EPIC: Path of Demons and Dragons - Chapter 78: Bonding

When he found out that he was in the world of a female cultivator’s novel and was still a cannon fodder, Fang Jinyu began the process of self-rescue like walking on thin ice.

until he sees…

[Today is a day to shovel shit]

[Refining to get a face value +1]

…

【Today is a day of practice but nothing gained】

[Refining to gain insight +1]

- Description from novelbuddy

Ethan Blackwood wasn’t used to being defied. As the CEO of a global empire, he crushed obstacles with a single glance. But when Lily Anderson stood before him, her chin lifted in quiet defiance, and something in him snapped. “Sign the contract,” he said, his voice like ice. “30 days. You’ll obey every command. After that, you’re free.”She hesitated, her fingers trembling as she gripped the pen. “And if I refuse?”His smirk was cold, but his eyes burned. “Then you’ll spend the rest of your life paying off your father’s debts. Your choice.”Trapped, Lily signed. But she vowed one thing: she wouldn’t let him break her.From the first day, their clash was electric. He demanded perfection; she gave him rebellion. “You think you can control me?” she spat, after he criticized her for being late.Ethan stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. “I don’t just control you. Lily, I own you.”But as the days passed, the lines between them blurred. Late nights in his penthouse turned into whispered conversations. His cold demeanor cracked, revealing glimpses of a man haunted by his past. One night, after a heated argument, he pinned her against the wall, his breath hot against her ear. “Why do you fight me so much?”Her voice trembled. “Because I’m afraid if I stop, I’ll lose myself to you.”Their connection deepened, but danger loomed. Secrets from Ethan’s past resurfaced, threatening to destroy everything. When Lily discovered the truth behind his obsession with her, she confronted him. “Was I just a pawn in your game? A way to settle an old score?”His eyes darkened with pain. “You were never just a game, Lily. You’re the only thing that’s ever felt real.”As the final days of their contract approached, their bond was tested like never before. Enemies closed in, and trust hung by a thread. Could they overcome the shadows of their pasts, or would their love crumble under the weight of secrets and pride?

“Congratulations, you're now a Handler. You'll serve the state with utmost loyalty and pledge your life to its causes.”That was what Trent heard just before being handed an envelope—and a whole lot of disrespect.Mocked for his poor combat performance and labeled pathetic by his superiors, Trent finishes Handler training humiliated and underestimated. But they made one mistake: they judged him by his strength, not his mind.What Trent lacks in brute force, he makes up for with a rare genius in finance.So when a mysterious voice speaks to him in the bathroom—“Hello, Host. This is Ave-511e69.”His world flips upside down.Now equipped with Ave, a mysterious financial system that seems to know everything, Trent is about to rise through the ranks in a way no Handler ever has.Through stock markets, black-market missions, and calculated chaos, he will prove that money is the greatest weapon of all.They looked down on him. Now, they’ll look up in fear.

After someone took my life away from me, I felt something or someone pulling my entire being together with my memories away from me and placing them into somewhere where it was cold and hollow. And when I thought that my life came back to me...

I realized that my new life as one of the dead had already begun...

"Who am I?"

Which path will this soul choose? A path of Perseverance or a path of Ruination?

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P.S: This is my first novel that I write so there is bound to be mistakes...so go easy on me xD