MTL - Start a Core Pod - Chapter 71 The situation has changed

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

A 40-year-old man suddenly dies and is reincarnated in a world devastated by zombies—but instead of becoming a hero or a survivor, he wakes up as a zombie girl.

Alex, killed by the God of Darkness, was crushed by his giant sword and woke up to find himself back on the day the 'Universal Descent' game launched!Monsters and gods hadn't began to descend into Earth yet, and so this meant that Alex, along with his 10 years of experience, could now make a difference.But surprise, once he re-enters the world of 'Universal Descent', instead of awakening his normal C-Level talent, he instead awakens the SSS-Level 'Extraction' talent!He could now extract items, talents, attributes and skills from monsters!Ding![You have extracted the Artifact-Level 'Excalibur'!][You have extracted the SSS-Level 'Meteor' Skill!][You have extracted the Artifact-Level 'World Map'!]Now, there was no monster or god in this game that could stop him!

[Ding!][Your pickpocketing skill increased by 5. Reward: your PP increased by 50.]“System, use my Pop-star Points to increase my singing skill!”…[Ding!][You had won 1st place in the Californian Young Star contest. Reward: your CP increased by 400!]“System, put all these Criminal Points into my martial arts skill. Now I will crush anyone who stands in my way!” Tristan was born with everything he needed to become a star: rich parents and musical talent. However, after a car crash destroyed his handsome face and voice, everybody turned away from him.With his dreams burned, Tristan ran from home and became a small-time criminal to survive. Then, his own gang mates betrayed him, throwing him to the cops.But Tristan is saved by a sudden stroke of luck.[Congratulations, Tristan Hayes! You won the Heavenly Lottery. Your prise is ‘Second Identity System’.][Increase skills and status of one identity to obtain 10x rewards for the other one.]Mafia and showbiz may appear far removed from each other, but both are united by money and ruthlessness within.Now it’s Tristan’s time to navigate both realms to become the world’s first mafia superstar!