Phoenix Ascending - Chapter 9

Qi Condensation. Foundation Establishment. Core Formation. In the current world, only these three realms are known to be achievable. Nascent Soul is but a legend and the realms above it lost to the the long river of time. The modern era is known as Cultivation Civilization, a balance of power and civility, excess and moderation. While cultivation remains a secret practice, it has long since exposed itself to the mundane world, quietly intertwined with each facet of society. While the world appears to be at peace, what lies underneath is a conflict between human, cultivator, and demon, brewing for ages and waiting to implode. Yet in the wake of humanity’s rapid industrialization, qi—and consequently cultivation—is dying.

“Sometimes it's about remembering and never forgiving.”Jane Devold, the only daughter of the CEO of one of the most successful tech companies in the country, grew up to be a seemingly happy and spoiled young woman, despite her stuttering and fragile condition.However, her rich and elegant way of living ends in a heartbeat when her father goes missing, leaving Jane alone and with an enormous debt on her hands.That's when she reunites with Vernon Lin, her strange and intimidating senior from college, who claims to be the new owner of her father's company and promises to resolve her financial issues if she agrees to marry him.His offer seems harmless, and Jane accepts his helping hand only to realize that Vernon's intentions are not so pure, and his personality is still miles away from that of a knight in shining armor.But what really does feed Vernon's unhealthy obsession with Jane? Whether it's his desire for revenge, his own twisted way of teaching the spoiled young woman how the real life works, or unresolved complicated feelings, he still succeeds in turning Jane's life into a living hell.Until he realizes that without her, his own life is hell, too.

'Kill monsters, eat meat''I mean, Kill monsters, save lives. Got it.''Tut, I could've sworn that the first one sounded better.'She wasn't a girl looking for freedom or self-righteous liberation by a hero, or whatever shit a girl who suffered for almost all her life would crave.-the shit of a life she was living was horrible, but it was bearable, and so she got used to it.Rather, instead of freedom, what this little missy wanted was money. Lots and lots of them so she never has to worry about the next day.Money - bountiful enough that when she has to spend, she doesn't need to look back or calculate her assets to see how much she has left.Money - bountiful enough to get all the fried chicken she could ever dream of. Yeah, you heard it, fried chicken.For those who did not have money to spare leisurely, getting fried chicken was like a pipe dream to them and she had been one of those unfortunate souls.A comfortable roof above her head and no worries as to when she would get ordered around to steal. No worries about when she would get her next meal--That was her liberation.And she got it. Just that, she got it most absurdly.Awakened!Those were the people ruling the world, alongside beastly and deadly monsters who threatened the safety of average human beings.And those awakened call the shots.Alice never dreamed she would one day be awakened, and compared to others with their game-like system displaying their attributes and strength; she had a full-grown man whom only she could hear, watching her back at every turn and telling her what to do.He was kinda a pain in the ass but she couldn't complain.It was this gift he had bestowed on her that made her the most powerful Awakened there was with stats that even S-class awakeneds couldn't compare to.She was the boss, now. Mwa-hahahahaha.But life didn't go as easy and leisurely as she planned. With great power comes great responsibility, right?Well, in her case with great power comes great hunger. She couldn't go a moment without getting hungry and her stomach had become a bottomless pit.And to get food, she needed money, and to get money, she had to hunt monsters. The monsters plagued humanity, causing catastrophes and taking lives mercilessly.Those monsters, as scary as they may be, were her target and she had to face them head-on.The bigger the monsters the more money she would gain.Yeah, that was the plan, but... This guy acting as her system seemed to have other plans, putting her at the forefront of 'justice' and having her clean the mess he somewhat created.'Ugh, I can already sense a shadow of foreboding. Someone, please tell me I'm not acting the main character role. I just want to eat, okay?'

In her previous life, Xiao Ying had grown up as the daughter of a wealthy family with a silver spoon in her mouth. She had thought that she would live out her days in peace. However, someone secretly told her that she was not the daughter of the Xiao family, and from then on, she had been living in fear—afraid that her secret would be exposed and her parents would abandon her. She was desperate not to lose her luxurious lifestyle, so she desperately tried to keep everything as it was!

However, just before the moment of her death, she realized that this had all been part of the Xiao family’s scheme. They were just trying to trick her out of her amulet! Their real daughter had been living a pampered life outside of the house all along!

After being reborn, she returned to when she was ten years old. Her amulet had transformed into the most powerful learning system in existence, all stored within Xiao Ying’s mind!

She resolutely left the Xiao Family, abandoning that world of superficial hypocrisy. With a bit of manoeuvring, she was taken under a new wing!

Xiao Ying: “Boss, do you need a weapon? I’ll be anything you need!”

Cheng Yang: “I need to do a quality check first!”

Harnessing the power of the learning system, she could execute all kinds of skills at a glance. Martial arts, dance, computing skills, and so on—everything had become a piece of cake to her!

Cheng Yang was very satisfied with his new weapon!

In no time at all, Xiao Ying began becoming more and more beautiful, and more and more suitors began taking note. A certain big boss could no longer remain calm.

Cheng Yang wrapped his hands around Xiao Ying’s slender waist. “You should’ve learned how to be my wife and given birth to a baby for me earlier!”