Age of Cosmic Exploration - Chapter 12: Yao Yuan's Tactics and… Departure Preparation!

Eight hundred years ago, Xie Lian was the Crown Prince of the Xian Le kingdom. He was loved by his citizens and was considered the darling of the world. He ascended to the Heavens at a young age; however, due to unfortunate circumstances, was quickly banished back to the mortal realm. Years later, he ascends again–only to be banished again a few minutes after his ascension.

In a world where Lycans and werewolves are sworn enemies, Eve Valmont is a werewolf cursed by a prophecy and framed. Betrayed by her own pack and imprisoned for years, her fate takes a darker twist when she is offered to the Lycan King, Hades Stavros—a ruler feared for his ruthless conquests and deadly prowess. Bound by an ancient prophecy and haunted by the ghosts of her past, Eve is now at the mercy of the one being she should hate and fear the most—The Hand of Death himself.Hades, a king carved from blood and his own soul's decay, determined to avenge his family's slaughter and rid his people of the werewolves. He believes Eve is the key to his victory. To him, she is nothing but weapon foretold by prophecy, a tool he will wield to destroy the opposing forces threatening his pack. Yet, he finds himself craving this powerful yet broken woman. Leaving him questioning if she is truly his weapon or the one destined to unravel his carefully laid plans.***He stalked toward me, a predator closing in on its prey, his eyes dark and unreadable. “So, you laugh?” His voice was low, dangerously soft, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.I swallowed hard, suddenly aware of how difficult it had become to breathe. “Hades, I—”“But you only laugh at other men's jokes,” he interrupted, his gaze piercing, devoid of any humor. “Not your husband's.” The accusation in his tone was sharp, slicing through the air between us.A nervous chuckle escaped me. “You can't be serious... He’s your beta, for Goddess’ sake.”In an instant, he closed the distance between us, so fast it left me breathless. His hands gripped my waist, pulling me flush against his body, the heat of him making my skin tingle. I gasped, but before I could say a word, his lips crashed onto mine, claiming my mouth with a force that sent shockwaves through me. The kiss was punishing, hungry—I couldn't breathe, couldn't think.When he finally pulled back, I was trembling, my chest heaving as I struggled to regain my breath. His eyes, dark and stormy, searched mine with a possessive intensity. “You can’t laugh at my jokes...” he whispered, his voice a dangerous rasp as his fingers trailed lower, sending a shiver down my spine, “but you’ll come with my fingers.”I shivered, heat pooling low in my belly at his words, his touch. The world around us blurred, fading into nothing as his hand slipped lower, drawing a ragged gasp from my lips. The look in his eyes told me he knew exactly what he was doing to me, and there was no denying the primal connection between us in that moment.“I don’t need your laughter,” he murmured against my skin, his breath hot on my neck. “I’ll have every other part of you instead.”

In a world that is aware of other worlds and systems, a reality show was created to have participants receive a system and face challenges. All for the entertainment of the world's that cam view it.All participants have no idea about other worlds actually existing, let alone something like this going on.Elmo is a young man who had been shopping when he was chosen to take part in this challenge. Part of him is intrigued by the idea of the challenges, but most of him would rather just go home. If only that was an option.The following are the main challenges in order in the story:Challenge #1: defeating the starting dungeonChallenge #2: prevent the assassination of the kingChallenge #3: defeat the fire dragonChallenge #4: locate and capture a firebirdChallenge #5:There will be no graphic descriptions of any mature content. When such material will appear, it will either be lime or just glossed over.I'm writing this as I go along. If you have any suggestions or thoughts I'd be happy to hear them.Also, starting at chapter 406, all subsequent chapters will be updated every other day, due to stresses in my life in rl. I hope at some point I'll be able to start updating every day again on this book, but right now I'm not going to be able to do so. I ? sorry for anyone who is unhappy with this.

Kaius just wanted to unlock his class - instead, he restarted the apocalypse. After years of training, Kaius has barely acquired the first two of his family’s legacy skills. Powerful and vanishingly rare, the method of creating them is a secret people would kill for. Now they might be the only thing that keeps him alive. Narrowly surviving a bandit ambush, he gets trapped in the Great Depths- a world spanning dungeon. To escape, he will have to slay one of the Guardians that defend the exits; a feat no one without a class has survived. Ever. If that wasn’t bad enough, if he succeeds he will reignite a forgotten trial that nearly ended civilization. -Runic-Tattoo Wizard/Spellblade in a world of sorcerers -Exceptional MC, with some initial Slow Burn elements -Large scope, inspired by epics such as Azarinth Healer, BTDEM, PH, and more. -Third Person POV, with a 99% MC focus -Numbers go brrrr -Attack Badger (Friendly?) -Battle maniac MC who is not a murderhobo -No harem, romance, or VR