The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated - Chapter 8: Take Me Out of this Forest

Cairn is a prince who is already tired of ruling. Faced with an imminent coronation and an overbearing father, he wants nothing more than to drown his responsibilities in cheap liquor and poor decisions. With the help of his sister, he hatches a plan to escape the clutches of the throne once and for all. It all goes terribly wrong, and Cairn finds his priorities shifting in the face of unimaginable tragedy. The change of heart comes too late, however, and Cairn dies. He reawakens to find himself transported ten years in the past. He immediately begins to plan for the future, only to discover his killer has somehow followed him. To succeed, Cairn must unite the kingdom and discover the motivation of his killer, using as many tries as it takes. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++I exhausted pretty much every time loop story ever written and decided to write my own. You'll see a few similarities here between this story and some existing stories, at least initially. There's a lot of inspiration drawn from both MoL and Re:Zero, though in terms of pathos and darkness, this story leans more towards the latter. Be warned, it is something of a slow burn. The main character will grow and become powerful, but a theme of this story is that power comes slowly and often at great cost.

Sixty Years ago, one middle aged man brought a Qilin that looked like a pug and a mandarin duck that looked exactly like a duck, walking into the Imperial City of the Central Plains for the first time.

The young master of the Huo Family was well-known in the Rong City. Having been brought up in a military, political, and business family, he was decisive in dealing with businesses, yet sexually continent as it was said. Nevertheless, he happened to fall in love with an illegitimate daughter.

The disgraceful illegitimate daughter had been detested by her whole family, but suddenly won the love of the young master of the Huo Family.

Since then, he turned into a “slave” of his wife and pampered her.

Mrs. Huo: “They say I am an illegitimate daughter, and totally out of your league.”

Master Huo: “Who has such a big mouth! I’m gonna sew it up!”

Mrs. Huo started circling on his chest with a finger, “They also say you’ll get tired of me sooner or later.”

Master Huo held his wife into his arms, proving his love to her with practical actions, “Nonsense! My wife’s body is soft and easy to be pushed down to bed, how come I will get tired of you!?”

Mrs. Huo: “Pervert!”

- Description from Novelupdates

Reincarnated as the first prince of the Jing Dynasty, Jiang Changsheng was transferred by a traitor as soon as he was born, and then he was sent to a temple to become an ordinary little Taoist priest.

From the prince to the little Taoist priest who no one cares about, his life has fallen. Fortunately, Jiang Changsheng has activated the survival system and has an infinite lifespan. As long as he survives the hardships of life, he can get a survival reward.

He was almost killed by his brother while practicing martial arts, but survived by luck and got the leg of the gods.

Encountered an earthquake, was nearly killed by the beam of the house, and obtained the Nine Searching Heavenly Dragon Step.

The demons roamed the capital, passed it safely, and obtained the magic weapon to conquer the demon pestle.

…

There are many dynasties, demons are rampant, and martial arts rule the world. This is a world without immortals and gods, and Taoism is hidden in the halls and mountains.

Three hundred years later.

When the Jing Dynasty was prosperous, it ushered in decline, the princes rose together, the emperor became a puppet in the hands of the heroes, split the dynasty, and fought for decades.

The puppet emperor Jiang Xuanzhen came to the Taoist temple and knelt down and cried, “My descendants are not filial and unable to return to heaven, please ask our ancestors to ascend the throne and continue my grand scene for another 300 years!”

- Description from novelbuddy