Rise of the Lustful Evil Monarch (Re) - Chapter 124: Finally Emerging (2)**

The Mayan ceremonial dagger had an inscription in the ancient language that read: “Offer thy heart”. It's obviously an instruction left by the past inhabitants of this forgotten place, but who would be stupid enough to stab himself in the heart with a rusty old knife found inside a tombstone?After activating my battery pack the dagger shimmers brightly in a cyan light, the creatures are coming, I can hear their steps.

Anton is a great-grandfather. He is living quite a happy life, despite his advanced age and declining health… until a group of cultivator bandits moves into the area. The nearby guardians of the area, the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, are unable to track them down as they continue to ravage nearby towns. During one desperate winter Anton is out on a hunt when his family- his entire village- is killed or taken as slaves by the bandits. He lacks the strength to fight them, and he wasn’t even present for their arrival to die with his loved ones. At the pit of his despair, he wonders if he ever had any chance to change things. What could he even do? He cannot even pull his best bow, and his eyesight is failing. If he had been a cultivator… perhaps there might have been a chance, but he was decades- perhaps even most of his life- too late.Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge (2022)Notes on cultivation levels:There are five general stages of cultivation, though the fifth is extremely rare. Each cultivation style might have their own name for the stages.1. Body Tempering2. Spirit Building/ occasionally System Creation (Ninety-Nine Stars)3. Constellation Formation (Ninety-Nine Stars)4. Life Transformation/Galaxy Construction (Ninety-Nine Stars)5. Ascension

Ethan was betrayed, he was broken, left crippled by those he trusted most: Zachary and Ivy, the people who ruined his life. Stripped of everything, Ethan crawled through three grueling years in the abandoned depths of despair, desperate to regain what he lost.Until one final act of defiance opened the door to something greater.When Ethan completed a hidden quest, fate granted him a miraculous reward: a second chance.He awakens years in the past, on the eve of a revolution: the launch of Ethereal, the world's first fully immersive VR game and humanity’s obsession. Armed with memories of four years in Ethereal, he’s no longer the helpless pawn who lost everything.This time, Ethan knows every secret, every hidden quest, every exploit to climb back to the top. But when he steps into the game, the system unveils a shocking twist: a divine bloodline, legendary abilities, and a class no one believed could dominate.Ethan vows to rise once more, but this time, he knows where the paths of glory begin, where betrayal lurks, and where to find legendary treasures that will crown him king in this brutal new world.The stakes are higher than ever. Factions are forming, alliances are shattering, and the clock ticks toward an event that will rewrite reality itself.The weak will perish, and the strong will thrive.They betrayed him once.They won’t live to do it again.

He is the fearsome heir of an empire, wielding power throughout his life, indifferent and cold by nature, yet devoted to her wholeheartedly.“Summer Sutton, the only woman I will ever marry in this lifetime!” At the engagement party arranged by his family with another woman, he arrives with her and blatantly kicks the white lotus out of the picture.Everyone knows that Summer Sutton is the one Adrian Walyon holds dear to his heart; whatever she desires, there is nothing he cannot provide.At her mere longing for him, he flies thousands of kilometers overnight to be by her side.At her mention of missing the taste of home, he orders food to be prepared and immediately air-shipped to her.When she expresses her wish to reach for the stars, he reserves an aerial restaurant 108 floors high, making the starlight accessible.“What else do you want?” he asks earnestly, gazing at her.She tiptoes up, wrapping him in her arms, “Adrian Walyon, all I want is you!”