MTL - Mercenaries and Adventurers - v2 Chapter 3 , Table Corner Tavern - a collaboration with Todd

He defied the heavens once, he returns to do it again.In a past life, he was Xie Wuchen, the heretic god of cultivation. A rebel who shattered divine law, betrayed the celestial order, and vanished in a blaze of infamy.Now, he is Lan—a crippled prince in a world ruled by mana and noble bloodlines. His mana core is broken. His name is a joke. His existence, forgotten.Until the rain falls.And something awakens:[Forbidden Arts Synchronization: Complete][Elapsed Time: 16 years, 10 months, 15 days][Memory Restoration in Progress…]The soul of Heaven’s greatest traitor has returned with a hunger far greater than revenge.And he plans to do more than ascend the magical hierarchy. He will annihilate it.This time, he will forge an empire—not of nobles or spellcasters, but something this new world have never known—Cultivators, trained in arts banned by gods and feared by men.Those who mocked him will kneel.Those who ruled by birthright will burn.And the heavens, once again, will tremble.Magic rules this world.But cultivation will conquer it.

There is a way in the world here, and the manifestation of the way is a Gu.

When people practice, they cultivate the energy of heaven and earth all over their body to drive away Gu insects and display supernatural powers.

Traveling through a year, Chen Qing finally discovered his specialness on the day he contracted the first Gu worm. He was able to see through everything about the Gu worm…

So, he started to fight steadily, step by step on the road to longevity.

- Description from novelbuddy

Zhou Mu finds himself remaining in a single-player VR game despite having decided to quit after platinum-ing the entire game. However, he realizes that the world has completely changed. Realizing life in the game is better, he continues on with his in-game name, William Kane.

“Why is the world united under my name? And what’s with the religion that honors me as their god? The royals are claiming to be my descendants? Was there ever such a function in the game? What have they done for the past 1000 years when I was gone?”

Zhou Mu was completely lost.

“Are you calling me a traitor? Aren’t you guys the ones who have been doing evil deeds in my name? Behold, for you shall witness this lost forbidden spell!”

“Mr. Xu, are you really a Heavenly Master?”

“As genuine as they come, more real than gold!”

“I’ve heard that your reputation in the supernatural circle is really bad, even to the point where a ghost once called the police saying you were threatening him?”

“Impossible!”

“It wasn’t me!”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

Xu Yang clenched the Thousand-Year Peachwood Sword in his hand, and said, “What’s the name of that ghost? Would you dare to let him confront me face to face?”

(PS: This book is also known as ‘This Heavenly Master is too Vicious’, ‘Scaring Ghosts Makes You Stronger’.)