Strike Back, Proud Goddess! - Chapter 80 - Confront Xiao Jinning

“Success is a shallow foundation built on luck and circumstance. Failure, accumulated and stacked like endless bodies in a mass grave, forges the deepest roots into unshakable power. I know all this about power with surety as all I had were countless failures. After all, I am Vakochev, and I set the very Scales of Existence. This... is my story. Existence, is my Story.”---In the brutal Lands of Stone, where mountains move and beasts devour civilizations whole, power is the only currency that matters.Damian Vakochev was once a prince to a glorious power, but he was stripped of that power, family, and everything he held dear as he was left with a shattered foundation.In an age where tribes war for scraps and Neolithic Empires crush all who oppose them, where ancient beasts roam territories older than memory and Mana flows through the Lands of Stone like blood through veins, where Warriors reinforced by Mana who could go against entire armies and Primal Beasts could devour entire mountains, Damian looks upon it all and asks...why?Who said things had to be the way they were? Who decided what power truly was?Why could he not stand over the tallest mountain and declare exactly what power was as he saw fit?!Why did he have to follow the set path of cultivation? Why were others born with Land and Sky Physiques while he was not? What prevented him setting up his own rules and his own paths?!

There was a woman. Born as an illegitimate child and raised under the strict control of the queen, her world was as small as a well.

There was a man. He was forced to marry a woman who was his brother’s political marriage partner. His world, which was infinitely wide, became smaller.

The woman’s original sin, and the man’s resentment. “I should have just died instead…”

In the world of cultivation, countless tales follow righteous protagonists, fated heroes blessed by destiny, or those chosen by heaven to walk the path of immortality.But what of those who stand in their way?What of the villains? The so-called obstacles to the hero’s journey—do they not bleed, dream, and struggle as well?Xiao Ning was never meant to succeed.From the very beginning, the Grand Dao wove him as a stepping stone—a necessary sacrifice to elevate another. His path, like that of all designated ‘villains,’ was doomed to failure by design.But what happens when that design is defied?After death, Xiao Ning awakens—not in the cycle of reincarnation, but in the cold silence beyond it. There, he is offered the Eternal Paradox Codex—a forbidden artifact containing the hidden truths of the Grand Dao System itself.Rules. Loopholes. Vulnerabilities.Knowledge not meant for those like him.With this power, Xiao Ning is granted a single, impossible choice: accept oblivion, or step outside the Grand Dao entirely—to abandon fate, sever karma, and cultivate a path unbound by heaven or law.It is Xiao Ning’s journey, from ashes to something beyond comprehension.Not to become an Immortal among men.But something even the heavens dare not bind.If fate is a chain…Then let him forge his own path in the void beyond.Welcome to this humble tale.The cultivation world is vast and unkind.Let us begin again—on our terms.

The world has never been perfect but it was a million times better than what it is today!

Blue meteorites rained upon the world and changed everything. That very night thousands of lives were lost and many thought the worst had passed, little did they know something worse is about to happen!

The world was covered with blue mist and by the morning it was all gone. The genes of the human race was mutated and a select few had their mutated genes, activated, granting them power and today they are called deviants.

‘With great power comes great responsibilities’

If many understood what this meant, the world wont be as messed up as it is right now. With the governments biased towards the deviants, the powerless humans are discriminated against and crime rate has risen exponentially.

Deviants swagger about, doing what they want with no one to keep them in check, the world was thrown into chaos, animals were affected by the blue mist and mutated as well! it was only a matter of time before the human territories was taken over by the mutated beasts!

The mess we are in right now is because of the deviants and someone has to make them pay for their actions. This is where I come in!

I am Alex Briggs, member of the Briggs family!

I will become the strongest!

I will become the absolute!

I will fix the cruel world by whatever means necessary!

Author : Antihero protagonist who’s a scheming mastermind & doesn’t trust anyone. MC is smart & quick witted person who knows how to adapt to situations quickly.