Hagakure Sakura Does Not Lament - Chapter 48

Long Chen, a crippled youth who cannot cultivate, is constantly targeted and bullied by his fellow noble heirs. After a particularly vicious beating, he wakes up and realizes a Pill God’s soul has somehow merged with him, giving him some additional memories. Within those memories is the mysterious Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, a cultivation technique that even he can train in, but whose secrets and origin are still a mystery to him. Relying on his improved instincts as he finally begins to cultivate, he realizes a huge conspiracy is underfoot within the Phoenix Cry Empire, one involving his father, members of the imperial family, and even the Emperor himself.

In order to solve the mysteries around him, he must rely on his new alchemy techniques and the powerful but baffling Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. Countless enemies block him as he attempts to climb to the peak of the cultivation world.

Fate destined him to be only a chess piece, but he would not bow to the will of the Heavens.

Johnathan, an old man with an extraordinary past but an ordinary end, gets reincarnated in a dark fantasy world full of magic, darkness, and mysteries furled.

However, he committed a grave blunder by taking the fiction he had read as a reference. Reborn as a baby, he hoped to be deemed gifted by speaking early.

One thing led to another, and tragedy struck. The villagers declared him a demon-possessed and called the church. Johnathan, now known as Sylvester Maximilian, realized that he had messed up.

When the church's inquisitors came to judge him and burn him on a pyre. As a last resort and to welcome his soon to arrive second death, he started chanting holy hymns as his last breath.

Overwhelmed, they kneeled, thinking he was a messenger of Solis.

From there, the story of how Sylvester Maximilian rose through the ranks to sit at the top began.

But his life won't be ordinary, as he uses his cunning and the tag of 'God's favored' to his advantage. Fighting treachery, unearthing secret plots and world mysteries, facing the darkness around him and creating his place in history, engraving his name in the annals to be forever remembered as the—Immortal Pope, The Young.

[A/N: To not mislead you, the novel's name does not mean he instantly becomes the Pope from the start. The story will follow the life of MC. Though he will become the Pope at a pretty young age. 40% of the novel will be based around MC fighting to sit on the supreme throne.

If you enjoy world building and lore building, then you will like this story.]
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***Main Tags: FANTASY, ADVENTURE, MAGIC, DARK, STRONG MC(Weak at the start because he's a baby. Not an instant OP though.), WHOLESOME, COMEDY, KINGDOM BUILDING. MENTALLY OLD MC, Politics, Backstabbing, World Building.***

[WARNING: MC will not go around saving everyone. Absolutely not if it puts him in danger. But if he can save someone using his status or position in the church, he will. He will kill innocent people if he has to. MC is not crazy, cynical, or unsociable. The world at some times may seem very DARK.]
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[DISCLAIMER]
The religion will be fake. I won't make it similar to those existing in our world not to trigger anyone. However, the Church terminologies and designations may feel identical as they are simple vocabulary words.

Again, everything you read in this novel is fictional and has no relation to our world.

I hope you enjoy my work. Stay safe and eat healthy bananas.
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Ken was about to take his own life, after he had experienced a very tragic emotion. However, he was stopped by a mysterious cyan screen before his eyes.“What is this?”The Cyan screen displayed a message. It called itself the Guarantee System, and told him that it would guarantee whatever mission he desires. And through these missions he was to earn a reward, and these rewards were to be massive if the mission he takes, is relating to a… female.Then the question followed…[What will be your first mission?]At that moment, Ken knew… just the right thing he wanted. With a smirk on his face he said.“I WILL GET ALL THE LADIES I WANT!”Hehe'Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and organizations are imaginary and any resemblance to real persons or events is purely coincidental. The narrative is intended for entertainment purposes only and does not reflect real-life occurrences or perspectives.Enjoy!

He was once a name whispered in terror.A Demon King no army could challenge. No god could judge. No fate could bind.But he didn’t fall in battle.He walked away.Immortality became dull. Victory became predictable. The world stopped pushing back. And for someone who was born to conquer limits… boredom was the only true enemy left.So Anos chose death.Reborn as a human in a fragile, uncertain world, he expects weakness, struggle—maybe even humility.Instead, something else awakens.A system woven from hearts, fate, and supremacy.A power that doesn’t just measure strength… it measures influence, dominance, connection, desire.The universe is watching.And somewhere in the silence between worlds, a former god of destruction begins carving a new path—one not toward simple conquest… but toward something higher.Beyond heroes.Beyond destiny.Beyond the very laws that once defined him.This isn’t a story about redemption.It’s about evolution.From Demon King…To something the cosmos itself may not be ready for.