Spirit's Awakening: The Path of Lightning and Water - Chapter 356: The Iron Marquis’ Pride

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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Jianghu was in turmoil, an era of great strife. The leader of Great Qin wielded the Mo Blade, leaving the world battered and bruised. The ageless figures of Jianghu crouched upon the mountains, and with a single turn, they cast the entire world below them. Strong men measured the earth with their feet, and heroes of Jianghu could cleave the heavens with one sword, yet in the blink of an eye, they were drunk in the embrace of beauties. The Taoist carried his sword, the Scholar drunk on wine. Wearing tattered clothes, a beggar grasped a rotten branch and dared to storm the ancestral hall of the Taoist Sect. On the willow-lined causeway, in the long pavilion, a man who had sat withered for thirty years turned and stepped out, holding a peach blossom, with a flick of his wrist, he shattered ten miles of red candles. The era of Great Qin was renamed the Great Yuan Era. The youth with the Wooden Sword left his mountain village behind.

John Browning, a former underworld assassin, went to attend his friend Angele’s wedding party but ended up meeting his former colleagues. Before he could think that the whole wedding ceremony was a setup to catch him, he felt dizzy all of a sudden!

At that moment, he knew that his lifelong friend had already betrayed him and sold him out. John was humiliated in front of hundreds of peoples and was forced to kneel in front of Thomas, the underworld assassin organization leader.

Within a few minutes, they beat him brutally, dragged him to some underground basement, and then locked him in a gloomy room.

John felt bitter when thinking about his friend’s betrayal. He laid on the cold floor for two days and died miserably. But his story didn’t end there.

…

In a world filled with magic and mystic powers, John Browning woke up in an 18-year-old boy’s body. Before he could open his eyes and see his current situation, he felt someone was dragging his body.

'How am I still alive?' He got puzzled inside.

But after a few seconds, John learned from the young boy’s remanent memories that he was transmigrated to a mystical fantasy game-like world filled with magic and mystic powers!

Emperor Xianwu ninth reincarnation, only to break through the shackles, was besieged and killed by masters from all walks of life.

Fortunately, a ray of divine consciousness traveled across thousands of planes to the earth and entered the body of the dead young man, just to get rid of the anger in his heart and to regain that peerless peak!

- Description from MTL