MTL - Azeroth Shadow Trail - Chapter 23 22. Ranger Black (True)

As Mingguang Sect’s esteemed Immortal Master, Yi Ning had never experienced much heartbreak and suffering. He had always expected his life to be smooth-sailing, and was only waiting to ascend before marrying his disciple with whom he shared mutual affection.

However, he had never expected that on a rainy night, his disciple brought back a childhood friend.

They were close and intimate, to the point… of sharing a bed.

Standing before the bed where they were entwined, Yi Ning’s heart was as cold as sunken ice. He had wanted to end it all cleanly and straightforwardly, yet had never expected that his disciple not only wanted his childhood friend, but wanted his Shizun too.

His disciple shattered his spiritual core and laid down a hex, throwing him into the main hall to await nightfall to consummate their relationship.

Just as he had fallen into despair and wanted to end his life, he unexpectedly discovered a strange book. The book detailed his life, and the him it described, from beginning to end, was nothing more than a tool used to satisfy his disciple’s desire to conquer, lowly and wretched as a cultivation furnace.

Yi Ning’s head spun, and his heart gave birth to a strong hatred. He dragged his wrecked body to the back of the mountain and released the Demon Venerable Yan Xuan, who he had personally sealed nine years ago.

In return for undoing the seal, Yan Xuan would aid him in escaping.

After the man heard the reason why, he leaned against the wall and smiled with a hint of mockery. Yi Ning had thought he was going to ridicule him for having deserved it, being betrayed by an ingrate who bit the hand that fed him.

Yet, what he never expected was for Yan Xuan to reach out and tug him into his embrace, and the words that left his mouth were instead:

“You fool, I’ll help you take revenge.”

After this, he killed all those who wronged him, and cradled him close to his heart.

He wants to shatter your cultivation and mangle your limbs, to turn you into a bird in a cage, free for him to humiliate.

Yet, with this lowly and dirty heart of mine, I want to pull you from the swamp and cut down the heavens for you.

- Description from Novelupdates

I despised her. I despised how she schemed to get married to me. I despised her because of her arrogance.

“Li Rui, you don't know how many times I have wished to kill you.”

But all of this was my illusion. Everything was a mysterious trap of lies. A trap that was laid to trap me.

“Rui, I want to protect you from this whole world. I will not ask you to love me.....just don't hate me. Hmm....”

The story of a lover that was never destined to get the girl he loved but his fate led him to her.

“P-please let me go..” I stammered and before I knew it, I was word vomiting while crying. “—I won’t return. You won’t ever see me again. I know you don’t want me as a mate. You hate me, so please let me go.” I cried out.Cain’s jaw tightened with each word that left my lips “What gave you the idea that you have the power to choose what you want?” His voice was low, “You don’t get to decide what, how, and when you leave. Only I get to do that. You don’t get to leave me, you don’t get to run! You only leave when I want you to.”“I didn’t ask for this,” I whispered, trembling. “I didn’t ask to be your mate.”Cain stepped back, “Neither did I,” he muttered under his breath. “But the bond doesn’t give us a choice, does it?”~~~~As the only child of her late Alpha father, Avery Jae was meant to inherit her family’s legacy. But on the day of her arranged marriage to Alpha Lucian, her world crumbles. Rejected, humiliated, and cast aside for her own cousin, Avery barely escapes with her life only to find out a much deeper secret. One that changes everything.When Avery awakens, she finds herself in a foreign land, caught by the ruthless guards of the Vehiron pack, led by the infamous Alpha Cain. Tall, broad and as dangerous as the army he commands.Alpha Cain has a reputation that sends chills down the spine of even the most dangerous warriors. Haunted by his dark past, he has vowed never to take a mate, yet the moment he lays eyes on Avery, everything changes.With a single word, Avery is bound to Cain—whether he wants it or not. In a world where betrayal runs deep, can Avery ever trust the alpha who might just be her worst enemy.

Sakimori Kagami plays a VRMMORPG called Arch Earth Online. He is a veteran player with the name and appearance similar to an elderly bearded wizard from a certain book about a ring.

One day he purchases an appearance change item as a last resort to spend expiring currency and gets the idea of choosing what he would want to look like if his character was ever a girl.

Falling asleep should have suspended the game, but Kagami wakes up still online and feels the game has has gotten a bit more realistic. Did Arch Earth Online finally get a long-awaited update?