Merchant Crab - Chapter 101: The Town of Ardville

[COMPLETE] Can a royal Romeo and Juliet find their happy ending?

Ayleth, Princess of Zenithra, is secretly trained in hand-to-hand combat, and collects swear words she doesn't know how to use. During the Festival of Peace, in which every royal son on the continent will be at the castle for a month, she is instructed by her parents to find a husband. Yet, Ayleth has never even been kissed—until the very first ball, when she meets the man in the Lion mask.

Etan is a seasoned warrior, and the Prince of Summitras. He attends the Festival hoping to find a powerful wife who will help him conquer the dark sorcery of their bloodsworn enemies, the Kingdom of Zenithra. But at the very first ball, he discovers the masked woman who captures his heart is the Heir to the evil empire.

Ayleth and Etan face an impossible battle. Will their love survive? Or will their parents' dark dealings keep them apart forever?

[Mature content. No sexual violence.]

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“You…” She stepped back. Then back again, her mouth dropped open. “You… You cannot be…”

“I am,” Etan said, and his hair raked back as he pushed his mask off his handsome face. So handsome her heart raced.

His hair was ebony black, his skin a warm brown that threatened to fade in in the winter months. He stared at her with glittering green eyes, over high cheekbones and a noble nose, his jaw tight and shadowed this late in the day. His chin was high over the pillar of his neck that she’d just touched with its hard lines and steel strength, so different to her own. And his chest... She gasped and covered her eyes. She’d humiliated herself revealing her stupid, childish curiosity.

“No, Ayleth. This changes nothing.”

“How can you say that? It changes everything!” She was horrified to realize she was crying.

“Ayleth, please.” His voice cracked on the plea and she stared at him, shoving her mask up and off, despite how it would pull her hair out of the beautiful twist the maid had managed for her.

His eyes locked on hers and she couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe.

She had met her One. And he was the son of her bloodsworn enemy.

She stared at him as he stepped forward again, offering both hands, palm up. “Touch me,” he whispered. “Hold my hands. This is real, Ayleth. I don’t know how it happened, but this is real. Please don’t deny it.”

She couldn’t resist. She raised a trembling hand to his cheek, letting her palm catch on the scruff of his jaw. He blew out a breath and put his hand over hers, and that jolt that happened whenever they touched shivered through her again.

“Please, Ayleth.”

“I cannot deny it,” she whispered.

To rise from defeat; to revive amidst the dissipation.

As the vast oceans turn to dust and the thunder and lightning fade away,

That strand of spiritual mist once again approaches our great world.

With the shackles that bound our world now severed—

A whole new world of mystery and wonder awaits,

As we turn the corner…

——

The Sacred Ruins is a story set in a post-apocalyptic world. A world that has recovered to a state that is roughly equal to our own world in terms of technology and culture, although its ancient history remains largely unknown. The story begins during the post-graduation trip of our protagonist, where he discovers some ancient ruins and witnesses “the great change”, an upheaval that changed everything. The changing earth not only brought about new, unexplored landscape but also sparked the evolution of all organisms. Plants and animals started gaining sentience and some humans obtained unimaginable powers. The legends, myths, and tales of old seemed to have suddenly come to life as the earth entered a new era where beasts and men formed factions, explored new lands and ultimately struggled for supremacy.

We follow the MC as he grows from being an eccentric young man into a badass expert warrior while meeting other funny characters and forming brotherly bonds. We watch as he falls into just as much hilarious situations as he does perilous ones, all the while wondering and slowly discovering the mysteries of this world. Just why was the world destroyed in the first place? Who or what had triggered this earth-shattering “change”? What profundities lie behind the process of evolution?

- Description from Novelupdates

The first version: The life of Zach the Vampire in Barton City.

The second version: a vampire brought a bunch of nonhumans to live in Barton city.

The third version: strange creatures were secretly moving into Barton City.

Final version: The Barton explosion of nonhumans.

【Your descendants in the Immortal Cultivation World have offered a plate of snacks】【Incense Fire Value +10】【Would you like to reward your descendants?】Yang Genshuo was surprised to discover that offerings in the Immortal Cultivation Family game could actually appear in the modern world, and that modern items could also be bestowed upon descendants in the game.Years later, peculiar rumors about the Yang Family spread throughout the Immortal Cultivation World.“To break through from the Fetal Breathing Stage to the Qi Refinement Realm, one needs to refine a strand of heavenly and earth's spiritual energy. I've heard of Red Flame True Qi, Xuan Water True Qi, and Green Wood Spirit Energy, but Yang Dao-friend, this... Liquefied Natural Gas, what kind of spiritual energy is it? How is it condensed?”“I've heard that the Yang Family's Spiritual Plant Technique is incredibly sophisticated, with each mu of Spirit Rice yielding twice as much as top-tier Spirit Plant Families, all thanks to a strange secret technique the family disciples cultivate called 'hybridization'.”“The Yang Family’s art of elixirs is unrivaled in the world, with new elixirs constantly being created. It is rumored that a spirit of the elixir named 'Artificial Intelligence' tirelessly deduces elixir recipes day and night...”“Nowadays, the Thunder Cultivators of the Yang Family are exceptionally strong, all thanks to the Yang Family's effort in creating a top-tier Thunder Gathering Array. Thunder Cultivators who enter this array can increase their cultivation speed multiple times. It is said that the array eye is known as—the power station.“As the Yang Immortal Cultivation Family grew stronger, Yang Genshuo actually became the only Immortal in the modern world by consuming offerings!Years later, facing an endless stream of people ascending the mountain to seek the Dao, Yang Genshuo calmly said,”There are no immortals in this world; you must believe in science!“Then he soared away on his flying sword.