demands!”“Gu Qingchen, we're divorced!” Bei Ran couldn't stand it anymore!He laughed coldly: “Bei Ran, we've been married for four years, you have a five-year-old daughter, do you really want to die here?”Bei Ran was shocked, he knew? Would he fight her for her daughter?Gu Qingchen could never have imagined that the chubby little bun in front of him was actually his biological daughter!“Bei Ran, you hid it from me for five years, always flawlessly obedient before me, tell me, how should I punish you?” Gu Qingchen raised a bloodthirsty smile.Could she possibly not tell him there is also a son who looks just like him!Theater Version:The teacher informed Bei Ran that her son had used a scalpel in school to investigate the cause of death of poisoned small animals. Her daughter was causing a stir in school with her stock trading. In her anger, she said, “No one to take you to school today, take the bus yourselves.”The daughter sought help from Gu Qingchen but got no response, so she said: “Yesterday, a pretty aunt stayed in Dad's office for an hour, and her skirt was super short.”The twins truly had a shared understanding; the son said: “The station manager hugged Mom yesterday, even kissed her cheek, and said he would never let go!”Bei Ran and Gu Qingchen spoke in unison: “Trying to sow discord, you're still too naive, go to school yourselves!”The siblings shouldered their backpacks and went to take the bus, while the couple returned to the bedroom, closing the door behind them.She leapt onto him, her fiery temper on full display: “You actually stayed with that woman for an entire hour?”He was overbearingly domineering: “Damn it, which part of you did he kiss, I will seal his mouth with a scalpel!”