Tale of Conquerors - Chapter 56: Act I /The First Steps Toward Industry

This is a brand new story.

Survive the darkness, see the light

There is no right or wrong, it just depends on which side you are standing on.

To be a god, or to be a man.

To be good, or to be evil.

Just what is…the highest order of weapon that humanity has?

——————

After a great catastrophe struck, the world was set back many years and humanity started living in anarchy.

With time, society started building up again and people were now living in walled strongholds and fringe towns across the land.

Humans have also become distrustful and ruthless in an unforgiving society where the strong survive and the weak are eliminated.

Growing up in such an era, Ren Xiaosu had to fend for himself.

After an incident, he gained supernatural powers…

- Description from Novelupdates

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

It's simple. A vengeful wildfire of a woman. A tyrant who begs to be burned.When Aria crashes into Kael’s empire, hellbent on making him pay for taking her job away, she’s met not with defiance—but a dare. “You want revenge?” he taunts, voice dripping with dark invitation.“Then ruin me. Take your pound of flesh exactly where it hurts.” His proposition is a trap laced with sin: As expected he calls the shots in his bed, her contempt is his twisted aphrodisiac.“Hate me until your hands shake,” he growls. “But do it on top of me, where I can watch you savor every cut.”Their arrangement is a collision of dominance and delirium. Aria wields her fury like a blade, determined to break him. Kael? He thrives under her wrath, goading her darker, deeper, hungrier.But vengeance turns slippery when every command she hisses ignites his obedience, and every cold glare melts into bruising kisses. Soon, the bed becomes a battleground—her nails carving victory into his skin, his whispers a serpent’s promise: “Chain me with your rage, darling. I’ll still come back for more.”The rules are simple: No mercy. No surrender. But as their games spiral into something ravenous, who’s destroying whom? And when hatred burns this hot, what’s left when the ashes cool?

When Aria turned five her grandmother told her that their family has never been blessed with a mate and not having a mate doesn't mean they won't find love.When Aria turned eighteen, her desire to have a mate became stronger because her best friend whom she had a crush on found his mate and the pure joy in his eyes when he told her about the mate bond, place a emptiness in her heart.“You are special, Aria. You have the power to turn back time.”That was what her grandmother told her when she claimed she was cursed and even though she was not satisfied with that answer, she never asked again.Two years later, Aria got a call from the hospital and found out that her grandmother has been poisoned and the only way for her to save her grandmother was to accept this deal made by the Alpha of the Shadow Moon pack“Marry Alpha Tristan, have him fall for you and then kill him.”It was the only way to saved her grandmother so she agreed despite knowing that she was walking into a lion den, because how was she going to kill a man who despite losing both his sight and his mate, command enough power and authority to still be called a Alpha.How will Aria feel when she realized that the man she has been task to kill has been waiting for her for five lifetimes and have just two years left to live?What situation will Aria find herself that will require her to turn back time and what price will she pay for altering time itself?-----------ExcerptAria felt uneasy by his silence and wondered if it was the right moment to use the techniques, Hailey has taught her.Taking a deep breath, Aria stepped closer and closed her eyes as she brushed her lips against Tristan's.Tristan stiffened when he felt her lips on his and without thinking, he immediately pushed her away.Seeing the angry look on his face, Aria felt like it was all over; she was definitely going to be killed now.But Tristan expression was shadowed by more than anger. How had she gotten so close without him sensing her? And why--why was his heart racing like this?