Villain Retirement - Chapter 862 : The Watcher

As Yun Xiao's soul soared into the heavens after his death, he made a startling discovery—the vast world in which he had lived for sixteen years astonishingly resembled a colossal tomb! Beneath it lay an ancient bronze coffin, vast as the boundless seas, radiating an overwhelming miasma. Every piece of land was but a handful of dirt atop this enormous coffin. The billions of living souls unknowingly thrived and multiplied within this graveyard soil.

Inside the massive casket rested the body of an Immortal. His eyes were as deep as the underworld, his mouth reminiscent of the Yellow Springs, his hair flowed like a majestic dragon, and his body spanned across a million mountain ranges. Which celestial deity from ancient times could be resting here for eternity?

Refusing to let himself fade away, Yun Xiao's soul entered the body of the Immortal. With the world's Divine Pillar as his sword and the vast continents as his seals, he and the coffin embark on a journey through the Immortal path, seeking enlightenment and challenging the heavens!

JL: The novel might start out as your bog-standard revenge-plot, reincarnation story. But the execution is solid, and there's plenty of satisfying face-slapping moments throughout. But what makes it really interesting is that the author eventually starts subverting expectations in really interesting ways. So, if you're a long time reader of the community, and want to try something familiar with a refreshing twist, give this story a shot!

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In the world of cultivation, countless tales follow righteous protagonists, fated heroes blessed by destiny, or those chosen by heaven to walk the path of immortality.But what of those who stand in their way?What of the villains? The so-called obstacles to the hero’s journey—do they not bleed, dream, and struggle as well?Xiao Ning was never meant to succeed.From the very beginning, the Grand Dao wove him as a stepping stone—a necessary sacrifice to elevate another. His path, like that of all designated ‘villains,’ was doomed to failure by design.But what happens when that design is defied?After death, Xiao Ning awakens—not in the cycle of reincarnation, but in the cold silence beyond it. There, he is offered the Eternal Paradox Codex—a forbidden artifact containing the hidden truths of the Grand Dao System itself.Rules. Loopholes. Vulnerabilities.Knowledge not meant for those like him.With this power, Xiao Ning is granted a single, impossible choice: accept oblivion, or step outside the Grand Dao entirely—to abandon fate, sever karma, and cultivate a path unbound by heaven or law.It is Xiao Ning’s journey, from ashes to something beyond comprehension.Not to become an Immortal among men.But something even the heavens dare not bind.If fate is a chain…Then let him forge his own path in the void beyond.Welcome to this humble tale.The cultivation world is vast and unkind.Let us begin again—on our terms.

After someone took my life away from me, I felt something or someone pulling my entire being together with my memories away from me and placing them into somewhere where it was cold and hollow. And when I thought that my life came back to me...

I realized that my new life as one of the dead had already begun...

"Who am I?"

Which path will this soul choose? A path of Perseverance or a path of Ruination?

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P.S: This is my first novel that I write so there is bound to be mistakes...so go easy on me xD

Marcella Valemont was a villainess wrapped in silk and thorns.The alluring, selfish daughter of the High Priest, she was forced into a cold marriage with the Black-bellied Duke Berith Montclair. She longed for power and would stop at nothing to claim the crown, even if it meant seducing the incorruptible Crown Prince Lucian and clawing her way to the throne into becoming the Queen.Until it all burned.Her ruthless schemes led to betrayal, rebellion, and ruin-- an empire on its knees, a virtuous king destroyed, and a rebellion led by the man she discarded. Desperate and full of regret, she barters her life with the Duke to save Lucian.In an interesting turn of events, Marcella gets to go back in time to fix her wrongs, save the man who was ruined because of her and hopefully stop the bloodthirsty rebel Duke Berith.She finds herself reborn as her 18-year-old self with a chance for a do-over and vows to do better this time.But the past does not forget. Nor does the devil in her husband’s skin.Secrets long buried begin to surface, and Marcella discovers that her former husband is far more than he seems—a man cloaked in darkness, harboring a purpose that threatens everything she holds dear.They say second chances come with thorns and to fix the past, she must trust the devil who destroyed it.