Cultivation Begins with Skill Points - Chapter 117: Divine Power, Inner Breath

When powerless, unfavoured Princess Soleia was arranged to marry the newly titled Duke Orion Elsher, she assumed they would find love eventually.Who knew that her father would send off her husband mere hours later to fight a war?Soleia was left alone to deal with an impoverished fief, a crumbling estate, and spiteful, vindictive relatives of the Duke who all wished to see her gone.She couldn’t leave― there was nowhere else to go. Soleia desperately wanted her husband to return so he could offer her a helping hand. However, when he did, he returned with Elowyn, a woman he claimed was his true love.A woman hellbent on taking her place as the rightful Duchess, no matter what she had to do to get Soleia out of the way.Mistreated, misunderstood, and miserable, Soleia was eventually thrown out of the estate she helped build.Fortunately, when one door closes, another one opens. Unknown to Soleia, a man more powerful than her husband had been watching her, waiting for the right time to snatch her into his gilded cage. Duke Elsher had been foolish to let go― but the crown prince of Raxuvia wouldn’t make the same mistake.***Prequel to Stolen by the Rebel King.

This is a world where humans, demons and mysterious beasts coexist.

Humans cultivate mysterious qi. Demons cultivate corporeal bodies. Mysterious beasts cultivate soul perception.

A legend says that in the middle of an endless rainforest, there are extremely powerful existences; they are called demon kings.

Some demon kings have a tyrannical corporeal body, some are experts in illusions.
Some demon kings are proficient in magic, some can even move mountains.
Some demon kings are able to sense things thousands of miles away.

These demon kings rarely appear in the human world. Even if they emerge in the human world, they would reincarnate in human form; assimilating with mankind while seeking to breakthrough realms…

- Description from Novelupdates

One day, the majority of humanity had a collective thought.

‘I wish the world would just collapse.’

And then, that wish came true.

Growing up in an orphanage and surrounded by poverty, Leo never expected anything good from life. Everyone around him had abandoned him, forcing him to survive as a thief. Yet, fate had other plans.Caught by mysterious figures during a daring theft, Leo is forced into accepting a perilous mission. Transported to a strange, magical world, he confronts terrifying myths he had never believed were real.Suddenly thrust into a brutal, nightmarish battle, Leo hears a feminine voice, filled with authority and danger:“Are you worthy to be my Master?”In that moment, his life changes irrevocably—transformed in ways he'd never dreamed.And the cruellest twist?He's the only human participant in this deadly game. With just one champion at his side, Leo must navigate and survive the merciless battles ahead, relying on his skills to fight, endure, and above all… to steal.But remember, this is just F—