MTL - The Mad Cultivator - Chapter 18 Rune paper

Facing extinction, humanity seeks salvation in the Astral Verge, a dangerous dimension accessed via portals that threatened to wipe out the entire planet.Few years later, aspiring recruit Daniel Vance enters the Verge for his final assessment, hoping to Awaken a Talent and secure his future. While others gain common abilities, Daniel secretly Awakens the mythical SSS-Grade Talent: [Soul Assimilation]. This allows him to absorb essence, enhancing gear, gaining stats and EXP from slain creatures, and crucially, absorbing attributes and skills from fallen Awakened.Witnessing the swift death of the arrogant Jaxon Rex, Daniel makes a grim choice: he assimilates Jaxon, gaining his first skill, [Kinetic Pulse]. This sets his path: scavenging the aftermath of others’ battles. He enhances gear and, after achieving his first kill on an injured beast, waits patiently to assimilate two more fallen recruits, acquiring [Quick Step] and the invaluable passive [Aura Sense].Starting as average, Daniel rapidly gains power in secret, enhanced gear, multiple skills, and boosted stats , far exceeding his peers while remaining outwardly unremarkable. He navigates the lethal Verge alone, using its inherent dangers to fuel his growth, wrestling with the moral cost of his unique, overwhelming power.

A silhouette of a man standing upon a boulder with the crescent of the moon shining behind him.

A kukri dripping with blood in one hand and a pistol in the other.

The image of burning flames surrounding him.

The countless mercenaries screamed as they saw this scene.

“It’s a demon!”

The most powerful sword was broken in an ancient war and now its spirit is reborn in a common sword and bought by a girl named Li Qingming.The sword spirit senses that Li, though weak now, boasts some traces familiar to it, which remind it of its former owner and his friends.

When Lu Huang woke up as Lidia—the villainess of a cringe-worthy romance novel—she was determined not to let the story play out like the dumpster fire it was written to be. Nope. Dying at the hands of the Alpha King after being falsely accused, publicly humiliated, and manipulated into madness? Yeah, that’s not on her to-do list.Armed with a sharp tongue that could flay egos, the street smarts of a broke college grad, and the petty audacity of someone with nothing left to lose, Lidia decides she was ripping up the script. Holier-than-thou saintesses? Screw ’em. Self-righteous alphas? They can eat dirt. If this world insists on casting her as the villain, she’s going to own it—on her terms.One chaotic scheme at a time, Lidia’s ready to rewrite her fate—and if she has to break a few rules (and maybe some noses) to do it, so be it. Villainesses don’t play nice, and Lidia is just getting started.