Starchild Escapes Arranged Marriage - Chapter 97: The Childhood Sweethearts (2)

How does it feel to lose your parents at the tender age of four?Imagine the trauma, the psychological scars. Now, take it a step further—what if they died right in front of you?That was Kael’s reality. As a young boy, he watched his parents perish while desperately protecting a golden coin.At the time, Kael had no idea of its significance. He only knew that their deaths were tied to it.Fleeing from his father’s murderers, he was forced to survive on the unforgiving streets, learning to fight, steal, and endure.Twelve years later, he had transformed into one of the deadliest assassins the world had ever known.He had no official title. No known employer. No traceable identity. Just a calling card.They called him The Coin Flipper.Not because he left his mark, but because after every kill—just as the body hit the ground, as the last breath escaped—he would flip a coin.No one knew why. Some believed it was mockery, a cruel reminder that fate had turned against them. Others thought it was ritual.But what they didn’t know was that each coin held power—literal currency of the Core System embedded in Kael’s soul.Every kill earned him millions. Digital fortunes funneled into off-grid accounts with each confirmed target. Blood turned into bounty, pain into profit.And one thing was certain: if you saw the glint of a coin spinning through the air, death had already found you.

Living in a world of cultivators is like walking on the edge of a knife. If you slip, the best result is a deep cut, but the likely result is death. Su Fang is brought into this world completely unprepared, knowing nothing, and lacking any skills to help him. This means only one thing. He is destined to die.Fortunately, Su Fang is immortal. Not because he cannot die, but because when he does, he un-dies.In this world, everyone is born with a Golden Finger to help them survive. Su Fang’s blessing is to return to the beginning of his journey after every death. His System provides him credits upon death with which he can purchase absolutely anything, but he is only rewarded enough credits to help him return to the point he died. To advance further, he must rely on himself.This is both a time loop story and a xianxia story. At different points, one element is more pronounced than the other, but it is always a combination of both.This can also be considered a slice-of-life story. It isn’t about saving the world or defeating a big bad guy. It is about living life in an unfamiliar world where it can sometimes seem like everyone is out to kill or enslave you.Expectations:-Detailed cultivation and crafting.-Limited fighting scenes through most of the story.-Slow cultivation progression. Each level will be explored in detail.-Somewhat unreliable narrator. Cultivation affects the mind, and it will affect the MC’s perceptions of the world. Facts can generally be trusted, but many times there are layers beyond what the narrator sees.-Xianxia tropes with a world built around them so they make sense. Why do young masters go crazy shouting “You dare!”? Why do their guards willing throw themselves to their death against someone with significantly higher cultivation? All that and more is explained.-This is a story of cultivation. It has cultivation in the xianxia sense, working to gain strength and power, but, more importantly, it is a story about cultivating the self. Finding ways to make yourself a better version of you.New chapters drop 5 days a week, M-F, at 7:00AM Central Time (US)

“Even if this universe is truly nothing more than a brutal bloody shadowy forest, we Cultivators will burn all that we have just to give off a single weak flickering spark in the darkness!