Paintings of Terror - Chapter 3: The Broken Record Old Man

In this world, orphans or just anyone without any hope for this world can apply to become a “walking target”. Their sole purpose is to be a practicing dummy for the students of the sect who train to become “Demon Hunters”. These students need “walking targets” to test their training on living, walking beings of flesh and blood.
In exchange, they will be provided with food & shelter.
Their existence value is lower than a slave, but if they manage to survive a few years they can receive a life long pension.

Xiao Han is such a “walking target”. One time he witnessed a powerful Demon Hunter disposing a demon. When the demon died, a fragment of the demon that managed to escape entered Xiao Han’s heart. No one saw that, and even Xiao Han himself only felt some discomfort for an instant.

But that thing in his heart soon gave Xiao Han visions, and the first one is of a cultivation method which allows Xiao Han to absorb damage to enhance his body. A perfect cultivation method for a “walking target”.

- Description from Novelupdates

Humanity lives under an unseen rule—the Ascension Cycle. A hidden system selects individuals at random, forcing them to complete tasks and gain different abilities as a reward. Anyone who fails a mission assigned by the system will instantly die on the spot.Ronan Vale wasn’t chosen at random.Killed on a mission gone wrong, he wakes up with a system unlike any other:[Evolution Path: Kill to Survive][Failure to Execute: Life Force Erosion Begins]Ronan has only one way to stay alive—which is to obey every mission assigned to him by the system. Unlike others, Ronan evolves after every task, each kill makes him stronger, sharper....but less human.As he fights to survive, he realizes his system is different. It evolves with him. It whispers to him. And it may not be just a tool—but a living thing.As war brews between Harbingers—those who embrace the system—and Eradicators, who seek to destroy it, Ronan is caught in the middle. But he has no time for their games.Because the real question isn’t how to survive.But what he’ll become in the process. A heartless monster bred only for destruction? he was about to find out.A:N; will there be romance? umm...NO!Harem? NeverKilling? YES!dark triller? YES!overpowered mc? hundred percent YES!

A sound, deep and unearthly, cracked across the sky — like the world itself had been struck with a sledgehammer. The stars flickered, then vanished behind creeping waves of ash and violet light. A fracture spread across the heavens, jagged and violent.And from that wound in the sky... they fell.Shapes. Twisted. Wrong. Crawling, jerking — no longer human.But inside a secluded estate tucked behind electronic gates and manicured hedges, the world still slept.Ryan stirred beneath the sheets, tangled in warmth. Jane Blackwood lay beside him, her breath calm and even. For a fleeting moment, the illusion held.Then—Bang! Bang! Bang!“Ryan!” Maggi’s voice, sharp with panic. A second slam, louder. “Open the door! Now!”Ryan groaned, still half-dreaming. “What the hell’s going on…”He slid out of bed, eyes heavy, limbs slow. When he opened the door, Eleanor nearly collapsed into him. Her hands were streaked with blood, her eyes wild.“They’re here,” she whispered. “The sky cracked open. Something came through. People are changing. Dying. Tearing each other apart—Ryan, this isn’t a dream. This is real. It’s happening.”He turned, pulse hammering. “Get dressed. We’re leaving.”Outside, the world had ended.And the dead had begun to rise.He reached for his clothes, yanking on a shirt. But just as he stepped toward the hallway. The ceiling of the household collapses on their bodies and they died instantly but the pendant given to him by his mother started flickering and next second, In the world unlike Earth, Ryan instantly opens eyes with a gasp and when he sees himself in the mirror. He got reincarnated in another world.Disclaimer : This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Thank you !.

In the beginning, he said, “A lowly commoner from Jiangning County? What a disgraceful status, I won't marry her!”After meeting her, he clicked his tongue, “So frail and delicate, she can't stand a blow, too weak, I refuse!”When she approached him alone, carrying the marriage book, he stood leaning on the door, grinning insolently, “Are you here to make me marry you? But this young master doesn’t want to marry young!”Upon learning she was there to annul their marriage, his face turned dark as a thunderstorm, emanating a murderous aura, “Who gave you the guts to revoke the marriage with this young master?”...Su Rong felt, Duanhua Princess must be blind, this man was so pampered and spoiled, how was he worth dying or living for?If she had known earlier, she would have thrown the divorce letter at his face the first time she saw him.—————————————The tender signs of spring on the delicate Hibiscus pillow, amidst the drunken flowers filling the room, unnoticed. — Su Rong.A gallant young man in fine clothes and on a steed, a single glance causes a lifetime of confusion. — Zhou GuYour wish is my wish. I wish to have known you earlier, protect you among the aromatic chambers strewn with brocades. Tear through the illusions, cut down the thorns, with hands unstained by blood, just as pure as you were when we first met, the young and soft little girl.Your wish is my wish. I wish I had known you sooner when you were like a refreshing breeze near the moon. I dared not approach for fear of disturbing the phoenix and mandarin ducks. Praying to be the moon in the sky to cast a reflection on you, accompany you while you watch the flowers bloom in the spring and gaze at the snow in winter, each and every year at Chang'an.