Devourer - Chapter 1: The Waking

Chen Xi was a jinx who radiated misfortune the way a torch radiated light, and everyone around him knew it. His entire clan was annihilated when he was young, and not too long after that his parents disappeared. His marriage contract? Poof. Torn to shreds and gone up in smoke before the eyes of everyone in the city, almost humiliating his grandfather to the point of suicide! Cultivation? No time for that, he had a family to take care of!

This is the story of Chen Xi, a youth forced to stop cultivating and instead craft talismans to pay for his younger brother’s tuition… and who, in the process, would rise to become known by all as the Talisman Emperor!

Chen Lun transmigrated to the year before the game’s public beta, becoming an NPC in the game world. Thus, a new version was born... Steam punk, Mysterious Objects, Church, Shelter, the pathways of the Sequences of the Seven True Gods... He placed his black top hat on his head, standing atop the ruins. Behind him stood the villain bosses from former game versions, the silent Nun Floey, Bloody Painter Noah, Swordsman Antonio, the delusional clown Alec... Chen Lun said, “Players grind monsters, I grind players, it makes perfect sense...” ... Also known as “How to Rationally Use Players as a Sustainable Resource,” “These Bosses Are Really Strong But They Are All My Underlings,” “No Way! So I Can Be A Deity, Too?!”

Waking up inside the ruins of an orphanage, Alexander finds himself chained and sold to slavery.

A modern metallurgist, trapped in ancient times, watch as he tries to play with the cards fate dealt him.

He will make plate armor, invent paper, build roads, teach governance and many more, as he tries to carve a place for himself.

But how can such things not attract jealous eyes?

The naval superpower- Cantagena,

The unstoppable army of- Exolas,

The superpower of the east- Adhania,

The mercantile confederation- Sybarsis,

The religious fanatics- Iyizarid,

And the ever-present- Barbarians of the Barren Forrest,

All want something from each other.

In this ocean of sharks, follow a small carp as it struggles to leap through the dragon gate and establish a dynasty to outlast them all.

Yu Linglong is the shu (born of a concubine) daughter in a general’s family. Since her mother was only a tribute dancer, her position is the lowest of the low. She used to live with her mother outside the father’s residence, and they only received some monthly money from him. He didn’t bother seeing them. But when her mother dies, she moves into the general’s residence.

The general is a very irresponsible and violent man. He doesn’t really get attached to women, just letting his lust dictate his actions. His wife is a jealous woman, who killed one of his previous concubines, because he doted on her too much. She similarly wants to get rid of Yu Linglong, in part to vent her frustrations over her husband’s cheating habits.

Because the sixth miss – the general’s legitimate daughter, was bitten by a snake, she needs detoxification. The cure was apparently getting poisoned by scorpions, to fight one poison with another. But since she’s already weak, they decided it would be better if she drank the blood of someone poisoned by scorpions instead. The general’s madam naturally decided to use Yu Linglong’s blood. During the process of getting bitten by the scorpion, the original timid Yu Linglong died of fright (and maybe poison? it’s never made clear). Then Yu Mei takes over her body.

Yu Mei is a modern woman. She was some mafia boss, so she’s very capable with fighting and overbearing attitude. She died because the man she fell in love with betrayed her and killed her. So she doesn’t trust easily afterward.

Since she took over Yu Linglong’s body, she refuses to adapt to the circumstances of a lowly illegitimate daughter, and uses her violence to fight for a peaceful life, where no one will challenge her and plot against her. Basically, she beats them up into submission. In the meantime, she acquires a tail – a very persistent prince, who only seems to stick to her harder, the colder she treats him. Did ancient men have such heavy tastes, she wonders.

- Description from Novelupdates