MTL - Those Sweet Times - Chapter 17 Communicative Flower and Zhuge Village

Oliver Patrick, the Greatest General in Stormfront's history has a secret - a secret not many know. They think that his Iron WIll was built overnight. They know not the path of suffering he walked, as the slave Beam, to reach his destiny as King, and then Emperor.This is that story. A true story, of progress, struggle, hardship and strength. A story of greatness achieved without a system. A story of how one unknown boy's struggle transformed a continent forever.//ExtractThe arm dropped to the floor, as did the head. Spear points raced past the falling corpse as the goblins sought to take advantage of his momentary lapse in attention. But the tide had already shifted. The equilibrium that had kept the battle going for so long was shattered. With no bruiser to take care of their front lines and distract his attention, the goblins in front of him were no match for his speed.He employed his misdirection as he normally might, feigning the same backwards step that he had practised over and over, before leaping forward, catching the goblin off guard, twisting his body to avoid its spear and forcing his blade into its throat.It let out a high-pitched squeal as it dropped its spear and attempted to stem the tide of blood that was spurting from the wound. The goblin next to it squealed too, in fear this time, as its eyes widened, seeing two of its comrades dealt with so easily in quick succession. Beam saw it take a backwards step, as it attempted to turn and run away. But he was on it before it had a chance. He wrapped his arm around its neck and drove a sword through its back.Rather than let the corpse fall to the floor as he normally might, he held onto this one, enduring its death throes. Once life had finally left its body, he shifted it into place as a meat shield. Two arrows thudded against it, almost piercing it straight through. But the time they reached Beam the momentum was entirely gone – though they touched him, they did not even pierce his clothes.Slowly, with his meat shield in place, Beam advanced on the remaining goblins. They both shared a glance with each other as they dared to fire another volley, before turning on their heels and attempting to sprint away.“Stay,” a brief moment of eye contact, and one of the goblins was rooted in place. Beam tossed his shield aside and picked up a spear instead. With a twist of his hips and shoulder, the spear went soaring, impaling the running goblin straight through its stomach. Its bow fell to the ground, as strength left its hands. It then fell to its knees, before falling face down to the floor, pushing the spear back through itself.

Yan Hongyin saved a man.Although he was kind-hearted, he was frail and often coughed up blood.But Yan Hongyin didn’t mind.She lacked nothing – status, martial arts, or wealth.All she required of her husband was that he be good-looking, harmless, and not one of those martial artists that cause trouble on weekdays.He didn’t need to study hard for the imperial examinations or become a high-ranking official; she’d seen enough of those stuffy civil officials in the court.Ah Yu was perfect just as he was.****Sect Leader Yu was saved by a gentle and delicate pharmacist.His rescuer was a fascinating woman: beautiful, skilled in medicine, but without martial arts prowess. The renowned heroes admired by ordinary people were, in her eyes, nothing but troublemaking hypocrites and villains.Initially, he stayed only to recover from his injuries, but later he discovered that his wife seemed to have many unusual and numerous little secrets. For example, the hidden passages in their room, the poisonous carp in the pond, and the countless hidden weapons on her person…****Later.Two groups of men in black arrived outside the thatched hut in the suburbs of the capital.Commander Yan, observing the group trying to capture the Loucha Sect leader’s weakness, pondered for a moment, then put away her hidden blade.-Maintain a gentle and virtuous demeanor.Sect Leader Yu, watching the group attempting to seize the Jinyiwei commander’s weakness, fell silent for a moment, clutching his chest and coughing.-Appear frail and refined.

“Dear, it's time for your medicine!”The beautiful and pure Holy Daughter brought over the medicine for treating his wounds.On this day, he saw betrayal with his own eyes and experienced despair with his soul...From this day forth, the Hero was dead, send paper offerings if you must!

He was weak, he was depressed, he was a loser.
He wasn't even Lvl 10 in the game when Earth was destroyed in the Quake and the players of Redlands were transmigrated to the fantastic world of Zushkenar.
But he lived, learned, and died again.
Now, he was back on Earth, one year and three months before the Quake.
Deciding to rejoin the game earlier and with greater focus, what changes would he bring with his actions?
What life would he live?

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paypal.me/JInDaoran

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There's a map for the lands of Zushkenar posted on the DeviantArt website:
https://www.deviantart.com/kilrain/art/Hunters-Guide-map-cities-grid-b-877682076

It's not complete, but it'll give an idea of the general geography.

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The background image for the cover is part of a landscape by moinzon taken from pixabay.com