MTL - I Wasn’t Born Lucky - Chapter 166

He loved her. She left him for someone richer.But that night, something awakened in Nishanth — a system with no fame boosts, no fantasy powers, and no second chances.Just money. Assets. Ownership.The Infinity Spend Protocol doesn't make him a hero. It makes him a Spend King — a silent force who crushes rivals, empowers the poor, and stuns the nation with outrageous moves.From the slums of Warangal to the boardrooms of Mumbai, Nishanth spends to dominate — buying failed properties, funding orphan tech labs, and humiliating those who once laughed at him.And when the world finally asks:“Who is behind all this?”He walks on stage and answers,“The boy you forgot. The man who never forgot you.”Spend. Dominate. Rise.This is the rise of India’s Spend King — a man who never needed fame.........Only the fire of betrayal.

Senior high school student Dugu Hong was logical autistic and had a very high IQ. Despite his impressive IQ, he was never taken seriously by his teachers or schoolmates. While playing a recently released eastern Wuxia online game called Jiang Hu, three vicious classmates trapped Dugu into a mountain cave in the game with no hope of escape unless he deleted his account and re-register it. Not succumbing to their demands, Dugu decided to stay in the cave and explore the game system, which benefited him greatly. His persistence to obtain massive internal strength aided him in finding a superior way to improve himself, and thus opened the function of inner observation of the main and collateral channels. Meanwhile, in the real world, he discovered he had supernatural powers when he tried to save the girl he secretly loved who had caught the eye of a gangster on the suburban railway.

Deep below the earth's surface, a mystifying subterranean seascape lurks, an archipelago bathed in inky blackness where suspense and horror hold court. Here lie strange islands and even stranger monsters, far beyond the realms of human imagination. In this domain, mankind is far from dominant; instead, madness and death rule supreme.

Pleading for mercy from the unknown creatures of the deep only leads to a slow, tortured existence. The trapped survivors gradually distort, losing what made them human, both physically and mentally, to the gloom as they remain trapped in this eternal obscurity. Their only hope? A perilous expedition into uncharted sea territories.

Fueled by determination, Charles embark on this daunting voyage aboard his steamship, aiming to reclaim humanity's past glory. Together with his crew, they sought a way out of this hidden sea world, a path back to the sunlit world above, where humans once stood tall.

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I read a few comments from Chinese readers that compared this novel with Lord of Mysteries because of similar elements: Lovecraftian, western fantasy, first industrial revolution, and steampunk. However, I have yet to finish reading Lord of Mysteries to do any actual comparison, but I do think those who have enjoyed that novel would enjoy this as well. Also, the author of LotM, Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, also did a shout-out for this novel, so I guess he approves of it too?

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The world is full of mysteries. Strange, seemingly unexplainable events occur more often than we may realize. A young boy may catch an illness no doctor can explain. An office may catch fire for no apparent reason. And perhaps, someone may die a sudden and unexpected death – their bodies blighted beyond recognition.

Some might believe that these events are merely freak accidents.

However, Ye Shaoyang knows otherwise.

The youngest inner disciple ever in the prestigious Daoist Maoshan Sect. Talented, handsome, and a hillbilly from the mountains who still uses a brick phone in the modern age.

Follow the tale of our quirky, snippy, but honorable hero, after he finally descends the mountains after fifteen years of being out of touch with normal society. Read on as he combats horrifying apparitions, charms ladies, and finds himself in all sorts of trouble along the way!

A story that delves into Daoism, Chinese sorcery, and the supernatural from Asian mythology.

- Description from Novelupdates