Substitute Marriage: Reborn As The Top Big-Shot - Chapter 487 - : 173: Rachel Barton’s Desperation, Viola Takes Action!_3

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 whole world is subjected to a highly dangerous standardised exam called the Global Examination. Answering questions by putting their lives at stake, they would live if they passed the test. Every month the exam will undergo reformation while, occasionally, it is random.

Even the most capable people cannot escape calamity. Zhang Ping, who dreamed of becoming the world’s best, voluntarily enters the palace to become a eunuch before his father has to resort to plundering and crime.

How can a prince be so thin and bony, that was Zhang Ping’s first impression of Huangfu Jie.

The prince looks at the kneeling eunuch, the scars and wounds on his body not yet healing.

Zhang Ping’s eyes turn red—I curse your ancestors for eighteen generations!

He is just little uglier; weirder than normal people.

Are ugly people not human? I, Zhang Ping, swear to cultivate the world’s second best over here in the palace!

- Description from Novelupdates

“You need my help, Tesoro. You choose. A marriage with me or be torn apart by them” His voice was cool as though this wasn't a matter of life or death.I didn't want this life. My father had gambled a lot and left me with a lot of enemies and now I needed the help of Don Vincenzo LaRosa who was my high school bully and now the Don of the most powerful mafia family in Italy if I was going to survive it.It was just a marriage of convenience but I realized something. He wasn't helping me out of a good heart. I had been sold without my permission to him. I was the mafia's pawn.