The Versatile Master Artist - Chapter 1: Gu’s Calligraphy and Painting

At twenty‑nine, she was the youngest CEO in the tech industry—NetVault Security had gone from small startup to Fortune 500 in just six years. The media called her a prodigy. Her board called her unstoppable.Her therapist called her alexithymic.Unable to understand or describe her own emotions.The elevator chimed. Elara didn’t look up. Only one person had after‑hours access.“You’re late,” she said. “The investor meeting is in twelve hours. Did you review the—”“I’m not here about the meeting.”…“Ugh.”Elara lost her life that day at the hands of her mentor and adoptive father. By the next morning, the same people who once called her a genius and praised her to the sky were calling her a coward who killed herself to escape scandal.Then Elara woke up.Not in her office. Not in a hospital.In a different world. In a different body.She was now Elara, the Fourth Princess of this so‑called great kingdom—only to find that this princess was an utter pushover, completely useless in everyone’s eyes. No one feared her. No one respected her. Even her own palace was full of other people’s spies.How is Elara supposed to survive this palace battle, when seven princesses fight in the shadows and she’s known as the weakest one? And can she ever escape this place… or will she decide to win instead?……“Your Highness, please… ugh…”The leash of light around Mahir’s neck—the head of the knights—tightened with a soft pull. His face flushed red, and not from pain.“Princess, here.” Ken, the strongest beast knight, knelt closer and held out a small pill between his fingers, guiding it gently to Elara’s lips.“Swallow it,” he said quietly. “You used too much power today.”On the floor below the bed, three beastmen knelt in a row, broad shoulders tense, ears twitching, their eyes fixed on her with dazed focus. Thin, glowing leashes of magic ran from their collars to the bands at Elara’s wrists.“Please…” Ken’s voice dropped, rough and a little hoarse. “Put your foot here.” He touched his gloved hand to his chest. “On me.”Elara sighed, half annoyed, half amused, and rested her foot lightly on his armored chest. All three of them drew in a sharp breath at the same time, faces turning even redder as the magic between them flared.Their eyes—gold, amber, and deep brown—looked up at her with the same lost, devoted gaze.

World: You're a trash mixed Spiritual root. How come you cultivate faster than the top genius of the Holy land.Fang Hong: I am a trash mixed Spiritual root... And who decided that?I cannot cultivate beyond qi refining realm... And who decided that?The only one who gets to decide such things... IS ME.World:....

Cheng Yin likes her deskmate Chen Yan for a long time, but she never dared to confess her love for him, and the phrase ‘I like you’ is a secret hidden in her heart, but she can’t help but blurt it out from time to time…
Cheng Yin: “Chen Yan, I’ll whisper something to you.”
Chen Yan always leans over quite cooperatively, “What?”
The words came to her lips, Cheng Yin blushed and changed it into: “Your pants are unzipped.”
Chen Yan: “?”
Later, this kind of useless whispering has become more frequent, and Chen Yan listened again without moving a bit: ” Speak.”
The day of the party, Cheng Yin drink for the first time, Chen Yan became two in front of her eyes, she grabbed the person with both hands, want to try to catch the real Chen Yan, only to have her hand caught, he lowered his head in her ear and said: ” Let me whisper to you.”
Cheng Yin: “…… what?”
Such bad behavior, she thought it was something bad, Cheng Yin checked her pants and made sure the zipper was closed before she lean over.
The man’s breath blew softly in her ear, laced with a bit of the smell of wine.
“I like you.”

- Description from Novelupdates

Far in the eastern corner of the world lies a city covered in chaos, Aetherpolis. A city that is far more different than any other, a ruin where law and order are mere fantasies. This place isn’t governed by the government nor military powers. This city….. belongs to the gangs.And at the top of the food chain stand those with terrifying strength. The Awakened Users.These are individuals who have unlocked their Drive Core, a latent force within every human that responds not just to strength or talent, but to pain, trauma, and intense emotions. Only by facing these can the Drive Core bloom.Into this brutal world steps Ren Asakura, a quiet teenage swordsman with his Tempest Drive. On a quest to find his lost brother, he joins the well known gang ZEAL, determined to dismantle the corrupt and violent gangs that rule Aetherpolis.But every turf war brings him closer to a chilling realization, the true enemy has yet to reveal themselves, and the battle for the soul of the city is only just beginning.In a world where power is earned through suffering and only the ruthless survive…You either DRIVE forward or you BREAK.