Walking by the Abyss on Thin Ice - Chapter 297: Memories of the Apricot Grove

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

I’m in a secret, bad romance with a love dependent student—「Having a secret meeting with a student one is in charge of at school… Isn’t it exciting?」The special relationship with Kirihara that no one can know about began when I took up my post at Mori Kawara High School as a teacher.At school, she’s the serious student council president who has earned a lot of trust from other teachers, but when it’s just the two of us, she becomes mischievous, clingy, and jealous.On weekends, I cook meals at her place, play games together, and pamper her as if we were lovers.Unable to reject her because she knows my weakness, and despite knowing it’s wrong, we continue to pile up secrets little by little every day…「Sensei, my feelings of liking you have grown very strong.」As Kirihara openly confronts me with her feelings, the emotions I’ve been holding back grow even stronger.Even though it would all be over if it were exposed, that sense of immorality ironically only accelerates things further—

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.

Cheng Xi, a guileless psychiatrist with a heart of gold, who would do anything for her patients. Lu Chenzhou, a frigid businessman who refuses treatment for his emotional detachment.