The Returnee's Hidden Strategy Stream - Chapter 4

After transmigrating, Shen Yuan initially thought he would be able to join an immortal sect and live forever in luxury under the aid of the system. However, who could have predicted that the Falling Clouds Sect, mentioned in the novice guide mission, had been destroyed ten thousand years ago? He was late by a full ten thousand years!His path to immortality seemed to have lost all hope, but Shen Yuan has found a completely new approach to the system missions.If the Falling Clouds Sect had been destroyed for ten thousand years, no one should object if I claim myself the Sect Master, right?He wrote his name in the list of Sect Masters. Hidden achievement completed: Sect Master, rewarded with Earthly Destroyer Divine Power: Pot’s Heaven.A Demon Path Giant from ten thousand years ago left a remnant soul, preparing to hide in a ring and act like a grandfather?He destroyed the ring in a backhand manner. Hidden achievement completed: Demon Path Nemesis, rewarded with Earthly Destroyer Divine Power: Gods Purging.An ancient forbidden land from ten thousand years ago, left with nothing but desolate hills and graves due to Spirit Energy depletion?He sent a construction team to remodel the scenic area and moved the graves one by one. Hidden achievement completed: Leveling the Ancient Wilderness, rewarded with the Heavenly General Divine Power: Seven Arrowhead.While Shen Yuan was busy collecting hidden achievements, rumors of a powerful return of the Falling Clouds Sect quietly spread throughout the whole Cultivation World.

Melanie Collins was the perfect wife—caring, strong, and dependable. For the last few years, she had managed her husband’s messy family, and business alone while waiting for her husband to return from studying abroad. But when he finally came back, Melanie’s world fell apart—he wasn’t alone. Along with him was his 'best' friend.Broken and confused about the change in her husband, Melanie didn’t know where to turn. And then she stumbled into another cold reality. Everything she had believed was a lie.Seething with anger and humiliation, as she tried to come to terms with the betrayal, an unexpected person steps into the picture, intent on seducing her and conquering her.The only problem? The man was her ex brother in law...And against her better judgment, she is attracted to this bad boy...But as Melanie tried to make sense of the changes, she discovered there was more going on than she ever imagined. Had both brothers loved really fallen in love with her? Or was she just a pawn in a bigger game?excerptSince he had already been leaning against the table, he simply slid onto it, and with one swift motion, he hooked his boot around the leg of her chair and pulled it—pulled her—closer.The sudden movement made her jolt slightly, and when she looked up or rather when she looked ahead, she found herself staring directly at the zipper of his jeans... She looked up then and met his gaze.He caught her chin,“ Would you like to check if I am only pretending, sweet melon?”Melanie stiffened. And then pushed back her chair suddenly, so that Adam almost lost his balance, as she stood up.Before he could balance himself, she placed her hand on his shoulder, her fingers brushing against his neck. Adam stiffened, his eyes glittering as he waited to see what she would do next. And she, of course surprised him as her other hand, slowly settled on the inside of his thigh. And then, the hand on his shoulder started to move. Her fingers tracing the side of his neck before lifting as she shot a glance to the corner of his mouth. The little piece of metal glinting there. She flicked at it lightly, barely a touch, but Adam could feel the heat all over his body, as she leaned in close, her lips barely a few centimetres away...so that they could both feel each other's breaths…She smiled slowly then. “Careful, Adam,” she murmured, her voice playful, but carrying the unmistakable edge of a challenge. “Keep pushing, and I just might call your bluff.”

“Is this man not going to divorce me? Why does he still ask me to warm the bed every night?”

The Empire stands triumphant.

For twenty years the Dread Empress has ruled over the lands that were once the Kingdom of Callow, but behind the scenes of this dawning golden age threats to the crown are rising. The nobles of the Wasteland, denied the power they crave, weave their plots behind pleasant smiles. In the north the Forever King eyes the ever-expanding borders of the Empire and ponders war. The greatest danger lies to the west, where the First Prince of Procer has finally claimed her throne: her people sundered, she wonders if a crusade might not be the way to secure her reign. Yet none of this matters, for in the heart of the conquered lands the most dangerous man alive sat across an orphan girl and offered her a knife.

Her name is Catherine Foundling, and she has a plan.

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A Practical Guide to Evil is a fantasy series about a young girl named Catherine Foundling making her way through the world – though, in a departure from the norm, not on the side of the heroes. Is there such a thing as doing bad things for good reasons, or is she just rationalizing her desire for control? Good and Evil are tricky concepts, and the more power you get the blurrier the lines between them become.