MTL - The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth - Chapter 159 tug of war

Johnathan, an old man with an extraordinary past but an ordinary end, gets reincarnated in a dark fantasy world full of magic, darkness, and mysteries furled.

However, he committed a grave blunder by taking the fiction he had read as a reference. Reborn as a baby, he hoped to be deemed gifted by speaking early.

One thing led to another, and tragedy struck. The villagers declared him a demon-possessed and called the church. Johnathan, now known as Sylvester Maximilian, realized that he had messed up.

When the church's inquisitors came to judge him and burn him on a pyre. As a last resort and to welcome his soon to arrive second death, he started chanting holy hymns as his last breath.

Overwhelmed, they kneeled, thinking he was a messenger of Solis.

From there, the story of how Sylvester Maximilian rose through the ranks to sit at the top began.

But his life won't be ordinary, as he uses his cunning and the tag of 'God's favored' to his advantage. Fighting treachery, unearthing secret plots and world mysteries, facing the darkness around him and creating his place in history, engraving his name in the annals to be forever remembered as the—Immortal Pope, The Young.

[A/N: To not mislead you, the novel's name does not mean he instantly becomes the Pope from the start. The story will follow the life of MC. Though he will become the Pope at a pretty young age. 40% of the novel will be based around MC fighting to sit on the supreme throne.

If you enjoy world building and lore building, then you will like this story.]
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***Main Tags: FANTASY, ADVENTURE, MAGIC, DARK, STRONG MC(Weak at the start because he's a baby. Not an instant OP though.), WHOLESOME, COMEDY, KINGDOM BUILDING. MENTALLY OLD MC, Politics, Backstabbing, World Building.***

[WARNING: MC will not go around saving everyone. Absolutely not if it puts him in danger. But if he can save someone using his status or position in the church, he will. He will kill innocent people if he has to. MC is not crazy, cynical, or unsociable. The world at some times may seem very DARK.]
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[DISCLAIMER]
The religion will be fake. I won't make it similar to those existing in our world not to trigger anyone. However, the Church terminologies and designations may feel identical as they are simple vocabulary words.

Again, everything you read in this novel is fictional and has no relation to our world.

I hope you enjoy my work. Stay safe and eat healthy bananas.
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The world is a sea of bitterness.

The mortal swims in the sea.

The body is the vessel.

The soul is the mortal on the vessel.

The vessel carries the mortal as it sails endlessly towards the other side of the sea.

Does cultivating the body strengthen the vessel enough to reach the other side of this sea of misery?

Or does cultivating the soul give the mortal on the vessel the ability to master swimming?

Cultivating according to the martial path allows one to become an Earthly Immortal.

Cultivating according to the immortal path allows one to become a Divine Immortal.

Which path should be chosen?

- Description from Novelupdates

Mu Zhiyan, after being transmigrated a millennium (1000 yrs) into the future, discovered that he was raised by his adoptive parents as a tool for them to access the heritage his (dead) biological parents left behind. When he was at a loss for what to do next, he discovered that his body hosted an additional
pharmaceutical system.

For a chance to return to his era of Earth, Mu Zhiyan decided to practice and practice; he must train the system to full level as soon as possible.

However, reality gave him a slap in the face. The world is dangerous and dreadful, making Mu Zhiyan recall his mother’s words of holding a thick thigh, resulting in him locking his eyes on a cool general…

So the rumored mysterious Mu Master faced General Han with a serious face: “I allow you to follow me, General Han.”

General Han: “…”

- Description from Novelupdates

Wang Guorui traveled to Taiwan in 1895, and obtained a super gold finger—the Red Police Base.

Since then, the whole world has been changed.

The Emperor of Japan: “He must be eliminated, otherwise our great Japan will never have peace!”

The Russian Tsar: “Please stop fighting. I will marry my daughter to you and cede Siberia as a dowry.”

British Prime Minister: “Why did I wake up and the navy of the British Empire is no longer the number one in the world?”

German Emperor: “Dear and brave German soldiers, please persevere, our Eastern allies are coming soon!”

- Description from novelbuddy