The point of the resurrection alter thing was to show MC his past lives (ch 23-onward) and it was actually pretty well-written and sad. tho I think if there was foreshadowing about it it would've been better and not felt random. in their past lives, the mls are quite similar in personality to their respective reincarnations, and it explains why they are so obsessed with MC, and their karma. without further ado:

First life: weak fragile MC x childhood best friend whom he saved and brought back to his home.

MC falls for ML #1; it's unrequited as ML #1 only cares about the sword -> MC puts all his time, effort, and money into making the best sword for ML #1 bc he lost his -> MC confesses his love for ML #1, is rejected, is forced into a wedding with someone else; his tea is drugged with aphrodisiac -> MC cant alleviate the symptoms, so ML #1 helps him by s*x as repayment -> the s*x ends up worsening his condition; he is dying -> MC throws himself in a forge to make the best sword for ML #1 -> MC wishes to be strong and healthy to use a sword for his next life

second life: general MC x fifth prince turned emperor

the previous emperor dies and the other royal children die in a battle for the throne, except for fifth prince, ML #2 -> he is 12-13. MC is 7 yrs older. -> MC pities the child, pledges loyalty to him, and nurtures him to be emperor -> they grow very close, with ML #2 bestowing a high status upon him, and MC helps him navigate the court -> when ML #2 is 18, MC start developing feelings -> MC tries to avoid him, and plan to marry someone else -> but then he gets drunk and spend the night with emperor. their feelings for each other are mutual -> the empire is in trouble, and MC begs ML to deal with it since the commoners are suffering. but he, being childish and frivolous, doesnt care about them. -> he agrees to help them if MC has s*x with him. and that happened -> MC grows disillusioned -> trouble is resolved, but MC actively avoids emperor even more, until he is notified the emperor is in danger of assassination on his wedding -> MC attends the wedding; an assassin appears and shoots emperor -> MC takes the shot and dies -> wishes to be just and righteous wanderer in a martial arts world

third life: son of the martial arts alliance leader x crossdressing leader of demonic cult

MC saves ML #3, who was crossdressing, from a fire -> they grow close. MC tells her a tale about a girl who saved and tended his wounds when he was very young -> MC confess his feelings and wants to marry him -> mc's father and mother are kidnapped by a group of people looking for a piece of a treasure map mc's father possesses -> pursuers injure mc; is saved and tended by ML #3, who reveals he is a man and the girl that saved him; he is also one of several groups looking for the treasure -> MC finds his father, but he dies shortly from torture wounds; mom is already dead -> MC wants ML #3 to destroy the treasure map pieces, and ML #3 agrees -> they have sex; MC wants to spend his life with him -> MC vaguely recognizes one of ML #3's staff -> he happens to eavesdrop on a conversation by him and ML #3 -> turns out the incident where he got saved by ML #3 when he was young was entirely contrived, and MC was a tool for his plan to obtain the treasure -> MC proceeds to commit su*cide by burning himself and apiece of the map in his delipitated original home -> wish to be reclused, and not to be involved in world affairs in his next life

fourth life: medical practitioner MC x s*ave he bought and taught

MC is saved by a physician, who, before he dies poisons the MC as per tradition in his sect, unbeknownst to him -> MC lives in the mountains, one day, he buys a s*ave, ML #4 -> he greatly distrusts humans. MC teaches him some medicine -> they are together for 7~ yrs -> ML #4 turns out to be a prince of a tribe or smth and wants to go back -> MC is developing some feelings for him atp, and realizes the poison is consuming his life bc of his feelings of love. so MC lets him go, and tells him to return in 2 yrs. during that time, he longs for ML #4 and his hair whitens bc of the poison -> ML #4 comes back to pay him back, and MC knowing his days are numbered, wants him to stay with him for a month -> the time comes, MC is drunk. he had put aphrodisiac in ML #4's drink. they have non-con s*x -> after which, the poison has reached his heart. MC digs himself a grave and dies -> wishes to live a long time in his next life, even if he were to suffer

tbh, this made me feel more sympathetic for MC cuz it showed why he was so lenient to the mls. it didnt make me feel bad for the mls at all-- sure, the story does state they had undergone pain and tribulation for MC, but was it shown to the readers? if anything, the r*pe scene was shown in full f*cking detail. unlike meng-whatever who had his eyes destroyed bc he realized mc's identity (even then, that's the only touching thing he did), fengli who protected MC (in the beginning), all the other two did was r*ped him. the MC told them "not to regret their actions" and that altho won't resent them, he wont help them either, yet after all the sh*t they put him thru, in the end, they didn't really suffer from regret bc MC chose to put behind him the past and return to them. like I said, he has a bigger heart than I bc I would not have hesitated to reincarnate again.

I think this is the main reason why people are required to drink Meng Po soup upon reincarnation lmao

For freaking sake, if you're in a relationship or WANT to be in a relationship, learn to communicate!

Be straightforward and CONFESS NOW then regret later than REGRET NOW but never get the chance to confess EVER!

These freaking hot and handsome madmen made me cry! Coward! s*upid! Baka! Grrrrrr!!!!