MTL - A Complete Explanation of the Negative Textbooks of the Imperial Examination - Chapter 88 marriage

As Mingguang Sect’s esteemed Immortal Master, Yi Ning had never experienced much heartbreak and suffering. He had always expected his life to be smooth-sailing, and was only waiting to ascend before marrying his disciple with whom he shared mutual affection.

However, he had never expected that on a rainy night, his disciple brought back a childhood friend.

They were close and intimate, to the point… of sharing a bed.

Standing before the bed where they were entwined, Yi Ning’s heart was as cold as sunken ice. He had wanted to end it all cleanly and straightforwardly, yet had never expected that his disciple not only wanted his childhood friend, but wanted his Shizun too.

His disciple shattered his spiritual core and laid down a hex, throwing him into the main hall to await nightfall to consummate their relationship.

Just as he had fallen into despair and wanted to end his life, he unexpectedly discovered a strange book. The book detailed his life, and the him it described, from beginning to end, was nothing more than a tool used to satisfy his disciple’s desire to conquer, lowly and wretched as a cultivation furnace.

Yi Ning’s head spun, and his heart gave birth to a strong hatred. He dragged his wrecked body to the back of the mountain and released the Demon Venerable Yan Xuan, who he had personally sealed nine years ago.

In return for undoing the seal, Yan Xuan would aid him in escaping.

After the man heard the reason why, he leaned against the wall and smiled with a hint of mockery. Yi Ning had thought he was going to ridicule him for having deserved it, being betrayed by an ingrate who bit the hand that fed him.

Yet, what he never expected was for Yan Xuan to reach out and tug him into his embrace, and the words that left his mouth were instead:

“You fool, I’ll help you take revenge.”

After this, he killed all those who wronged him, and cradled him close to his heart.

He wants to shatter your cultivation and mangle your limbs, to turn you into a bird in a cage, free for him to humiliate.

Yet, with this lowly and dirty heart of mine, I want to pull you from the swamp and cut down the heavens for you.

- Description from Novelupdates

Warning This fiction contains:

Graphic Violence Profanity Sensitive Content

Summary – Level 1:

Delve is an isekai litrpg that follows an average guy who just happened to wake up in a forest one day. He wasn’t summoned to defeat the demon lord or to save the world or anything like that, at least as far as he can tell. The only creature there to greet him was a regular old squirrel.

Soon enough, he meets other people, only to discover that he can’t speak the language, and that not everybody immediately trusts random pajama-wearing strangers they met in the middle of the wilderness. Things generally go downhill from there, at least until the blue boxes start appearing.

Delve is a story about finding your way in a new, strange, and dangerous world. It’s about avoiding death, figuring out what the heck is going on, and trying to make some friends along the way. It’s not about getting home, so much as finding a new one.

Did I mention that there will be math?

Summary – Level 2:

Okay, but what are you in for, really?

Well, this story is supposed to be realistic, or at least, as realistic as a fantasy litrpg can be. The main character doesn’t instantly become an all-powerful god and murder-hobo his way across the universe. Delve is, at its heart, a progression fantasy, but that progression is meant to feel earned. The numbers in this story actually mean something. Everything is calculated, and if you find a rounding error, I expect you to tell me about it. That said, if math isn’t your cup of tea, there is plenty more that the story has to offer. Characters are meant to feel real, and progression isn’t only about personal power; it’s also about allies, connections, and above all, knowledge. Figuring out how the system works is a significant theme.

...

What, you want more details? Okay, fine, but this is going to get a bit spoiler-y. Are you sure?

Yes!

Really sure? I mean, this summary is practically half as long as the first chap–

Now!

Okay, okay!

The main character becomes a magic user, but he takes a route that is not very popular in adventurer culture, namely that of a support. There is a full magic system with various spells, skills, and abilities, but our MC decides that aura magic is the way to go, and that the only stat worth investing in is mana regeneration. Most people at the Adventurer’s Guild think that this makes him a bit of a dumbass, but he’s playing the long game. We’ll see how that works out for him, won’t we?

Because of his build, the MC levels up fast, at least compared to normal people. There are no cheats, though, and he is limited in other ways. There are some clear and pretty obvious downsides to his build. That’s what makes it fun, no?

Morals? Our MC has them. Again, we’ll see how that works out for him. Realism, remember? Would you be okay with killing someone and looting their body? I sure hope not.

POV? The focus is on the main character, but there will be occasional varying perspectives from people around him, or involved in the events related to the main plot. It isn’t going to jump all over the place.

Tech is standard medieval stasis. No smartphones, but the MC does have a technical background. Computers and their programming might be involved. There might even be a bit of uplifting down the road, who knows? Anyway, it isn’t the focus. He isn’t going to invent the gun in chapter 1 and change the face of warfare.

Romance is not a major focus. Friendships are more the name of the game, though there will be some characters in romantic relationships.

There is exploration, though not as much of the geographical nature as you might expect. It is more about exploration of the system and the culture.

The pace is slow and detailed, sometimes verging on slice-of-life. The action is meant to be realistic and grounded in the numbers, and it is intended to have meaning beyond simply punching things until they stop moving.

The general tone of the story is grey, and some parts can get quite dark. People die. Sometimes, people with names, but not anywhere near GoT level. There is plenty of light, too, though, to balance the darkness. The world is dangerous, but overcoming that danger is why we’re all here, isn’t it?

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far through the summary, you clearly like words. I hope you enjoy the story!

Li Huowang was incapable of making up his mind. Was he in a hospital or in a fantasy world, struggling to survive? Both sides claimed that they were real and that the other is nothing more than a hallucination.

Follow Li Huowang on his adventure as he tries to make sense of what is happening to him. Explore a world full of bizarre cultivators and eldritch horrors as everyone tries to survive in it.

Official blurb from the raws: The bizarre path to the heavens, the abnormal Deities and Immortals. Are they real? Or are they fake? Li Huowang is unable to differentiate between the two in his confusion. But that’s not all that is causing him to be unable to differentiate the two. There was also his own illness, a debilitating one.

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Dear readers! Without any ads, maybe you will prefer .

In this captivating fantasy novel, Luo Mu has spent fifteen years in a mystical world, feeling disheartened by the belief that hard work yields little reward. Just as he begins to lose hope, a miraculous system activates in his life—the Heavenly Path Rewards Diligence System.With this newfound power, every effort he makes leads to astonishing gains, governed by a unique critical hit mechanic that can amplify his rewards by up to ten thousand times. As he diligently practices his cultivation techniques, immerses himself in ancient texts, and rigorously trains in powerful martial arts, he experiences unprecedented successes: gaining rewards that skyrocket from hundreds to thousands, and even ten thousand times his initial effort.Years later, as Luo Mu stands at the zenith of strength and ability, he becomes a figure of admiration and inquiry. When asked how to achieve such greatness, he simply smiles and states, “The Heavenly Path rewards diligence; it’s all about hard work.”This tale explores themes of perseverance, the value of effort, and the extraordinary possibilities that come from dedication and hard work in a richly woven fantasy world.