Mercenary's War - Chapter 7 - Traces of Civilization

In a world where its inhabitants can destroy a city wall single-handedly, the empress has a kirin as her pet, and the imperial palace of Great Xia has a pool containing a dragon. There is also a Sword Mountain where spirit swords occasionally leave in search of a master .

Qin Ran grew up in the countryside. She disappeared for one year and lost a year of high school.

One year later, she was taken to Yuncheng by her biological mother to attend school.

Her mother said: your stepfather is from a prestigious family, your big brother is a genius, your younger sister is a top student, you must not lose their faces.

*

Everyone of status in the capital has received a warning from Cheng family’s Junye: Junye’s wife is from the countryside; she doesn’t understand the circle, doesn’t understand the current circumstances, doesn’t understand the financial markets. Her character is very… in short, please excuse me.

Until one day, Junye investigated a big shot, his subordinates looked at the sockpuppet that had come off her while she said she knew nothing about it… they sank into a bewildered silence.

It was probably a story of two big shots trying to hide their sockpuppets so that the other didn’t feel inferior.

- Description from Novelupdates

Zhong Yuntong was a dog raised by Zhong Jin in her previous life, quite literally a dog.She was a Celestial Cloud Demon Dog, and her father was the villainous Demon Lord from a novel, known for his ruthlessness and cunning, someone everyone wanted to eliminate.Little Tongtong, the puppy, was unaware of the turmoil outside, living a life of luxury with her villainous father, spoiled to the point of being unruly.When the demon clan was destroyed, Zhong Yuntong transformed into the form of a human child. Using her powerful sense of smell, she found her father, who was still as wise and formidable as ever, instilling fear in everyone.However, now everyone referred to him not as “Lord” but as “Director.”* * *A little child, around three or four years old, arrived at the An District Police Station. She was exquisitely beautiful, dressed in a fragrant cloud silk jacket and embroidered tiger-head shoes, clearly a well-cared-for child from a wealthy family.The child tiptoed, clinging to the edge of the inquiry desk, and loudly asked, “Excuse me, is my father here?”The female police officer smiled, “Little friend, who is your father?”“Zhong Jin.”Director Zhong Jin heard about this and was indifferent, thinking, “Just a child talking nonsense, we should find her parents quickly.”Two days later, Officer Wang handed the child over to the director, saying, “She’s your biological child.”Director Zhong, “……”Zhong Yuntong tugged at her father’s pant leg and said, “I want to eat crispy-skinned chicken.”Director Zhong, “……? Crispy… fried chicken?”Officer Wang, who understood this, confirmed, “There’s no doubt she’s your biological child.”A paternity test sent Director Zhong down the irreversible path of parenting, and after two months of chaotic child-rearing, the station received a report of a missing child, with a description that matched Zhong Yuntong perfectly.Zhong Jin remarked, “A scam call to the police station? What a genius.”The next day, the scammer arrived at the station.Zhong Jin, “……” The scam genius turned out to be his ex-wife.

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