Tome of Troubled Times - Chapter 3: The Jianghu

Among the gods of the heavens, there was a famous laughing stock known throughout the three realms.Legend has it that eight hundred years ago, there was an ancient country within the Central Plains called Xian Le nation.The ancient nation of Xian Le had vast territory, abundant resources and content citizens. The country had four treasures: delicate beauties aplenty, thriving arts & literature, treasures of gold and jewels and last but not least, their renown Royal Highness the Crown Prince.This person, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince....you could say.... was a strange man.The Emperor and Empress considered him to be the apple of their eyes. They doted on him immensely and would often proudly proclaim: “In the future, my son will surely become a wise monarch, leaving a reputable impression for generations to come .”Yet, in the regards of what came with royalty, of riches, power and honor, the Crown Prince had no interest.What he was interested in, quoting the very words he often said to himself, was——“I want to save the common folks!”The young prince cultivated in earnest. During this time, two short stories became widely circulated. .The first story occurred when he was seventeen years old.That year, the nation of Xian Le held a magnificent Offering to the Gods parade.Although this tradition had already been abandoned for numerous centuries, through surviving ancient texts and verbal stories, one could imagine the grandeur of the event..Offering to the Gods day, Martial God Main Street.Both sides of the Main Street were overflowing with a sea of people. The aristocrats were seated on top of high buildings as they exchanged friendly chatter; while the imperial guards cleared the way with their impressive armours clinking. Young girls danced gracefully as their snow-white hands scattered flower petals like rain, filling the sky as far as the eye could see. It made people question whether the dancing maidens were more beautiful or the flowers themselves. Melodious notes sounded from within golden carriages and floated throughout the whole Imperial City. Behind honorable guards, sixteen white horses with golden bridles walked side-by-side as they pulled forward a magnificent platform.Located on top of the tall, magnificent platform was the focus of everyone’s attention, there stood the martial artist to perform a show to please the Gods.During the festive heavenly parade, the martial artist would adorn a golden mask, don splendid garments and wield a sword in one hand. He would perform the role of the first military deity in a millennium to have subdued demonic beasts——Martial God Heavenly Emperor Jun Wu.Being selected as the martial artist to perform such a show could be considered equivalent as to receiving the utmost honour, and thus the selection criteria was extremely strict. This year, the one who was chosen was none other than His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. The entire nation was convinced that he would surely be able to become the most marvellous martial artist to perform such a performance since the beginning of time.However, on that day, something unexpected occurred.During that time, the martial god on the magnificent stage was just about to land a killing blow on a demon.This was the most exciting scene, and thus the people on both sides of the Main Street were fired up with passion. The people on the city walls were also becoming more rowdy as they started outdoing each other in sticking their heads out to see, both struggling and shoving.Right at this moment, a young child fell from the top of the city gate tower.

“Hey monster, you're not ready for this blow, but I don't give a shit!!” said Lian as he drew a circle inside another circle in his mind.Then, a few seconds later, a fireball as big as a house hit a monster just over 4 meters tall...It was a waste of resources, but it was damn fun!“BOOM!!!” he said as the fireball reached the monster, covering it entirely.The excitement on his face was palpable as his clothes and hair fluttered from the power generated by the impact.[Accuracy: 97%]“Tsk, it's really hard to achieve 100% accuracy when casting spells... that just means I have to do better!”Meanwhile, the monster and the entire area around him was destroyed. The crater was huge, flames burned the ground, and ash mixed with dust covered the air.---In a world full of Gates, Mages and Knights work together to defend humanity from extinctionLian, a boy from a small town, awakens a very... unique system.Casting spells by drawing strange shapes in his mind had become normal for him by now.Thanks to the system, he had become a Mage, a human capable of using mana to cast spells.Facing monsters from the Gates had become routine. Studying magic was a pastime. After all, he had the System, he didn't need to study classical magic. Or maybe not...

Gu Bai always believed that the stupidest thing he had ever done was listening to his bestie’s words of becoming a stallion genre novel writer, the most frustrating thing was that he changed the moral, smart, and healthy youngster, that he had decided on, into a big boss…but in the end, he discovered that the consequences of changing the original plot were more serious than he expected. Things like encountering the outrageous character he wrote with his own hand…

Oh·my·god! He freaking eats people! Right now, he can only turn devouring people into “devouring” people… maybe.

In short, this is a story about a dumb author who was the first to start a trend of human cannibalism in stallion genre novels, who in the end, was unable to escape from the whirlpool of destiny (not really).

- Description from Novelupdates

Su Chengyu took the blame for his wife and went to prison for three years. Upon release, he realized that she had betrayed him.Despite this, he benefited from misfortune and comprehended the Dao, stepping into the world of immortal cultivators. He could easily master immortal techniques and ancient martial arts. He could also refine pills, draw talismans, treat illnesses, and save people at will!Su Chengyu postured crazily in the Red Dust City, vowing to find out the truth behind the death of his 127 Su family members 26 years ago.