Unsheathed - Chapter 413 (2): Refinement

When Evelyn’s loser fiance steals her company's secrets and elopes with her prostitute mother, she finds herself facing impending bankruptcy. But unexpected help comes in the form of an unusual offer from her business rival and ex-boyfriend, Alexander Langford.“Bear my children, Eve, and I’ll save this precious company of yours.”To everyone else, Alexander is the heir to a billion dollar fortune, and the acting industry’s handsome darling. But to Evelyn, he is nothing more than a cold-hearted, arrogant man she dumped for being a compulsive liar years ago - but unknown to her, he has never lied about his love.How could Alexander miss the golden chance to hit two birds with one stone? He gets his inheritance, and a family with the love of his life. Now, if only dear Evelyn would stop thinking the worst of him…[Strong female lead x doting male lead.][EXCERPT]“You’re out of your mind,” Eve snaps. “You could have any woman in this world, and you want ME to be the mother of your children?!”“Why not? You’re smart, savvy, and fucking hot,” Alex says as he takes a step forward, trapping her body between his muscular arms. His dark blue eyes gaze deep into hers with unbridled lust. “I want our children to have the best from both of us. Our children could take over the world.”“There is no ‘our’,” Eve says coldly, pushing him away. “I will be the surrogate for your children. This is nothing but a business deal. There is NO love in this contract. But in exchange, you need to do something else.”“And what is it?”“Help me take down my ex-fiance. That bastard deserves to die after fucking my mom and ruining my life.”Alex chuckles. “It’s a deal then, sweetheart.”It was nothing but a business deal at first. But what if the line between business, love, and hatred were getting blurry as they got entangled too far and too long?[Power couple, slow burn, getting back together.]

What is worse than being the worst team in the world?

For Dave Richards that was a very easy but heartbreaking question to answer, a goalkeeper who performed poorly between the sticks, he was still available as a first-choice goalkeeper because Unique FC didn't have any other goalkeeper.

He was slow on his feet, couldn't jump properly and worst of all, he didn't know how to hold the ball properly.

The only way that Unique FC was able to survive taking in a massive goal-fest sometimes was because of the extra effort they put in their defence.

After a terrible match in which Dave wasn't able to make any saves and also made a lot of mistakes, he was seriously scolded by the managerial staff and almost received a beating from his angry teammates.

He got home sad and also angry at all those who told him he looked like his grandfather and would therefore inherit his goalkeeping skills.

He discovered a hidden door below his room and when he got down there the only thing he could see was a black box.

He found the box to be quite familiar and when he opened it the last thing he saw was a bright white light when the light was gone he could see something in his field of vision.

[ Welcome Dave ]

[ You have activated the Goalkeeping system ]

A female voice read out the messages.

This is a story about how an ordinary man who didn't know his place between the sticks went from nothing to pro.

Three years after entering the palace, Yongning Palace’s Beautiful Lady Yan Shu, has still never met the Emperor.The palace full of concubines tried to win his favour, only she, immersed in a melon eating system, has no time to spare for him.[The heir of Marquis Lin Wu isn’t his son, tsk tsk.] [A high ranking official in the conservative Ministry of Rites is unexpectedly taking part in a taboo relationship with his own daughter-in-law!!!] [Grand Princess Yi Ma’s prince consort has unexpectedly raised several concubines outside!]Everyday is filled with gossip, who would still remember who the Emperor was?How would she know that one day, she actually ate a shockingly big melon——[The iron-blooded Emperor who seems cold and aloof on the surface actually suffers from an unspeakable unmentionable disease.]Yan Shu, “!!! No wonder he never enters the harem!”Wait…There seems to be something wrong somewhere… then what did she enter the palace for?!!The new Emperor, Yu Wen Lan, has two secrets.Since his ascension to the throne, he has gradually lost his male functions; yet at the same time, he can read minds.Getting used to seeing their false words and hypocritical faces every day, he grew all the more unfeeling.That was, until one day, he heard a special heart’s voice——[Isn’t this a f*cking waste of natural resources?]Yu Wen Lan paused, narrowing his eyes to look in the direction of a delicately pretty and pure looking girl.[God, for you to make such a handsome hunk unable to XX, doesn’t your conscience hurt at all?] [Is there any way to revive it???] [Ten-fold complete rejuvenation of spring pill, restoration of a man of character pill; if those don’t work, then have you tried return of the yang acupuncture?]Yu Wen Lan, “???”Until she ascended to the position of Empress, Yan Shu also didn’t know how she had jumped unreasonably on the Emperor’s bottom line repeatedly, yet had jumped straight in, becoming the first person to be in his heart.Perhaps, it was just her good luck.

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